Good times in the Philippines

Life Lessons from the Least Expected

2006-12-07T18:30:00.000+08:00

I was finally able to flag down a cab. I had been turned away multiple times b/c my final destination would have required the driver to weave in and out of a nightmare of traffic for way too long. It would have eaten up too much gas and cut out too many possible customers. I guess cab drivers in Manila make most of their money up front…on the automatic 100 pesos or so you have to pay just for getting in. So, having more customers going shorter distances can be a bigger pay off than having fewer customers going longer distances. But anyway, the driver I got was chattier than any other driver I had ever been in a cab with despite the fact that we were already at the end of a long and hectic day. It was dark out, but the neon lights in every direction are sure to keep Manila bright at any hour. Just like New York, it’s a city that never sleeps. The driver, thinking I’m a tourist, began hurling questions at me left and right.

Where are you from? Do you speak Tagalog? How do you like the Philippines? Are you married?

I answered these questions quickly and with little interest hoping to satisfy his superficial interest. Much to my dismay however, my aloofness only seemed to fuel his fire. I was tired and was worried that the sporadic standstill traffic might cause me to miss the last bus ride back to Bontoc. A small part of me hoped that it would happen anyway…there’s comfort in being surrounded by millions of strangers…in being anonymous…in being able to walk into an internet cafe at 1 AM and still feel like a normal human being. If I have to stay in Manila another night…sige…ok lang. The driver regained my attention when he stopped asking questions and started divulging information about himself. He worked overseas for over 10 years…in Saudi. He lived in the desert…and not just in the desert…but in an actual compound “in” (under) the desert sand. However, he seemed less interested in talking to me about his work and more interested in talking to me about his wife and his Saudi girlfriends and how they compared to one another physically and sexually. While he was thinking he was either shocking me or impressing me…or just plain entertaining me…I was thinking about throwing the car door open and bolting. By this time, sure, I had no idea where I was, but there were plenty of other cabs around. Granted, the traffic wasn’t moving at all, but I could at least sit in any other cab and probably have to deal with less testosterone. Next thing I knew, he was asking me another question.

“How old are you?”

Not only did I not want to answer this question for the shear fact that dude was just plain shady…but I didn’t want to answer it, as well, for it’s inevitable repercussions…more questions. I saw the scenario playing itself out in my head… “You’re 29 and you’re not married? Why not?” “Because I’m just not,” isn’t a valid response here. And I wasn’t in the mood for making up an elaborate story. So, I thought I’d divert from that direction completely. I thought, I’d cut him off at the pass. I thought I could be slick, and just tell an itty bitty lie to stop his questioning. So, I coolly said, “I’m 18.” At that instant, the inside car light flashed on, and the driver reached his arm around the passenger side seat so he could more easily turn his head around and get a good look at me.

“18!” he exasperated. “I thought you were atleast 30! You look much older than 18!”

I was a bit shocked. I had never heard anything like that in my life. My whole life, people have mistaken me for being much younger than I really am. I didn’t think for a second that I wouldn’t get away with it. But, as I sat there under the car’s prosecuting beam of light, I thought to myself that maybe I have indeed aged since the beginning of my peace corps stint. Maybe I have lost some of that baby fat that was once in my cheeks. Maybe my skin isn’t as smooth and firm as it once was. And I’m sure the city lights can cast some strange shadows on an already haggard face at the end of a long evening. Busted!...the one time when I was just trying to earn myself a little peace and quiet.

“Why do you look so old?” the driver asked.

I couldn’t help but to just chuckle inside at this unforeseen backfire. Now, I had to cook up another lie to support my first.

“I’ve had a hard life,” I say meekly as if at that very moment in time I was being haunted by all the bad memories of that which had robbed me of my childhood in the first place.

To this day, a part of me feels still feels bad for fooling that driver. He stepped intoa role that many people wouldn’t have taken the time to do, especially with strangers. He was immediately empathetic and encouraging. Not only was he offering me his driving services, but he was throwing in a psychologist for free.

“What was so bad? What happened to you?”

I remained aloof partly because I didn’t know what to say (I’ve never been good at lying and coming up with elaborate, believable stories on the fly…I’ve never really even tried), and partly because aloofness could in the end only help sell my story. The rest of the way, the driver proceeded to load my plate with heaping spoonfuls of inspirational stories and motivational antics. “You control your life, don’t let your life control you! Keep pushing on if life isn’t going the way you want. You be the master of your destiny! Even as he helped me carry my bags to the bus up until the moment he waved and slunk back into the driver’s seat of his dingy cab, he urged me to keep my head up and not let life’s problems discourage me. So, what started out as nothing but a necessary cab ride to my bus, ended up, 40 minutes later to be life lessons in disguise. I said “thank you, I will remember that,” and climbed aboard my bus.

11-16-06

2006-11-16T15:10:00.000+08:00

There's a pretty big boxing match coming up this sunday between Mexico's Eric Morales and The Philippines's Manny Pacquio, otherwise known as Pacman. I'm really looking forward to it...maybe for one reason...I get to witness faces gettin smashed...I really need to let out some of my own aggression...maybe I should smash some softballs. Or maybe I'm looking forward to the match b/c for me, no matter who wins, it's still a win-win match. Of course, I'm backing Manny for the time being...I'm in the Philippines for crying out loud, how could I not?! But, my spiritual latin american roots run deep...seeing as I studied Spanish for about 8 years and spent a year of my life in Mexico...and anyone who has spent anytime in the US knows that all of us are just a handful of generations away from being bilingual (English/Spanish) anyway. Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the US, and bits and peices of their culture...and their language have taken root, whether we like it or not, in US soil...and in the minds and hearts of the non hispanic Americans...atleast in my generation and the next. ...so, this brings me to the discussion of cultural diversity. ...oooh, exciting.

To say that there are alot of Filipino overseas workers would be an understatement. And if you compared the total number of Filipinos with the total number actually overseas...you would find that the Philipines holds one of the highest percentages of nationals living outside their country. But, even if all the overseas workers were working in the US, I still don't think they'd hold a candle to the number of Mexicans and hispanics in general who actually live there. ...not sure if filipinos understand just how much white bread life in the US has been influenced by the influx of hispanics (most especially Mexicans). Take avocados for example (ur like...ok?) ...here people like to turn them into a sweet dessert. They mash up an avocado or two in a bowl full of sugar and powdered milk...to end up with a sweet green lumpy mush. ...and I gotta say...I really like the stuff. There are a few things that I eat here on a regular basis...because they're tasty treats...and I will continue to eat them once I go home to the US. Sweet avocado glop is one of those things (however, I'll probably discontinue the use of powdered milk once I go home...b/c well, when ur surrounded by cows...why not use the real deal...diba?) ...and...Tuna WITHOUT mayonnaise and eggs is another dish I'll continue to eat. Come on ya'll...mayonnaise and egg is just foul... instead, I love me some slightly oily tuna with chopped up onions and tomatoes dumped over a SMALL pile of rice. ...but anyway...about the avocado... here they like the avocado mixed with things that make it sweet. In the US, we like the avocado mixed with things that make it salty... hence guacamole. Here's what's tricky. I may be mistaken, but I get the feeling that alot of Filipinos still associate Americans with being white. therefore...and I may be mistaken again...but I get the feeling that Filipinos think guacamole comes from whitey? At any rate...I just want to set the record straight and give credit where credit is due. White people as well as anyone else in the US only eat guacamole because of the Mexicans. But...did guacamole exist before Mexicans? If so, did it come from the Aztecs and/or Mayans? Or was it brought over by Spaniards? Who really knows? But, what I do know... when my parents were kids...they didn't eat guacamole. Did they even know what guacamole was? ...probably not. Avocados, as a whole, weren't a big part of the southern diet. I'm pretty sure my parents ate alot of fried ham, or spam, and fried potatos and mashed potatos and more potatos, or bacon and eggs and biscuits, and green beans, and black eyed peas, and corn bread and corn on the cob and more corn. ...but avocados...not a whole lot of that going around Nashville about 50 years ago. But, Nowadays, you can't throw a rock without it breaking through the window of a mexican restaurant and landing in plate full of guacamole and pico de gallo. My true roots lie in Nashville...in the south...no doubt about it...my southern accent (which I used to never notice, but have now come to love and love to play up) will give it away everytime. My true roots lie with a people of strong will and determination...people who work hard and sacrifice for what they have. A people who won't take handouts...A prideful people. A people who believe that God helps those who help themselves. When I think of my roots, I think of my grandparents and who they are, where they came from, what they've sacrificed and accomplished in their lives, and all that they have to be proud of. What a small world we live in now...so many complex cultures touching each of us and influencing what we believe, how we think, how we act, what we say, and how we perceive each other. In Nashville...you can get your southern style meat and three at Cracker Barrel, or walk next door and get your Enchilladas and Margaritas at Cancun. You pick. :)

It's hard to put my finger on it...but people here definately have their perceptions of how the west...how the US is. And whether or not those perceptions are reality is beside the point. Without batting an eyelash, alot of people here have just quickly reduced me to their American steoreotype and gone on about their lives. Let me quote an article I read in Newsweek called, "Asia's New Gods".

"Most Asians are unaware that Christian evangelical movements have gained enormous political power in America. And if they were to learn this, they would be mystified. Their images of America remain the old ones: scenes of Hollywood and sexual permissiveness, secularism, money worship and devotion to modern science and technology. None of these squares with an America under the sway of fundamentalist or evangelical Christianity."

I really do think alot of Filipinos view Americans as void of any sort of spiritual conscience, reasoning, or drive. And It may all be in my head...but then again...I don't think it is... Some people around here make a point of speaking English...and loud enough for me to hear...when it comes to talking about money...and when they're trying to put on an authoritative air. Through the act of speaking, people here subtley convey their association of being money-centric know-it-alls with being American...or with being any westerner I suppose. Sometimes people here think they are immulating Americans and American ways of thinking...when they really aren't...at all. Not all Americans are money-centric...and not all Americans are know-it-alls...and I know that for a fact... ;P

I guess my point in all this is...for all the differences we like to point out...all the time...not only between one American and another, or Americans and Filipinos, or one Filipino and another, or even one Igorot tribe and another...we all have more in common than we admit. We're all spiritual beings...and yep, we can all be money-centric and know-it-alls at times. The ironic thing though...one of our biggest similarities is that each of our cultures is unique. I'll always find it interesting just how much effort someone from Bontoc will put into making sure I know how different the Bontoc dialect and traditions are from say, Sagada or Besao which is just an hour or so up the road. A healthy pride is the driving force for pointing out those differences...The desire to come from and represent something beautiful and unique. Whether or not we afford it to each other, we all come from unique cultures...unique blends of influences. For me, I wouldn't trade my roots for anything. And though it's pretty obvious, haan ak Ifontok (I'm not from Bontoc), some ideas and traditions that I've learned here will find a permanent home in my mind and heart and will inevitably contribute to who I am and who I will continue to evolve into once I go back home to the US.

I'd have to live here for years...many more years that is...to begin to understand the subtle differences between the culture and language here in Bontoc vs. the culture and language an hour away in Sagada, or much less, across the bridge in Samoki. And I guess it's the same with the Ifontoc's perspective of the US. They'd really have to live there for years to see and experience and understand the differences between regional cultures and subcultures formed from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and hear the different spoken accents and slang associated with each.

I thought I'd end this blog with a little humor...just some cultural observations, mostly for the enjoyment of the those Filipinos who read my blog. ;)

You know you're in the Philippines, or maybe Bontoc specifically when...

1- Someone text messages you at 5:30 AM with a forward about God or just wishing you a "gud mOwin"

2- your morning alarm clock is a symphony of snorting and grunting pigs impatiently awaiting their breakfast, and the "shh shh shh" sounds of stick brooms sweeping the street outfront of your house and the cocunut husks buffing the wooden floors inside your house.

3- Miraculously, you find that neither you nor anyone else around you is fat.

4- You're wondering to yourself if you've accidentally happened upon a middle school dance somehow or another...b/c everyone around you seems to be clustered together by sex.

5- ...if you had a peso for every shampoo and conditioner commercial you saw on tv...you'd be a very very rich person.

6- you see a cigarette commercial on tv...and then hear the voice of God say, "Govt. warning...cigarette smoking MAY be dangerous to YOUR health."

7- Only the Bakla wear makeup...but then again, they're really the only ones who need to.

8- guys walk around with their pant legs rolled up, their t-shirts pulled up to their armpits, and plastic bags on their heads...all for good reasons...well...except for maybe the whole t-shirt thing...ain't nobody want to see no belly.

9- You can take 10 steps in any direction and find yourself in a different "neighborhood" or section within a barangay.

10- Everyone's baby is the cutest thing in the world.

11-4-06

2006-11-04T18:25:00.000+08:00

Ok, so I said that I wouldn't write anymore blog entries...so I lied.

What have I been doing with myself lately? Well, I've been a reading machine for one. Read more fiction these past few months than I've probably read in the past 10 years, no joke. Recommendations...Two books by Carol Goodman, "The Seduction of Water", and "The Lake of Dead Languages". Those may have been the only two she's written, if so...she done good. I think her writing meshes more with the female psyche though, so needless to say, I'd recommend her books to mainly females...but if you're a guy and you'd like to read her...by all means. I read one intense book about drug abuse..."A Million Little Peices" by James Frey...I'd recommend reading it if anything to experience one man's journey all the way to the bottom and back. I'm not sure how much in the book is true to the author's life. It was originally sold as an autobiography, but I think, later, it was found out that he made alot of it up? Nevertheless, the imagery will slap you in the face. I appreciate that throughout the whole book he never blames his addictions on anyone or anything else other than himself. He never plays the victim card...except that if he is a victim, he is a victim of nothing other than himself. I appreciate as well, his description of that which is inside of him which drives him to drugs. He calls it the "fury"...he has no idea where it came from...it's always been there. And he realizes, it will always be there. The major part of his ability to overcome his addiction was to acknowledge this fury, recognize it for what it is and what it does to him, and, ultimately, when it shows its head, which it will always continue to do, to just... always be stronger than it. In the end, the way he overcame his addiction was to always be stronger than the fury...and just...not drink...not smoke crack. Alot easier said than done, but...in order to truly overcome, that's what has to be done. If you don't want to smoke crack...you gotta...well...not smoke crack, diba? (right?)

Thank God I'll never have to battle his exact type of fury...it's pretty safe to say that I'll never smoke crack...but I'm not naive enough to think that I could never have..say...a drinking problem or something like that...so, I realize, I better deal with my, for lack of a better word, fury, in other ways.

I'm not sure if it's my being here on the other side of the world, or if it's my getting older...or maybe it's just a combination of things that has helped me realize that I do have a fury inside of me...we all do I'd venture to say. The question is...are we able to recognize it?...and if so, what are we gonna do about it? Let it rule us? ...I don't think so. Well, atleast not all the time. For me, at this stage of my life, and for a good while, my fury has been dissipointment in myself...and depression. And I'll be honest, I mainly stopped writing blog entries b/c my fury was getting the MUCH better of me. How can I be stronger than it? Well...write atleast one more blog entry for starters. ;) ...other than that...not sure. I've got the rest of my life to figure it out, and figure it out I will.

This past 1st and 2nd of November was all Saints day and All Souls day, respectively. I went to the town cementary (Campo Santo) to celebrate.Some dude asked me if I knew how to paint. I said yep. He asked me if I could paint his grandparent's "tomb". Side note- When I say tomb, I mean more of a large trough sized cement box. Those who are laid to rest in Campo Santo are laid to rest above ground, in cement boxes...more or less. To help with the description, most cementeries here are similar to cementeries in New Orleans. Plus, here they put more than one family member in each box...tomb. However, each person is in his own coffin inside the tomb. And on All Saints and All Souls day, people go to the cementaries, light candles, lay out fresh flowers, and put fresh coats of paint on the tombs. But anyway, dude asked me if I could paint his grandparent's tomb. I did... He also asked me to write his grandparents' names, birthdates, and deathdates on it. He said that he wanted me to give it my "techie" touch. he he. I got as far as finishing the grandfather's info, and then a heavy rain kept me from the grandmother's. As silly as it sounds, I really really enjoyed holding that paint brush in my hand for the short time that I did. And I really liked focusing on painting those letters as perfectly as I could. I just really enjoyed painting which is something I haven't done in a long long while. I still find it funny to think that I entered UT Knoxville thinking that I could possibly go for a degree in art...and then, what...3...4 years later, I'm focusing so hard on learning how to be a computer tech...that I just stop drawing...and painting...and doing anything remotely artistic altogether. Other than just telling this story for the sake of telling it, I think I've realized that I really need some artistic outlet in my life to keep me going...keep me inspired...help me be stronger than my fury. Ironic that I gotta paint somebodies grave to be reminded of it...to be reminded that I gotta paint...or draw...or write...or do something creative to keep me alive.

10-11-06

2006-10-11T11:43:00.000+08:00

Might of thought I dropped off the face of the earth?? ...still here... I'm done with the DB...for all intents and purposes. Now it's up to those who would use it..to well...use it. :) We'll see if that happens. Now I'm working on helping 10 students put together a digital yearbook. I'm the unofficial photographer for all teachers and kids. Each friday, I'm taking pics of kids all day long... It's fairly organized, so I'm herding em thro pretty quickly and efficiently...it's just, there are alot of kids, period, so it's gonna take a lot of time to snap all their pics.

So...I probably won't be posting anymore blogs... mostly for the fact that I realized...I don't like writing about me an my life until I know whose gonna be reading what i write (if anyone).

No biggie though...just shot me an email if you'd like to know what's going on with me. yount521@yahoo.com is the only email I can check these days. I'll write you back and update you. :)

3 Igorot Folktales

2006-08-08T15:50:00.000+08:00

***Hopefully these stories will make up for my lack of blogging these days. Each of these 3 stories will either make you laugh out loud, make you go, “huh??”, or both. This first story is a lesson in origin…enjoy***

The Origin of the Anus in the People of Madatag

In the early days when life was at its beginning, it came about that a man from Madatag met and wooed a woman named Pakiyan, who came from another place. They were married and went to live in the husband’s house in Madatag.

Pakiyan noticed a strange custom which the people there had. They ate only the vapor which comes off cooked rice. She became consumed with curiosity as to why they followed this custom. Finally she thought that maybe their bodies were different. So one night, full of curiosity, she went over the body of her husband and examined it. To her surprise, she found that there was no hole where the anus should be.

Pakiyan was very sorry for her husband and wanted to help him. So she took her sharp stick and made an anus for him. In the morning they found that he could now eat just as Pakiyan herself could. The other people saw the husband eating rice and asked Pakiyan how it was done. She told them and showed them how to make an anus.

So now the people of Madatag are just the same as other people.

(This tale must be true for a woman told it to me).

***…And we all know women never ever lie!! duh... This next story is more bizarre than anything…take a look…***

The Story of the Skeleton

There was a man, Donkoan. His wife died leaving several children. One night he arranged with one son to go fishing with him. They prepared rattan to string the fish on, and dried sticks for the torch. Then they went and caught many fish. The load became heavy for the son and he wanted to go home; but the father wanted more fish. So they stringed some of the fish on the rattan in the water and fished on up the river. Thus they came to a far place where there were houses. “See the light in the houses,” said the son. “Those are only our relatives, my son. I will go and ask them for tobacco,” replied Donkoan. He went and called to the people, asking for fire. The people in the houses roused up at hearing a stranger in the night. Finding him to be an enemy, they killed Donkoan and took his head. But Donkoan returned to his son without his head. The son did not notice in the dark that his father was headless and they started home. The father was in a hurry to get home as he had now changed to a skeleton. So he carried his son, together with all their equipment and fish. When they reached home, Donkoan told his children to guard the house well as he himself would become destructive.

The children barricaded the house so that the skeleton could not get in. The skeleton, balangobang, returned to the houses where he was killed and tried to get his head back; but the people took the skeleton and tied it in the top of a betel-nut tree.

The children had hidden themselves from their father in a big jar. They put the dog with her puppies on top as protection. When the skeleton returned, it spend the night trying to break down the wall of the house but the barking of the dog prevented him.

The skeleton then started to return to the place where he was killed. On the way he met a woman and brought her to the place so that the people would give her the same treatment he had and she would be like him. But when they came to the houses, the woman dove into a nearby lake. The skeleton hid in the bushes. A bird told him not to come out. Then it flew to the top of the betel-nut tree and got the head for the skeleton. It flew back and forth. While the bird was near Donkoan, the wound in the head became better. After it had flown several times, Donkoan became all right again just as before. He took the woman and escaped home that night. He asked the children to open the door; but they said their father had died. He asked them to let him in anyway. Finally, they did. He asked them to cook rice; but they said that they had none. At last Donkoan convinced his children that he was their father and related his story.

Donkoan married the woman, whose name was Daloquilmay, and they all lived happily together.

***Gah! I hate skeletons…they’re so destructive! But, I’m sure we can all sympathize with Donkoan anyway…I know I hate those days when I turn into a skeleton and have to go through heck and highwater just to get my head back! ...but anyway…let’s read the next story. See if you can gather the moral.***

Sorab and the Two Boys

Once upon a time there lived in a remote barangay of Apayao an old woman and her two sons.

On the other side of their settlement, there dwelt also a giant named Sorab, with his children.

One fine morning, the two boys told the mother to cook their breakfast for they were going to work in their kaingin (field). So their mother did.

They went and worked in their kaingin continuing for many days until they were able to plant some rice.

Months passed by; the rice plants grew. One day the eldest brother sent his younger brother to see their growing rice. When he reached the kaingin, the wind was blowing so hard that it caused the plants to move to and fro. The boy commanded the plants to stop; but the wind kept on blowing. This made him angry. So he cut all the plants down and went home.

When he reached home, the boy told his older brother what he had done to their plants. This made his brother angry.

The next day, the elder brother went to visit their kaingin. Before he left, he told his younger brother to bathe their mother for she was already old. The boy heated the water in a pot to its boiling point. Then he carried his mother and put her in a tub full of the boiling water. This burnt her so severly that her skin fell off from the flesh and she died.

After several hours, the older brother returned and his younger brother met him so joyously telling his big brother that their mother was sleeping soundly after taking her bath. The big brother went to see her, but he found his mother dead. He was so angry that he sent his brother to go and call for Sorab, the giant, to come and eat their mother. The lad was willing and ran as fast as he could to perform his errand.

When he reached the house of Sorab, the boy told the giant that his mother was dead and that he was sent by his brother in order to request Sorab to come and eat her. Sorab agreed to go as long as the boy would stay and take care of his children.

Sorab went away on his errand. After a while the children began to cry. The boy tried to stop them; but they would not stop. At last he took an aliwa (a magical object that will do whatever you want it to) and killed them all. Then he started for home.

On his way, he met Sorab who asked him about his children. The boy told him that they were all fast asleep. So each continued to his home.

The boy related to his brother what he had done to the children of Sorab. This filled his brother with fear. They were afraid of the giant: So they ran away. On their way, they came to a deep river and saw a big tree on the other side. They climbed the tree to hide themselves; but Sorab was able to follow and discover them. Sorab called and asked how they had crossed the river. One of the two brothers said that they had tied big stones around their necks and jumped into the roaring water. Sorab followed the lad’s directions. He took a big stone which he could hardly lift and tied it around his neck. He jumped into the water and never came out again.

***…Dude…I thought for sure there would be some sort of lesson telling us why its not good to be a bad person. As evidenced by his actions, younger brother was definitely bad. 1- He has definite control issues, 2- he has absolutely noooo conscience, 3- he is a pathological liar, and 4- he is a cold blooded killer. He’s a complete psychopath! And what is his fate? What does Karma have in store for him?? …absolutely nothin. He gets away with it all!!

On the other hand, the lessons that we can glean from this story are…1- If you want to do something right (and insure that no one dies in the process), you better do it yourself, 2- You betta ask somebody if s/he ever tells you someone else is “sleeping,” and 3- Stupidity is bad. If you think you should tie a friggin stone around your neck and throw yourself into a river...then you probably should.

Trip to Japan

2006-07-14T14:47:00.000+08:00

I'm sitting in a cubicle in the back of the Internet cafe in Manila. I usually just take any pc this particular cafe gives me, which is usually in the front near the door...but this time, I asked if I could specifically have one in the back. After having returned from my oh so short trip to Japan...I think I'm just much more conscious of noise pollution. How can I describe my impressions of Japan? Japan is beautiful!! It's quiet, clean, and efficient. People are fast-paced, yet not pushy or overbearing. They are polite and conscious and respectful of others. My brother hit the nail on the head when he said that they are a a society which focuses on the details. I think he's very right about that. And its all of those little details which make Japan such a breath of fresh air and such a pleasant place to be. Another pcv who has been to Japan used the word "sterile" to describe it. Relatively...she may be right.

Most people ride bikes to get around town which helps soooo much with noise pollution and gaseous emissions. Its just an easy thing to do because of the way the cities and towns are structured. Buildings are close together, but at no point do you feel like they're too close or infringing upon your privacy or personal space or anything. We spent one afternoon in a touristy city called Himeji where we were able to borrow bicycles for free! We rode them up to this huge castle up on a hill. It was such a fun way to spend an afternoon.

Most places I went to, I saw absolutely no trash anywhere. First of all...recycling bins are everywhere, so its practically impossible to not throw things away and not throw them into the proper bins when you do. Usually, bottles and cans have one bin, paper another, plastic another, and everthing else goes into the "other" bin. One morning we were caught off guard when we saw a large group of business men and women "in suits" walking up and down one of the sidewalks picking up trash...not sure if it was "corporate clean up day" or if that was normal, daily procedure. There wasn't a ton of trash on the ground to begin with, but what was there, they were sure to take care of. Floors in homes and temples are immaculate because you have to take off your shoes (or occasionally swap them with indoor slippers) before entering. And you must take off your shoes for sure when entering a bedroom or a room with the traditional japanese tatami mats. I've always been one to leave my shoes on when I'm entering a house b/c i never wanted to get my feet dirty. But, b/c no one ever enters these houses, rooms,and temples with shoes, the floors are completely dirt free. At the same time, most people still sleep on mats on the floor, so its good to know that the floor you're sleeping on is clean. You pull them out at night before you go to bed and pack them up in the mornings to give yourself more floor space during the day.

The Japanese deserve a standing ovation for their toilets alone. First off, public restrooms are a plenty and they are always stocked with TP and sinks with soap. Many public restrooms will have both styles of toilets; Western and Japanese. The Japanese style is sort of like a little rectangular pit that you squat over. You only have to use them once to get the hang of them. Most of the time, there will be a handle bar on the wall you face. Grabbing hold of it while squating and then leaning back into the squat helps with balancing. At the same time, the pit will have a grill on it which protects you from any splashing. The western style toilets are the bomb though. Many times, the seats are heated, and they usually come with three different types of badets (splashing which cleans you up after you've done your business). There is also a button you can press which makes the sound of flushing in case you're bashful and don't want anyone to hear you while you're doing your business. And when you actually do flush the toilet, the water used for refilling the toilet is first routed through a small faucet and sink before it makes it to the bowl, so you can wash your hands if you like without having to use more water.

