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...
Just one of those days...
8:22 PM
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?
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?
This pic is from the Alikaraw festival to bring in the New Year!
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 :)
The day after the parade we went to the volunteer's indigenous site to visit the village she works with there. It was really neat to be able to be invited into their village. We played a few games with the children and met with some of the elders of the group. During our visit the children noticed my tattoo and then it was over. They had a great time finding all the islands they knew in the Philippines. It was great fun!
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.
November was a whirlwind!
2:33 PM
A lot has happened since Halloween. So please bear with me in trying to catch you up. I'm not so good at this blogging thing, but I promise I will try and do better next year, maybe that should be my New Year's Resolution, haha!
Several years ago, when I was still in college, I had heard of this organization called International Education Week and I always thought it would be cool to partake in this event. So this past November I was finally able to plan an event and help celebrate education around the world. I used some of the quizzes from their website and gave them to my classes. Then we had a race between the classes to see which group could place the various flags in the correct spot on their World Maps. It was a lot of fun and I think the students realized they still have a lot to learn about the World!!!
Several years ago, when I was still in college, I had heard of this organization called International Education Week and I always thought it would be cool to partake in this event. So this past November I was finally able to plan an event and help celebrate education around the world. I used some of the quizzes from their website and gave them to my classes. Then we had a race between the classes to see which group could place the various flags in the correct spot on their World Maps. It was a lot of fun and I think the students realized they still have a lot to learn about the World!!!
Ryan and I also had the opportunity to take some of our peer educators to a HIV/AIDS clinic on a nearby island. This was an AMAZING opportunity and I'm so glad it worked out. We got to hear how this tiny organization has started out, how they hope to grow and help persons living with HIV in the Philippines. In case you didn't know the Philippines is one of only 7 countries around the world where HIV is INCREASING!!! Now this may be due to lack of testing in the past or people actually getting tested now, but either way it's on the rise and Filipinos need to be aware of what's happening in their country. While we were at the clinic we also got to talk with two persons living with HIV. Their stories were so impact full and meaningful to all of us and I am so glad that they had the courage to share their testimonies with us! (Do you recognize Ryan in this picture?!?)
After our awesome trip to Cebu Plus (that's the organization from above), Ryan and I headed to Batangas, which is South of Manila, for Mid-Service Training. This training was great, but it was also stressful. I have to admit I was a little overwhelmed with the amount of Americans in one room! (There were 112 of us there) I also felt like I was riding a roller-coaster with my emotions while I was there. At various times I was super excited, nervous, anxious, scared, and a little sad too. It has been interesting to see where this adventure has taken me thus far, but I'm still excited to see where it takes me in the future!
Oh so before MST I made a little side trip and got a tattoo! Yes, me, I got a tattoo and I absolutely love it!!! <3
A couple days later my wonderful sister turned 24 on the 24th of November. I really miss her and hope she had an amazing birthday! I can't wait to celebrate future birthdays with her :)
For Thanksgiving several volunteers got together from our area and had a real American Thanksgiving. It was delightful. We had so much food, which was fun to make, had great conversations and fun spending time searching for whale sharks, which we didn't find this time, but we are determined to find them sometime! So before Thanksgiving everyone was saying what they wanted to bring etc. (I made Dana's famous Marshmallow Loaf and Granny Morgan's homemade rolls, are you drooling b/c you should be) Ryan was able to find someone to sell us a turkey, so we were like cool we an have turkey, yummy. Well the day we were to leave the man brought the turkey in a bag to Ryan's work; it was still alive. Then he came to our house and killed it in our front yard. (I think if I had to do that I would become a vegetarian for sure!) So this man slit it's neck, plucked off it's feathers, then lit it on fire to singe off all the rest of the feathers and finally cleaned out the insides. It was a very different experience. But our neighborhood cats absolutely loved it; there were about ten of them in our yard afterwards cleaning up the mess. Haha! By the way, Ryan and I also successfully cooked our first Turkey! Which is super exciting! Anyways Thanksgiving was amazing :)
So FINALLY at the end of November my drama club preformed their first play of the year! It was a great success and the audience really enjoyed it. I'm not going to lie, the students stressed me out a little, we didn't even have one practice with a complete cast, but the show went very well and everyone did a great job. The students acted out "The Disastrous Wedding" which is a murder mystery play. You were supposed to pay for the full script so we improvised and had the audience choose the murderer, which they really enjoyed so it all worked out! Needless to say our show was a scream...
