Today was a great day and I wanted to share it with you. So on Tuesday my counterpart asked me if I could teach the classes by myself today because she would be out of town receiving a reward, so I said sure. She gave me an assignment to give them, which was really boring so I decided to kick it up a notch. This is how it went. I gave the students the assignment in a few notes, and then we did an exercise where I had them close their eyes (this was hard for some of them) and picture that they were 25 and a billionaire, but had to get a job next week, so what would their job be? I had them sit in complete silence (which was REALLY hard for some) with their eyes closed so they could really think about it. I then had them draw or write about this in a cloud that they had drawn previously in their notes. Some of the students then shared their dreams. This was amazing. I had some students share that I don't think I have talked to or gotten to talk in class all year. I heard some amazing dreams and was really touched by all their answers. You know, some of the students, the boys especially, were joking around and trying to be funny, but when it came time to share I didn't hear one smart-alleck remark. All that was shared was sincere and for the most part inspiring! Here's are some quick examples: one student wanted to own her own business that would help shut down all the factories around the world that employ children. She would then build schools for those children to go to. Another boy wanted to run a shelter where he helped children with malnutrition. One boy wanted to be a captain of a ship so he could see the world. Then we ended class by playing hangman in teams where I had pre-assigned words (vocab from their book) which they absolutely loved. Most of them have never played this before so they had a blast. And I did too; it was fun watching them have fun, and today made me feel like I made a difference. :) That's all, thanks for reading. Until next time...

So it's been a little hard for me to get back into the swing of things at site. Ryan and I had an amazing Christmas vacation and I wasn't ready for it to end. I definitely wasn't ready for the cold weather to be over, haha! So we are now back at site and I'm sweating again, oh well! It's been hard for me as far as my job goes. Don't get me wrong I love my school, my counterpart, and my students, but I'm not a teacher, so teaching everyday is not the ideal situation for me. We also have a LOT of interruptions throughout the year and it's hard for me to see the students not get the education they deserve. Usually I'm pretty good at putting this behind me and doing the most I can at the school, but as of late, it's been kinda tough. I think it's because I do care and I want the students to actually learn and I want to teach them something, but with what we have, our horrible textbook and very limited resources, it's hard. I will get over it and I know I am teaching the students, I just wish I could do more. I just wanted to share that with y'all. Peace Corps is a great challenge, although some may people think it's a glorified vacation, it's NOT and I just wanted to you to know that there are frustrations that go along with my successes as well.

Anyways, on a more positive note. I recently bought this book called Strengths Finder 2.0, and I HIGHLY recommend it! It comes with this code in the back where you can take an assessment to find out your top five strengths. Then it urges you to find things that work with your strengths instead of trying to improve your weaknesses. It's great, if you can you should check it out.

So my top five are: Learner, Relator, Achiever, Responsibility, and Discipline.

Leaner is basically what it sounds like, I love to learn. I am constantly wanting to learn new things, especially things that I find fascinating. And I continually want to improve.

Relator means I enjoy close relationships with a few friends. I want my friendships to be meaningful and to have an important part in my life.

Achiever means I like to be busy and productive. I have a great stamina and I like to work hard. It also means I like to be in charge of tasks and/or assignments.

Responsibility means I take psychological ownership of what I say I will do. I am committed to being honest and loyal.

And finally Discipline means that I enjoy routine and structure. I like to create order into the world around me.

So what do you think, do those sound like me or what?

Well December has come and gone. It was a great month, although at times it was definitely tough. So it started out with Ryan's World HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Event, which I helped with. We had planned to have tree planting in the morning, but that didn't work out so we continued on with our candle light vigil. We had over 150 students show up for the event. We also showed a film called "Power of You" which is an awesome film in the national language, Tagalog, which allows the viewers to decide which path to take and how to confront the issues dealing with sex, STI's, and HIV. While showing this film we had tons of passerby's stop and watch the film; we probably had over 250 at that point watching in the town square. We had a little presentation to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and then we had candle lighting and releasing of lanterns. It was a great event and I think it greatly benefited the entire community.


After our World AIDS event I was invited to help participate in another World AIDS event, but this time on another island completely. I traveled to the island of Panay and to the town of Kalibo, which is very close to the "World renown Boracay". Anyways I was able to work with three wonderful ladies in helping educate a classroom of over 200 students about the facts of HIV/AIDS. We then participated in a parade (sadsad in the local dialect), which unfortunately was raining the entire time, but was still successful. This was the 11th year this community has put on the event and I was very grateful to be a part of it. The town of Kalibo has a wonderful health unit and some awesome volunteers throughout the town. I know that their event will only get more and more support while also educating their community.


After I returned it was time to get into Christmas Party mood. We had our classroom's christmas party, which was awkward at first, b/c no one would let me do anything I just had to sit there and look pretty. But it eventually got a lot better. We played some fun games and I even got a few gifts from some of my students. We played this one game where two people paired up and had to go down an obstacle course with a tomato between their forheads. My partner was my counterpart and it was a lot of fun!


After my party I went to Ryan's work's party. If you want to see how much fun he had, check out him new blog post!

After school got out for the holidays, Ryan and I headed up to Northern Luzon with a few other volunteers. We went to three different towns/cities: Baguio, Sagada, and Banaue. It was AMAZING! The weather was fantastic and the food was phenomenal. While we were in Sagada we got to go on an intense caving trip, which was crazy fun. We went on a couple of hikes and got to relax with great friends. (side note: I was still sad and missed my family very much on Christmas, but am super excited b/c I will get to see them this coming Christmas!) After Sagada we headed to Banaue to hike through the rice terraces. It was incredible! The rice terraces are SO old and amazingly well made. It was an intense but spectacular Christmas vacation and I'm sad it's over.



Now it's back to school and back to routines. Hopefully I will be able to start my soccer club this month, but we will have to see b/c it is rainy season. Hope everyone is doing well. Miss you all but we will see you later this year! Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year :)