Most people have bathtubs too, but they're a bit shorter and deeper than the ones in the states. Most importantly, they're used solely for relaxation, not for cleaning. Traditionally, one suds up and rinses off while seated on a stool in the shower. After the shower s/he can fill the tub with water just to soak in it. One of the coolest things I had a chance to do while in Japan was experience a traditional, public Japanese bath. You have to bring your own shampoo, soap, and towl. Men and women have their own bathing areas also. You pay to enter first and then you walk into a locker room. Once inside the locker room, you strip down completely and then walk into the bathing area to take your shower. It was much harder to strip naked infront of my friends and a roomful of other women than I thought it was gonna be! It took Peyton and I about 10 minutes of nervously giggling before we had finally stripped ourselves of everything...but we were still tiptoein around with our towels. After a few more minutes, a Japanese lady finally ended up just bluntly telling us that we needed to put our towels in our lockers and make our way to the bathing area. We took our (oh so pleasantly hot) showers while seated on stools. After our showers we had so many bathing pools with so many varying degrees of temperatures to choose from. Also, some had jacuzzi bubbles, others had small water falls...all for massaging and relaxing. However, I made the mistake of walking into a section of one of the pools with friggin voltage running through it!!! And yes, the voltage was meant to be there. It wasn't alot of course, but it was enough for me to feel like there was a definate problem. At first I didn't know what was going on...I just knew something didn't feel quite right with my body. And then I looked down, and saw all the what looked to be "power outlets" submerged along the edge of the pool. I made a little scene when I yelped and jumped out...lots of little Japanese women just started chucklin. Throughout the evening, I saw quite a few women venture into the voltage pool without batting an eyelash.

There are many many other things I'd love talk about as well, but at this point, this monitor's refresh rate is about to give me a massive headache. Also, I just want to post my pics. I'll write more about the trip later. I uploaded pics to my flickr acct. Look under "trip to Japan." I'm a bit confused b/c I rotated all the pics that needed to be rotated before I uploaded...but it didn't seem to take. sorry...I'll try to fix it later.

6-12-06

2006-06-16T18:22:00.000+08:00

We've entered rainy season number 1 of the year. It rains practically everyday now, at almost 2:00PM on the dot. Good for the harvest...bad for one of my only forms of entertainment...basketball. There has been a basketball tournament going on in the plaza for a couple of months now. I'm sure it would have been long over by now, except for the fact that all the games keep getting rained out.

School started last week. Its been good so far. Small groups of students have started using the internet lab again...mostly for just listening to online music. ...I guess I can weather another year of scorpions, guns n roses, and man o war. Its kind of interesting that some of the songs the 15 year old boys love (don't cry tonight, november rain) were popular when I was 15.

Also, a handful of students have approached me about helping with the school's website. As soon as this db is done...which it's almost at the point of implimentation btw, I'll teach a handful of frontpage (and maybe dreamweaver classes) to the interested students so we can start working on a website for the school.

Today was independance day...independance from the US, that is. The Philippines has gained its independance from not only the US, but Spain and Japan as well. I marched in the parade today with all the other teachers from the highschool. (The above pic was taken while I was marching) It felt a little weird...just for a moment that is. ..."Hey Nancy, you want to march in the parade with us celebrating the fact that we finally got those friggin Americans out of our way and off our back." he he... For real though, there was no awkward moment. People truly are happy (I think...I mean they're certainly not hostile or anything) to see Americans around town as well as just tourists in general. Its funny though...I've been in this town for over a year now, and I can still fool people into thinking I'm a tourist. All it takes is for me to put on a backpack or a pair of shorts...and suddenly I'm a new face in town. I think its just that "all white people look the same" thing that throws them off. There is only one difference though between being a tourist vs. not. If ur a tourist, every kid that passes you on the street will call out to you, "hey americano, give me one piso!" ...the general response to that is, "hey filipino, give me one dollar." he he :D

I now have a kadwa (site mate)...a new batch of pcvs has entered the Philippines. They finished their training about two weeks ago and one of the pcvs was placed here in Bontoc with me. His name is Dan. He's a musician from Austin, TX and all around very cool. He'll work with the provincial govt. in attempting to help them solve water supply and waste management issues. He may be a bit overwhelmed at the moment with the tasks that lay before him...but no doubt he'll find his niche soon. He's a smart guy and a fast learner. There were things he picked up on in a week which took me a month or two to actually figure out. ...I've always been a late bloomer, what can I say.

So...I'm taking a trip to Japan in July!!! Teri, the volunteer in Besao is ETing. She's got family in Japan (her mom's side is Japanese) so, she's actually flying to Japan first before she goes back to the US. Peyton, a volunteer in Solano, and I are gonna take a week of vacation and go and visit her while she's in Japan. The funny thing is, Peyton and I will probably get to Japan before Teri does. So, we'll stay in a hotel in Tokyo for the first night. The rest of the time, we'll stay with her and her family in Yokohama, just south of Tokyo. I have no idea what to expect or what we'll do. I'll try googling for some things to see and do before we go, but for the most part, I guess we'll just go wherever the wind takes us, or wherever we have enough money to go (whichever)...I've heard (repetitively) that its not cheap there.

I had a chance to read somemore Igorot folktales and legends the other day. They were sooooo awesome and entertaining...most of them were kinda bizarre actually, but that was one thing that made them so great! There was one legend that detailed the origins of the anus (believe it or not...he he)...I'll post it and a few others next time I get around to writing a blog.

5-21-06

2006-05-22T10:42:00.000+08:00

I've been sitting in front of my computer for about an hour now...knowing that I should write...I should update everyone on what I've been doing and how I'm doing, but, for the past hour, I've been engrossed in my pics. First, I was looking at pics from Bontoc...pics of good times I've had here and of folk I've had those good times with. Then, I mozied over to pics from home. While I was at home over Christmas, I took lots of pics of Tennesse landscape/countryside, and my family's houses (memaw's and papaw's house, Bruce's and Lori's house, and my dad's and Colette's house). I took lots of pics of the city of Nashville also...all with the purpose of showing my host family and others when I returned to Bontoc. I wanted to show them where I come from, what it is I actually call home. To my surprise though, I don't think I showed any of the pics to anyone. Instead, they've turned into somewhat of a security blanket for me. Familiarity can revive the spirits even if it just a pic of a familiar bedroom, bathroom, or kitchen. But, I also feel like I've been in Bontoc long enough now that many things here have become familiar comforts for me also. I always look forward to coming home to my (Bontoc) bed, and my (bucket) shower whenever I travel somewhere else. ...Anyway...I've exhausted the pics now.

Cultural Curiosities...these are a culture's true golden nuggets. They are the small things that truly make a society/culture unique and interesting.

1- I could be wrong, but it seems that the term ma'am is used much more loosely here in the Philippines than it is back at home. I find that I'm addressed as ma'am here alot, even when I'm talking to someone who should be my peer or even if I'm talking with a guy (who I think) is flirting with me. I guess ma'am is just how a guy is going to address a female whom he doesn't know well, or is just meeting for the first time, and who looks to be the same age as him or older (even if its not by much). For any Pinoy who may read my blog though, here is an American high context cultural cue for ya...Back at home, a guy would take his intent with the female into account before he addresses her. If a guy relatively close to me in age addresses me as ma'am, I would know right from the start that he's not interested in flirting with me or has no interest in pursuing me in any way. As well, I would know that for some reason he doesn't even consider me to be in his same peer group, and therefore, an appropriate wall would be built up between us.

2- Circumcision at 8 years old...as opposed to 8 days old. The other morning, I was sitting in front of my house with my little host neice, Lan Lan. She asked me if I was going anywhere that day. I said, "Probably." She said (loosely), "Well, regardless...you gotta come back home by noon...because Rom Rom (my host nephew, Lan Lan's brother) will be coming home from getting circumsized. She proceeded to stand up, tug at her long t-shirt pulling it away from her body and then giggle and hobble around as if she had been whacked on herself. Traditionally, boys get circumsized here at an age when they can not only feel the pain, full force, but they can carry the memory of that pain with them for the rest of their lives. he he. They wear nothing but a long t-shirt for a few days while they heal. Or, if they must wear shorts, they'll wear big ones that can easily be held out away from the body so as to not touch the sensitive, crotch area. I hear that in some places, circumcision is almost a form of entertainment. ...like, at festivals and stuff, nurses will come in and setup booths and offer free circumcisions. And crowds will gather and gawk at some unsuspecting little boy about to embark upon his right of passage. I don't know how true that is though. I've never witnessed circumcision booths anywhere, but then again, there is alot I haven't seen.

3- Old wives' tells- causes and effects

US- If you get caught in the rain...you'll catch a cold

Philippines- If you get caught in the rain...AND YOU DON'T TAKE A SHOWER IMMEDIATELY AFTER...you'll catch a cold. he he...yeah, there is the belief here that pouring water over your head with a ladel somehow counteracts the effects of the rain that fell on your head thereby magically nullifying the onset of a cold.

...I think both of the above are bunk. ;) I like playing in the rain.

US- Beans, beans good for your heart...the more you eat...the more you... In short- Beans=healthy (yet one cause of air pollution). ;)

Philippines- Too many beans can lead to or aggravate arthritis. Therefore, beans=not healthy. Not sure if there is any scientific proof to this? ...I should google it sometime. At any rate, one would think that if this was true, Mexico, Cuba...well, all of latin America for that matter would be full of folk just writhing in joint pain. I mean...folk down south eat beans and rice...practically everyday...for their entire lives! Maybe the fact that millions of hispanics aren't suffering from joint pain is just an example of natural selection at work? Maybe over centuries hispanics joints have developed a tolerance for the euric acid in the beans which Pinoys claim is the true culprit? Hmmm...its worth looking into...maybe.

Work Update-

The DB is coming along slowly but surely. I'm feeling the table layouts and relationships...I think the GUI is aight. At this point, we can input and keep track of the data we want and our query possibilities are many. So, now the issue at hand is reports, or how to get the specific info we want (such as 4 years of any given student's grades) out of the DB and into a layout that looks good when printed. When I inquire about the best way to accomplish this task, folk tell me that that sort of job is usually done in Crystal Reports by programmers, yet, I have no copy of Crystal...and I wouldn't even know what to do with it even if I did have it. At any rate, I'm putting a copy of the DB (first draft) at http://www.mountainhighschool.com/downloads/ for download. For those interested, take a look at it, and make suggestions on my structure. I would greatly appreciate it. Of course you may need to know more about how my school manages student/class enrollment or grades or whatever to give pointers on structuring. If you've got questions for me, I'll get you answers. I also know that I'll eventually have to tackle the issues of data integrity and backing up data as well. Also, I'll need to get answers for questions such as, how much info is too much for the DB to hold? And when will I need to say, export a year of info to make room for a new school year's info?

BTW...the above pic is of my neice, Caitlin. Isn't her hair da bomb! I luv it! :)

5-8-06

2006-05-08T16:22:00.000+08:00

<-------Marky Cielo. I posted some new pics. In doing that...I realized, I'm slacking on the picture taking as well. Not a whole lot of good ones, but nevertheless, I put some new picture groups out there just the same. Enjoy.

5-5-06

2006-05-05T17:44:00.000+08:00

I know what it is now...my blogging pace is just proportional to my pace of life these days. I've gotten used to spending much of my time in transport. Insanely long bus rides (10 hour stretches) can be inviting now...as I know what to expect. ...nothing. I know what is expected of me. ...nothing. They can be down right therapeutic (when they're not too bumpy) as I can just sit there, think, and look out the window, or blankly stare at a Jean Claude Van Dam movie being played on the TV overhead. You never quite know what the temperature will be inside the bus either. But, I have figured out, the more money you pay for the bus ride the lower they set the temperature on the bus. On some of those pricier bus rides, you'll find yourself covering up with the curtain hanging from the window next to you if you aren't thoughtful enough to bring along a jacket. So, yeah...

blog pace proportional to life pace
price of bus ticket disproportional to bus temperature

Today was my first day being back from BMET and I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. These past couple of days I was in Manila...with my only agenda being to peruse the malls and catch a decent movie. After being in the Bicol region for two weeks though, I can tell that it's going to be hard to get back into work mode. I mean...summer vacation + tropical heat + carbs = inevitable lethargy. Side note- according to some, Bontoc has three seasons: rainy, cold, and hot...and right now we're in the hot season. So, BMET technically was a job, I mean, I did work (I was giving workshops over excel), however, someone else wrote the excel teaching material I used, I had two other volunteers helping me with my sessions and, in the end, I only led 2 out of 8 of the sessions. So, all in all, BMET was a cake walk...a vacation. Now, sitting here in my bedroom back in Bontoc, I know that I'm going to have to keep reminding myself that I've already been here for a year and two months!!! And I have no complete database or trainings on the database to show for it. And as of now, I think the only thing my supervisor could give a rat's... about is that I complete it and teach my counter and the administrative officer how to use it. I like that I have such a definitive, concrete goal now. And thanks to Tom Peng, I know what I really need to focus on when it comes to teaching my two co-workers about the DB. ...How to query. If they fully understand the concepts of querying, they can use what I build them for a long time to come. Thanks to Tom, I've also realized that I'm not relying on and taking advantage of the local resources I have around me to their full extent. Eventually, I want to get together with Sir Joel Fagsao, the owner/operator of Xijen, the local tech school in Bontoc to see what type of DB he uses (if any) to keep track of his students' grades and enrollment. And I'd love to collaborate with him on making the DB i've created better so we can both use it in our schools. Last school year, ojts (on the job trainers) from Xijen worked at my high school for so many hours to fullfill a classroom requirement, but honestly, they didn't have much to do. I don't remember them hanging around for very long. ...No one really gave them much to do including myself (partially b/c I didn't know i had the authority to). So, this next year, I think I would be making great use of everyone's resources if I could get the ojts to maintain the DB and help the office workers with any of their DB questions.

So, in my last blog I mentioned that I would talk some about the lang-ay festival that took place a little over a month ago. "Lang-ay" basically means "sharing". Sharing of what...I'm not exactly sure. The festival didn't take place after a harvest season, so I don't think it was a celebration and sharing of the harvest. However, a bit of what was shared was each municipality's unique sub-cultures. During the festival, each municipality was represented by "street dancers" as they were called. Essentially, performers from each municipality put together some sort of dance or display that represented life in their municipality. Side note- Lang-ay is a provincial festival. A province is equivalent to a state. From what I can tell, the Philippines has 80 of them. A municipality is the equivalent of a city. Mountain Province has 10 of them. Anyway, It was great watching each of them and seeing how they all compared and contrasted to one other. All the participants wore their native dress as well. In my opinion, there were three municipalities which really differ from the rest by both music and dress: Barlig, Natonin, and Paracelis. Barlig was the first group to present. Their dress was simple and brown...no fuss, if you will. They performed a scene of everyday life in Barlig: women winnowing the rice, men discussing important community issues at the dap-ay (ato in bontoc which is the "old-school" informal govt. system), and children running and playing. They also sliced a pigs throat (which was exciting yet inconvient for the other groups as it left a small pool of blood on the ground in which they had to avoid as they gave their performances). Natonin...now they had a unique native dress. They are the only municipality I've seen that uses the color blue in their attire and they use it in large doses...forming large blue stripes on their dress. I'm curious to know what they use to create the dye. And when I saw them perform...all I could think of was, acid trip (or atleast what I would think one would be like...as I've never had one). Everyone was kind of doing their own thing...no uniformity and no rhythm. It was like a bunch of solo acts thrown together on one stage at the same time for 8 minutes (all municipalities had 8 minutes to perform). It was confusing...yet really cool at the same time. The men from the next municipality, Paracelis, on the other hand, wore these little red hats with drooping points that vaguely reminded me of elves. They sort of hopped and bounced around to what I found to be such an odd and unique sound and rhythm made from a handful of various instruments. Some instruments were rainstick like...some were made with ridges and were scraped to produce sound. I think gongs were also included in the mix. Now, for all ya'll Nashville folk who were around when Opryland was in existence, specifically during the time of "Chaos,"...remember the crazy sound of the ticking and the tocking of the clocks (minus the woman's voice that would randomly say, "please move quickly through the station...you're time is running out.") while you waited to board Chaos in that never ending line inside that dark and AIR CONDITIONED tunnel? Remember how anxious that sound and that voice made you feel the first time you got in line. ...the deeper you found yourself in the abyss of that tunnel, the more the ticking of the clocks and that voice (implying eminent danger) controlled your heartbeat and played games with your mind. Our time is running out?! OMG!! What's gonna happen when our time runs out?! So...yeah, Paracelis's music kind of reminded me of the ticking and the tocking of those clocks. It was a bit looney...and in the end, it made me nostalgic for 3D glasses and doing 360s around a large movie screen below.

It wasn't the cultural presentations that necessarily brought people out to the festival in droves. It was partially the hopes of seeing "the pride of the Igorot" live and in person!...Marky Cielo...the winner of a Pinoy televised contest, "Starstruck, the nationwide invasion." The contest is basically like American Idol except the American Idol contestants are only expected to sing. Starstruck contestants are expected to be all around entertainers... by singing, dancing, acting, and answering panels questions with clever quips. A cute little Igorot by the name of Marky hailing from Bauko, one of the 10 municipalities of Bontoc made it as a contestant onto the show. Not many people paid attention or really cared one way or another...until a Visayan (someone from the Visayas, one of the three main island groups in the Philippines) jerk opened his bigot mouth. On one of the episodes, Bugz (the Visayan) was asked which of the starstruck contestants he felt was least worthy of winning first place title of starstruck "sole survivor"? Bugz said, "Marky of course, because he's an Igorot." That lit a fire under the arse of every Igorot not only here in the Philippines, but all around the world! Starstruck works like American Idol as well in the sense that viewers vote for the contestant/s they like best via phone. ...needless to say, that next week, Bugz got the boot. I even gave Marky my vote once or twice. he he. But, long story short, Marky ended up winning it all. He was dubbed best entertainer all around and given the title of sole survivor. Since then, he's signed a contract with one of the TV networks and has been on a few TV shows. Let me tell you, people up here in the mountains love that boy! There's been alot of descrimination in the past...the lowlander/Tagalog "man" keeping the mountain folk down and all that. People up here like to tout that now, even an Igorot can break into Show business. Steve, the American ex pat who lives in Sagada likes to joke that Marky's making it on TV hasn't proven anything...or rather, its only proven that the Igorot can now act just as silly as the lowlanders. ...talk about acting silly though. Teri (the pcv in Besao) and I were acting just like teenage girls the night Marky performed in Bontoc during the Lang-ay. The town setup a stage, a few young bands from Baguio performed some covers, and then Marky made his entrance. At one point, she and I felt like booing him b/c he was speaking to the crowd in Tagalog (as oppossed to one of his and the crowd's first dialects, Ilokano). ...We're like..."aw, we see how it is man...get down to the lowland...start speaking Tagalog...and now you think you're better than everybody else, eh?!" joke lang. :P But anyway, we were right behind the stage...and when he started dancing we started screaming like we were 16 at a backstreet boys concert. It was so silly and yet oh so much fun! At one point after the performance, a woman on the stage with him made a comment about him even having fans all the way from America and then looked in our direction. Marky turned, smiled, winked, and we continued to scream. ...ah...good and silly times it was.

Speaking of cute Igorots though...dude...Igorot boyz are hot. Most of them are all ripped with all this great muscle definition and stuff (he he...once again...sounding like the 16 year old with a crush) because most everybody has a job in which they do some sort of physical labor. Plus, there are no couch potatos here. ;P ...a couch is a luxury which no one can afford, and lays potato chips...non existent here in Bontoc. he he. I have a feeling however that most Bontoc men don't understand or agree with most American women though in the sense that when/if we get married, we want oh so much more out of the union than to just cook and clean and crank out babies. But...I could be wrong. ...Anyone up for proving me wrong? he he ...and speaking of babies...Igorot babies are the cutest...OMG! they're the cutest! The above pic is of me and a cutie taken last year during Halloween. She reminded me of little peppermint candy in her red and white striped dress.

I'll try to post some new pics on my flikr acct. soon. ...Just a matter of me going weeding through and finding some good ones. :)

4-12-06

2006-04-12T11:02:00.000+08:00

Yet again, it's been some time since I last posted. The longer I'm here, the more comfortable and used to my surroundings I become. As a result, there are fewer surprises these days and less to talk about. But, no news is good news, right?

Actually...I've been thinking alot about high context vs. low context cultures these days. Mainly, because my experiences over the last year have really forced me to...

Philippines- high context culture
US- low context culture

The following websites are good at quickly explaining what high context vs. low context is...whether it describes a situation...or a culture as a whole:

http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/16618/111/4
http://www.culture-at-work.com/highlow.html

My Experience-

Relative to the US, little is discussed or explained here about any given day to day experience or situation. There is little dialogue freely offered explaining most general goings on, even culturally unique ones I may be curious about. You may ask, "well, maybe folk don't know you're ignorant or curious about any situations or daily goings on. Maybe they don't know you don't understand what's going on, or why, or that you'd like an explanation. Why don't you just ask for one?!" you say. "Go get the explanation instead of waiting for the explanation to come to you!" Ah...if only it were so simple. Well...I have...and I got tired of getting either no responses, OR what I thought were no responses because, in reality, they were really nonverbal cues I was oblivious to.

Non Verbal Cues-

The below are just three that I've been able to pick up on...I'm sure there are many more I'm still oblivious to:

1-slight raising of the eyebrows- yes

example- student walks into the internet lab
me- "do you want to surf the internet?"
student- ever so slightly raises his eyebrows and just stands there.
me (up until just recently)- "err...yes or no?"

2-no response to a yes or no question through text- yes

example- me making sure my laptop wasn't stolen from the internet lab one day when I left the lab open

me (After Vernice texted me informing me that she had arrived just arrived at lab)- "is my laptop still in the internet lab?"
Vernice- no response
me (next day)- showed up praying it was still there. (It was)

example- me trying to setup a meeting with a town official

me- "Can we meet next weekend?"
official- no response
official (a week later at 8:00AM)- "Can you meet me at 8:30AM?"

The only real problem with this protocol is that sometimes text messages don't go through. So...when I don't get a response to my question, I don't know if the recipient's reply is truly a yes, or if s/he just never recieved the text in the first place.

3- Dropping lower jaw so that mouth slightly gapes open- what? Can you repeat what you just said please.

Side Note- Some phonetically spelled verbal cues-

eesh- noise one makes when something is getting on his/her nerves
oh- yes (short for "oh oh" which is yes in tagalog).
mmm-mmm- sounds like an American no, but really means a yes.

No Answer (Verbal or Non)-

However, There truly have been times when I ask a question and I just straight up don't get an answer, verbal or non. I've concluded that it could be for a few reasons: 1- Filipino English vs. American English. Folk may have just plain didn't know I asked a question. Or, my question was heard, but was not understood, yet again for the cultural differences in our spoken English. 2- They just straight up don't want to answer it for one reason or another. That's cool. I can relate. We're all at some point asked questions we don't want to answer. Maybe we're ashamed of the answer. Maybe we're prideful, or defensive, maybe we're trying to protect someone or something, etc. I think in low context cultures, kids are more likely to be verbally scolded for asking someone a "personal question" (or a question that would make one feel awkward or uncomfortable in that particular situation in that particular culture/society). What is personal in the US isn't necessarily personal here and vice versa. I also think that in low context cultures, there is more verbal explanation as to why a question isn't answered. For example, someone might respond with, "I don't want to talk about it" or "It's none of your business," or "Now isn't the time." I think in high context cultures, you're more likely to either get a no response, or a response that grammatically means one thing, but contextually means another. For example, someone may grammatically respond with, "I'll tell you some other time," but may contextually mean, "I'm not going to tell you."

My Reactions-

Too many times I have asked, the five Ws and the one H about something or someone and seriously gotten NO response or a non verbal response (but was unconscious of it). As a result, I would feel hurt and defensive, because I just felt like I was plain being ignored. But, I've since let those feelings go. I've come to realize that I'm probably not being ignored...I just have to look deeper at what is really being said. And, I have come to accept, also, that there will be some things that I'm going to learn here and about here, yet, many, many more things I'm just not going to learn. ...that's life...when you don't grow up in a high context culture.

As bad as it may be, I'm a bit jaded though with asking questions these days, so I don't do it as much anymore. Maybe I'm just getting used to the high context? ...yet when I do ask a question, I'm more strategic than I used to be. I make sure to word questions a certain way and to ask them slowly with specific voice intonations, all depending on the context of the situation. For example, I really have to dwell on the who, what, when, where, or why at the beginning of a question and drag it out longer than I would normally, otherwise do, or else folk may misunderstand me and think I'm asking a yes or no question. And If I don't dramatically raise the tone at the end of a question, signifying that indeed it is a question, I may not get an answer at all.

Other Cultural Curiosities-

I admire and am jealous of boys' and girls' (up into their 20s) ability to show loyalty and comraderie for their best of friends. It's very, very common to see two boys walking very closely next to each other with their arms draped around each others' necks. And then, these groups of two will form even larger groups...so what you end up seeing in the end is a group of about 6-8 boys hanging onto each other parading around town having a good time. Very much unlike the "hands off" approach Americans tend to have with their friends, especially guys. With girls, its very common to see them holding hands...even with fingers intertwined (what Americans would normally witness in a boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife relationship).

Next blog-

I'll talk about Caraa and Lang-ay, two festivals that recently came and went and we're awesome and so much fun!

4-3-06

2006-04-03T16:29:00.000+08:00

I lost my cell phone. :( I'll call Bruce when I get another one and give him my new number.

