It's been a while...
4:07 PM
Hello everyone! So I know it's been a while since I last wrote, but things have been pretty crazy around here. Crazy, crazy, crazy busy that is.
So for Easter Ryan and I met up with several other PCVs and headed down to a town 2 hours south of us called Padre Burgos. We stayed at a Filipino's friend's house, which was amazing. We ate some great food, went snorkeling, and relaxed. It was a very nice weekend with some very good people!
After Easter we headed up to Manila for a one-week training. We were able to work on some projects with our counterparts, which went very well. I feel really lucky with my counterpart. We get along very well, and we are able to work on things very effectively.
During our training Ryan and I also celebrated our 2-yr anniversary! Wow, time flies. I can't believe it's already been two years :)
After training Ryan headed back to site and I had to stay in Manila for two extra days to plan for a youth camp that I would soon be partaking in. The planning went very well. It was really productive and we were able to comprehend our purpose and how we could make the camp successful.
The next week I worked on reviewing grants. There were several grants, so it was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed it. I am learning a lot of new things about myself and the kind of work that I enjoy doing, grant writing/reviewing being one of them.
Now I was off to Anitpolo City, near Manila, for a week-long youth camp called Padayon. This camp was AMAZING! It reminded me so much of our mission trip days down to Mexico. We got to train 12 youth to become youth leaders. They then turned around and lead their own camp for a few days. It was so incredible to see these youth grow over a short period of time. I also got to become better friends with some amazing PCVs. I will never forget that youth camp. It was definitely on the top of things I have done so far in country!
So that seems like a lot of stuff to be doing, right? Well that's not all I did. After the camp I helped out at the school with "Brigada Eskwela" which is an event where parents and community members go into the schools and help clean/fix/repair the school to get ready for the upcoming school year. I was allowed to clean only a little and then my job was to take pictures. (I was told "Oh no, Ma''am YOU can't get dirty, I will be the one!") During this event I met a lady that asked me if I knew of any foster parents in Texas? I was like yes, very hesitant wondering what she meant, so I asked why? She then said well Can you help me find one, because I have way too many children. I then asked "How many kids do you have?" She replied, "Seven, my husband is drunk all the time!" Then the other ladies surrounding us all chimed in saying, "Yah, he's drunk all the time." I didn't know what to say. I told her to go to the social work department in our town, but wow that was an interesting first-conversation.
The next day after cleaning the school my counterpart and I held a teacher training for the Communication Arts Department. This was a very fun and enlightening project! My part of the training was to enhance the teacher's powerpoint skills. Some teachers have never used a computer, so it was interesting to say the least. But I feel like that event opened up so many doors and relationships with the teachers. They are a great bunch of ladies and I really enjoy working with them!
The following Monday Kristy and Tammy arrived!!!! I feel like this is a very long blog so we will save that trip for next time. Love you all, take care :)
So for Easter Ryan and I met up with several other PCVs and headed down to a town 2 hours south of us called Padre Burgos. We stayed at a Filipino's friend's house, which was amazing. We ate some great food, went snorkeling, and relaxed. It was a very nice weekend with some very good people!
After Easter we headed up to Manila for a one-week training. We were able to work on some projects with our counterparts, which went very well. I feel really lucky with my counterpart. We get along very well, and we are able to work on things very effectively.
During our training Ryan and I also celebrated our 2-yr anniversary! Wow, time flies. I can't believe it's already been two years :)
After training Ryan headed back to site and I had to stay in Manila for two extra days to plan for a youth camp that I would soon be partaking in. The planning went very well. It was really productive and we were able to comprehend our purpose and how we could make the camp successful.
The next week I worked on reviewing grants. There were several grants, so it was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed it. I am learning a lot of new things about myself and the kind of work that I enjoy doing, grant writing/reviewing being one of them.
Now I was off to Anitpolo City, near Manila, for a week-long youth camp called Padayon. This camp was AMAZING! It reminded me so much of our mission trip days down to Mexico. We got to train 12 youth to become youth leaders. They then turned around and lead their own camp for a few days. It was so incredible to see these youth grow over a short period of time. I also got to become better friends with some amazing PCVs. I will never forget that youth camp. It was definitely on the top of things I have done so far in country!
So that seems like a lot of stuff to be doing, right? Well that's not all I did. After the camp I helped out at the school with "Brigada Eskwela" which is an event where parents and community members go into the schools and help clean/fix/repair the school to get ready for the upcoming school year. I was allowed to clean only a little and then my job was to take pictures. (I was told "Oh no, Ma''am YOU can't get dirty, I will be the one!") During this event I met a lady that asked me if I knew of any foster parents in Texas? I was like yes, very hesitant wondering what she meant, so I asked why? She then said well Can you help me find one, because I have way too many children. I then asked "How many kids do you have?" She replied, "Seven, my husband is drunk all the time!" Then the other ladies surrounding us all chimed in saying, "Yah, he's drunk all the time." I didn't know what to say. I told her to go to the social work department in our town, but wow that was an interesting first-conversation.
The next day after cleaning the school my counterpart and I held a teacher training for the Communication Arts Department. This was a very fun and enlightening project! My part of the training was to enhance the teacher's powerpoint skills. Some teachers have never used a computer, so it was interesting to say the least. But I feel like that event opened up so many doors and relationships with the teachers. They are a great bunch of ladies and I really enjoy working with them!
The following Monday Kristy and Tammy arrived!!!! I feel like this is a very long blog so we will save that trip for next time. Love you all, take care :)