And that completes the month of November! So until next time when I share the happenings of December. Take care, miss y'all! Love, love, love
Hilongos Haunted House
2:29 PM
Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. Ryan and I did.
A few months back, Ryan and I decided to plan a haunted house to be hosted in our house for all that wanted to come. We were trying to think of a way to celebrate Halloween and invite people over without offending others b/c they weren't invited. So the only logical thing we could think of was to have a haunted house where all could come and experience a little bit of an American tradition.
So the planning began. We came up with tons of ideas, probably around one a day. Some of them worked and other didn't, plus I had to keep Ryan under "control", b/c if you know Ryan you know he LOVES to scare people and Filipinos get scared really easily and I really didn't want to have to take a trip to the hospital b/c of our haunted house.
So I rounded up some of my drama students to have "stations" throughout the haunted house and they helped me finish some of the decorations throughout the house. They were amazing! During our practice one of the students asked if we were going to have medics at our house. We asked why. She said for the oldies. They might need them. Haha.
Throughout the past week while we were trying to prepare for our event several of the neighborhood children kept coming around wanting to help too. A few hours before it started I told them to come back at 6 when it started so we could get dressed. Well of course they arrived early and knocked on the door. I only had half of my make-up on when I answered the door. When I answered the door the children gasped and started backing up, asking what happened to my face. They were very concerned for me. I quickly explained it was make-up and they slowly started to come forward. Needless to say they had a blast that night!
A few months back, Ryan and I decided to plan a haunted house to be hosted in our house for all that wanted to come. We were trying to think of a way to celebrate Halloween and invite people over without offending others b/c they weren't invited. So the only logical thing we could think of was to have a haunted house where all could come and experience a little bit of an American tradition.
So the planning began. We came up with tons of ideas, probably around one a day. Some of them worked and other didn't, plus I had to keep Ryan under "control", b/c if you know Ryan you know he LOVES to scare people and Filipinos get scared really easily and I really didn't want to have to take a trip to the hospital b/c of our haunted house.
So I rounded up some of my drama students to have "stations" throughout the haunted house and they helped me finish some of the decorations throughout the house. They were amazing! During our practice one of the students asked if we were going to have medics at our house. We asked why. She said for the oldies. They might need them. Haha.
All day Monday we were finishing up the touches for the big event. We had three other volunteers come in from other towns that wanted to help out and be a part of the haunted house. They were a great help too!
It had been sprinkling on and off that day and we were hoping it would stop. But no, it didn't. We were kinda bummed at first thinking no one would come. But we were wrong again. We had over 100 people stop by to see what all the commotion was about. We had children from the age of 4 or 5 up to grandmothers and even a few great-grandmothers. Several people also went through two or three times. They loved it! It was a HUGE success! All the students were talking about it when we went back to school. Ryan's counterpart was even talking with his family about carrying on the tradition if we're not able to have another one next year. That's so exciting! I'm so happy we made such an impact on our community. It was a lot of hard work, but every bit of it was worth it. Enjoy the pics!
OMG!
4:21 PM
"Oh my God!" these are the words we heard a while back. Let me explain. A while back we visited a fellow volunteer at her site, a high school. She was touring us around her school. When we walked passed one of the classrooms, which we couldn't see into, a voice said out loud, "Oh My God!" as I passed, then as Ryan passed another "Oh my God", and as the last volunteer passed another "Oh my God!" When I heard this I immediately starting laughing. It was a very touching, funny, and interesting experience! We then walked into that classroom and came face to face with our "Oh my God" student. It was a lot of fun getting to talk with and see new students at a different school. Who knew we could cause such a reaction, "Oh my God!"
Also a while back I announced to all four of my classes that I was having a contest. The contest was to write a one-page paper on their goals and dreams for their lives, even if their goal is unrealistic like becoming superman. So the prize for this contest is to join Ryan and I at our house to have "an American" dinner prepared for them. I had several students enter the contest and last weekend we had our first "winners" join us for dinner. It was a lot of fun! Ryan and I made Mexican rice and beans. We then taught the students how to make flour tortillas. They had a blast making them! We had a good time learning more about one another and sharing stories. When they were leaving one of the students asked if I could correct their papers so they could work on improving their English. So of course I did.
Another student from another class asked me to do the same for her as well. I returned her paper the other day, which was pretty good, but I left her tons of good comments and told her how proud I was of her and her paper. When I handed her paper back to her she was a little nervous at first. She hesitantly looked at my comments and started jumping up and down because she was so excited that I enjoyed her paper. She ran and showed her other classmates her good work. She then came back to my desk several times with a huge smile and said thank you about ten million times!