3-24-06

2006-03-25T12:00:00.000+08:00

I've found myself smack in the middle of another project that will again, consume my time and energy for who knows how long. That can be both good and bad. So, It suddenly came to my attention about a week ago, that my supervisor actually did want a "database" for the highschool. My first problem...I kind of threw the idea of making the school a database out the window a loooong time ago, after pst2, after talking to Thomas Peng (another pcv), and after learning how the school uses (and reuses) the students IDs. Apparantly, its the badge itself, not so much the ID number that the school puts its emphasis on. If a kid shows up to school without his badge...he gets sent home (or atleast is told s/he can't get in the school). If the kid loses the badge...another one is issued...but it will have a different number on it. So, suddenly, the kids got a new (different) ID number. And to add, I've been told that all teachers and/or students have recieved new badges in the middle of a school year before (hence new ID numbers as well) solely because the badges were newer or prettier. I've also been told that at the end of a school year, the graduates ID numbers are taken and redistributed to the newbies. ...so...makes it slightly difficult to use ID numbers as primary keys. My second problem...I never went anywhere with sql or postgresql. ...never got off the ground with it. Therefore, the database I'll be making will be in Access...which is, from what I hear, not a "real" database, and can't hold more than a few thousand entries or it craps out. I have a plan for getting over those two hurdles...because, at this point, I have no other choice but. When it comes to the IDs...I'll slap the last two digits of the students' incoming year on the end. It should be guaranteed that no two students will have the same ID number DURING THE SAME SCHOOL YEAR. So, tacking the students' incoming year onto the end of their ID numbers should make them unique if we want to track students over multiple school years. About the minimal entries in Access... There are about 1000 to 1500 students enrolled at Mountain High during any given school year. So, I'll just have to make a seperate database for every school year. That'll be a pain in the...especially if I get lots of tables going, but...I guess that's the price I'll have to pay (and the school will have to pay...in the meantime...until they actually PAY someone WHO KNOWS WHAT THE HECK S/HE'S DOING to build a real database for them) for me not knowing more about better software. Oh well. :/

This weekend, I've been able to take a break from everything and head down to Baguio. Last weekend was a lot of fun, despite my needing to get away and take a break then too. Two volunteers from the batch before me are ending their services. They had a despedida (going away party) at this cute little lake between Sagada (a town I have mentioned before) and another small town called Besao (which I don't think I've mentioned before). All of us pcvs in Mountain Province were there (6 in all) plus two other pcvs who were travelling through the Philippines and one who was a pcv in the Philippines 20 years ago...and never went home. One of the pcvs travelling through served about 20 years ago in Cameroon, the other had just finished her service in Thailand that prior week. We camped out overnight...and we cooked (well...I didn't really help out :O ...I like to avoid the "too many cooks in the kitchen" problem if possible ) a pig underground. Corey had found some recipe for cooking a pig that way on the internet...thought he'd like to try it at his despedida. They dug a deep pit, placed large rocks at the bottom and then lit a fire in it. They kept the fire burning for about 4-5 hours...to get the rocks super,super hot. All evening we'd have to watch our backs as we stood next to the campfire to stay warm...rocks kept exploding and scattering chunks everywhere. It made for an exciting time. They figured that the cause was water in the rocks expanding. After burning for so many hours, they placed the pig in the pit, covered it with some more hot rocks, placed some sheet metal on top of the pit, and then buried it in dirt to contain it all. We let the pig slow roast all night. The next day, we lit the fire again, cooked the pig a little longer, and by noon it was carved up and ready to be eaten. All in all, the despedida was a huge success. Lots of locals from Sagada and Besao showed up to join in the fun. At one point, I thought two women were going to get in a fight though. The lake has been a point of contention, you could say, between Sagada and Besao because each town thinks its the lake's rightful owner. If you go to Sagada, you call the lake, lake Danum. If you go to Besao, you should call it lake Banao. So, the fact that we had lots of people from feuding towns at the actual location causing the feud, I'd say, did just a little to fuel some fires. Going away parties in the states don't have any real structure to them, normally. Lots of people come, eat, drink, and socialize till they feel like leaving and then they leave. Here, a going away party will probably have a program. There is an mc, an opening prayer, people to give testimonials about those leaving, performances, etc. So, the lady who gave the opening prayer was from Sagada. Apparantly, during the prayer, she went on and on about how Sagada was thankful and grateful for their pcvs, and she didn't mention a word about how Besao was just as grateful too. After the prayer, a couple of Besao women "had words" with the Sagada lady. ...just like a prayer to bring folk together, eh?! he he. But, all in all, It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, I got burned even though I was wearing sun block, but I didn't care. It was a very happy time indeed!! I was outside enjoying the fresh air, running around, and looking at the sun reflect off the lake!! At that moment...I realized that I needed to get out of the internet lab much more often than I do. I came to the sudden realization that I had left a job where I sat infront of a computer all day...to end up at another job...where I was doing the same friggin thing! Keeping busy at school keeps me from getting as homesick as I could be, but it also keeps me from getting outside and enjoying the beauty around me. So...I need to find a happy medium. Guess we all do.

Speaking of enjoyment...or entertainment, if you will...here are few more observations I've made about Filipino entertainment.

1- Laughter- many, many things spark laughter in a Filipino. Laughter can even be the result of things which are very much not humorous. I find myself surrounded by laughter everyday...laughing people all the time. Its good...better than being surrounded by crying people...or angry people, no? ...but I always thought...it would be even better if I knew what they were laughing about. I assumed... I assumed that if people are laughing, its as a result of something being funny. right? And I tried to pin point the humor that would spark laughter. But, many o times, I just couldn't seem to do it. Why not? Well, sometimes, there is just really no humor to pin point. People just laugh...to laugh. In this culture, laughter is just kind of a knee jerk reaction between people in passing, or in conversation. ...when you talk to someone...you just smile and laugh as you do it. And in the end, it makes the place kind of pleasant. I like that. Of course there are jokes, and Bontoc, and the Igorot have their cultural sense of humor, but I'd be wrong if I assumed everything they laugh at is a result of a joke, or something being humurous.

There's quite a bit of nervous laughter too. People can and will "laugh" at tragedy...and like I said...it's not because they think it's humorous. That would be ridiculous. It's just a reaction that's been ingrained in many Filipinos from the time they were small. But, also, on the other side of the coin, could people here tend to have a nihilistic view of life? Seeing as this is a third world country and all...people here are no strangers to tragedy. If, as a society, you experience disappointment, and come to expect disappointment, then, as a society I guess you just learn to deal with it and keep on keepin' on.

Audiences at theatrical productions are prime examples of those who "laugh" at tragedy. The leading lady's lover gets killed...she starts bawlin'...and the audience starts crackin' up. It's like clockwork. he he.

2- The flip flop game- This game is like shuffle board, but with shoes. According to kids, flip flops serve a couple of purposes. First, you can wear em', and when you get tired of doing that...one can serve as a target for the other which you hurl across the asphalt at lightning speed. Put some spin on it though...as if it were a frisbee. Make it slide across the road, and if you hit the other flip flop...you get a point? you win? I'm not for sure of the exact rules, but the kids love it nevertheless! I would have played it when I was a kid, no doubt! :)

3- Music- There are two radio stations in Bontoc which play some good music. To add, they've got a good mix/variety of stuff to listen to. But, unlike the radio stations, the average locals' own personal music collections aren't as diverse, which of course is understandable. As a result though, in and around town, one can tend to hear a few particular songs played over and over again. So, at this point, there are like, three songs in specific, which...if I never heard again...would not be a problem. he he. 1- Remember When- Alan Jackson, 2- Love Me- Collin Raye, 3- High- The Speaks. Everything else...keep it rollin. :)

3-15-06

2006-03-15T20:06:00.000+08:00

good pm all...

I'm so used to text messaging now...that's how most people begin a text message around here. Either good am, or good pm...of course depending on what time of day it is. Sorry it's been a while since I've blogged. I've been super busy with trying to get this cyberfair website out the door ready for the march 17 deadline. This is what I've got so far...just a few little kinks to work out...like, for starters the binary code page banner is suppossed to scroll...and its not doing it. Got a few other things to look at too, but all in all...I'm pleased. Here it is...

http://www.mountainhighschool.com/cyberfair2006/

3-1-06

2006-03-01T16:27:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was the first day for students, faculty, and staff to vote for "Bontoc Woman of the Year." The student govt. did an excellent job on the campaign posters. We hung them in the entrance hallway for all to see as they come and go. As far as voting logistics go, faculty and staff can vote any day and time they like. Students however have to vote during their English classes on a particular day. The first years voted yesterday, the second years will vote today (wednesday), third years on thursday, and fourth years on friday. There are roughly two English classes during any given class period for each year. So, I planned for english teachers to send five of their students to the lab at a time. I figured, I could handle about 10 students voting in the lab at any given time. I set aside two computers to be used for voting only. However, I didn't forsee any of these following factors occuring:

1- A handful of students attempting to dominate everyone's data entry. So many of the first years had never sat infront of a computer before so they didn't really know how to use the mouse or where anything was on the keyboard. And rather than the novice's hovering friends explaining to them how to use the mouse and/or where certain characters were on the keyboard, the hovering friends would just reach over and do everything for them. Even if a novice tried to use the mouse on his own or enter his own info in, if it was "taking too long" some of the surrounding students would show their impatience by barking out the letters of his name (as if he didn't know how to spell it?) or just reaching over and tapping the keys for him. Eventually, I had to camp out between the two computers I set aside for voting to prevent this annoying overtaking from happening. Everytime one of the "backseat drivers" reached over and typed something in for the kid sitting at the computer, I'd just gently lay my index finger on the backspace key and erase it all. I want to encourage students helping students...but I won't encourage students preventing another from learning by doing everything for him. Once everyone realized that every student was going to HAVE TO use the mouse and the keyboard for himself, some learning was able to happen. It was so awesome for me to be able to teach just a few of the little things that we, who have been using computers fo-evuh don't even think about anymore...like...how to capitalize a letter, how to backspace, and how to forward space. I think the mouse is one of the hardest things for novices to learn how to use...especially when your mice are hard to maneuver anyway (most of our mice and mousepads are fairly spent). Lesson 1- Me- "You will not break the mouse...therefore, don't be afraid to hold it and move it!! I don't want to see you daintily touching the mouse, barely moving it...because you're afraid to...for whatever reason." I then (slightly) bang the mouse against the table or tower a few times just to show them that its ok to be rough with it. Then I swiftly move it around the mouse pad to show them that you gotta move the thing if you want the pointer to move. 2- Me-"You can't twist the mouse to move the pointer in the direction you want it to go. You have to keep the mouse vertical and move the entire unit to move the pointer in the direction you want. The mouse and the pointer move in unison. Move the entire mouse to the left, the pointer moves left." 3-Me- "When you want to click on something, like a link for instance, use the left mouse button. The only mouse button you will use while you're voting is the left one."
I envisioned this whole voting thing to be "anonymous" but hindsight makes me chuckle. I'd say there were on average about 5 kids hovering over each of the two computers as someone was voting. This leads me to my next unforseen factor...

2- Voting was basically a group decision. Students were hesitant to vote for any one woman unless they consulted with their friends first. As well, I witnessed many of the "backseat drivers" persuade those sitting at the computers to vote for one woman in particular. I tried encouraging everyone to make his/her own decision and to not be persuaded by anyone else. But it was alot harder to make happen than one would think. I don't know how successful I was in my efforts however. I think it is important to incorporate anonymous voting into this online voting equation, but I don't think now is the best time. Just getting all the students to vote online is my primary purpose.

3- Our internet connection going down. For the past hour, we've had no cell phone signal, hence, no wifi internet connection. We connect via the smart cell phone tower. As a result, two class periods haven't been able to vote today. Hopefully, we'll get connection again soon...atleast before 6. School lets out anywhere between 4:30 and 5:30 depending on whether you're a student in the special science section. (The science section is for the "smart kids" and they have to stay in school an hour longer than everyone else. suxor!) I've planned on keeping the lab open until atleast 6 everyday this week to account for those kids who didn't get to vote during school hours.

As yesterday wore on, I saw some students returning with their friends to show them how to vote too. There was lots of domino effect teaching which was awesome! On average, I've seen lots and lots of new faces in the lab too, mostly because we've lowered the price of internet from 7.5 pesos per hour to 5 pesos per hour. It doesn't seem like that would make a big difference, but needless to say, we've like tripled or quadroupled our earnings for this month as compared to past months. Nevertheless, we're gonna need the extra money to maintain the lab. Mice and floppy drives are continously giving us problems. We should focus on lab maintanance while we can, now that we have free internet for a year (donated by the smart schools program).

While this online voting project was born out of the desire to support International Women's Day, and female Bontoc leaders in general, other positive results will evolve from it too. The ultimate result we'll acheive from this online poll is that every one at the school, be it a teacher or a student, will now have a reason to sit in front of a computer and use the mouse and keyboard. There are many reasons why teachers and students (especially the novices) don't use the internet here in the lab (costs money, all pcs are usually occupied, they're just plain afraid to), however, I feel that one of the main reasons is that they just don't have a reason to. Maybe giving them that reason will be just the push they would need to come in and try it.

After two days of voting, I feel that yesterday was a bit more successful than today. A couple of English teachers forgot to send kids to the lab today, so I've realized that its going to have to be my duty to drop by the classrooms each period and remind the teachers about the voting. However, in the end, I feel that if atleast half the kids and faculty vote for "Bontoc Woman of the Year," then this whole thing will have been successful.

2-24-06

2006-02-24T18:11:00.000+08:00

Just incase you happened to read that the Philippines is in a state of national emergency...here is the official Peace Corps info on that.

"You may have heard on radio and have seen news reports on television of several protest rallies in several places in Metro Manila today. These rallies are organized by anti-administration groups as their way of celebrating the 20th anniversary of EDSA I revolution and to continue their protest against President Arroyo. (As a brief background, EDSA I revolution happened in Feb 22-25, 1986 which resulted in Marcos leaving Malacañang and going to Hawaii.)

In addition, there had been reports that some elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines were plotting a coup d’ etat but this has been discovered and the authorities have detained the coup plotters.

Malacañang has issued Proclamation 1017 declaring a State of National Emergency. The proclamation means that the President/State can temporarily take over or direct the operation of any vital industries or businesses that impact public interest, i.e., electric utilities, gasoline refineries, media, transportation and prevent all forms of protests and anti-government demonstrations.

This declaration does not affect us in any way. But we would like to remind volunteers that one of the bedrock principles of the Peace Corps is to remain apolitical in our service. This is especially important during this time. We would like to advise volunteers to defer non-emergency travel to Manila. Volunteers on official travel to Manila are advised to stay away from protest rallies and keep a low profile."

2-23-06

2006-02-23T18:36:00.000+08:00

Here's a link to the geocities website I threw together to make this women's day survey happen. The students won't actually vote for the "best" candidate until sometime next week. It all depends on when the student government officers finally finish their campaign posters so we can hang 'em up for public viewing. I left the Acacia link open so you can see the lil survey I put together. Surveymonkey is great except each FREE survey only allows for up to 100 responses. There are almost 1500 students at Mountain High, so to get around this problem, I decided I'd create 1 survey per student section. Each year contains a handful of sections and each section contains about 50 students or so.

http://geocities.com/mountainhighschool/vote_here

The next link is to our purchased domain. I just got the info today and haven't had a chance to play around with it yet. Looks like the site was created in Moodle. I've got alot to learn about it. I'm really just dyin' to get out of Bontoc this coming weekend...I just want to go to Baguio...see a movie...get a iced latte from Figaro (coffee shop)...let my brain rest for a while and just be entertained. But, I got toooooo much to do. It's been a while since I've been able to say that...so I guess I shouldn't complain.

http://mountainhighschool.com/

By the way...for those of you who may not know, I'm very very far from the landslides that happened in southern Leyte. As a matter of fact, today is the first time it's rained here in probably about a month...and the rain lasted maybe an hour or so. Pretty devastating though what happened in Leyte. One volunteer whose site was...well...where most of the devastation occurred probably wouldn't be here today if he hadn't of been in between islands on a boat at the time of the slides. He lives in a hut next to a basketball court. Last I heard, they were using the court to lay dead bodies out on for identification. The volunteer, oddly enough, used to work for an avalanche search and rescue team back in Utah, so he could have helped out in the situation. However, Peace Corps told him that he should just leave the area to ensure his safety.

2-15-06

2006-02-16T19:59:00.000+08:00

I've found myself suddenly in the thick of lots of projects...and its great! I'm so happy to be so busy! I feel really productive and for the most part, I really like the projects that I'm working on. I think they're truly beneficial and reflect well my reason for being here. Here's a rundown on what I've recently been spending my days working on:

1- CyberFair 2006 and Philippine CyberFair 2006

What is CyberFair?
 CyberFair is a world-wide educational competition for schools and youth organizations everywhere
 It organizes teams of students to conduct research on the community’s culture and then publish the findings to the Web.
 A competition that challenges students to incorporate this year’s theme of “preparing for the future” into their research findings.
 A competition that challenges students to spotlight people or things in their communities which inspire, motivate, and/or encourage positive change.
I've organized a handful of students at the highschool to research certain unique cultural aspects of Bontoc. One student (Joain) who I think is brilliant will write about the "emancipation of the Igorot," as he likes to put it. According to him, the Igorot have historically been looked down upon by the lowlanders. The lowlanders have propogated silly but discriminating ideas of who the Igorot are. Lowlanders used to poke fun at the Igorot saying that all of them had tails. Suppossedly, the idea that they had tails came from the look of the Igorots' traditional dress. Women wore tapis with intricately woven belts. The belts tied and hung down in the back giving the ever so slight appearance of a "tail". The same went for the mens' wa-is (g-string). A section hangs down in both the front and back. Additionally, there are still many lowlanders who think that most of Mountain Province is still without electricity. Traditionally, lowlanders have viewed the Igorot as being a backward people with a backward culture. And Joain feels that it's just now that the lowlanders are beginning to view the Igorot as fellow Filipinos and are just now beginning to show them the respect that they duly deserve. Ronald (another student) on the other hand, "interviewed" an influential community member and leader. I say "interviewed" because it really consisted of me chatting with the community member for about an hour about his life and work and then passing a handful of written questions from Ronald on to him to be answered and picked up the next day. Unfortunatly, time conflicts kept Ronald from being able to meet with the gentleman to actually interview him live. But, anyway, the community member Ronald asked questions of was Sir Ventura Bitot, a theatrical director who focuses on writing and directing plays derived from Bontoc folktales and music. I've seen his play, Chinayao (the name of a young woman from the province of Kalinga, which is just north of Mt. Province), twice, and will see his play, Lumaiwig (the name of the Igorots' god) this coming up April during Mt. Province's Lang-ay festival (provincial festival). Carl will write about Bontoc music, Asunsion will write about Bontoc folktales, and a handful of students will write about tatooing, weaving, and pottery making. If all goes well, by March 17 (which is the contest deadline) we should have a website reflecting Bontoc culture that we can all be proud of. I've asked the CEO (Sir Joel) of a local technical school (Xijen) if he could supply a few of his students who are learning web design to build the website around all of the highschool students' research. This monday should be our first meeting depicting the first draft of the website layout. I'm in the process of purchasing the domain name mountainhigh.com from a Filipino webhost (bayanwebhost.com). If all goes as planned, by March 17, you should be able to go there to see our site. Other than the fact that bayanwebhost is economical, local, and Xijen uses them for their hosting needs, The fact that they offer instant access to moodle already installed on a server ready to go was just one more reason I chose them over other hosting companies. Before I go back to Nashville, i'm going to get some teachers hooked on giving their students online lessons and exams using moodle.

2- CGHNAAI SE chapter- This stands for the Chinese General Hospital Nurses Alumni Association International Southeast chapter...yeah, that's a mouthful. :) I'm a liaison for a group of Filipina nurses in Nashville who have a vision and requesting my help in carrying out that vision. They hope to sponsor the vocational education of some Filipino orphans here in the Philippines. I'm in the process of collecting two types of info for them. 1- info on vocational schools in Bontoc, Baguio, and Metro Manila. 2- Info on possible candidates for the sponsorship. Most of these candidates would probably come from DSWD centers in either Baguio or Manila. DSWD centers are sort of like orphanages or group homes I guess you could say. I'm actually scheduled to meet with a bunch of DSWD officials tomorrow so they can help me brainstorm possible criteria that CGHNAAI could use to help determine possible candidates for sponsorship. Ultimately, I'll compile a bunch of questions derived from the brainstormed criteria and organize them into a sort of application form the youth can fill out with the help of their social workers. I've realized though, I may be trying to "invent the wheel" if you will. Meaning...I may be trying to gather criteria and create an application from scratch when similar applications may already be in existence. I'll still brainstorm with these officials tomorrow to see what criteria they can provide me, but I'm sure there are some application forms floating around Bontoc already. I'm sure CGHNAAI isn't the first organization that has wanted to help sponsor youth's education here, and I'm sure it won't be the last.

3- USEC Grant- I'm in the process of writing a grant to the United States Embassy Club. The grant is for approximately php70,000 to upgrade the two computer labs in the highschool. Essentially, we would be adding usb ports to the all systems in the downstairs lab, and adding memory and nics to all the systems in the upstairs lab. We'd then upgrade all the systems upstairs from ME to XP. Finally, we'd connect the upstairs lab with the downstairs lab so it could feed off of the downstairs lab's internet connection. The peace corps approved the grant, and said it looked good, but they told me that it needs to be rewritten into a different format...which is a huge pain in the... As well, it needs to be summed up and translated into either Ilokano or Bontoc! The deadline for this round of grant reviews is Feb 17. Needless to say, we won't make this deadline. But, I think we'll be ready to turn in the grant request when the next review rolls around in about 3 months.

4- International Women's Day 2006- In the states, I was never one to care much about women's day or for that matter, any sort of holiday or celebration revolving around a particular race, sex, or orientation. But, when the pc emailed me info discussing women's day, for some reason, I thought to myself, "I really outta do something with this." Women in the states are really encouraged to become leaders and decision makers. They're encouraged to think and to think outside the box nonetheless, just like anyone in the states would be. Gender roles are relatively more distinct and traditional here I think. Here, women aren't looked down upon if they're strong leaders. They aren't kept from leadership roles, but I'm not sure how much they're encouraged to pursue them either. It seems most people here (men and women alike) would be content for females to just get married and have babies. And if they have to work, to maybe work some sort of domestic helper job. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with having babies and being a mother...maybe someday I will be one if the good Lord permits me to be. But, what's so wrong with having other options? Sometimes, in the states, I would feel like I had so many options, so much possibility, so many directions I could turn and go in...that sometimes, i would end up not going anywhere or doing anything...as if i were a deer in headlights. But, atleast I had options. At any rate, Vernice and I have come up with a cool plan on how to combine the celebration of Women's day with ICT. Tomorrow I'm going to round the student govt. up and have them come up with a handful of women they feel represent strong leaders and good decision makers in the community. They will then have approximately one week to make posters campaigning for these women and detailing what makes them strong leaders in the community. They'll hang the posters up in a centralized location in the school. Each student will have about two days to look them over and determine who s/he feels is the best leader. I put together a really simple website at geocities.com and added some links to some surveys I made out at surveymonkey.com. Friday, Feb 24, each student will have the chance to go to the internet lab and vote for his/her favorite candidate online. That next monday, we'll announce the winner after the flag raising ceremony. We'll then ask the winner if she can come and speak to the school on March 8...just to give a simple talk about her life and work and what drives her to be a strong leader and good decision maker in her community.

I'm helping out with a few other little things, but these are the big projects that I've been working on and juggling for a while now. They will all take much time and patience to bring to fruition, especially the mamoth undertaking of CGHNAAI. But, I truly feel that in time, everything will work out as it should. And I know that in the end I'll be able to look back on the successful completions of these projects with pride.

2-5-06

2006-02-05T15:47:00.000+08:00

This is a whole new blog writing environment for me. I usually type away in my bedroom late at night, but alas, my laptop is broken, and I can't handwrite worth a darn. So, I've found myself in the school's computer lab on a hazy sunday afternoon to see if I can successfully crank out an updated blog entry everyone. This past week has given me soooo much to write about. And I've wanted to write several times, but as I just mentioned, the ol dell inspiron 300M let me down. There's a short in the motherboard it seems. The system will power on just fine and it'll run for about 10 minutes, but then it will just die. If I turn it back on, it'll last an even shorter amount of time. I took the cru (customer removable unit) memory out and I still had the same problem. I think the other stick of mem is sodered to the motherboard, I'm not for sure...and I'm hesitant to take the thing apart just yet. I know a man here in Bontoc who knows someone who sells Dell parts in Manila. I'm crossin my fingers hoping he sells mbs for 300Ms. If so, that would rock...if not, It'll be another year till I have a working laptop again. I'd rather front the money for a mb and fix this one than buy a whole new laptop. I like my dell...when it works that is. Plus, it's cute. :)

Unfortunately, my host uncle passed away about a week and a half ago. He had a second stroke while I was away at PDM. He never recovered from that one. So, this past week, I found myself in the thick of what I feel to be one of the most unique and interesting aspects of the igorot culture. I was in town one evening when my host mom called me. She told me that Manong Richard had just passed away, and she proceeded to ask me if I could come home right away and retrieve my hanging (yet dry) clothes off the line out back. I said, "Sure thing, I'll be right there." I soon realized the reason for quickly putting everything away. When I walked in the door, there were already several family members (who don't live with me) at our house rearranging furniture and deep in preparation for Manong Richard's atchog (wake). The living room was transformed into a quasi funeral parlor complete with backdrop and flowers (all so bright and beautiful and made out of paper nonetheless). The frontyard and street infront of the house were covered by tarp which some of the men had jimmy rigged to shade everyone from the sun, or protect them from the rain. The backyard basically became the kitchen, as that's where all the killing and cooking was done. And the upstairs sitting room become a dormitory for all those quests who were eventually overtaken by sleep. That night family were busy preparing, yet, overall pretty quiet despite the fact that a handful of them including auntie jo spent the wee hours circled around Ken (my host brother) and his guitar singing and communing. That next morning, auntie jo told me that they would be bringing uncle Richard home sometime that day. Yes there are funeral homes in the Philippines, and even in Bontoc for that matter, but the norm is to bring your dead relative home for the wake instead. Only the natay (dead) who have no family in Bontoc will have an atchog in the Bontoc funeral home. I left for school that morning, as I had a meeting with both my supervisor and a peace corps staff member from Manila. The staff member (Nellie) and I talked alot about the proper social protocal I should take in reference to the wake. I really had no idea what I was supossed to do... was I supossed to stay at the house and help out the family? Was I supossed to go to school, but then go home straight after? Was I supossed to just kind of stay out of the way? The night auntie jo called me telling me that Manong Richard had passed away, she told me that it might be a good idea if I stayed in a hotel for the next couple of days. She informed me that wakes consist of lots and lots of people constantly coming in and out, singing, talking, laughing, gambling, and some people getting drunk...and being really loud for a few days. Side note- In the past, the number of days a wake would last would traditionally depend on whether or not the family was Kadangian (rich/well off). The more rich and powerful the family, the longer a wake they were allowed. but, anyway, I know that aunty jo suggested that I stay in a hotel because she didn't want me to be uncomfortable, but, nevertheless, I told her that I preferred to stay at the house. After all, I didn't travel to the otherside of the world to NOT experience the culture... no matter how loud or sleepless it could be. Sure enough, her description of the wake was right on target. There were people in and out all night long paying their respects to Manong Richard who at this time, ever so peacefully lay on his bed. Traditional igorot culture states that the dead isn't really dead until 1- older men in the family or community arrive and claim that he is dead and then, 2- the "dead" is placed in the coffin. Tradition states that he's not necessarily sleeping in the dictionary's sense of the word, because obviously, he can't be awaken, but rather, he's stuck somewhere in the middle between the two. Once the proper relatives had arrived, Manong Richard was placed in his coffin, memorial candles were lit, and the community's Anglican priest led a small memorial service. After the service the singing commenced. Song books put out by Bontoc's senior citizens club were passed around to everyone. Someone would just call out a page number, start singing the song on that page, and then everyone else would just jump in as they felt led. The song book was an interesting mix of old church hymnals, American folk songs (like "Clementine", "The Tennessee Waltz", "I've been workin' on the rail road", and Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind"), and traditional Bontoc folk songs in the Bontoc dialect. From start to finish, I'd have to say they probably sang every song in the book 4 or 5 times over. However, little of my experience at the wake consisted of singing. I spent much more of it talking with and meeting people. As unfortunate as it was that such an amazing gathering of people had to take place because of someone's death, it was still such an awesome opportunity for me to meet lots and lots of people in my community and practice speaking to them in Ilokano and even a little bit in Bontoc. The first night after Manong Richard was placed in his coffin, I stayed up till about 2 mostly chatting with a small group of guys in the backyard. The second night, folk busted out the gambling tables which were placed in the street infront of my house. Only guys and maybe a couple of "tomboys" or "T-birds" (the official Filipino terms for dykes) took part in the gambling card game (which they call "Monte" and I have yet to learn how to play). A few plastic cups were strategically placed in the middle of the tables so that every winner had to chip in a certain percentage of his winnings as condolences to the grieving family. There was even a man on guard making sure that every winner did indeed give up his fair share. As well, its tradition that if you attend the wake, you are to offer the grieving family a small amount of cash sealed in an envelope. I guess that tradition is more similar to wedding traditions in the states where one could logically present the bride and groom with money rather than a gift, however at funerals I think we really just stick with sending wreaths or flowers? I'm not so sure. I haven't been to too many funerals in the states. While the gambling was going on in the street, cooking going on in the backyard, sleeping going on upstairs, and singing going on in the "living room," I sat in the front yard chatting with neighbors and other fellow community members. My favorite people to talk to are the little old women with their tapis skirts, snake bone hair accessories, and bare, gnarled up feet. I sat on a log next to one of them and proceeded to ask my list of questions I feel somewhat comfortable asking in Ilokano and, to boot, are fairly common questions to ask a stranger anyway. Ania ti nagan mu? (what is your name?), Ayanna ti balay yo? (where is your house/where do you live?), Adda ti asawam? (Are you married?), Adda ti anak mu? (Do you have any children?), Adda ti kabsat mu? (do you have any siblings?), etc. I've probably got about 10 more questions I could whip out, and then everything else I say probably wouldn't make much sense...but I say it anyway. :) I always ask them if they know how to harvest...which always makes them laugh. And it never fails to surprise them when I tell them that I've harvested (three times now...I went to harvest another field again about two weeks ago.) Side note- the rice from this second harvest season didn't grow nearly as tall as the rice from the first season, so needless to say, my back was friggin killing me at the end of the day. They have a rhyme that goes, "planting rice is never fun. bent all day till the setting sun." Yep...it's true. I wouldn't exactly call it fun anymore. However, I do see myself helping harvest a handful of more times before it's all said and done. I'm learning that there is actually a strategy to harvesting quickly and efficiently. The first time I harvested, I thought to myself, "dude...why don't these folk just cut all this rice down with big scissor like tools? The lakerm we use only let you cut one rice stalk with every flip of the wrist, while scissors...now you could cut several stalks with one cut!" ...but in the end it would still be less efficient. But, alas...I'm getting off topic again. Back to the atchog... Eventually, the day came when all the family and friends had to say their last goodbyes to Manong Richard. Before this moment, the wake had been strangely upbeat and happy, with folks laughing, singing, and gambling. But, with the funeral coming closer, the atchog really did take on a more solemn feel. Tears fell as the lid was placed on the coffin. The crowd piled out of the house and slowly followed the pallbearers carrying Manong Richard's coffin on their shoulders, down the street toward the catholic church. A short funeral service was held at the church and last rights (I guess? I'm not catholic) were performed on him. Auntie Jo approached the podium and said a few words about her family, friends, and her brother especially. She said that the last words she exchanged with Manong Richard were in anger. They'd had an argument. Manong Richard had been recouperating at home after his first stroke and he was getting better and stronger everyday. But, he was on medications, and the doctor told him that whatever he do, he was not to drink any alchohol at all, for there could be adverse effects. One evening, Manong Richard wanted to go outside and be with his barkarda (group of friends), but auntie jo knew he would drink if he did this. Despite her attempts to persuade his to stay inside, he went out anyway. Sure enough, he drank. That next day, he had his second stroke from which he never recovered. She told the congregation that if it wasn't for his drinking, he would still be here with us today. I suppose it was good that she was able to say this, as they were things that she really needed to get off of her chest I guess. Since the funeral, the family has stayed at home all day everyday. Traditionally, the family attends mass every morning for 8 days, but other than that, they just stay home all day everyday and tend to a continuous burning pile of charcoal in the front yard. Igorot belief is that the smoke from the burning charcoal drives away any evil or unwanted spirits. The 9th day after the funeral which is called the novena is celebrated by attending early morning mass and then inviting family and friends to your house for either breakfast or lunch afterward. I haven't been home in a few days...I just came from Sagada. I went there to experience their yearly festival. But, it'll be good to get home. I'm sure aunty jo will be there making sure that the coals are still burning and Manong Richard's memorial candles are still aflame.

