I Live Here!

10:55 PM Trisha Patek
Motivation... that's what I have been lacking lately. Well that's not completely true. I just finished an AMAZING book: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It's a book about this little boy who looses his dad during 9/11. I didn't loose anyone that day, but many people did and I believe this books expresses the loss that many people felt and still feel from that bad day. If you haven't read it; READ IT!!

Anyways back to the Philippines. So I have realized that I live here. Sounds like a funny thing to say right, but for me it's not. Being a Peace Corps Volunteer I am "working" 24/7 365 days a year. It really is the HARDEST job I love. There are moments when I truly love being here and can't imagine how hard it's going to be to leave. But then there are other days where I'm ready to get on the plane and go "home." I think that one of the hardest things about living here is always having to be here. Let me explain. The second I step out of my house (literally sometimes it's the SECOND I step out of my house) I'm greeted with intense stares, random phrases being shouted at me, or people questioning pretty much everything I do. So sometimes it's tough to leave the house. Haha. And yes I get away from site sometimes to attend trainings, seminars, etc. and sometimes I even leave for a vacation. But it seems like when I return things are some what a little harder, for a little while at least. When I return I have clothes to wash (by HAND NOT in a machine, that does NOT count anymore as washing clothes), not to mention washing other parts of my house that have become molded or infested with some kind of bug, invasive questions to answer (because everyone wants to know all about everything), and of course teaching haha. So sometimes it's hard. That's all I'm saying. I would also like to say I'm spoiled. I know this and I'm really missing my spoiled life. I'm missing all of the comforts of home and everything that goes with that. Those things, not to mentions family and friends, are things that are helping me pull through these last few months! So keep the encouragements coming...

On a more positive note. My counterpart and I have started a "Reading Club" with some of the first year students at my school. For the past year and a half I have been teaching 4th year students, which means they are 15-16. But for now, once a week, I work with 1st year students, 12 year-olds. They look like babies. And I'm LOVING it! Maybe it's b/c it's something new, or I actually feel like I'm teaching. Whatever it is, I <3 it! They really give me positive energy and help me stay motivated. We usually work on pronunciation, which is really funny and we laugh a lot. Then we read a passage, answer some questions, and work on comprehending what we read. It's great. And my counterpart and I are great co-teachers. We work so well together! I will REALLY miss her when I'm gone. 



Well tomorrow Ryan and I are going to a day care in town and preforming a puppet show! It will be our first one of hopefully many more to come, so stay tuned to see what happens... Love you all and miss y'all tons! Until next time... 
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Birthdays :)

2:55 PM Trisha Patek
Ryan and I know tons of people that have birthdays in January, including ourselves! This was our last year that we will celebrate our birthdays in the Philippines. (Which makes me happy and sad all at the same time) A while back we were trying to decide what we wanted to do to celebrate our BIG days.

Last year for Ryan's b-day we went to the school and used the oven to make cornbread (we didn't have our toaster oven then), and to celebrate both our birthdays we went to the next town over to visit the Hindang caves. We went through some very smelly (from the bat guano) caves, as well as saw tons of monkeys. We had a great time. 

The Filipinos have a tradition that the birthday celebrant brings food, sweets, etc for everyone to share. Sometimes this is a VERY expensive tradition, so Ryan and I were trying to think what we could contribute without spending lots of dough. So for Ryan's b-day he bought some ice cream for his co-workers to share. They loved it! It was a hot day and everyone enjoyed a nice cool treat. For my birthday I decided to use a cake/icing that were sent to us from home. (Thanks Beth Pape) It was a German Chocolate Cake. The teachers and Ryan's co-workers LOVED it. They couldn't figure out how I made the cake so moist and how the frosting was so delicious. I tried to explain to them it was made from a box, but they didn't really understand. Anyways they really enjoyed it! 



So this year we wanted to do something different. For Ryan's birthday we went to one of our favorite islands; Canigao Island. We got there early in the morning and found us a spot on the  other side of the island where we were a little more secluded. This island is very small and you can walk all the way around the island in about 30 mins. Usually everyone gathers on one side of island, but it tends to get very loud. So Ryan and I walked to another part and camped out there. We had a very relaxing time.





Then the next weekend to celebrate my birthday, we went to the big city of Cebu City on the island of Cebu. We were able to meet up with two other volunteers, hang out and spend some time together. So from our town we take a night boat (with a/c, beds, blankets, and pillows; it's pretty sweet) and then arrive around 2AM in Cebu City, but the boat allows us to stay on the boat until 6AM. 


So once we arrived we headed to McDonalds (MacDo as they say here) to have breakfast. While we were eating it started raining, it was a heavy downpour, and this family of three (mom, daughter, and son) showed up outside and took a bath. It was funny b/c the little girl was having a blast, but you could tell the brother didn't want to be there and kept trying to hide behind a post. This is not an uncommon scene for us anymore, people bathing outside. Usually the older persons have clothes on, but the children usually are naked, although sometimes the older women are naked too. 


After this we headed over to one of the malls. It was great; we walked around window shopping in the A/C so we stayed nice and cold. We had Starbucks, Red Mango (frozen yogurt), and some amazing food. 




It was a great time and we really enjoyed our "last" birthdays in the Philippines! :) 
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