It's moments like these that I truly enjoy being here in the Philippines.
Also a while back I announced to all four of my classes that I was having a contest. The contest was to write a one-page paper on their goals and dreams for their lives, even if their goal is unrealistic like becoming superman. So the prize for this contest is to join Ryan and I at our house to have "an American" dinner prepared for them. I had several students enter the contest and last weekend we had our first "winners" join us for dinner. It was a lot of fun! Ryan and I made Mexican rice and beans. We then taught the students how to make flour tortillas. They had a blast making them! We had a good time learning more about one another and sharing stories. When they were leaving one of the students asked if I could correct their papers so they could work on improving their English. So of course I did.
Another student from another class asked me to do the same for her as well. I returned her paper the other day, which was pretty good, but I left her tons of good comments and told her how proud I was of her and her paper. When I handed her paper back to her she was a little nervous at first. She hesitantly looked at my comments and started jumping up and down because she was so excited that I enjoyed her paper. She ran and showed her other classmates her good work. She then came back to my desk several times with a huge smile and said thank you about ten million times!
It's moments like these that I truly enjoy being here in the Philippines.
"Why are you here?"
3:08 PM
This is a question that I have gotten a lot lately.
A couple years back our town, Hilongos, got an education volunteer, but she did not stay very long. She ended up E.T.-ing (Early Termination) in May of her first year, so she was only at site for about six months. Now that Ryan and I have been in the Philippines for a year (Yep, that's right you read correctly, ONE YEAR!!!) People are starting to wonder why we are still here, not that they want us to leave, they just don't understand why we are still here.
Personally I love it when I get asked this question. It gives me the chance to explain the Peace Corps 3 goals (#1-to provide a qualified volunteer where needed, #2-to share the American culture with Filipinos, and #3-to share the Filipino culture with Americans.) and to share my interests of different cultures and travel.
The next question people always ask is "Don't you miss your family, oh maybe not because you have your husband?" And my answer is always "Yes, of course I miss my family. I miss them everyday, but being able to use the internet to talk with them helps a lot, and I know they are back home supporting me in being here helping in the Philippines!"
Then the last question, "So you don't get paid, right? Then I don't understand why you are here?" See many people here, and many back home as well, don't understand why someone would want to volunteer for 2 years! And even for myself it's hard to explain, but you know how everyone has a calling, or somethings that they are really interested in and drawn to? Well for me that thing is cultures/travel. I love to really experience cultures and to see what the World has to offer. I like comparing what I know to be "normal" to other's "normals". It's very interesting to me.
Do you remember my blog about our trip to Vietnam with Kenny? Well that was our first time out of the country since being volunteers, and I noticed that, although I LOVED our trip, it was just a vacation, a very enjoyable one, but none the less a vacation. While we are here in the Philippines we get to take "mini-vacations" but we really get to experience the culture, people, foods, etc. There's a big difference, and I'm really starting to like the volunteer aspect more than "vacationing", although I couldn't do it for the rest of my life, I am definitely enjoying it while I can. And all I'm saying is that this experience makes me think differently when I do travel and I like that. I also think that once I do travel again I may approach it in a different light to try and really experience the culture.
I have also made some awesome friends throughout this experience and they will forever be my friends, b/c we will have this special bond and be able to really understand what each of us went through. Being away for so long is NOT easy by no means, but I have really liked learning new things about myself and pushing myself to overcome discomforts. In the eyes of a volunteer two years is not long; it takes a long to build relationships, figure out ways of doing things, and understanding the flow of everyday life in a foreign country. But being away from home and loved ones, two years is very long. There are so many times in Peace Corps when you feel so conflicted with yourself. One minute you feel homesick and the next minute you meet the most friendly and amazing Filipino that just lights up your day. Being so far away and in a foreign place really allows yourself to open up so many doors, many doors which you didn't know you had before. Many of your worries and stressors are completely different and you tend not to worry/stress over things you did before. There are many things that I miss about home, but after being here for one year I am starting to appreciate the beauty of the Philippines and am learning to "just go with it" a lot better. We still have 15 months to go, but honestly I feel like those will fly by (especially since August is almost over and it feels like it just started!) I want to make the most of the time I have left here, because who knows what the future holds. (And if you know me, you know that I have a few plans that Ryan and I could follow, but like I said there are a few of them, so who knows which way we will end up going, you guess is as good as mine)
So thanks for listening to some of my thoughts I have been having lately. It's nice to write them out :)
I would like to leave you on a very uplifting note. There is this little girl that I think lives in our neighborhood, she is probably one of the cutest little girls in the whole world. Every time she see either Ryan or I, or the both of us, she just lights up like she is a 1000Watt lightbulb. She has the biggest and cutest smile. And she will wave at us until she can no longer see us anymore, even if we are going the opposite way so that our backs are towards her. Anyways I finally got her picture and wanted to share it with you. Maybe she will help light up your day, because anytime I'm having a bad day/moment/week all I have to do is picture her smile and it helps light up my day :)
A couple years back our town, Hilongos, got an education volunteer, but she did not stay very long. She ended up E.T.-ing (Early Termination) in May of her first year, so she was only at site for about six months. Now that Ryan and I have been in the Philippines for a year (Yep, that's right you read correctly, ONE YEAR!!!) People are starting to wonder why we are still here, not that they want us to leave, they just don't understand why we are still here.