1-26-06

2006-01-27T09:17:00.000+08:00

The technical aspect of my job here as a pcv grows more interesting day by day. I just recently returned from a weeklong pcv training about 45 minutes outside of Manila (Maynilad to be pc). The name Manila used to consist of two words, "may" and "nilad." "may" means, there is, similar to "hay" in spanish and "nilad" is a mangrove plant which used to grow on the banks of one of the Philippine rivers. But, anyway, the training I attended was extremely helpful, and honestly, quite crucial to my stay here being a success. The training was a project design and management workshop. I attended it with my counterpart, Vernice, who by the way totally rocks and is such a great friend and coworker. I feel that Vernice and I work really well together. She's a really detail oriented person and I appreciate that. I'm just a wanna-be detail oriented person. Sometimes, I'll be sure to dot all my "i"s and cross all my "t"s, but most of the time, I forget some. She always seems to catch what I miss and she has the ability to tie up all my loose ends and make sure everything comes together in the end. To boot, she thinks big and takes risks. With her by my side, I know that my time here in the Philippines will be fruitful for all. But, anyway, the project design and management workshop, or the PDM, as we call it for short taught me so much about the step by step process of seeing a project through from its inception during brainstorming sessions to its evaluations, months after its been completed. The PDM facilitators broke down the process of PDM into the minutest of detail. They addressed just about any and all issues one must consider and address when facilitating or overseeing a project. They approached PDM from so many angles and covered so many concerns related to managing sustainable projects. I feel so enlightened now, love ko to! (I'm loving it! This phrase by the way can be found in McDo's ie McDonald's adds). I feel like I could atleast go back to the states now and get work as some sort of team leader or project manager. Guess I had better put my newly acquired knowledge to use here first...and see if it actually does do anybody any good. ;) The facilitators decided that the best way to teach us the proper steps to PDM was to have us work one on one with our counterparts, brainstorm, and plan in detail a project that we could work on with and in each of our communities. Vernice and I have planned to set up an audio visual room (AVR) in the school. About 3 months ago, I facilitated a workshop for the teachers on how to create powerpoint presentations, in the hopes of my supervisor that they would start presenting some of their lessons to their students using powerpoint. The workshop was a partial success. About 10 teachers showed and enjoyed themselves. We played a few games using powerpoint, then I lectured for a bit. Lastly, I had them create simple, sample presentations to ensure that they knew the basics of powerpoint. However, in order for them to fully complete the workshop and receive their certificates of completion, they were to submit one of their future lessons to me in powerpoint format by the end of that next week. I would look over the lesson with them, help them improve it if necessary, and then present them with their duly earned certificates. ...Did any of this happen? Saan, haan, hindi, baken, adi (all various ways to say, no!) Absolutely no one completed this task. No one submitted any lessons to me. I gave out no certificates. I had been for sure that almost all of the teachers would have jumped at completing this task too, as accumulation of workshop certificates is how all govt. employees rise the ranks and recieve raises. After some serious thought however, Vernice came to a good conclusion as to why no one completed the final task of my workshop. Why should they? Even if they do convert one of their lessons into powerpoint, what good will it do anyone. Its practically impossible for them to show presentations to their students anyway. Few classrooms are dim enough to show a good projection. Not all classrooms have a good wall for a projection. Few classrooms have the proper electrical outlets to hook up the necessary equipment for a presentation. The school has no laptop to tote from classroom to classroom, and who wants to carry a tower all over the school grounds? To add, a teacher is lucky enough to have a workable classroom, by the time s/he gets everything setup, half the class period would be over. ...Hence the creation of the AVR! If we could keep all our audio visual equipment in one central location, in one dim classroom, the teachers can come to it, rather than the other way around. No more having to spend 30 minutes setting everything up. It will always be ready to use. All the teacher has to do is insert her storage device, open her presentation, and she's ready to go. The AVR will also open doors to other fun things such as movie nights to help the school earn some cash which we'll use to help maintain the AVR (cause you know the lcd projector's bulb is gonna blow sometime). At the PDM, Vernice and I created a 13 slide presentation on the feasibility and necessity of this AVR which we will present to my supervisor (who we refer to as "ma'am") tomorrow. The presentation is mainly for formality's sake, however, as ma'am has wanted this AVR from the on-set. There will be no real convincing involved, just the act of presenting a project and the "who"s, "what"s, "when"s, "where"s, "why"s, and "how"s involved in it. And its good practice for when Vernice and I will really have to someday pitch a project idea...and try to sell the community on it.

After the PDM, I spent a few days in Manila. Every time I go there, it gets easier and easier to get around without having to rely on the thievin' taxi drivers. They are the devils incarnate no joke. They will take as much money from you as they can get their grimey little hands on, plus your soul if they're able to get away with it. I have outright argued with taxi drivers before and I am very much not the confrontational type. There is a freedom in being able to bounce from LRT to MRT at the drop of a hat and I'm willing to venture in a series of jeepneys to get where I need or want to go. I am at the taxi drivers' mercy no more!

One day, I made my way to SM megamall, one of the many, many beautiful and bountiful malls Manila has to offer. There is even a small ice skating rink in the middle of its ground floor. Luckily for me, however, I was there the day a celebraty...a superstar, to state the exact words that were used, was to make a showing. Who was it exactly that was going to make an appearance? John Lloyd Cruz? Aga Mulach? Some other cute Filipino tv/movie star? Or could it have possibly been a foreigner, a Canadian pop singer like Avril Lavigne (there are billboards of her up all over manila, you know), or maybe some European, Korean, or Japanese? I turned to look at the large poster hanging above the table where the "superstar's" press conference would take place. Who was mentioned on the poster you ask? ...who in the whole wide world could have been mentioned on this poster? ...well...none other than Mick Folley, of course. Mick Folley?! This poster says, meet American SUPERSTAR, Mick Folley. All I have to say is, who the heck is Mick Folley?! What was even more confusing was the poster didn't even try to make him out to even remotely look like a "superstar." He looked like some trailor trash redneck. And turns out, I guess that was the look he was going for...turns out he's a professional wrestler. ...used to go by the name "Mankind" which I do vaguely remember hearing around the way when I was in elementary or middle school...I think. ...I'll never get over how much Filipinos love wrestling. It's like a total family affair here. In my personal experience, it seems that just as many people here love watching wrestling as they do any other sport such as basketball or soccer. It's interesting to compare the different societal views wrestling takes here vs. the US. Its normal to put professional wrestling and basketball on the same level here, but in the states, they are seen as apples and oranges. And seemingly normal and intelligent Filipinos can be and are hardcore wrestling fans, but in the states, we consider wrestling to be entertainment for the less than average of intelligence. Its hard for Filipinos to understand this view most Americans take, and I still find it fascinating to observe how professional wrestling is a nation wide craze here...perhaps the "All Filipino pastime". I do have to admit though, I have a new found respect for this Mick Folley character. He's done alot of great things for many Filipinos. He's donated much of his time and money to the less fortunate here and in the states. He's even opened a few schools here and sponsored many a kids' education. So...despite his chosen profession, he's got my support and respect. :)

By the way, happy 32 years today Bruce! I hope its a good one for you! luv ya lots!

1-14-06

2006-01-20T08:44:00.000+08:00

I've turned over a new leaf since I've been back. Is it such a bad thing that negative reinforcement drives me so much?? My embarrassment at this past language camp has truly lit a fire under me. Why the embarassment? ...err...my Ilocano SUCKS!! There are only four of us pcvs including myself out of 80 who are continuing to learn Ilocano. Almost every pcv attended a language camp, so that ratio should give you an idea of how many different dialects there are in this country. At any rate, two of the three pcvs who were with me in Caba were talking up storms in Ilocano. And their vocabularies are amazing. And then...there was me. My ability to speak Ilocano, much less Bontoc, is pitiful at best. Truthfully, I'm not surprised though. Before Christmas, I never made an effort to speak in Ilocano with anyone. On a more positive note though, currently, my comprehension could be worse. I'm able to understand much more now than when I first got here 9 months ago, of course, but seriously...my ability to speak...it's worsened. When I first got here, I made tons of flash cards, and I would study them for about an hour a day. And I was forced to attempt to speak Ilocano in my classes. But, when those classes ended, so did my attempts at speaking. I think there was just so much other stuff I felt I needed to tend to all the time, that I always put learning the language on the backburner, thinking that eventually, it would just come to me. But, now, it seems that the only words I am able to say are the ones that I learned in the beginning. My embarrassment at language camp was so bad that it has forced me to almost quit speaking English altogether here. I've come to realize that without a complete English cutoff, I'll never get over my "not knowing how to say anything" hump. The no english thing is actually going better than i thought. I've completely thrown my fear of sounding like a bumbling idiot out the window. I use the few words I do know to ask simple questions to learn new words. ...not rocket science. ...can't believe I'm just now starting to do this...9 months into my stay here. Oh well...better late than never. The good thing though is people see that I really am trying now, and I think that they really do appreciate it. Some Ifontoc's English is better than others. My host sister isn't the most agile in her English. And now, I can tell she's relieved to be able to speak to me in Ilocano. She doesn't even try to speak to me in English anymore, which, in turn, I appreciate. The one problem I've encountered though is...there are still many folk who "refuse" to speak to me in anything other than English. I could speak to them in Ilocano till I was blue in the face, and they would still speak to me in English. I think their purpose is three fold. 1- they think they're making me more comfortable by speaking to me in my own language, 2- They want to "impress" me and any others who may happen to be listening by their ability to speak English, and 3- They want to use me to help them improve upon their English. That's all fine and dandy...except...I'm here to build MY vocab people! ...and I can't do that if you never give me any. However, if I continue to speak in only Ilocano with some bontoc thrown in there (to spice it up), ultimately, I can't go wrong.

A bit of sad news...my host uncle, manong Richard, had a stroke while I was in the states for Christmas. And, to add insult to injury, it happened on my host mother's birthday. Originally, the doctors said that he probably wouldn't survive...and if he did survive, he would probably be a vegetable. Apparantly, Lan Lan (my host neice) came home and found him slumped over and unresponsive. She ran outside to get help. Lucky for us, we live literally 5 houses down from the hospital. Good news, he's doing very well as of now. He can sit up and move his arms. He has lost his speech though. To relieve some of the tension, my host mom joked with us that he and baby Yanni (the little one year old he used to babysit everyday) will definately make a good pair, once manong Richard comes home. ...neither of them can talk.

On to a more upbeat topic...I accompanied Vernice to the market the other day so she could get her haircut. Of course, one of the town's bakla, Rose (Mark is his real name) cut it for her. I saw him cut two other women's hair too. ...same exact cut! ...on all three of them! I think he may do just one cut!? Like...it's his specialty of something. But, it was cute. ...Kind of a whispy bob. But anyway, I was talking with him, and he decided that I should have an Igorot name. Most people born and raised in Mt. Province and other provinces here in the Cordillera region have two names...an anglo name and a tribal name. Seems as though most people just go by their anglo names though. At any rate, Rose decided that I should be called Songdy (pronounced song die). It doesn't mean anything. :( But, I like it alright. :) It's easy enough to remember. And I'll always think of it when I hear any one of Britney Spears songs. ..."man! I wish that song would friggin die already!" :P yeah...that was a really lame joke. :)

1-7-06

2006-01-07T17:46:00.000+08:00

Observations upon reentry of US:

1- snoooooooooow! I pointed the Detroit snow out to the little non-English speaking Korean woman sitting next to me on the plane. She in turn said something to me in Korean and then giggled.
2- birds...and lots of 'em...flying south in V formation no doubt! I think we have more bats here in Bontoc than birds. And it doesn't get cold enough here for the birds that we do have to fly south.
3- To say that Americans are fast walkers is an understatement. Good thing corduroys aren't as fashionable now as they were in the 70s and the comeback 90s. sparks would have flown and fires would have been lit right there in the Detroit airport.
4- Americans are FFFFAAAAAATTTTTT!!!! Well, atleast folk in Clarksville, Nashville, and Russelville are since those are the only three places I went while at home. My quick statistics say that for every 100 thin Ifontok (person from Bontoc) there are two or three fat ones. Reverse those numbers for Americans. why? Note- Nancy, take mental note so you don't blow up when you go back home for good. he he
A- Americans don't walk anywhere. Well, atleast in Nashville we don't. And I can't blame us. I mean...everything is so dang far apart! And public transportation is pitiful to say the least. People have no choice but to buy their own car and drive it all over creation (which we're fortunate to be able to do, but it makes it harder for us to live a healthier lifestyle being in our cars all the time). I really like the way Nashville is layed out, don't get me wrong. I wouldn't change that. I wouldn't bunch everything up to make everything within walking distance. But, if Nashville had a transit system like Manila, that would rock! Metro Manila is really really spread out and its public transportation is great! Of course, fewer people can afford cars there too, so the govt. has no choice to give its people a decent mode of public transportation.
B- Americans are in the mindset that one must excercise to lose weight. Filipinos laugh at excercise. Get really tired and sweaty for an hour to an hour and a half three to four times a week?? What? are you insane? It's the lifestyle that dictates the health. If you walk around alot everyday and work in the fields some a few days a week (of course only the latter applies to those living outside of big cities), there is no need for a gym.
C- Americans eat really wierd stuff. We eat stuff that tastes like plasticy chemicals. The chicken and beef we eat...who knows what hormones it was injected with while it was growing? Who knows how long ago the animal was butchered? What sort of processing has this peice of meat gone through before it found its way to my plate? And all those boxed and canned goods. ...there is so much sodium and various preservatives in it all. It really does make it all taste kind of odd and in the end it really can't be that good for you.
5- Americans are hardcore at whatever it is they do. In this case, I will point out that they are hardcore at waiting tables. Customer service is outstanding, hands down at just about any restaurant you'll go to in the states. The first place I ate at as soon as I got off the plane was Cracker Barrel. Yeah, I had to get my fried chicken, greens, and sweet tea on...know what I'm sayin'. Our waiter was seriously up in our grills like every 3 minutes asking us how we were doin, if we needed anything, if we needed refills, or whatever. He was on top of his game, to the point of it almost being annoying (because I felt like he kept interrupting conversational flow). But, I think really I was just much more sensitive to the attentiveness than anyone else because I had been without it for so many months. You want to eat a meal without waiter/waitress interferance? You want to eat at a restaurant where the waitress for some weird reason or another doesn't think to write down your orders, so she has to come back 10 minutes later to clarify what it is that you ordered? You want a waitress whom you have to remind to take your drink orders? You want to eat a meal without ever being asked if you need any ketchup or sauce to go with your meal, even if they are out of it (which is frequent)? You want to eat a meal without ever being asked if you need a refill, much less ever even getting it? You want to eat at a restaurant that brings you your meal in batches, with the final portion finally coming to you 20 minutes after the person you're eating with finishes? You want to pay the entire check that is never itemized for your convenience, so you and your dinner partners have to figure out who owes who after you leave the restaurant? Eat at any Filipino restaurant and all of this can be yours. Good thing waiters and waitresses aren't tipped. I couldn't help but be reminded to tip in the US by the cracker barrel waiter's mad customer service skills.

After reentry into the Philippines:

My trek back to the US to visit family and friends is over and done with for now. I love my family and friends so much. I miss you all and I had a great time! My trek from Nashville to Manila lasted 22 hours. Then I rode another 6 hours from Manila to Baguio and then another 6 hours from Baguio to Bontoc. Knowing I'll have to make the trek again in the future is rough, but knowing that it's gonna be a good long while before I make it again, is both good...and bad. The first time I walked through security at Nashville's international airport to start my journey to the Philippines, I knew that I would face some tough times in the future and that I would get homesick. But, because it had been so long since I had been out of the country for an extended period of time (almost 10 years ago), I had forgotten exactly how difficult it could be. A week ago, when I left Nashville for a second time, I truly understood the enormity of what I was doing. Walking through security this second time hit me much harder than the first, which I had expected would happen. But, I walked through anyway.

I'm still trying to understand all the reasons why...and all the reasons why I'm here in the first place. The three goals of peace corps are: 1- to assist people of interested countries to meet their needs for trained men and women; 2- to help promote a better understanding of the American people on the part of the peoples served; and 3- to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of the Americans. Sure, those are just vague enough to make up a few of the reasons why I'm here. But, I think, the main reason why I first came here was because I wanted to surround myself with other ideas and other ways of living and thinking and doing things. We all get tired of trying to fit into those boxes that represent certain sectors of our society and/or other peoples' expectations of us. However, this past 9 months may have proven my original theory about living another country/culture wrong. I always thought that i'd have the freedom to be myself in another country. I always thought that most anything I could do, or just being the way I was would be okay... I always thought that they would just say, hmmmm, well, she's American and that must be how Americans are, so its okay. I always thought that people in other countries wouldn't expect you to fit into their boxes. And to a degree they don't. To a degree, all of this is true. They know I'm not Filipina so they afford me miles and miles of space for being different. But...to a degree they do expect me to fit into their boxes. That's what's difficult. Trying to see where those fine lines are drawn. How much do I really need to change/adjust and how? The difficulty is trying to balance who I know I am now, with who I want to be in the future at home in Tennessee and who I should be here. I think the big challenge in life is merging all of those people together. To be a flexible, yet steady and balanced person at all times, in all situations, anywhere. Tao is a Chinese term for "the way." Its physical representation is water. Water flowing in a river is a double edged sword. It's flexible to the point that it conforms to the bed in which it's flowing, yet it's forceful and powerful enough to form and mold the rocks which it flows over and around. When I got back on the plane, I knew I was yet again, flying back to a place where I may never fit in, not even a little, and yet be expected to do so. Like the tao, I must learn when it's best to be forceful and solid, and to be who I've already learned that I am and want to be, and when it's best to be flexible and open to other possibilities I never knew existed or even knew that I could want. Mabuhay!

1-4-06

2006-01-04T15:17:00.000+08:00

What a whirlwind trip back home and then back to the Philippines! It was all way too fast, and I'm way too tired to write any blogs about it at this point. However, just to let everyone know...I made it back to Manila safe and sound. Once again, today I've been exploring the city via the Light rail transit and the Metro rail transit. I'll probably make my way back to Bontoc tomorrow. I hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas and New years.

12-29-05

2005-12-29T16:09:00.000+08:00

I've finally posted some of my Philippines pics. As of now, they're all just slapped up onto flickr. However, I'll attempt to organize them a bit better in the near future. I start with pics of my journey over to the Philippines. Skip to the end of my album to see my most recent pics. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nyount/

12-17-05

2005-12-17T15:18:00.000+08:00

Hi all,

Sorry I haven't been able to update my blog in a while. I've been super busy with Ilocano language camp at the beach! Yes, I spent the last week enjoying the surf and sand. I'm currently exploring Manila via the LRTs and MRT (railway system). All is a go for me flying back to the states tomorrow for Christmas vacation. See you all soon. :)

11-30-05

2005-11-30T14:50:00.002+08:00

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. We had an amazing spread! My cornbread was fabulous. The stuffing was superb! About 20 pcvs showed all together. And our ability to work together as a team was phenomenal. We were like a well oiled machine, all of us weaving in and out of each other and the kitchen, each taking on our individual tasks. And we each completed our tasks tirelessly and effortlessly. Our preparation for the hearty feast was detailed, thorough, and well worth the time and energy we put into it. ...but, I totally forgot how friggin buttery and fattening American food is! The butter! ...Oh my Lord the butter! he he. Dairy isn't big here...at all. Butter and/or some other dairy could be found in practically everything we concocted. We had mashed potatos and gravy, melted cheese to drown our steamed veggies in, candied yams, green bean caserole, homemade ranch dressing made from yogurt (which can be found in sagada because of all the ex pats), etc. Some of the ingredients were actually mailed from the states. No one here drinks milk just to drink milk. People put it in coffee, but that's about it. And its usually just milk powder that they put in coffee. If you go to a restaurant and want liquid milk, you'll have to ask specifically for "fresh milk" or "carnation." And its the milk that comes in the box or can...not from a jug. No one eats cheese here either. You can only find one kind of cheese here and it's called "Eden." It's majorly processed like Velvetta, but it's a pale yellow color (not orange) and, in my opinion, not nearly as tasty as Velvetta. I have run across Philidelphia cream cheese though here in Bontoc which is very surprising. You can get butter and margerine here, but people aren't accustomed to cooking with it. For 7 months, I had been quite butter free. But then Thanksgiving came around and sat my stomach in the front car of Disney World's Space Mountain. It was a tasty but tumultuous ride!

The best part of Thanksgiving was Sumagin cave however! One of the cave guides, Sigrid (who used to be Dan's host sister) took me and three other pcvs through it. Two of the pcvs I had never met before, as they were from the batch before me (263). Sumagin cave is quite possibly the coolest cave i've ever been in (granted, I haven't been in that many caves in my life. Just Dunbar in Clarksville and Mammoth in Kentucky. Plus, its been many years since I've been in either). Our desent down into and then back out of Sumagin took about 2 hours. There is another trek we can go on that lasts for 4 hours. That will be for another day. First off, Sumagin is a well explored cave. A cave guides' association has been in existance in Sagada for the last 10 years, but people have been exploring the cave for centuries. Currently, about 80 Sagadans are certified guides. There are some drop offs in the cave of course and some could be dangerous spots, but the guides know where they all are, and don't let their sheep go near them. The first 10 minutes of the cave consisted of us crouching low and carefully making our way across the slimy, slippery rocks underfoot. Why were they so slimy and slippery you might ask? Because they had been completely and utterly inundated with bat poop! My hands made their way across the rocks as I heard the shrill screams of bats overhead. The dung squished between my fingers like mud. After we had sufficiently sludged our way through most of the doo, Sigrid told us to take our shoes off. We were to trek the rest of the cave barefoot! From there on out, all the rocks we stepped on were rough like sand paper. They provided more than enough friction to keep us upright the whole way though. The boulders that made up the walls and pathways were large, curvaceous, and yellow. At first glance, one could have guessed that they were fluffy, almost marshmallowy like. I'm guessing much of the rock was yellow because of the presence of sulfur? The inside of the cave looked very soft even though it obviously wasn't. The walls and rocks that surrounded us were billowy like hardened cream puff. It was very odd that the rocks were as rough as they were, because endless streams of ice cold water ran through practically every nook and cranny of the cave. While underground, we did alot of wading and ultimately swimming. We lowered ourselves down into the cave the whole way in. We eventually came to a bottom floor where much of the water pooled. That's where we really went swimming. There were even a few small water falls which made the whole feel a bit more magical. A couple of times all I could do was think of "Goonies"...like one-eyed Willy's ship and spirit were down there somewhere, lurking amongst all the pillowy marshmallow peeps for rocks. The water was frigid to say the least, but refreshing nonetheless. Journeying through the cave, I and the other pcvs were like babies just learning to walk. We were unsure of our step, knowing that we could very easily fall at any moment. Sigrid was so graceful! She danced around the obstacle course as if were a dry flat surface. She held the oil lantern with one hand while keeping the other hand free to pull us three up or help us down. She never needed it for herself. I'm sure she lost track years ago of the number of times she's been through that cave...yet she's not that old...she's the same age as me. Her agility and nimbleness made me feel safe...despite the fact that people have been seriously injured or even killed in that cave. I asked her if she had ever dropped the lantern in the water. She said no, but others have splashed enough water to put it out. I asked her if she had ever been in the cave by herself before. She said no. Rule number 1 when it comes to caving. Never go it alone. :) I asked her when was the last time someone had died in the cave. She said last year. A tourist and a guide drowned. They were in the cave when suddenly it started to rain very hard. The sudden downpour caused a flash flood inside the cave, and she guessed that the water had just swept them away. By the time she was telling us this, we were on our way out of the cave, and back into the warmth of the bright, sunny day. I felt a slight chill just the same.

On to another topic. I have some good news and some bad news. Do you want the good news first? or the bad news? ...err...I'll give you the good news first. :) My softball team won the district meet! Bad news...I wasn't there to even see it! Thursday was Thanksgiving and I was in Sagada (about 45 minutes jeepney ride from Bontoc). I had been told that the district meet would take place on Friday, so I had made plans that day to hop a jeep back to Bontoc at noon. That way, I would be sure to be on the field after school ready to coach and cheer my girls on. So, Friday morning around 9 o'clock, I'm warming myself next to a crackling fire in a fireplace with a bunch of other pcvs enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers for breakfast. All of a sudden, I get a text from one of the girls on my team asking me, "Where are you? We're about to start the game." I'm like, "what?? but, its friday morning. Why aren't you in classes?" She texted back telling me that one of the school's other coaches had excused them from classes that day so they could play the game early. The principal had gone to some seminar somewhere...like she does quite a bit these days. So, I guess the coach had the authority to dismiss them? Or the ability to, and no one would say otherwise? Or maybe it's just tradition that at every district meet the softball girls get out of classes so that they can play the game early...and no one thought to clue the COACH in on it!? :O The truth of the matter is, I just made the mistake of incorporating American logic into my thought process. "What? The game will be played on Friday? Well, then...of course it will start after school! I mean...who in their right mind would call school off just for a softball game?? ;P I texted the player, "I'm in Sagada right now. If you can postpone the game for about an hour and a half, I can be there." She says, "We can't postpone it." I say, "oh...ok. Well...good luck!". They kept me abreast of the score the whole time. And in the end, they won 20-9. I think I was the most surprised of them all! I expected them to get stomped. But, of course, I kept that pessimism to myself. They're geared up to play in the provincial meet now. After my girls won the district meet, some random coach with some kind of authority (yet again, another example of my being in the dark) chose 9 of my girls, 2 girls from gina-ang, and 2 girls from albag-o to form one of the teams that will compete in the provincial meet. It will take place Dec 8, 9, and 10. This next go around, I just hope someone decideds to clue me in on what time our game will start. I'd kind of like to be there. he he

11-23-05

2005-11-23T13:02:00.000+08:00

For those of you who may not know, I grew up in Clarksville, a small town next to an army base (Ft. Campbell, Ky.) about 45 minutes north of Nashville. And for those of you who may not know...its a friggin small world! So, I was in Sagada a few days ago, waiting at the jeepney stop to catch a jeep back to Bontoc. I'm looking around, observing...people watching like I normally do. I see this little pick up truck parked nearby, and then suddenly, a license plate somehow affixed to its tailgate catches my eye. What did it say? "Mazda of Clarksville"!!!! There was no doubt that it came from Clarksville, Tennessee, as I've seen those exact Mazda of Clarksville license plates on many a car in my home town back in the day. I was soooo surprised! I immediately walked up to the drivers side window and asked the guy inside if he had ever been to Clarksville. Unfortunately, he was just a hired driver and he didn't know what the owner's affiliation with Clarksville was, or how the owner may have acquired the tag. Nevertheless, I walked away from the truck grinning. It felt good to see that little reminder of home.

More about softball... For a few weeks, I had been hearing rumors from my softball team about something called a "selection?" I assumed it mean't that I would "select" my best players to form somewhat of a more formal team to play in the provincial meet in December. Finally, last week, one of the PE coaches (Sir Melcher) actually approached me and told me that there would be a selection and it would take place this past Saturday. We were both in a hurry, so I figured I'd get the details about the selection from him later. Friday afternoon rolled around and I realized that I didn't know what time I needed to be at the highschool that next day...or what the "selection" really was even. I hunted him down and found out that I needed to choose the best 12 girls from my team as they would be playing two games on Saturday. One game would be against a team from Albag-o, and another game against a team from Gina-ang. He told me to arrive at 9AM. I proceeded to pick my 12 girls and then told them to be at school at 9AM...American time, he he.

I woke up to a drizzly saturday morning unsure as to whether the games would still proceed. Filipine mothers won't stand for their babies to play out in the rain, so I was for sure it would be called off. I tried texting a few people to find out the status, but I got no replies. Finally, my super texted me back saying that it would be called off because she didn't want anyone to "have colds" (ie catch a cold. Not quite sure why Filipinos tack an "s" onto the end of that noun, "cold"...they just like to pluralize it for some reason). I decided I'd better go to the field anyway to inform any of my players who had decided to show that the games had been called off. ...Despite the arbis (drizzle...I will now and forever associate light rain with roast beef sandwiches, he he) The field was buzzing with action and anticipation. Teams were warming up and preparing themselves for play. I hunted down Sir Melcher and asked him if the selection would still be taking place. He said yes...I guess, what the principal doesn't know won't hurt her?! I had my girls stretch and run and then warm their arms up for about 10 minutes. Then I had them take the field and we practiced batting and fielding for about an hour. I didn't want our warm up to last that long, but my girls were draggin' arse. Mountain high's baseball team was playing one of the other barangays on the adjacent diamond and my girls were slightly distracted to say the least. I told them that if they'd concentrate and finish practice quickly, then we'd go watch the game and cheer our boys on. Plus, we needed to wrap up our practice, as I thought it only fair that the other two softball teams have a chance to warm up on the field before their games too.

After our warm up, we made our way over to watch the baseball game. I took the opportunity to teach the girls a few cheers us loud and adolescent girls used to yell back and forth to each other from our dusty dugouts when I used to play ball back in the day. During my years as an "Angel," a "Dynamite," and a selected player for the Allstar team I learned lots of nifty little cheers, but at this point in my life, I can only remember three of them:

1- "That's alright, that's okay, we're gonna beat you anyway." Of course, one would yell this cheer when someone on his team made a mistake or a bad play.

2- "Hit it on the ground, make 'em bend down, make 'em work (clap 2X) in the dirt (clap 2X). Hit it in the sky, make 'em reach high, make 'em work (clap 2X) in the dirt (clap 2X)." And if you really want to be mean you can say instead, "Hit it in the sky, hit em' in the eye, make 'em work (clap 2X) in the dirt (clap 2X)." Of course, you yell this cheer when your team mates are at bat.

3- This cheer is performed as an echo. I would yell a line and then my girls would yell the same line back to me.

"Went to the river"
"Had a little walk"
"Came upon (name of rival team)"
"Had a little talk"
"Pushed 'em in the river"
"Hung 'em out to dry"
"We can beat (name of rival team)"
"Any 'ol time"

The baseball game ended around noon. Sir Melcher told me that everyone would break for lunch and then my girls would start our game at 1. Long story short, 1:30 rolls around, and it's Gina-ang and Albag-o who are playing the first game. It turns out, my girls will only play one game and it will be against the winner. I was cool with that, as now, the odds are in my girls' favor. Gina-ang or Albag-o have to win twice in order to win the tournament, but my girls only have to win once! woot! As Gina-ang and Albag-o approach their last inning, the bottom drops out and its starts raining cats and dogs. Everyone huddles under whatever overhangs they can find. At this point, its 3 oclock. I'm hoping the rain stops, but it doesn't. ...As a matter of fact, it doesn't stop raining for another two days. Sir Melcher reschedules my girls' game for this coming Friday. With the way Filipino time works, I'm hoping that we'll actually be able to play sometime before Christmas...but guess I'll just have to wait and see. ;)

the vocabulary term for this blog entry is... papaya!
papaya- (n.) 1. The yellow, melonlike fruit of a tropical American evergreen tree valued for its nutritious and palatable qualities. The fruit may be eaten raw, cooked, or pickled. 2. What my softball girls say whenever a batter swings at a high ball. "pa-pa-pa-paya!!" ...as in "what the heck are you swinging at?! Are you trying to knock papayas out of a tree?! he he :)

Thanksgiving is almost here! This year I will be spending it in Sagada with about 20 other pcvs and about 20 locals. It's a yearly peace corps tradition for volunteers in Mountain Province to host a Thanksgiving dinner there. Corey put me in charge of stuffing. I've also taken it upon myself to bake cornbread and I paid the home ec teacher at Mountain high to bake me a couple of squash pies (they taste alot like ginger snap cookies). I baked a few sample batches of cornbread to make sure I knew what i was doing. It finally turned out alright, but only after i was able to successfully hunt down some proper corn meal. The only place its sold here is in animal feed stores. I double and triple checked to make sure it didn't have any strange hormones or chicken booster mixed in with it. It's not exactly like Memaw's cornbread, or Cracker Barrel's, but it'll have to do. :) ...I'm praying the stuffing will be edible. :)
Nevertheless, A Happy Thanksgiving to all!

11-16-05

2005-11-16T13:08:00.000+08:00

More Filipino English for your enjoyment:

1- Mangan (eat) or mangan tayo (let's eat)

USA- "eat" ...is a basic command. It's what you would you say to a small child who won't stop playing with his peas and mashed potatoes at the dinner table. And "let's eat"...that's more of a suggestion given maybe when you and others are already sitting in front of a meal...indicating that it's okay to go ahead and fix a plate.

Philippines- you can use these two terms interchangeably...for all intents and purposes they mean the same thing. A couple of meanings for mangan and mangan tayo:

A- Hi! hehe...just like "where are you going?" means hi, "eat" and "let's eat" can mean hi too. But, it can only be used when there is food present. When you walk into a room where people are eating, they will all unanimously say "mangan" or "let's eat." So, I say it means "Hi" because...well, most of the time, they're really not inviting you to eat with them. You're not expected to eat. Most of the time, there wouldn't even be enough food for you to partake in anyway. If only I had a nickel for everytime I saw a teacher just keep walking by after s/he entered the canteen during lunch and everyone quickly threw him/her a "mangan." ...hmmmm...maybe I'd have about 3 bucks and some change. ;P The teacher that enters the canteen knows that s/he is just being greeted or welcomed, but not really anything more than that...so s/he just keeps walking.

B- to indicate that SOMEONE is going to eat. ...but who will that someone be? One random sunday a couple of months ago, both me and my host brother happened to be home watching tv. Our living room and kitchen are both located in one large room. I was watching tv with my back to the kitchen table. I hear my host brother knocking some pots and pans around near the stove cooking something up. The next thing I know, He's sitting at the table, and I hear him say, "let's eat," in english. So, I get up and go sit at the table thinking he's made something for both of us. ...I mean, after all, he said "let US eat,"...right? Then I see this confused look on his face when I sit down. I notice, he's got a plate of food for himself, and a quick glance around let's me know that there is none for me. He only cooked enough for one person. In his best English, he asked me, "oh, did you want to eat too?" I just chuckled, and said no, and went back to watching tv.

2- "Let us..."

USA- indicating desire that you and I DO something...together.

Philippines- yet again...just a greeting...nothing more. For example, a few weeks ago, I was walking with another pcv up the street toward my house. We had to drop my place to pick up some screw drivers so I could open up his laptop. We pass by this woman sitting on the side of the street. She's busy making stick brooms...and she say's to us as we walk by, "Ah! let us make stick brooms!" ...I just smile, say hello back, "Hi" and keep walking. :)

3- The need for voice intonation

American's learn that the word "apay" basically means "why" therefore, we automatically think that when used in a question it should ilicit some sort of "because" type response. However, for the longest time, it seemed that whenever I would ask someone why? ...like why did you go there, or why did you do that, they would act as if I hadn't asked them anything other than just a simple yes or no question. Of course I ultimately felt like no one was listening to me, and I just ended up getting pissed off, right? ...But, I soon found out that I wasn't asking the question the right way. In the states, the questions "will you go there?" and "why will you go there?" are different questions, ilicit different responses, and are therefore written differently. Obviously, here, they are very different question too, requiring different types of answers, however, the two questions are written exactly the same way. They are both written like, "Apay mapan ka idiay?" You just stress different parts of the question to indicate what type of response you're looking for. If you want a "because" type response then you end the question in a higher pitch...sort of like the old "valley girl" speak. If you want a yes or no, you lower your pitch at the end of the question.

On to other topics. This week has been a pretty good one. I've felt a bit more useful these passed couple of days than I have been. Haven't been quite so idle lately which is good. Definately, coaching softball helps me feel like I accomplish atleast a little something everyday.

Softball update-

I've dedicated most of our practices to learning and practicing the following:

1- fundamentals of throwing and catching
a- specifically how to catch a fly ball
b- specifically how to field a grounder
2- fielding strategies
a- backing people up on the field, so the ball doesn't get by you
b- talking to each other on the field to let everyone know where to make the next play
c- calling others off when you're going after a pop fly
3- fundamentals of batting
a- how to hit
b- how to bunt
4- learning signals (hit, bunt, don't swing)
5- stealing base

At the beginning of practice, we do our stretches, and then run one lap around the track which surrounds the softball diamond. The I have the girls throw and warm their arms up for about 10 minutes. We're at the point now where we're mostly just scrimmaging each other alot. The girls like to play...and I like to ump. Honestly, as a whole, the girls are pretty bad. We scrimmaged the boys baseball team yesterday and got destroyed. But, it was fun to play them. And...I guess that's all that really matters when it comes to softball. I have to remember my ultimate purpose here. ...And that's to be a facilitator. To add or restore links in chains where before, there had been no links. To introduce locals to their local resources...show them what they can do with their local resources and then step back, and watch them like a proud parent, accomplish and succeed. So, traditionally, the girls softball team only practices for one week out of the year...the one week right before the provincial meet in December (which it seems is the only "real" game they play all year). I have succeeded in rallying the girls together...for about a month and a half now of practices. And their energy doesn't seem to be dying. As a matter of fact, it seems as though the torch has been passed...they want to practice and play all the time now. I am an asset, as I can ump and teach fundamentals, but I'm not essential to the life of their team. Many a time, I've had to miss practice, and practice just continues on without me. I think they just needed someone to manage them initially, but now, the could take on the job themselves if they had to.

Only two girls have gotten hurt since I've been coaching. I'm knocking on wood as I type this hoping no one else does. One girl got a front tooth knocked loose. Another girl got a black eye. Nothing could have prevented the first accident. Runners helmets could have prevented the second.

This past Monday, I presented some of the teachers with a short "workshop" on powerpoint. It went well...especially because of a couple of game templates (concentration, and jeopardy) I downloaded from the web and incorporated into the pres. Yesterday, I subbed for Vernice. She teaches English, but she wanted me to give the same power point talk to her three classes. It was great! Much better than teaching in the states...that's for sure. The kids paid attention and were very respectful. ...but, no doubt, I wouldn't want to teach everyday. Teaching is one of the toughest jobs...if you want to be a good teacher.

So...coming full circle back to the topic of "food" again. I thought I'd end this blog entry on two observations I've made related to food.

1- At a restaurant...here in bontoc anyway...If its on the menu...odds are they don't have it. It's funny...the waiter will bring you this like 4 page menu...but after a few minutes of trying to order something...you realize, they don't have anything but friend chicken, chop suey, and rice. That threesome will be called, "something" rice, like "ridgebrook rice" or "cable rice" or "churya-a rice". The word that precedes rice is the name of the restaurant you're at. Maybe traditionally, people don't order anything but the the "...rice" dish at restaurants? Maybe the restaurant owners don't feel like making anything else but the "...rice" dish? who knows? ...trying to figure that one out is like trying to figure out the chicken and egg argument.

2- The only utensils poeple eat with are forks and spoons. And even then, most of the time, people just eat with their hands anyway. They refer to eating with the hands as "kam-met." Supossedly, there is some sort of technique to it allowing it to have it's own special name. I just pick stuff up and put it in my mouth...hehe...so, I don't think I've really mastered the form yet. Knifes are never used during a meal...only in meal preparation. Meat would either be pulled apart using both the fork and spoon (fork in left hand, spoon in right), or you would just pick the meat up and eat it with your hands. When it comes to choosing between using a fork or a spoon, a spoon is always going to be first pick. So, most people actually just set their tables with plates, and container full of spoons. The only liquid drunk during a meal would be some sort of soup or broth (sabaw). Traditionally, people just drink water or some other liquid to wash down the meal, after their done eating.

11-10-05

2005-11-10T15:50:00.000+08:00

Examples of Filipino English:

1- "the one", "that one", "this one"

USA- hey, can you pass me the ketchup?
Philippines- I will get that one?

USA- slowly move you arm down until waist level and then hold it there.
Philippines- slowly move this one down to this one and then hold it steady.

side note- I've always understood "holding something steady" to mean balancing it...keeping it from shaking all over the place. Here, it means to keep it still or in the same place, ie, don't move it.

USA- Would you like for me to wash the dishes for you?
No, I'll do it.

Philippines- would you like for me to wash the dishes for you?
No, I will be the one.

Alot of times, I've found Filipino English to be somewhat ambiguous. Filipinos tend to be more fond of pronouns than Americans. Many a time, I've had to ask them to clarify just what it is they're talking about, because I'm no longer sure of who or what the pronouns are referring to. I assume alot in a conversation. Now, who exactly is the subject? ...the direct object? ...the indirect object? Who is giving what to whom again?

I think most of my confusion stems from the fact that the majority of a conversation I'm listening in on will be in other languages (Ilokano, bontoc, or Tagalog). And then someone will realize that I'm listening, and I may not be following completely. So then, s/he will throw me a really random one liner thinking it will catch me up on the last 5 minutes of the conversation. Good intentions, but usually not very helpful. :(

Also, I'm not quite sure why it is, but people here constantly mix up he and she, and his and her. In a converstation, It'll throw you off in a heartbeat if you don't know to expect it. By paying closer attention to conversations, over time, I was able to realize that this sudden sex change in the subject was one reason why I would find myself suddenly derailed and confused in a conversation. If you're not used to the mix-up, the first few times you hear it happen, you'll think to yourself, "oh, wait, he was talking about some guy, but now he's talking about some girl. who is this girl? where does she come from and what does she have to do with the story? And as you ask yourself these questions, you'll miss out on even more of what is being said and find yourself even more lost than before. I have a friend who was telling me about his boss a few days ago. One second, he would call her a she, then the next moment, he would refer to him as a he. I'm used to the mix-up now, so I was just like, "dude! hold up! Is your boss male or female?" I like to know the sex of the person being talked about before we continue talking. ...I get tired of thinking of everyone as Pat. And now that i have a more sensitive ear to the "s/he" mix up, I try to be helpful and correct friends when I hear them falling prey to it.

2- "Where are you going?" (papanam?)

for all intents and purposes, this means the same thing as "what's up?" or "whats going on?" does in the states. Its a way to greet someone...to acknowlege one's presence, nothing more, nothing less. Everyday, random, complete strangers will ask me where I'm going as I pass them on the street...sometimes in Ilokano, sometimes in English. At first, I didn't quite know how to handle it. I'm like..."why do complete strangers feel the need to know where I'm going? They'd get some dirty looks if they were in the states... asking random folk where they're going!" It took me a while to learn, but now I know that, honestly, they don't really care where I'm going. They're just saying hi as I walk by. :)

Just like the standard response for "what's up?" is "not much" and for "how ya doing?" is "fine", "papanam?" has got it's own standard responses as well. Someone asks me, "papanam?" I say, "dita laeng" (over there) or "ngato" (up there). Really, I could be going to the market, or going to school, but to just say "over there" is good enough for anyone and everyone around here. I'm just saying hi back. :)

10-26-05

2005-10-26T17:25:00.000+08:00

something has got to give...really and truly. I haven't been this depressed and this introverted...well...ever. I can't believe how within the past couple of days, I've developed this hatred for going outside. It's really true. i hate leaving my house...I can't believe I'm saying this...I hate leaving my house. And, I hate being in my house. I'm really hoping things will change once semester break is over and once I've got my internet lab to go back to. My bedroom provides some solice, but at the same time, it can feel like a cage. Who am I kidding...Bontoc feels like a cage. It makes me feel a little better though to actually type this out, but at the same time, I know I'll have to go on another stupid walk to post this to my blog. These past couple of days I've been doing nothing... Well, not entirely. I've successfully finished reading the first fiction novel I've read in years. That may have been just the slight slap in the face I needed to wake me up to realizing that a good book can actually be pretty entertaining. Side note...the book- Bel Canto, which was given to me for my birthday, by my ever so thoughtful fellow kalding and pcv, Rachel. Second side note...I hate how friggin weirdos will just take the liberty to have a seat at the same table as me when I'm in town...and they don't even ask if they can sit with me. They don't care that i have a book open and I'm in the middle of reading and it doesn't even occur to them I may not want to talk. (It's not like a little nyc deli during lunch hour when one has to sit at the same table with complete strangers, b/c its so packed, there isn't room anywhere else. And nevertheless, they'd still leave you alone to eat your meal in peace and quiet). Today, yet again some dude just plopped down right infront of me. I pretended like I didn't know english (which I've done twice now). If I just rattle off a bunch of Spanish throwing in somewhere that I don't know english very well then maybe they feel less inclined to ask me the handful of mundane questions I've been asked ever since I stepped into this country 6 months ago. "Where do you come from? How long you here? (I go ahead and answer this question as if I'm being asked two questions in one, b/c I've learned that I am. Most people aren't agile enough with English tenses to actually be able to phrase the following...how long have you been here and how long will you be here) How old are you? Where do you live? Who do you live with? Are you single? Can I have your cell phone number? The questions are not so much weird as they are just so ill-timed. Maybe you could have my cell phone number...if I knew you! What difference is it going to make if I'm single or not...why do you want to know?? Why do you want to know who I live with? Why do you want to know where I live? Its hard for me to believe that someone can ask these sorts of questions without having any ulterior motive up his sleeve...and I'm still not convinced he doesn't. My idleness of the past couple of days has made it almost impossible for me to continue pleasantly answering those, from what I've been told over and over again, honestly common and friendly questions to a Filipino, yet impolite and prying questions to an American. Today, I couldn't take it anymore. "No!!! You can't have my cell phone number!!!," I barked as I picked up my things, got up, and swiftly walked away.
As a result, my batting avg for making friends isn't too good...acquaintances...batting a little better at about a 500. Vernice is still the sanest girl I know here by far. She's got a busy life, so we don't see each other outside of school. But, she's happy go lucky. I always enjoy being around her because of that. And it seems she's actually attempting to get to know me rather than just assuming stupid stuff about me. I'm so grateful to her for that. There are some other folk I was hoping I could be good friends with, but doubtful if it will happen. They were both attracted to me because I'm white...nothing more, nothing less. Of course, they didn't tell me this, but their endless obsession with the physical and superficial speaks for itself.
...Discrimination. Needless to say, it's rampant here. I've never in my life been the focus of so many peoples' attention for something so stupid as just being white. and my being American is only assumed. If you're caucasion here, people will call you Americano as they pass by you, regardless, and if you're not causcasion, you may have a time trying to convince them that you are American. Needless to say, if I weren't from the states...that would totally piss me off!! Heeeellooooo people! White people live in other countries too...and there are Americans of other ethnicities as well! My take on discrimination here is like how it was in the states before and during the civil rights movement. My experience here tells me it's based primarily on skin color. Discrimation in the states is still alive and kickin', but in a different way. It's based on social class. If you're smart, if you're well educated, if you speak properly, if you're well dressed, if you carry yourself well and are tactful in social situations, etc...more doors will be opened for you. There are an equal number of unopened doors in the states for the stupid, no matter what color the stupid may be.
In order for me to survive this next year and a half I've figured
1- that I'll have come to accept the fact that there is small town gossip here driven by this complicated and intricate social web. Of course, I don't know the language, so I never know if anyone is gossiping about me, but who I want to associate with could spark a chain of chica chica affecting others' lives and/or how people choose to associate with me as a result. What I've observed and learned...I should hang out with other women my age. If I continue to go out alone, I continue to propogate the idea that I'm a weirdo who is always by herself, because...only weirdos go around by themselves. If I go out with a guy, just me and him, especially the same guy a few times, we will be talked about. I wouldn't care about the talk except I don't how it would affect each of our further existences within the intricate social weaving of this bloody place. I wouldn't want to hear that I'm suddenly someone's girlfriend, and I really wouldn't want to hear I'm an American slut. I'm pretty sure most foreigners view young American women who travel by themselves that way anyway. And I still don't know if dropping the tai chi class was a mistake or not. At this point, I really have no barkada to call my own. ...But I really couldn't stand tai chi for even one more minute, and I really don't feel I was forming any real relationships with anyone there.
2- I have to perfect my ability to listen past a Filipino's English and read their intentions. I feel I'm pretty good at that anyway...with all people, not just Filipinos. People will rarely tell you want they really want to say. You've got to listen for what they really want to say in other more subtle forms of communication. One of my biggest pet peaves here is people commanding me rather than asking me. A Filipino will never ask you if you're ready to go. A Filipino will just say, "let's go." You'll never be asked if you'd like something to eat. You're just commanded, "Let's eat." To be polite, you just kind of go with it all, but after a while, you find yourself asking..."wow...are these people friggin bossy or what?!?!" What sounds like a command to an American, and is, gramatically, indeed a command, may not always be intended to be. I've regained a bit of my sanity just by saying "no." "no, I'm not ready to go," or "no, I don't want to eat," and just leave it at that. In these situations, most of the time, people aren't used to hearing no, it catches them off guard. But, they listen to your desires, and you feel a little bit more in control of your life again.

10-16-05

2005-10-17T08:58:00.000+08:00

I slept in later this morning than i think I've slept in yet in the Philippines...almost 10:00! That's way normal for me in the states, but sleeping in that late here makes me feel lazy. Most people are up and at it at like 5:00. I still haven't gotten used to the early morning sounds of roosters and the grunting pigs eating their morning slop (ange) which is actually just a green vegetable that people bring back with them for their pigs whenever they go out into the fields to work. You can always see women walking down the road balancing a big pile of ange on top of their heads. I guess I'm not doing a good job of trying to acclamate myself to the sounds though...I mean, it's been 6 months! You'd think I could sleep without ear plugs by now...but no can do. I go to sleep without them, but it never fails...around 4:00 or so in the morning, roosters are a hollerin and I'm a fumblin 'round for my ear plugs. ...needless to say, its way time for a new set. To say that they're slightly funky by now would be a gross understatement.

My body has been sooooo sore from softball. I'm using that as my reason for sleeping in late. :) I worked out in the states, but here, the only work out I've been getting is walking. Nothing hard core, so my muscles are out of shape. For the past two days, I've had the girls work on batting. I've been pitching to them, pitch after pitch after pitch. I kept them coming fast. So, my arms and shoulders are feeling it. I've got some good batters on the team! I'm really not worried about offense...but defense, wow...they need some work bad!!! I don't even have one girl who I could say is decent at fielding. So, come tomorrow, monday, I'm going to have to come up with some fielding drills, and lots of them.

I've come to realize that softball practices (actually sports practices of any kind) are so different here than in the states. They're such a free for all here. What i mean by that is...random people will take it upon themselves to jump in and practice too. The past two days, some of the highschool guys have just helped themselves to gloves and gotten in the outfield to do some fielding with us. One of the bakla, Chester, loves to help with showing the girls how to properly hold the bat. It just dawned on me the other day that many of the girls don't always know what I'm saying when I'm explaining a fundamental or technique. Not everyone's English is that good. Chester sort of acts as the translator, his English is really great. If I have a girl up to bat, and I tweak her stance a little bit, Chester jumps in and smoothes everything over by translating what I'm trying to relay. It actually works out alright having him there. But, I have had to kick the guys out of the field a few times. The other day, I had a girl playing left field. The batter kept knocking balls out to her, and my left fielder couldn't catch even one to save her life. Some random guy went out there and started fielding them for her. I was like...dude! Do you think you're gonna do that for her during a game??! Get the heck out of here and let my girl field her own balls! So, yeah, I don't mind the guys playing if they like, just as long as they don't interfere.