Personally I love it when I get asked this question. It gives me the chance to explain the Peace Corps 3 goals (#1-to provide a qualified volunteer where needed, #2-to share the American culture with Filipinos, and #3-to share the Filipino culture with Americans.) and to share my interests of different cultures and travel.
The next question people always ask is "Don't you miss your family, oh maybe not because you have your husband?" And my answer is always "Yes, of course I miss my family. I miss them everyday, but being able to use the internet to talk with them helps a lot, and I know they are back home supporting me in being here helping in the Philippines!"
Then the last question, "So you don't get paid, right? Then I don't understand why you are here?" See many people here, and many back home as well, don't understand why someone would want to volunteer for 2 years! And even for myself it's hard to explain, but you know how everyone has a calling, or somethings that they are really interested in and drawn to? Well for me that thing is cultures/travel. I love to really experience cultures and to see what the World has to offer. I like comparing what I know to be "normal" to other's "normals". It's very interesting to me.
Do you remember my blog about our trip to Vietnam with Kenny? Well that was our first time out of the country since being volunteers, and I noticed that, although I LOVED our trip, it was just a vacation, a very enjoyable one, but none the less a vacation. While we are here in the Philippines we get to take "mini-vacations" but we really get to experience the culture, people, foods, etc. There's a big difference, and I'm really starting to like the volunteer aspect more than "vacationing", although I couldn't do it for the rest of my life, I am definitely enjoying it while I can. And all I'm saying is that this experience makes me think differently when I do travel and I like that. I also think that once I do travel again I may approach it in a different light to try and really experience the culture.
I have also made some awesome friends throughout this experience and they will forever be my friends, b/c we will have this special bond and be able to really understand what each of us went through. Being away for so long is NOT easy by no means, but I have really liked learning new things about myself and pushing myself to overcome discomforts. In the eyes of a volunteer two years is not long; it takes a long to build relationships, figure out ways of doing things, and understanding the flow of everyday life in a foreign country. But being away from home and loved ones, two years is very long. There are so many times in Peace Corps when you feel so conflicted with yourself. One minute you feel homesick and the next minute you meet the most friendly and amazing Filipino that just lights up your day. Being so far away and in a foreign place really allows yourself to open up so many doors, many doors which you didn't know you had before. Many of your worries and stressors are completely different and you tend not to worry/stress over things you did before. There are many things that I miss about home, but after being here for one year I am starting to appreciate the beauty of the Philippines and am learning to "just go with it" a lot better. We still have 15 months to go, but honestly I feel like those will fly by (especially since August is almost over and it feels like it just started!) I want to make the most of the time I have left here, because who knows what the future holds. (And if you know me, you know that I have a few plans that Ryan and I could follow, but like I said there are a few of them, so who knows which way we will end up going, you guess is as good as mine)
So thanks for listening to some of my thoughts I have been having lately. It's nice to write them out :)
I would like to leave you on a very uplifting note. There is this little girl that I think lives in our neighborhood, she is probably one of the cutest little girls in the whole world. Every time she see either Ryan or I, or the both of us, she just lights up like she is a 1000Watt lightbulb. She has the biggest and cutest smile. And she will wave at us until she can no longer see us anymore, even if we are going the opposite way so that our backs are towards her. Anyways I finally got her picture and wanted to share it with you. Maybe she will help light up your day, because anytime I'm having a bad day/moment/week all I have to do is picture her smile and it helps light up my day :)