So, enough about softball...my birthday was interesting. hehe...actually I spent my entire birthday stuck between two other women in the backseat of a small pickup truck. On the 11th, my host mom, four other people, and I took a truck to Paracelis, a little pueblo in the middle of nowhere. A few days prior, my host mom had asked me if I would like to come with her...as she was going there for a meeting and it would be a good chance for me to see somemore of the countryside. I looked at a map, analyzed the distance between Bontoc and Paracelis and assumed it to take about 3 or 4 hours max to get there. So, I said, sure, I'll go. The morning of the 11th, our driver pulled up to our house. Few people have vehicles here, and whenever my host mom has to travel, which is often and usually for work, she always takes a govt. vehicle driven by a hired driver (usually the same guy named Alan). My host mom got the front seat, and there was already a man and woman in the backseat. I was like oh, wow, this is gonna be a tight ride for 4 hours, but I guess I can do it...so I hopped in and we drove off. About 10 minutes later, I asked what we were doing when we stopped at another house. My host mom said, "oh, we're picking up another woman." I was immediately thinking to myself, "omg!! there is no way in heck we can fit 4 people in this back seat!" Thankfully, the one guy who was sitting in the back jumped into the flat bed. The other two women in the backseat were like...oh, no...don't sit back there, that will be really uncomfortable for you. i was thinking to myself...If he doesn't sit back there...I'M SITTING BACK THERE!! So, we proceed with our journey, with the driver and aunty jo in the front, me and two other women in the back and one guy in the bed. Along the way, just to start some conversation, I ask aunty jo how long it'll take us to get to Paracelis, I'm expecting an answer of 4 hours...and she says, oh, about 7 or 8. 7 or 8!!! Apparantly, i hadn't taken the curvature of the road into acct. If the road was straight, it would take 4 hours to get there, but since its winding through mountains...and made of gravel, it'll take twice as long. At this point, I'm really regretting going with. But, it was too late for me to just tell them to turn around and drop me off at home. All in all though, in hindsight, the trip was alright. 8 hours there on the 11th and another 8 hours back on the 12th. Our truck was actually part of a caravan of many govt. employees. While at the meeting, everyone was wishing me a happy birthday. On the way back we stopped off for dinner at some govt. offices. The dinner sort of turned into a quasi birthday celebration for me. We had a sing off. All the men were on one team, all the women on another and we all took turns singing whatever songs came to our heads. The vice governer (who has actually been to Nashville) asked me to sing something for everyone. The first thing that came to my head was LOVE (jazz standard, Natalie Cole's version). So, I sang the chorus, acapela. ...I didn't break any glass, so it was all good. Everyone sung me happy birthday. All in all, it will be a birthday i will never forget.

I met two interesting folk in Paracelis. The first I've already mentioned, the vice governer of Mountain Province. I was sooooo shocked when he told me that he had been to Nashville! He didn't spend much time there tho. The only things he could remember were Opry Mills and standing outside of the Grand Ole Opry wishing he could watch a show. They didn't stay long enough for him to be able to. He was such a sweet old man though, he looked to be in his 60s. He had nothing but wonderful things to say about Tennessee and the US in general. He had me chucklin at one point. He asked me what University I graduated from. I said, UT Knoxville. He said, Oh! That's such a prestigious school isn't it! ...like Harvard or Prinston, right? I was like...mmmmmm...not so much. he he. He really took to me tho... He had three grown children living in the states. His 28 year old daughter was a nurse who lived in Chicago, and last year she died of cancer. He said that I looked like her. So, it was touching when he said that.

There was a guy a couple of years younger than me who had been visiting his dad in Bontoc. His dad was a govt. employee who had to attend the meeting, so the son, John, decided to attend with him. John lives in Zamboanga City (the place where all the muslim extremists carry out their madness). He was a really interesting guy! He was as lost as I was during the meeting because he doesn't speak Bontoc or Ilokano. He speaks, Tagalog, Visayan, and Chabacano, and an amazing English! He just graduated from law school, so his English has to be really good. His dad's first language is Ilokano, but he and his dad have to communicate in Tagalog b/c John has never lived in an Ilocano speaking location. Chabacano is the language most closest to Spanish that you'll find in the Philippines. It was amazing! I spoke to him in Spanish quite a bit, he spoke to me in Chabacano alot, and we understood each other just fine! The main difference between Chabacano and Spanish is that one must conjugate verbs in Spanish. In other words, you must change a verb ending to make sure that it matches the subject of the sentence. In Chabacano, you don't do that. The verb stays the same regardless of the subject. Take, for example, the verb morder (to bite). In Chabacano, regardless of who does the biting (I, you, he, we, they), the verb will always be morde. But, in spanish, I bite, will be muerdo, you bite, muerdes, he bites, muerde...etc. It'd be great to hear more Chabacano and visit the places where it's spoken...but too bad, there's a bunch of craziness that goes on down there.

Forest, I got your cd! thanks! It came right around the time of my birthday. Are you sure you're in the Peace Corps? hehe...Parts of Romania look awfully nice! ;P

Memaw, I got the birthday card you sent me. Thank you! Love you lots!

10-6-05

2005-10-06T15:39:00.000+08:00

I coached my first softball practice yesterday. I think it went well. I'm still not for sure how many girls are on the team...I think they sort of swap around from day to day because the school only has 11 gloves and 5 softballs. Some girls may show up one day and others may show up another...just to insure that all the girls that want to play have a chance to. My main goal as of now is just to learn all of the girls names. I walked onto the sports field at 4:30 yesterday, and it was mass hysteria! All the sports teams have to share one field for practices. The one field doubles as a soccer field and a baseball diamond. So, the softball girls were scattered around the field in no particular order throwing with each other while the soccer guys were kicking the soccer ball around and then random other kids were weaving in and out of the practices to boot...I'm truly amazed that no one got beamed in the head at any point. I gathered the girls up...introduced myself...and then got right down to practice. I had the girls pair off and line up on the field so as to give the soccer guys more room to play. The first fundamental I showed them was how to correctly catch a ball. Someone who has never been taught properly will always catch the ball with one hand. I showed them the importance of catching with both hands...using the second hand to close the mit as the ball enters. They practiced that for about half an hour. The only downfall with the way the girls were lined up was that when one side missed the catch, the ball went into the soccer area. For most of practice, I found myself just fielding the girl's misses trying to keep them from interferring with soccer practice so much. The second half of practice we worked on fundamental number two...getting rid of the ball quickly. I showed the girls how to lean into a catch with the left foot so they could quickly turn the ball around i.e. throw it back. First, lean into the catch with your left foot, then step with the right foot for momentum as you take the ball out of the glove, then step with the left foot and release the ball into a throw....should be one smooth motion. left, right, left, release. They did fine with fundamental number 1, number 2, not so much. Getting rid of the ball quickly implies that you do it with control. There were balls going all over the place yesteday...but, all in all, I think the practice was great! Just takes time to undo bad habits. At 5:30, I called all the girls together to end practice. One thing I told them before we called it a day is that we've got to watch out for each other on the field. If you see a wild throw during practice, and it's going to land near someone who isn't paying attention, you gotta yell, "heads up!!" or "look out!!"...something to get everyone's attention. I played a pick up game of baseball (with all guys hehe) about two weeks ago. In the states, I'm so used to people talking it up out on the field. Like, telling right field to be ready when a lefty is up to bat, or when you're waiting for a hit, letting everyone know where the next play needs to be made, or yelling "i got it" when a ball is hit in the direction of two or more players so the other players know to back off, cause you're gonna be the one to field the ball. ...It's just not customary for teams to talk to each other on the field here. That's gotta change. Starting with "look out!!!" ...for liability reasons if anything. The last thing I want is some kid getting knocked out while I'm out there. Today, I'm going to incorporate some stretching and running at the beginning of practice... maybe for the first 10 minutes. The girls were wearing their school uniforms yesterday (long plaid skirts) and some girls had dressy shoes on...So, definately, they're going to have to start bringing some clothes to change into. At the end of every practice, I figured, I'd name an MVP for that practice also and maybe give her a peice of candy or something. I think today, once again, we'll focus on catching the ball with two hands. Maybe, I'll also talk about when to catch with the palm up and when to catch with the palm down. ...bend the knees to get down and catch a low ball with the palm down, rather than standing straight up and trying to catch the ball with palm up. Only catch with palm up when you're fielding ground balls. Maybe I'll run a drill with them...one at a time, they'll field (the 5) balls I throw in their direction...and they have to focus on catching them with both hands and getting rid of them quickly and with control. The softball coach I had growing up used to run drills like that with us, where he would throw balls in our direction one after the other quickly, so we had to field them quickly and accurately. Our only downfall here is we just don't have enough balls. I'm going to Baguio this weekend, to jointly celebrate Tracy's birthday (pcv in Kapangan whose birthday was on the 5th) and mine (which is on the 12th). Depending on how much softballs cost, I'll buy as many as I can so it will be easier for us to run some drills. So...yeah...back to the baseball game I played in. It was about two weeks ago, I was walking past the field with another teacher and noticed that there was actually a game going on. I stopped to watch. I was hanging out behind the fence behind homeplate watching, secretly hoping that they would ask me if I wanted to play. The only thing any of the guys said to me was, "hey, you might want to move...you don't want to get hit with the ball." ...as if the fence wasn't there or something? I just said, "oh, no I won't get hit...I've played softball since I was young, so no worries." He said..."this isn't softball, this is baseball." I said, "same concept." So then he said, "you want to play?" haha! Next thing you know, I was up to bat. ...k...I haven't swung at a ball in years and years...so I suddenly got kind of nervous. I swung at the first pitch...it was way high and outside. missed it and knocked myself off balance. But, the second pitch, I was ready for. I hit it. My body hadn't felt the force of a bat hitting a ball in forever...I think it caught me off guard. I actually fell trying to get out of the batter's box to go to first. I didn't hit the ball very far...it was an easy field and I was thrown out. But, the next two times I was up to bat, I hit really well, and ultimately made it home every time. I played short...and didn't let a thing get by me. Got several guys out. The ultimate was when I slid into home tho. It really surprised everyone. They could have gotten me out, but I think my sliding caught them off guard. It caught me off guard too. The next day, I had a bruise on the inside of my right knee...the same knee I hurt playing ultimate frisbee. ...by now, I'm expecting some early onset arthritis in that knee. From that game on...I knew, my coaching the girl's team would be a great "secondary project." Thomas Peng, the pcv up in Ilocos Norte is coaching his school's volleyball team. And, I've heard stories about Bontoc volunteers in the past who helped with tennis, and actually ran a tennis camp for two summers. So, I think they're really happy I'm helping with softball...and I'm happy too.

9-23-05

2005-09-23T09:58:00.000+08:00

This entry is quite contrary to my blog title. I had a bad night...or should i say, my neighbor had a bad night last night. I live next to a boarding house. Some chic that lives there got the holy hell beat out of her by some guy...probably her boyfriend. The whole barangay (neighborhood) could hear it. I live in a squator community...all the houses are basically on top of each other. I can see and hear what goes on everywhere around me as a result. I couldn't take it! There was nothing I could do for her...or anyone could do for her it seemed. The culture here is to just let it go, let it happen and don't interfere. From what i understand, there is no emergency phone line here...no cops to call. Strangely enough, this morning, my host mom told me that she called the cops. She implied that the noise was "disturbing"?! (Would you have rather he beat her in a sound proofed room??) I asked her for the phone number, b/c I didn't know there was one. She didn't "have it on her" at the time. My host mom is the provencial secretary...she has much much clout here in Bontoc. She can pull strings to make things happen. I have a feeling, she just called someone who called someone who called someone who was a cop...and he and his buddies dropped by the boarding house just to make a showing. I asked my host mom if she thought the abuser may have been thrown in jail last night. She said probably not. ...sad realities of a third world country slapped me in the face last night, and slapped the abusee in the face last night...repeatedly. I've talked to a few people about domestic abuse here...and domestic abuse in general, regardless of what country it happens in. People seem to dodge the subject. They have heard me say loud and clear, "Domestic violence is just WRONG! There is no grey area when it comes to beating your wife or girlfriend. Its just WRONG!" I have yet to get anyone to outright agree with me. ...No one really disagrees either... In the states, I'm so used to people being vocally opposed to domestic abuse and proactive in their fight against it. ...just doesn't work that way here.

As a result, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Been cussing under my breath all morning long. The school had its first "quiz bee" of the school year this morning. On any other given day, I would have just observed the quiz bee and taken it for what it is. ...I don't normally critique. ...but this morning, everything was wrong! the quiz bee...what a waste of time. About 15 kids compete in it at a time. The kids are asked to answer multiple choice questions. But the stupidity in it all is that the kids answer as a friggin group?! There are 4 people standing in designated locations holding up signs that have either an A, B, C, or D on them. When a question is asked, the kids are supposed to race to the letter of the response that best answers the question. Theoretically, a kid can run to any letter s/he wants to...but c'mon...these kids are ages 12-16...they're all going to run to the same letter people! Either the entire group gets the question right, or the entire group gets the question wrong. I watched the bee for about 5 minutes...then just shook my head and walked away.

9-20-05

2005-09-21T08:45:00.000+08:00

I finally made it back to Bontoc after a whirlwind two weeks. PST2 was a great time for most of us. Unfortunately, though, not all the pcvs decided to go back to site. Two decided to ET (early terminate) for personal reasons. So, they will both be flying back to the states tomorrow. It's for the best, as they're alot happier now. They had been debating for a long time whether being here was really for them. Riding the fence was killing them. Its good to keep a positive attitude and avoid making a rash decision if you feel like ETing. They did this, and still the best decision for them was to go home. I gotta respect that. For me and many other folk, we've implemented a strategy for dealing with those times you feel like just up and flying home. ...if I feel like ETing, I will give myself two months. If at the end of that two months, I still feel like ETing, then I will. If at anytime during that two months, however, I feel like things are great, I have to start the two month countdown over again. ;) (unlikely that I will ET tho, just so you know).

Sadly, a third volunteer recieved some bad news about two friends of his back home who were killed by a drunk driver while crossing a street. These friends threw him his going away party before he came to the Philippines. :( He'll be flying back tomorrow to attend the funeral and will stay for about a week or so.

On to some more upbeat news, as far as the seminar itself went, I came back with some great ideas about what to do more of...and what to do less of. Hang out more, get to know people more. Worry about "working" less. I'm going to make a point of just going to the basketball courts and park in front of the capitol bldg with no other purpose but to just sit and meet people. I've only done this once since I've been here, b/c its just so dang intimidating. I'm just going to have to get over the awkwardness of everyone staring at me and just go and hangout dang it. (maybe the staring is all just in my head anyway...) I also need to start carrying a notebook around with me for jotting down new vocab. I've consciously not been doing this...mostly because I'm lazy, but also because I just thought that I would eventually just pick the language up anyway. ...not happening like I thought. So...on to plan B...tote the note...book. As well, I think I'll type up a survey of questions galore for the teachers and speak with all of them one on one...so I can get an idea of what each of them would like to see from me...as far as work goes. ...enough of thinking yo...

Manila was awesome! I was there for another two days after PST2. The highlights...Greenbelt 3 in Makati. Greenbelt 3 is a really ritzy mall, but me and some folk went there at night after the mall had closed. Out back, there are tons of really nice restaurants and bars. The landscaping is beautiful, a few fountains and lots of palm trees adorned with artsy lighting. ...Kind of had a "midsummer nights dream" feel to it. ...there were people hanging out people watching and lots of dancing to salsa music. A good time was had by all. ...I thought we were gonna die in the taxi ride back to the pension tho. When initially talking to the cab driver, he quoted a price of 200 pesos. That was a completely ridiculous amount of money for a cab ride back to the pension (hostel), so we told him that we wanted him to run the meter instead (which is normal taxi procedure anyway. No one pays a flat fee...everyone has the driver run the meter). ...nevertheless, he was pissed and decided to drive like a complete maniac as revenge. Surprisingly enough, we made it back to the pension in one piece.

Other highlights...we ate some phenominal food. One of the pcvs is Indian. She took us to an amazing indian restaurant called Kashmir. ...about P500 a person, but it was worth it. We also ate at a middle eastern restaurant a few times, Shwarma was its name. Their beef tikka is the best. The second day we decided to walk to the peace corps office from the pension. In order to do this, we meandered down the baywalk along Roxas blvd. Surprisingly, their was a regatta going on at the time. Lots of rowing teams were gathered along the bay cheering their companions on. ...Took me back to being on the rowing team at UT. Later that night, Tracy and I went with a bunch of male pcvs to a kickboxing match. It was soooooo cool. Totally out of my character. I've never been into watching sports where the primary goal is to inflict as much physical pain as possible on your opponent, such as boxing...or kickboxing for that matter. I like wrestling (omg...did I just write that I like wresting :O hehe ) because its just a bunch of drama queens flipping around a ring. It can be entertaining at times. ...and no one gets hurt...usually. But, I guess there was something in me that night that just wanted to see someone beat the crap out of someone else. There was lots of energy, and not much blood...which I guess in the end was a good thing.

...One of the malls has a bowling alley on the bottom floor, so one afternoon me and three others went bowling. I scored a 97 which I think is the best score I've ever had (how sad is that?). ...I had the best score out of all of us (even sadder :( ) There is this need to play competitive sports that has been asleep in me for a long long long time. Something these past two weeks woke it up...and it's hungry. :P My host sister's ex husband is a tennis coach, so I can possibly borrow some rackets from him. Tonight, at the dinner table, my host sister told me that my super loves ping pong...sweet! But, anyway, yeah, bowling...that was fun. Other things we did in Manila...walk around alot...in the rain. There was a typhoon coming through, somewhere in the Philippines, which means that everyone everywhere is just going to get rained on...alot. We took the LRT and the MRT a few times, which is Manila's above ground railway system. Wow! we were packed in there like sardines. But, it was fun and convenient. I'm glad that I was in Manila with alot of other pcvs...or else I wouldn't have known where to go or what to do. I'm like the only person I know who doesn't yet have a Philippines travel guide (which I will make an effort to purchase along with an English-Ilokano dictionary when I make it back to states for Christmas. Unfortunately, the dictionary can only be purchased on-line). So, yeah, I always had my kadwak (friends/companions) with me, but the downside of that is, I still don't really know my way around the parts of Manila we frequented. I only pay attention to direction when I have to...in other words, when I'm by myself. So, when I go to Manila again in December to fly home, I will most likely be alone, which is good.

But, all in all, its good to be back in Bontoc and good to be sleeping in my own bed again. Tonight, I was able to cook for myself again, which was a great feeling. Well...I made a salad for my host family, so I guess I can't really call that "cooking". I brought some groceries back from Manila...Bontoc doesn't really have a grocery store. Just an open air market for meat, fruits, and vegetables...and a pharmacy that carries some non-perishables. Some of my Manila finds were popcorn, American ketchup, blue cheese dressing, bacos, italian seasoning (for pasta), taco seasoning, fajita seasoning, chili con carne seasoning, jasmine tea, and last but not least, dark chocolate.

You can take a look at three other pcvs sites if you get a chance. Thomas Peng has some great blogs ( pcpengthom.blogspot.com ). Vania Land is one of the pcvs who decided to ET. She's so funny...we'll all miss her and wish her the best ( janineland.blogspot.com ). Mike Pezone is hilarious. Funny though, most of the pics on his Philippines website were taken in Montana...hmmmm. ( mpinthepi.com ).

9-12-05

2005-09-12T14:49:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, me and about 20 other pcvs hiked up Mt. Taal which is an active volcano about an hour from Cavite. Its last eruption was back in the 60s. They say it erupts about once every 50 years or so. Mt. Taal is quite the tourist destination. It kind of has a Yellowstone or Grand Canyon feel b/c of all the Europeans, Japanese, Chinese, Americans, etc. that venture there. The view on the way up and at the top was spectacular. I don't think I've ever sweated as much as I did on the way up. You could pay to go up or down the volcano on horseback if you got too tired to continue on foot. I only had 50 pesos on me (not even 1 whole US dollar) so I hiked all the way. We met a large group from Beijing at the top. They were enthralled with Jodi (one of the pcvs) and everyone wanted to get their pictures taken with her. We were joking with her that she was more of an attraction than the volcano itself. She's super tall, 6'3", with a pretty solid build. ...and sort of the all American look too with blonde hair and freckles. One of the Chinese dudes kept pointing to Jodi and saying, "I am your face...I am your face." After a while, we realized he was trying to say friend, not face. ...It would have been kewl if he was saying face tho. ;P
The way to and from Taal was almost as trecherous as hiking Taal itself. Me and three other girls crammed ourselves into a small tricycle, two inside (me and Jodi) and two on the back of the motorcycle (Rachel and Julie). We rode squashed in the trike for about an hour down a whinding, dirt road into a valley. At the base of the mountain was a bay. We crossed the bay via a small fishing boat. The water was so calm, and it was so relaxing to just look out at the bay surrounded by the mountains. On the way back, I would have sworn our trike was going to break down. The poor thing was carrying sooooo much weight up hill for so long. It did overheat once, so we had to hop out for a while and let it cool down. On the way back up, the trike kept dragging bottom whenever we'd get to a really rocky part in the road. So we found ourselves having to hop out and walk quite a bit of the trip back.
Once we made it back into the closest town, Tagaytay, we found a McDonalds and had a late lunch. It was sooooooo good to have a cheeseburger and fry. Of course, I'm not real crazy about McDonalds in the states, but hey...we eat alot of things here that we wouldn't normally eat in the states. fyi...the McDonald's slogan, "I'm lovin' it" in Tagalog is "love ko to'"
After we ate, we found some second hand clothing stores, which are called "ukay ukay". The cool thing about the ukay ukay here is that they carry alot of clothes from all over Asia. I got a cool t-shirt with a pic of a monkey on it and something written on it in Thai.

9-9-05

2005-09-09T18:38:00.000+08:00

I've been at PST2 for about a week now. Things here are great. I'm soooo tired though...this week I've reverted back to my US sleep schedule of staying up till about 12 and getting up around 7 or so. Not that big of a deal, cept I've gotten used to going to sleep around 9 or 9:30 back at sight. I've learned some cool card games since I've been here (hockey and three card), I've played some ultimate frisbee, and I've been swimming a few times. I banged my knee up a bit playing ultimate. I dove hard...got a few grass stains. Its been a while since I've had grass stains! ...one dive I landed right on the knee cap. ...not fun...but shook it off. It'll be alright...in a few days. ;P I've watched a few movies since I've been here, one of which was great, the other just okay. I saw "Bewitched" which thanks to Will Farrell, had a few really funny moments. The other movie I saw was "Crash". It was awesome! It addresses racial tension/conflict in the US. It was basically a commentary on society. Its main point was that it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, at some point you are going to be discriminated against, and at other times, you will discriminate against others. There is good and bad in everyone... There are bits of selfishness and selflessness in everyone.
Not much to say about Manila so far. I was only there for 1 day. Our seminar is actually in Cavite about an hour and a half outside of Manila. But, what I saw of Manila, I really liked. We went to a mall. I can't remember the name of it, but it had lots of nice stores. Being in some parts of Manila is almost like being in the states again. Strolling along the boardwalk is nice especially at night. The lights reflecting off the bay are beautiful. You can hear a few live bands. The boardwalk at night made me think of Miami, with palm trees running alongside boulevards and large buildings.
Our daily seminars have been alright...some better than others. Some of the seminars have opened my eyes and made me realize that I really need to change my whole work approach at my sight. Its really important that I meet the needs of my community...community being a very flexible term. That's really my whole purpose for being here. And there really is a proper procedure for doing this. At this point, my community consists of a small group of teachers. Its really important that I assess my communities needs. What assets/resources do you currently have to offer? What are the school's most pressing needs? What subjects would you most like to learn about in workshops? etc. I guess I have done some interviewing and assessing, but in a more round about, lacadaisical way. I've just chit-chatted with a few folk with no real direction or intention of gathering data, and have picked up a bit of info along the way. At this point, however, I feel like I need to create some surveys, maybe conduct a teachers meeting or something. I need to do something official. I need some statistical data to work with to give me some direction to go in. ...the right direction to go in.
While working with the other ICT volunteers here, some of who have extensive experience with programming and databases, I've realized that I'm probably getting in way over my head with postgresql and attempting to use it to keep track of all the school's info. It'll be great for my own use (when I really get the hang of it), but I have to think about many many things when trying to implement it into the highschool. what info does the school have and What exactly does the school want to extract from the database? Then, what's the best way to structure the school's info so they can extract the info that they want. What's the best way to prevent data corruption? And who is going to maintain the database when I'm not there to do it for them? Not only would I have to come up with all the best solutions to these questions, but I'd have to teach everything I've learned to a few of the teachers insure the sustainability of the database. To do that would be a really daunting task to say the least... If I was to even do it the right way, I don't know if two years would be long enough to complete the task. If I'm going to do anything at all with a database, first, I really need to start on a small scale. One of the seminars introduced us to a few ready made databases. I could start on a smaller scale by implementing one of the databases into the library for keeping track of inventory and lending. Tom Peng, one of my fellow ICT pcvs, whose opinion I highly highly respect says that one of them, ISIS, created by UNESCO, is probably a database worth looking into. He was a programmer for Sun Microsystems and created and maintained databases before joining the PC. Per Tom, we really just need something that is going to reasonably store info and allow us to extract the info that we need, but most importantly proves easy for the teachers to use and maintain themselves. So, yeah, i need to start with just a little data needing just a few simple queries... the library being a good place to start. and I need a user friendly database, so its not a nightmare for me to show the teachers how to maintain it.
Other things I can think of off the top of my head that I want to do as a pcv...1- increase the number of books in the school's library 2- work with the softball team. Playing ultimate and kicking much arse at ping pong this week has made me realize just how much I really really miss competitive sports. Yeah, I suddenly have this new found passion for ping pong... ...and I'm pretty good I must say.

8-28-05

2005-08-29T10:01:00.000+08:00

Today, I went on the hardest hike I've been on since I've been here in the Philippines. ...Uphill for a straight two hours, we guessed we probably hiked up about 1,500 feet all together. Rachel had come into town...she said she was feeling a bit homesick and wanted to do something. So, we decided to hike to a barangay called Malikgong about 8 or 9 kilometers from my house. We had heard that they have some nice rice terraces there. So, this morning, we grabbed a couple of cans of tuna and some finger bananas and off we went. We actually had to walk the dirt road leading all the way up to Malikgong. The short cuts which were actual trails cutting through people's land had been fenced up according to my host mom, and were no longer passable. We passed by a couple of old folk herding their carabouy down the dirt road, but no one but us two crazy Americans dared to walk up it. Everyone takes a jeepney from Bontoc to Malikgong. We passed by this huge public swimming pool along the way, which if it had been filled would have been awesome! It looked as if it hadn't been used in years...probably b/c someone realized filling it up might not be the most efficient way to use their water. The only sources of water for so many far out barangays are the creeks and the rain water that's gathered during the rainy season. ...and during the dry season, the gathered water frequently runs out. We also passed by two jail houses. There was one for women, about the size of a gas station, and then another slightly bigger one a few feet away from it for men. They had somewhat of an Andy Griffith feel about them. ...Probably just a couple of town drunks occupying them. I don't ever hear of any crimes happening here. ...There's this one crazy old man who walks around town causing a scene every now and then so I hear. His name is Dato. I was told that he used to be a normal kid back in the day... he had a good head on his shoulders, was attending college to become a school teacher, made good grades...just an all around nice guy. One night he and two friends were in Baguio drinking at a bar. Apparantly they'd had way too much to drink and got into a fight with some other guy. Things got way out of hand, and they ended up killing the guy...accidentally. People tell me that if they had been sober, things wouldn't have escalated to that point. The townspeople say that when Dato and his friends sobered up, they couldn't believe what they had done. And they could never come to grips with what had happened and were never able to forgive themselves. As a result, all three of them went crazy. I asked my super if they were every prosecuted or found guilty of murder or spent any time in jail or anything? She said no. She said that the dead guy's family didn't press charges. After learning about what happened, and who the boys were, they decided that Dato and his friends weren't cold blooded killers...it was all just a really tragic accident. Dato is the only one of the guys still alive today. He wanders the streets everyday, I've passed by him a few times, at first thinking that he was just some homeless guy. But he actually has family here, and he sleeps at their home sometimes...I think sometimes he sleeps on the street too. But, I guess he never showers and just wears the same clothes all the time too, so he could easily pass for being homeless. People say that he likes to scare little children...if he sees a kid holding some food, he'll run up and steal the food out of the kid's hand and eat it laughing as the kid screams and cries in fear. My coworker, Vernice, who is now in her early thirties said that she fell prey to Dato's whims a few times when she was a little kid. Vernice had her students create powerpoint presentations over various people in the community. One of the groups presented on Dato, which is how I came to know of his story. When i saw pics the students had taken of him...i was like, "hey... I've seen that guy around town, and I've passed by him a few times on the street." ...I be sure to keep my distance now whenever I see him out and about. The last thing I need is for crazy Dato to get tired of scaring little kids and start getting his kicks out of scaring foreigners instead. hehe
But, anyway...after the hike, Rachel and I were exhausted. We went to Tchayapan restaurant to rest and have some cokes. Rachel stopped by Mister Donut on her way out of Bontoc and purchased a dozen assorted donuts. okay...so Mister Donut is the first chain/franchise anything in all of Bontoc (except for the bank). They just opened it about two weeks ago. Its coming was somewhat the talk of the town for quite some time. Alot of people were against it being built, b/c for some reason, the owners weren't putting in any plumbing. Therefore, there would be no sink and no easy way for the employees to clean or wash up. Everybody thought the place would be really unsanitary. I've had donuts there a couple of times...its all good to me. I'm not sure if they even make the donuts there, so there might not even be a whole lot they would need to clean anyway. Some people have told me the donuts are made in Baguio and then bused into Bontoc. But at any rate, times are a changing here in Bontoc. Its good in some ways and not good in others. Mister Donut provided a handful of jobs, 1- workers to build the place, and 2- employees to run it. Lots of people are buying their donuts, so its a slight boost to the economy. But Bontoc is one of the few places left in the Philippines that has retained alot of its traditional ways. I love the fact that you can see old men and women still walking around in native dress. It would be very sad indeed to see Bontoc lose its native vibe. I feel pretty safe to say though, that Bontoc won't be seeing a walmart anytime soon.
I'll be leaving for Manila on Thursday and will be gone till about the 17th or so...so I may not post any more blogs for a while.

8-25-05

2005-08-25T13:55:00.000+08:00

Did you know that when you turned 18, your parents packed up all your stuff and kicked you out of the house? ...Yep, if you're American, this happened to you...hehe. Its a law, don't you know? When you turn 18, you have no choice, you MUST comply and move out. ...well, its a law, according to all the Philippinos who have approached me on the subject of turning 18 in the states. And I'm told that this perception is taught in the schools here?! ...I'm so...amazed...that an entire country of folk can be so misguided on this one aspect of American culture. I'm trying to perfect my clarification on the matter, so I'll be ready next time I find myself in another discussion about it. So, someone asks me, "Hey Nancy, isn't it true that when you turn 18 in the states, by law, you have to leave your parents home?" My rebuttal: "No, that is very untrue. Yes, there is a legal difference between being 17 vs. being 18 in the states, but HAVING to leave home is not that difference. Technically, if you're 17 or younger, the state (the law) considers you to be a minor. If you 18 or older, law says you're an adult. So what's the difference between being a minor vs. being an adult? Aside from not being able to vote, and going to juvy instead of jail, if you're 17 or younger, your legal guardian decides where and with whom you live. You USUALLY have NO say in the matter (there are always exceptions, eh). But, in general, if you decide not to comply with the legal guardians' decision, and you decide to go out on your own instead, you're basically considered a runaway. The state can/will intervene and send a search party out to hunt your hind end down and drag it back home or to a foster home or wherever they see fit. If you're 18 or older, the state has absolutely NO say in where you live. You and only you decide where you will lay your head to rest at night, be it in your own apt., your own house (as if one could purchase a house at the age of 18 anyway :P ), the bedroom you've been residing in since you were 8, or your mother's basement...where ever. If you so chose to leave your family's home at 18, no one will stand in your way. Neither the state nor your parents will intervene and come looking for you to bring you home. So, I guess this whole misunderstanding of what "goes down" when you turn 18 in the states has to do with a misunderstanding of the role the govt. plays in the lives of Americans. I chuckle to imagine law enforcement officers and parents busting down a kids bedroom door the morning of his 18th birthday thrusting suitcases in his direction demanding he pack up and leave immediately. When you turn 18, you DON'T have to leave...as a matter of fact, many kids don't. You DO legally have the option to leave though. I really wouldn't make such a big deal about this whole thing, except for the fact that 1- sooooo many people think the misconception to be true, and 2- it makes American parents look like jerks...like they don't love their kids or something. ...I take offense to that. But, anyway...enough rambling about that subject.
I'm going to Manila next week for a second round of training with the Peace Corps. I'm planning on making my way to Makiti city to see what E-telecare's bldg looks like. If anyone I know from the Nashville call center is gonna be there, lemme know...I'd like to meet up.

8-21-05

2005-08-21T12:09:00.000+08:00

I didn't wake up till 8 this morning, which is pretty late by Philippine standards. The session I gave yesterday over "using the school's electronics" wore me out. I was really pleased with how well it played itself out. I requested a max of only 10 teachers to show up because of the size of the computer lab and the number of workstations I was going to be setting up. All 10 showed up...granted an hour after the presentation was supossed to start, but nevertheless, they all showed. The presentation lasted about 45 minutes. Then i paired all the teachers up. I setup 5 workstations at which each pair was supposed to complete a specific task. At workstation 1, the teachers were supposed to record themselves using the microphone answering the question, "What ICT topics would you like to learn more about in the future." Then they had to save their recording to a folder entitled, "ICT topics" on the school's USB memory key. At workstation 2, the teachers had to scan a photograph that they brought with them (either of themselves or their family) and then burn the image to cd. At workstation 3, the teachers had to hook up the LCD projector to a computer. At workstation 4, I had the teachers open up word, and answer the question, "If you were suddenly given 1,000,000 pesos, how would you chose to spend it?" Then they had to print their answer. Lastly, at workstation 5, the teachers had to hook a computer up the tv. Some of the teachers stayed and completed all the tasks...some of the teachers just did a couple and then decided to leave. I figured it would work out like that though. There are about 50 teachers at the highschool, so I guess I'll be giving the same presentation every saturday until all the teachers have had the opportunity to attend. Vernice, my counterpart, the teacher I work the closest with, is the one who signed up the first 10 teachers for me. She said that she specifically sought out those 10 because they are the most computer literate in the school. there are many teachers who have never sat infront of a computer, much less even turned one on, or used a mouse. So, I'm not quite sure If those teachers should even attend this electronics session. I should probably give another session on just computer basics and invite all those teachers to attend it instead.
Vernice is great. She's an English teacher, but she works in the lab with me, so I'm pretty much with her all day everyday. She's so sweet and laid back, I'd say that she's my best friend here. We get along great. She's recently become part in an educational program called Fusion. Fusion was created as an incentive from the Philippine Dept. of Education to encourage teachers to incorparate ICT into their lesson planning. She's going to Bangkok in September to attend a Fusion convention. I would love to go with her, but can't since this is a work related trip. Maybe I can go to Bangkok with her some other time though...She lived in Bangkok for two years, working as an English teacher. So, she's very familiar with the area and knows lots of people there. ...So, I had to tell her my favorite Chinese proverb... "Man who goes through turnstyle sideways in airport is going to Bangkok." hehe...that always makes me chuckle.
On another topic, there's a game here that many boys play called Sepaktakrow. Its such a kewl looking game. Its played on a court with a volleyball style net or a badmitton style net. The ball is made out of either strips of plastic or bamboo and is hollow inside. The kids have to volley the ball back and forth over the net using either their heads or feet. Some of the boys do these crazy kewl taekwando style kicks to get the ball over. I think the game originated in Malaysia...but I'm not sure. I'll have to play sometime though. One day, I told Vernice I wanted to play, she looked at me like I was crazy saying, "that games just for boys!" haha...I haven't heard anyone say anything like that in quite sometime now. Now, I'm definatly going to have to play it! hehe.

8-13-05

2005-08-15T10:22:00.000+08:00

My super says I work too much. Maybe I do, but it keeps me from being so homesick. I feel like I'm juggling a whole lot of stuff right now, which is both good and bad. like previously mentioned, keeps my mind off being homesick, but it is pretty exhausting too. To boot, I'm getting sick again. I'm slightly worried about denge. I've got some pretty painful mosquito bites...and there have been a few cases of denge in this area recently. I'll just have to keep a check on whether or not I get a fever. The hardest thing for me so far though is just trying to learn the language. I definately haven't been putting all the work into it that I could have. I've been focusing alot on writing up "how to" info on using all the school's electronics and rebuilding the school's network. Thanks to my brother for recently staying up all night IMing with me, I was able to rebuild it just fine. Since then, I've resetup the thing a couple of times over just to get some practice in. Everything is working dandy right now, except we can only connect to other workstations via the run command (\\wks07) for example. If you try to surf the mountainhigh domain in network places, you get a message that says that the server is not configured for transactions. I've googled it about as much as I can, but I can't find anything helpful that will fix the problem. The only info I can find says that the culprit is probably a virus. Could be... seems like there is always atleast one virus on atleast one of the workstations. No biggie, as long as we can still print from any workstation, we're good to go. One of the original problems with the lab happened to be that the printer wasn't networked. If a student was on, say wks01, and wanted to print something, he'd have to save his work to floppy and then move to wks07 to print. problem 1- most students don't carry floppies. problem 2- the lab didn't even sell floppies for them to buy. As a temporary fix, I fronted the money for a box of floppies we could sell to the kids when they needed to save work. problem 3- if a student needed to save his work to floppy, then that mean't he had to...buy a floppy...for 35 pesos...which is friggin pricey. You can buy a cd-r here for only 25 pesos. Its all about supply and demand though. Most people have floppy drives, not cd burners. Even though we all know a cd-r is the better storage method, when you don't have a cd burner, a cd-r aint worth squat. So, businesses here can get away with pricing floppies higher than cd-rs. Problem 4- the floppy drives themselves seem to be dropping like flies. So, we started experiencing situations where a kid on, say wks01, would type something up and then decide that he wanted to print it. but then, all of sudden, we would find that the floppy drive on that wks would be dead. How the heck does the kid save the paper he's spent an hour or two typing up, much less print it? The whole setup was just really unfair to both the students and the teachers. So, now, situation has been remedied, for the meantime atleast. ...until the network gets bogged down with viruses again. I really want to get familiar with a version of linux...maybe put it on a couple of the wks, to be guaranteed working, virus free machines.
So...on to more interesting topics... Seems as though i have an admirer. Funny thing is, he's gotta be in his late teens or early 20s at most. I met the kid back in June when i first came here for site visit. I was walking around town, observing the sites...he waved me over. We chatted. All he wanted to talk about was the US. It was a good chat...but I felt the need to end it when he started asking me if the easiest way to get to the US was via a fiance visa. :O I've seen him around town a few more times since then. He keeps asking me to lunch...I say no...I'm almost positive the first time I met him I told him I was 28. Guess love is blind...or deaf one. hehe. And according to him...its love alright. He sent a messenger to the school the other day to give me a letter declaring his love for me (or maybe for the US?) I'm not sure which one yet. hehe. I won't put the entire letter on my blog, of course, but here is my favorite line. It goes, "I have seen sunrise and sunset, but nothing as beautiful as your face." Awwwwwwww! How sweet is that?! I've got to hand it to the guy. It made me feel great! And later that evening, he sent another friend to my house (its a small town, everyone seems to know where everyone else lives) to give me a jar of peanut brittle he bought me. His whole approach takes me back to my middle school and high school days...when love is an innocent crush. When you hold nothing back because you haven't yet felt the sting of a broken heart. It makes me think of still being in highschool and not knowing yet how complex a relationship can really be. ...I've got nothing but respect for a kid whose gonna risk rejection from someone, probably about 10 years older than him...so needless to say, I will let him down gently.

8-7-05

2005-08-07T15:28:00.000+08:00

Talk about being careful what you ask for! hehe. I went harvesting again yesterday...and I got lots of pics this time. We were in the field from 9 in the morning until sundown. Well, to be exact, we were in two fields. We finished one field around 3, and then took off to a second one and worked in it until we literally couldn't see what we were doing anymore. We hopped a dump truck to take us there. There were only about 10 of us this time, so the work went much much slower than last weekend. We worked in the second field for a few hours...and for a few hours we listened to the same Scorpions tape over and over again. Most everyone here luvs country music, but the young guys luv metallica and scorpions especially.
My right "new" work glove now has a nice hole in the middle finger from continuously cutting stalks. I enjoyed every minute of it though! I luv feeling physically tired after the end of a work day. Its the kind of tired that lets you know you're working your muscles and doing something good for your body. The worst is when your body hurts...because you've been doing nothing but sitting all day. And that in conjunction with being mentally and emotionally exhausted from straining at a computer screen and dealing with disgruntled customers all day...that'll make you go crazy right there. ...I know if I had to work in a field all day everyday though, my body would get tired of it pretty quickly. ...But it's just so nice to be outside! in the sun, smelling the earth, being rained on, listening to the rushing water of the nearby creek, surrounded by lush green mountains. We stopped for lunch around noon.
Darryl cooked our lunch for us right there in the field on an open fire. We had inasin (boiled salted pork), innapoy (rice), pechay (green leafy vegetable), and some sort of green beans that were like two feet long each. We all just shared three plates. It was pretty cozy. I've gotten accustomed to the "what what" here (meat). Its cut very differently from the way its cut in the states. About half the meat you pull out of a pot here is just gonna be straight up fat. And the other half still has the skin left on it. But, the kicker is that the skin still has stubbly hair all over it. ...So, yeah, you learn to overlook the fact that the meat on your plate still has hair on it. But all in all, the meat tastes good. Side note: remember that song that goes, "can I get a what what what what..." I told my host mom about it...told her that all along, chic must have just wanted someone to pass her some meat. hardy har har
When we got back, my host mom insisted on heating up some water for me to take a warm shower. Another thing you get accustomed to here...cold showers. Our bathroom is a small cemented room in the backyard seperate from the rest of the house. I'm pretty fortunate though, because my host mom has a working shower head, so I don't have to manually pour the water over me everytime I want to rinse off. Most bathrooms here though just consist of a bucket, a ladle (for pouring water over yourself) and a faucet close to the ground for filling up the bucket. Its chilly in the mornings here already...I don't quite know how I'm going to bathe once "winter" rolls around. Suck it up and freeze for a few minutes every morning...or cake the deodorant.

8-3-05

2005-08-03T14:30:00.000+08:00

I was feeling artistic last night. Shot lots of strange and interesting pics...here's some of them. I like the last one. ...so that's what I'd look like with freckles!?

7-30-05

2005-07-31T13:16:00.000+08:00

I wasn't so sure if the harvesting was gonna go down today. Last weekend my super told me not to go anywhere this weekend or the next because she wanted me to help harvest some rice fields. I was really excited when she told me about it. The fields are beautiful, and I've never harvested anything before. I thought it would be an awesome experience. I think I may have once picked some cherry tomatos that grew in my family's flower bed, but other than that, my hand's aint never picked anything of importance before. ...This past Wednesday, my super and host mom took off to Baguio w/o telling me. Of course, I don't expect them to tell me whenever they decide to go anywhere, but it was kind of annoying b/c everyone kept asking me when they were getting back. As a matter of fact, someone asking me when they were going to get back is actually what clued me in on the fact that they had left in the first place. I realized that my super went to Baguio to pick up the LCD projector that everyone has been so anxiously awaiting. I was kind of worried that they had forgotten about the whole harvesting thing though. Friday night rolled around and I was leaving Tai Chi. Of course, one of the instructors had to walk me home. Bontoc is so utterly dangerous I just can't go anywhere by myself after sundown *sarcasm*. Bontoc is about the size of the University of Tennessee's college campus. Yes, for the next two years of my life, I will be living the life of a "college student" again. So...as Darryl and I are making our way up to my house, I ask him about harvesting that next day. According to my host mom, its his family's field that we're supossed to be harvesting. He nonchalantly says, "oh, they've already been harvested." "nooooooooooo!"...I uttered to myself. "How can this be?" I was so disappointed. They harvest twice a year here, and If I was to miss this harvesting season, I would have to wait many more months for another opportunity. I just tried to forget about the whole thing...par for the course I said. As a side note, that's slowly but surely becoming one of my favorite phrases. I mutter it to myself and follow it up with a sigh atleast two or three times a day. But anyway...so I get up today, Saturday, thinking that I'll just spend the day reading. I've got this windows 2000 notebook I've got to finish going through by next weekend (my own enforced timeframe). "If I don't harvest next weekend either," I said, "I'll spend it in the school's computer lab rebuilding the network." I don't exactly know how to do that...I've never done it before, but, its got to be done. I can't mess anything up more than is already messed up, that's for sure. Active directory has been...completely...destroyed. I've got to recreate everyone's accts...I can't reinstall active directory either, b/c the server says that its already installed, but I can't get to it. And I'm tired of the server going down due to the blaster. Plus, I can't get any of the clients to join the domain. ...Says the domain can't be found. And I've got to reset up the two printers as network printers, b/c right now, its really inconvenient for the students to have to save whatever they want to print to floppy and then print it off of the one computer physically connected to the printer. They should be able to print from any system. I just want to blow the whole network out and reset it up...so I know all of its ins and outs. Plus, the computer teachers don't know how to rebuild a network, so i figure that after I learn how to do it, I can show them how to do it also. That way, in the future, they won't have to pay the computer guy up the street a fortune to come over everytime they've got a problem. I figure, I'll rebuild the network one weekend, and then, one at a time, I'll walk each of them through rebuilding it also. ...but anyway, back to harvesting...so as I was reading this morning, my host mom texted me (no one actually speaks on cell phones around here. Everyone just uses them to text with) and said that Darryl's family was going to harvest and asked me if I would like for Hiedi (another girl we all know from tai chi) to come by and pick me up. I texted back, "sure, but, Darryl told me that his fam had already finished harvesting the fields." She responded, "he told me his fam has one more they haven't harvested yet." I was like, "kewl. I'll get ready. Send me Hiedi's number so I can text her to see when she'll be coming by." I text Heidi and she says that she can't get in touch with Darryl...but she'll keep me posted on when she'll be coming by. So, then, about an hour later, I get another text from aunty jo (my host mom) saying that Heidi won't be coming by to get me. There won't be any harvesting at all. Aunty Jo said Darryl just decided to "play a joke" on her and tell her that there was still an unharvested field when there really wasn't. I'm thinking to myself...a joke? ...less funny, haha...more funny, strange. So, I just continue reading. Then a few minutes later, I get a text from Hiedi inviting me to help her family harvest a field. I'm like, "uh, sure." This time it was for real though...and let me tell you...it was sooooo kewl! I had no idea what to expect. I get to the field and its wet (supper muddy). Most people just harvest barefoot, so I did too. A few people had rubber boots, and if I had previously thought I was actually going to be harvesting, I would have bought some, but I really enjoyed feeling the mud between my toes. I was a little nervous at first, because a few people have told me that muddy rice fields are full of leeches...but it was all good. ...there were no "stand by me" moments. I think rice fields look alot like wheat fields. The rice grains grow on tall, thin shafts. We used what sort of looked like little baby sickles (called lekerm) to seperate the shafts from the rest of the plant's stalk. Basically, we all lined up on one end of the field and just forged through it until we reached the other side. For the first half hour, I was using the lekerm incorrectly and now have a nice little blister to prove it. Hiedi broke in and showed me how to use it the right way...it was smooth sailing after that. You cut the shafts off with one hand and bundle them together in the other. There are a few people who don't harvest, but rather just take your bundles from you and tie them together with kawayan (strips of bamboo). I've got a right arm full of scratches because I didn't wear long sleeves. I was told that I should wear them, but I wasn't really told why. I didn't take heed b/c 1- I thought it was just for extra protection from the sun (so I just wore lots of sunblock instead) 2- The only long sleeved shirt I have is for work (at the school...not for work in the field) and 3- its dang hot outside. It should heal up in a day or two though...no biggie. After the first half an hour or so of cutting palay (rice straight from the field, or that hasn't been milled yet), about 20 random dudes showed up to give us a hand. With all the help we had, we tore through the field like locust. We were done in just a few hours. EVERYONE that passed by would ask one of the harvesters, "ammona agani?" (does she know how to harvest?) They'd just respond with, "wen, ammona." (yes, she knows how). After a while, I'd beat em to the punch and just say, "wen, ammok" (yes, I know how). The whole experience was so much fun. My body is a little sore, but, I don't know if its from the harvesting, or from the two and a half hours of clothes washing I did afterward when I got home, or maybe from both. ...yet again, I missed out on some classic photo ops. But, I didn't know what to expect. I decided to leave my camera at home...because all i could envision was being stuck in the middle of a big field with no way out and the mid day rain making its way through (which it always does) and completely destroying my digital camera. If I had brought my camera with me, I would have gotten some shots of me, all muddy footed. ...And some close up shots of "some dudes" with their snaggle toothed, grinnin' moma mouths harvesting and bundling and actin' a fool. And I would have liked to have gotten some close up shots of some of the crazy cool insects I saw crawling up and down the rice stalks. There is a slight possibility that I'll go harvesting again next weekend. If so...I'll put my camera in a couple of ziplock bags and cross my fingers.

ARGGGHHH...EMAIL!!!

2005-07-26T11:21:00.000+08:00

I've having issues with both my email addresses: nancycy1@collegeclub.com and nancy@smarterthings.com
I probably won't be able to read or respond to anything you send to those two addresses. Until further notice, please email me at yount521@yahoo.com

7-24-05

2005-07-25T08:16:00.000+08:00

Mom, Memaw, and Kristen...I can't thank you all enough for the awesome care package you sent!!! It was full of everything that I needed and more! Mom and memaw, thank you sooooo much for all the new clothes and the chacos! Thank you especially though for my trusty red and brown jogging pants. I've been wearing the red ones for the past two days (just like what I did in the states, hehe) My sleeping bag came in really handy last night. I spent the night at Pam's place (another pcv) along with all the other pcvs from up here in Mountain Province. I was about the only one who didn't freeze last night. As a matter of fact, I sweated all night long (yes, even a zero degree bag can be useful in "tropical" climates). I'm sharing the candy with my host family and fellow coworkers. ...I have a feeling most people here aren't gonna like dark chocolate, you can't find it anywhere up here, but I'll let everyone try a peice anyway. And thanks so much for the sour patch kids (my favorite). My old backpack was what I've been needing all along...I can't believe I didn't bring it in the first place. Its got all the pockets I need. Its the perfect size for everyday travel to and from school and around town. Its got a place to store my umbrella and my water bottle. I'm set. ...and the books! I couldn't be happier about all the books! I cracked open the big blue and white 2000 server binder today and will be adressing it everyday starting tomorrow until I've rebuilt the school's network from start to finish. Kristen, thank you so much for the shampoo and lotion! I think its safe to say I won't be spending another peso on anymore hair products for the next two years. ...If I do...I've got serious obsessive compulsive shampooing issues. hehe. The best part of the package though were all the pictures. ...but in some ways, it made me sad to see them. It makes me sad to think of all the things I've already missed and I've only been gone a few months. I really wish I could have been at your graduation, mom. I'm so proud of you for accomplishing such an awesome goal! Its been hard, but you've been diligent. You worked hard and sacrificed alot of time and energy to make it happen, and you have! You've earned it. It was neat to see pics of you in a cap and gown. I guess last time you were wearing a cap and gown, I was "walking" across the stage with you. hehe. I'm sad that I've missed out on other things too...like David and Jennifer's wedding...and Caitlin's first birthday. I'm happy though, b/c I know what a great family I have. I'm really lucky.
...this weekend went by fairly quickly. I've decided that I won't be travelling to see other pcvs again until early september which is pst2 (the second half of our training). I've been hanging around with American's a bit too much lately. I need to hang out here at site more and hang out with my host family and other Philippinos I've met here. I really need to concentrate on speaking less English and more Ilokano and Ifontoc.
Also, I'm getting over another slight cold. Seems everytime I travel, I always get a stuffy nose and start sneezing and coughing. I really need to make sure I'm getting all the nutrients I need. ...I'm gonna start cooking dinner for myself I think. My lunches are really nutritional. Everyday, I eat lunch at the school with the other teachers in the canteen. The canteen workers cook for us. There are really good greens (nateng) everyday and sometimes lentils (mongo) too. There is usually some sort of meat to go with it, be it dried fish (tinapa) or boiled pork (inasin). Occassionally, we have boiled chicken (pinikpinkan). And of course, there is always rice...always...rice (makan). Dinner gets a bit more tricky though. Of course, I "eat" dinner at home. It usually consists of the fam's lunch leftovers that have been sitting under a basket in the middle of the table all day. The leftovers usually consist of a couple of spoonfuls of something unrecognizable and a pot half full of rice. ...between getting home late from tai chi, and just not really being very hungry...I usually pass on the dinner. I've cooked spaghetti a few times and made tuna a few times. ...I'm just really feeling the need to lay off the carbs and introduce more fruits, vegetables, and beans. ...my host brother called me to lunch today, "manang Nancy (older sister nancy) mangan tayo (let's eat)," he said. So, I sit down at the table and see that I can choose from either carbs, carbs, or more carbs. Rice, raman noodles, and pandusol (sweet bread). ...all i can think about is diabetes. ...think I'm gonna hold off on digging into those sour patch kids right away. hehe

Ap-apatto and Changchangtayan

2005-07-21T08:53:00.000+08:00

I got hold of three children's stories each translated into four languages: Ifontok, Sabangan, Tagalog, and English. Two of the three were a little strange...but for the most part pretty cute. The third one, however, was just bizarre... Some key concepts in the story just bottom line didn't translate well. The story is a little long, but here it is nonetheless for any of you who would like to read it. I've pretty much left it in its original translation:

Ap-apatto and Changchangtayan

Ap-apatto (who I'll call "A" for short) and Changchangtayan ("C") lived in At-atong. One day they decided to go and make a garden at Mt. Fana-ao. When they arrived, they cleared the garden for the whole day. They cleared a wide area, because they had said to themselves, "Let's work fast so we'll have a wide garden." They worked hard that day and they were able to clear a hectare each.
When the night came they went straight home. During the night Rat came out and said, "chooot chooot, may the garden of A become bushy. chooot chooot, may the garden of C become bushy." Now the bushes really shot up and covered their garden. It reverted to it's previous condition.
The next morning they went again. They said to each other, "Let's go again and widen our garden." When they reached their garden they were surprised to see that it had reverted to bushes again. They said, "Where is the area we have cleared? It has reverted to bush. It looks the same as when we first came." Again, they worked hard and were again able to clear a wide area. "Tomorrow we'll come again and clear that flat area," they said. They went home straight away.
As soon as they had gone it was night, and Rat came out again and said, "chooot chooot, may the garden of A become bushy. chooot chooot may the garden of C become bushy."
When they went the following morning, they found that the bushes had regrown. It was the same as before. "Why is this? Why is it that the bushes grow so easily at night?" they asked. "Well, ok, let's clear it again." Again, they worked very hard.
Then A said, "Let's stay here overnight." They stayed in a bush hut which they constructed, and made a fire to give light. But, they didn't see anything.
But, when their fire died, Rat came out. Perching on a tree trunk she said, "chooot chooot may the garden of A become bushy. chooot chooot, may the garden of C become bushy." At the moment she finished speaking, A and C lit a torch and saw that the bushes were starting to grow in their garden! Then they immediately set to work to cut them down using a bonfire as their light.
By morning, they completed the clearing. "why, what sort of a person was that who came, and by saying, 'you revert to bushes' was able to cause grass and bushes to spring up?" they exclaimed. "Let's stay here again tonight." That night, they stayed in the field again, and went looking for her trail. They found the route she had taken.
When it was night, they put out their fire, and went to watch the route she had taken. Suddenly they heard the voice again, "chooot chooot, may the garden of C become bushy. chooot chooot may the garden of A become bushy."
They were there waiting for her along her trail. they said to each other, "Let's wait for her." Then, "Why didn't she come?" Later on, at dawn, they heard movements in the bushes. they looked and saw a rat as big as a person's leg. "I wonder, is this the one? It is, because this is its trail." They followed it to the creek where it quickly entered a hole. They said, "Let's get some bushes and smoke her out."
They got the bushes to smoke it but it said, "chik, chik. Don't smoke me out. Let's go to my hut above." Immediately, she came out. When they went up, she quickly entered into a cave. They lit fires to smoke her out. "chik, chik. don't smoke me out. Let's go to my house above" she came out a second time and they went up. Immediately, she disappeared again. They smoked her cave again. "chik, chik. Don't smoke me out. Let's go to my house above."
When they went above, the rat's house had a wide projecting roof. It was the type of house rich people have. They said, "Oh, we thought she was just a rat. she is a real person."
Then she said, "Take the clay pot and fill it with water." They took it and filled it.
They asked, "Why don't you bring some food to cook in it?"
"What? Ah. Wait, I will see to that," They did not see her put any rice in the pot. She took the ladle and held it. she said, "You lie down and rest and I'll take care of it."
They lay down and pretended to sleep, saying, "Let's watch and see how she cooks!" After some time, she began suddenly to stir the pot, and the rice began to rise. she moved it off the fire. She replaced it with a second pot. "What is she cooking there? Let's have a look," they murmured. "Lets see what she will put in it. What is she holding in her hand and putting in the pot?"
Later she said, "chik, chik. Wake up and let's eat." When they dug into what was in the pot with the ladle, it was rice indeed! They dipped the ladle into the second pot and it was meat! They sat down and ate.
Now, when they had eatten, Rat turned into an old woman. She said, "What is your desire? What would you like as a present to take away?" When they looked around them, there were heaps of rice and lots of meat.
One of them, C answered, "I will take rice, so we will have food. That's why I was going to make a garden because I don't have food to feed my children."
"What will you carry it in? Get your carrying basket." He prepared the bundles of rice. "Take as much as you want to prepare." He got the baskets. "Fill them with as much as you desire."
C repeatly loaded and tested the weight of his carrying baskets. Then he said, "I will return for more," She did not reply. She spoke to A, "What do you want?" "Meat, I will take that meat there." Rat thought, "Oh, A's family must have sufficient rice since he is asking for meat." She asked, "Will you carry it on a pole over your shoulder? Do come again."
C who was loaded with rice said, "We will return again this night. We will return." They arrived at home, unloaded, and immediately returned.
When they got back, she said to C, "What will you take?" He answered, "I will take rice and also the ladle, because we don't have a ladle." "What do you want that for? There is plenty of wood in the forest to make ladles!" "We don't have the know-how to make ladles," he answered. The other one, A, said, "I will only take meat." she answered them, "ok, that's fine. But, will you go while it's still night? Wait till the morning." But Rat was thinking to herself, "Ah, this one is no pauper, since he is only taking meat." They slept the rest of the night there, sleeping flat on their backs with their feet apart. Then rat went up into the upper floor of the house and urinated on them. She directed it onto the one who wanted the meat. A exclaimed, "Oh, where is that water coming from?" "chik, chik," said Rat. "Maybe something has spilt." But in fact, it was her urine.
Again during the night, some soot fell down. Again, it was directed onto the man who wanted the meat. "What is it that's falling from there? Why are you dropping soot?" Rat answered, "chik, chik. Maybe its falling down as I walk." But in fact, she was dropping it.
Next morning, C said "Maybe I will only take the ladle and some rice on top of it, because I am tired of the events of yesterday. I will only carry a little because I am tired after yesterday." She said to the other, "How much will you take? Don't you want any rice?" "No, I will just take meat." So he loaded his basket again with meat. they started out straight away.
When A arrived home, he put the meat in his preserving jar. He preserved it. The one who had chosen rice went home, dried some over the fire, and put the rest in his granary. The next day, A went to look inside his meat container, and to his great dismay it was completely empty!
As for C who had become the owner of the ladle and rice, the bundles of rice that he got from Rat were also used up. but he still had sufficient. Because even if he only cooked one chupa of rice, as long as he was dipping his ladle into the pot, the rice would expand and fill the pot. This was because Rat had pity on C because he never complained.

Moral: so if you go to another place to barter, be accomodating. Whatever is said to you by the owner of the thing you are buying, go along with it. Believe whatever he says, unless it is evil.

hehe...are you as confused as I am?

After discussing the story with native speakers, I realized that the moral of the story is basically something like, "beggars can't be choosers." Both A and C were getting food for free from Rat, so A shouldn't have insisted on taking meat everytime.
...but, I have to make the point that if Rat hadn't been so hell bent on making the bushes regrow everytime A and C cleared the garden, then A and C wouldn't have had to take anything from Rat. Secondly, seemed to me A complained just as much as C. And thirdly...if a Rat peed on me...you'd hear me complaining too.

7-20-05

2005-07-20T15:46:00.000+08:00

Amazingly enough, I was able to meet up with four other peace corps volunteers in Banaue last weekend. Banaue is home to the most beautiful rice terraces in all of the Philippines! ...I'm wearing out the panaramic software on my computer with all the pics I've been taking of the landscape. ...I got on the 9 oclock jeep that saturday morning thinking that I'd arrive in Banaue around noon. Supposedly, there's one jeep that leaves for Banaue at 9 and another one that leaves at 12. What you find more often than not though is that a jeep will leave when its full...not necessarily b/c its time to leave. I was the only one on the jeep till 10. I asked the driver when he thought we might leave. He said 11. I went to buy a newspaper and then came back at 11. By that time, there were two other people on the jeep besides myself. ...a Philippino and a Belgian. We all chatted till 12:45. The driver then turned around and announced, "Everybody off, I'm not going to Banaue anymore." All of us then had to trek to the bus station and buy tickets for a bus that passes by Banaue. It leaves at "3" everyday. I went home, had lunch, and came back at 3. The bus finally pulled off around 4...I made it to Banaue by 6:30. Our plans for hiking were completely shot, but, I had some great conversation while waiting that morning. The Belgian's name was Raphael. I swear, he is the epitame of a world traveller. He's 34 and has been travelling all over the world since he was 18. He's a french teacher in Belgium, which makes it possible for him to travel so much. ...teachers get alot of vacation, especially in Europe I suppose. He had dinner with all us pcvs that night. Every country we talked about, he had been to...for atleast a few months at a time. He had some incredible stories to tell. He told us about his first trip out of Europe. He was 18 and according to him, "still very green". He was on his way to Morroco and became fast friends with this group of Arabs he was on the boat with. Once ashore, they invited him to their house. He thought they were "safe" enough...they looked well off, we're well dressed and we're driving a really expensive car. They passed a joint around in the car...per the situation he was in, there was no way he could have refused it. They gave him something to drink when they got to the house...apparantly they had slipped something in it also. They took him upstairs into one of the bedrooms. He was pretty well out of it by this time. There were about 5 guys waiting for him once he got inside the room. They demanded that he buy drugs from them. He refused. They then tried to frame him saying that if he didn't, they would go to the police and tell them that he had smoked pot, which would have gotten him thrown in jail. He called their bluff and told them to go ahead. Apparantly, the joint and whatever it was they put in his drink made him alot bolder than he would have otherwise been. Then one of the guys grabbed his hand, and threatened to cut his fingers off if he didn't buy drugs from them. An all out brawl erupted...they messed him up pretty bad...but somehow or another he was able to escape.
We asked him which countries he enjoyed the most. "Depends on the purpose of my travel," he said. "Brazil's carnival is pretty wild, but Ethiopa is great for learning about tribal cultures." He told us about some of the tribal warfare in Ethiopa...I don't know if it still goes on today. It slightly reminded me of the tribal warfare that used to take place here in Bontoc. He said that when a warrior from one tribe captured a warrior from another tribe, he would cut off the captured's genitalia and wear them on his head as a sign of victory! ...whooooooooaaaaaaa...
Lastly, he had some really, really sad and disturbing stories about Cambodia. He met this really well to do frenchman once when he was there. They had an instant kinship b/c of the whole "french" thing. One night when they had dinner together, Raphael asked the man what he did for a living. The man said that he was a diamond dealer in Africa. Apparantly, Raphael is pretty knowledgeable on diamond dealing in Africa?, so he instantly knew that the story the man was feeding him was a lie. He continued to prod the guy until he finally confessed to being a child trafficer. Raphael said, While in Cambodia, he saw many children whose lives had been destroyed by it. ...who had been exploited by pedafiles. ...horrible stuff.
...really bad story to end the blog entry on...but, gots to head out.

7-14-05

2005-07-16T08:34:00.000+08:00

Today was an exceptionally great day! It was beautiful outside...sun was shining, people were smiling. I laughed alot with my co-workers. All was well with the world. ...I felt much better today than I did at 4 this morning. I woke up having dreamt that I was back in highschool. I woke up with this terrible feeling of being an outsider...awkward and lonely. Maybe I had the dream b/c the difficulties that come with trying to find my niche in a new culture are similar to the difficulties kids face when trying to fit in in highschool? I've got to admit...it's tough here. Some days, all I want to do is just listen to my ipod and shut myself off from everyone and everything. ...Or maybe I just had the dream b/c I'm surrounded by highschoolers all day everyday? hmmmmm...analyzing dreams is kewl.
I borrowed this CD of Ifontok folk music from one of the security guards at the school. Its actually really great stuff. ...Acoustic guitar and some melodious, harmonizing voices. The best thing about it though is that the lyrics are written inside, so I can actually learn the songs and translate them into english to help myself learn the language.
...Rachel and I were interviewed on a radio show this past Tuesday...it was so exciting and so scary. I'm friends with a young woman here named, Berlin. We met during my site visit about a month and a half ago. Turns out she belongs to this broadcasting club that hosts a weekly radio show called the "kapihan" (which roughly translates into a "discussion over coffee"). Each week, the club interviews various community members, mostly community leaders to discuss controversial issues or the hot topics of the moment. About two weeks ago, she asked me if she could interview me about myself, the peace corps, the sector that I'm in (BETA, basic education and technical assistance), and some of my future projects. I didn't give it much thought at the time, so I said sure. As the interview date grew closer though...I started thinking to myself..."OMG! I'm going to be INTERVIEWED on the RADIO!" I really didn't want to do it by myself, so I asked Rachel if she would do it with me. She was willing...I was relieved. We arrived at the "station" (which happened to be in a restaurant). Turns out the interview was live and lasted for an hour and half. Somehow we found enough stuff to talk about to fill the time. I even asked a question or two of the interviewers...gotta mix it up a bit, you know. It was definately a kewl experience...wouldn't want to do it again...but a very kewl experience nonetheless.
Yesterday, my supervisor told me that the dept. of Education is donating an LCD projector to the school! Woot! The one thing I really want to get going here is a make-shift movie theater. Looks like its gonna come to fruition and soon! We should be getting the LCD projector in two weeks. The school already has a great sound system. I'll use my laptop to play the movies on. We can put up a sheet or something for the screen. I know plenty of people who have a plethora of movies. ...it'll be great!
Aight...time for bed. No work tomorrow though! Its a holiday...Cordillera day. Cordillera is the region my province is located in. My tai-chi class is having a picnic to celebrate, so I should be well rested for the festivities. ...hopefully I won't be rudely awaken by anymore lame dreams.
Oh...two side notes. Jennifer, thanks for the card! I got it a few days ago. You rock! Paul S...I just got done listening to your 1st podcast again...I really dig Ariana by Second Saturday. Very happy and energetic it is. I have to find time to download your other podcasts!

7-10-05

2005-07-10T16:39:00.000+08:00

Once again, in the computer lab...this time reading CNN...feeling saddened by the explosions in London. I was looking at CNN's photo gallery of missing persons. It hits home more when you can actually put a face to someone who was killed. The peace corps volunteer located closest to me, Daniel, is actually half British from his mom's side. Alot of his family, including his brother live in London. He's been in contact with them all already...thankfully no one he knows was hurt. Yesterday, he came to Bontok, to pick up his snail mail, check his email, surf the net...and play scrabble with me, my supervisor, and host mom. He's got a travel scrabble board, which is like gold around here. My host mom used to have one which was given to her by a previous volunteer. She lent it to someone and according to her, "that person just fell in love with it and refused to give it back." ...alrighty then. Guess I know what to bring her back from the states for Christmas.
I just got back from Tadian to visit Rachel and Jodi another pcv. We were going to do some hiking today (I actually came prepared this time with my sneakers), but we learned that vans don't run as often on sundays as they do on weekdays. I had to go ahead and hop one early or else run the risk of having to stay another night in Tadian. ...while bouncing around in the van, I once again started thinking about how strange it is to not be able to drive. I really miss driving. I miss rollin down the interstate with my one working window rolled down and singing to the radio. I wouldn't want to drive here though...drivers and road conditions are insane. But, it really does kind of suck to be at the mercy of public transportation. And especially, when that public transportation consists of hot, cramped space, and nausea. Most women don't drive here anyway. I have yet to see a bus, trike, or van driven by a woman. My supervisor's sister is an anomoly. First of all, she's a lawyer, secondly, she runs a hotel (which her family owns), and thirdly, she owns her own pick up truck, and drives it all over the Philippines. Of course, she's single. Most women who are any kind of independant here are always single. ...interesting why that is.
Hmmm...what to talk about...k...funny story...so I had a sty on my eye a couple of days ago. I came downstairs that first morning it was swolen and my host sister Vera, who is in her early 30s, saw it. I was like, "yeah, my eye has been hurting for a few days, so I kinda expected it to eventually swell up or something." (Just like Majic Travi says...all us Younts are the same, hehe. We leave the country and we all swell up). So, she said, "Oh, let me go get Yogi for you." Yogi is her baby nephew, whose like maybe 9 or 10 months old. Richard, my host uncle who also lives with us, babysits him everyday. He's such a good baby! I swear, he NEVER crys except when Richard starts grunting at him and making weird noises at him. But anyway, I was like, "why should you get Yogi for me?" She's like..."oh, if you rub a baby's penis on your eye...the sty will go away." I immediately burst into laughter. I was like, "say what?" She started laughing too...she was aware of how completely ridiculous it sounded. But, aparantly around here, its one of those old school home remedies that people will still try. She said that Valerie, Yogi's mom, had a sty a few days ago and tried it (she's probably the one I got my sty from in the first place). Voila...the next day it was gone. ...Voila? or coincidence? Between my laughter, I was like, "K...I have two questions for you. First off, how the heck did someone "discover" that a baby's penis would cure a sty?! I mean...what leads someone to say, 'hey...I've got this sty on my eye...maybe if I rub my baby's penis on it...it will go away!' And, secondly, what is the male cut off age. I mean...could I grab some random old dude on the street and say, 'hey...can you do me a favor? or does it have to be a baby?" She understood that the questions were totally rhetorical. ...We just continued to laugh. She's great though. I like her alot. Needless to say, I told her that I'd prefer to let my sty go away naturally. :)
there's an article about GMA and the Philippines in the July 11 edition of Newsweek. GMA, also known as Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is the president (yep, a female). Its entitled, "Gloria's Last Stand?" Philippine politics have been on the rocks since I've been here. Its not apparant on a day to day basis. People for the most part are just concerned about living their lives. But, all that the tvs and newspapers report on is GMA and how people are demonstrating against her in Manila and other larger cities. Alot of people want her to resign. A wiretapped phone conversation discovered about a month ago revealed her trying to fix votes in her favor during the 2004 presidential election. At the same time, her husband has been charged with accepting bribes. He's "exiled" himself to another country until politically things calm down here. The article is pretty interesting. It really hits on the fact that the Philippines is being eatten alive by corruption. It mentions politician after politician who have only perpetuated that corruption. The article also touches on the Philippines biggest export, its people. It states, "Last year the Philippines 'exported' more than a million people to work fishing boats in the Pacific, build skyscrapers in Dubai or change nappies in places like Hong Kong and Singapore." Its amazing how many families I've come in contact with here where a mother or father is overseas. My host family in Viscaya for example...the father worked in Saudi for years up until he died. All the neighboring families were missing moms who were working abroad as domestic helpers. Many Philippinos are facing a lose/lose situation. Either stay in the Philippines and struggle to put food on the table, or go abroad and make a decent wage, but miss out on raising your own children. I'm curious to see how millions of, for all intents and purposes, "motherless" families and ultimately the next generation of Philippino adults will be affected by this phenomenon.

7-6-05

2005-07-06T18:51:00.000+08:00

Two things made me chuckle today. k...so I like to use the term "jacked" ...quite a bit as a matter of fact. Everytime I turn around in this school, I'm saying..."dude! this system is jacked!" or, "wow...these computers are really jacked." I guess one of the computer teachers took notice. Today, she told me that one of the computers upstairs was "jocked." I was like, "its what?" ...and she repeated "jocked." I finally realized what she meant...and had to chuckle at my American lingo.
Secondly, I was talking to my host mom about Philippino names. My supervisor's brother has 5 kids. He named them all various Ifontok words. They're not really "names," meaning they're not really common for alot of Philippinos to have. They're just random words in the Ifontok dialect. I guess they would be the equivalent of American hippie names from the 70s like, Rainbow, River, or Moon. So, he named his five kids, Silew (pronounced see-loo), Tcherwai (chair-why), Layad (lie-yod), Lemlem (lum-lum), and Tayan (tie-yan). They're all kind of cute...cept the last one...made me go hmmmmm. Silew means light, Tcherwai-good, Layad-Love, LemLem-typhoon, and Tayan-Communal Property. Who the heck names their kid, Communal Property?! Yeah...it made me chuckle.
I'm staying after school till probably about 8 or 9 tonight. I need to finish my pwr point pres cause I'm going to present it Friday. I'm sitting in the computer lab staring at the geckos scurrying across the walls and ceilings. They're a common household furnishing. Until now, I had forgotten just how used to seeing them all over the place I was. They're so cute. When I lived in Nueva Viscaya, there used to be one that would hang out under the lazy susan my host family kept on the kitchen table. I would feed it rice during dinner. ...the roaches and mice...not so cute. hehe. We've got a mouse that lives under our kitchen sink. I've about gotten used to seeing it scurry away when I open the cabinet door below. My host family would laugh at me everytime I saw it cause I'd jump. ...I told them that we should give it a name. I think, Communal Property, has a nice ring.

7-3-05

2005-07-04T09:08:00.000+08:00

...funny note about the bontoc dialect..."si" comes before any and all names here ...and "nan si" comes before alot of them too. "si" is just a marker indicating that someone's name is about to follow. "Nan"...well, I'm not exactly sure what "nan" is. I think it can mean lots of things like, "the," "that," "this," etc, but alot of times it comes before "si". So needless to say, I hear my name alot around here, or atleast what sounds like my name. hehe. I think I've ALMOST gotten to the point of actually distinguishing between "nan si" and "nancy," and knowing when someone is actually talking to me or about me...or about someone else. I've just got to keep an ear perked to see if I hear a name after what I think to be my name.
I hear the equivalent of "nancy nancy" alot. I like it. I think its kind of cute.
I wish all a happy 4th of July! Not quite sure if there will be any festivities here. I think most Philippinos refer to the 4th of July as Philippine/American friendship day.

6-30-05

2005-07-04T08:51:00.000+08:00

Today is the first day I've been out of the house in three days. After coming back from Sagada and Besao last weekend, I came down with what i think to be strep throat. I feel fine now, but I've still got a pretty congested cough. The day Rachel and I left for Sagada, we got caught in a crazy hard rain storm. Of course, we got soaked, and everything in our backpacks got pretty wet too. I had a dry pair of shorts to put on once I got to Corey's, but later that night I froze b/c I didn't have any dry pants to sleep in and I didn't bring any socks. yes...it gets cool here, we're in the mountains. It especially gets cool at night...like in the 50s I guess. Corey stayed out late drinking with some of his friends, and I didn't exactly feel comfortable rummaging through his stuff for a pair of socks. Rachel didn't have any socks either.
Its a good thing I haven't been to my school in a few days though. Turns out a freshman died yesterday from Meningococcimia. I'm not exactly sure what that is, I haven't looked it up on the internet yet, but, from what my super told me, its a bacterial infection...a staf infection I guess? It brings about the same symptoms as denge, which are headache, fever, rashes (due to bursting capiliaries), and delirium. I talked to the peace corps doctor about it. She said that we PC volunteers were vaccinated for it. When we first got here...we endured like a million shots over a period of about a month a half. I feel pretty well innoculated. I think I'll still stay home tomorrow anyway though...just to be on the safe side. Doesn't really matter how many "work" days I miss. I can't exactly get fired. hehe. I've actually accomplished alot of reading these past three days that I otherwise would have been too distracted to accomplish had I been at school. Plus, I made some headway on this cute little power point presentation I'm going to present to the computer teachers and anyone else who wants to listen next week. Its called, "The 3 Phase Complete Windows Reinstallation Course...because you can only troubleshoot a buggy computer for so long." Yeah, long title. Actually, the "because" part isn't really part of the title...but I think it adds a little flave-ah. I'll post it when I finish with it I guess...incase anyone ever needs to teach a session on reinstalling windows. There are three computer teachers at the highschool...and one office worker who would like to know more about computers. She watches me pretty closely everytime I'm swapping parts and stuff. So I'll ask her if she wants to attend as well. None of the teachers know how to reinstall an OS, so I figure, the sooner I go over the steps, the sooner I can delegate the task of reinstalling to them...so I can move on to bigger and better thangs...and then delegate THOSE bigger and better things to them...and so the cycle goes.
Not much else to comment on, since I've been staring at my mosquito net for the past three days. Oh, yeah, I sleep inside a mosquito net. hehe. It caps my bed like a cage. It took a little while to get used to, but now, I think its pretty cozy. Alot of Philippinos use them here. Just one extra thing you can do to try to avoid malaria. Mosquitos that carry Malaria bite at night...mosquitos that carry denge bite during the day.
moma, ie, beetlenut, is a red chewy nut. People chew it here like tobacco. Its addictive, It stains the entire mouth red, and ruins the teeth. You'll find red stains all over the ground here, and signs all over the place saying, "no spitting of moma here." Here's a link to a pic of what beetlenut does to your teeth...http://www.canvasback.org/images/beetlenut.JPG

6-26-05

2005-06-27T12:57:00.000+08:00

I just got back from a weekend trip to Sagada and Besao. Sagada is relatively a touristy town; you'll see more foreigners there than just about any other little town up north. Sagada is known for its old traditional way of laying its dead to rest. They actually place their dead in coffins and hang the coffins off the sides of cliffs. Its not practiced that much anymore, but occassionally an old member of the community who passes away will still be "buried" that way. I went to Sagada with Rachel. The plan was to stay the night at Corey's place and just chill and watch some movies. He's been here a year, so he's got his own place...his own tv...and his own rather large pirated movie collection. Then the next day, we all three would move on to Besao and stay at Pam's place. She's really cool, also been here a year. She was a graphic artist in the states, but works in a highschool here teaching environmental ed. She made us chili...which was much appreciated. ...but anyway...back to the hanging coffins. They're really very interesting to see. Rachel and I hiked around Sagada and saw quite a few of them...who knows how many decades/centuries they've been hanging there. Supposedly, the reason for hanging their dead off the sides of mountains has much to do with nature and being one with all the elements. Hanging high above their town, the dead will still be able to feel the wind blowing and experience the rainfall...feel the heat of the sun...gaze down upon their home and loved ones. Not only does Sagada have hanging coffins, but they've got some pretty rugged hiking trails as well. Unfortunately, i wasn't dressed for hiking though. I didn't bring my sneakers with me...all I had was a pair of plastic flip flops, however, I kept up with Rachel and her Chakos as best I could. :) In the near future though, we'll trek back to sagada prepared for some good hikes and some splunking. Sagada's also known for its caves. There are tour groups that take visitors into some caves where they actually have to swim and do some repelling. ...swimming...no problem...repelling...problem. ...not so good with heights. I'll see how much courage I can actually muster I guess. So after Sagada, we took a jeepney to Besao and hung at Pam's place. Pam, Corey, Rachel, and I all sat around eating chili and chatting bout various books and the environment and stuff. ...I've realized that i should really read more. ...I guess I've just always preferred to devote my time to doing other things than reading. These pcvs that I'm around crank through books like nobodies business! My latest book...SQL for dummies. hehe. I got into the second chapter and started wishing I had a dummies book for SQL for dummies. Unfortunately, I don't read much for the shear enjoyment of reading. Too many times, I've started reading a book...and 20 or 30 pages into it, found that I didn't like it, so i wouldn't finish it. ...If I'm gonna read, its gonna be because I really want to learn about something specific. Guess if I'm gonna read something its gonna be something technical or practical that I can put to use in my life. ...not so much into fiction. So... not only are these guys avid readers, but they are so environmentally conscious and so proactive in living very "green" lives. These guys are pretty hard core environmentalists. Pam's from Southern California, Rachel's from Colorado, and Corey's from Oregon...they are all avid recyclers and composters...but other than just that, they're really knowledgeable about things like growing organic foods and environmental issues like deforestation and the need to protect water sheds. Corey used to bike to and from work in the states...I know Rachel is an avid biker as well. Rachel is a grad in civil engineering from Berkeley. Her main job here is to work with her municipal govt. in finding ways to better the water system. She'll be working on developing ways in which they can safely store the water that accumulates during the rainy season. Corey is working with coffee bean farmers...not quite sure in what capacity though. ...and then there's me...working inside with computers. hehe. Its kewl though. It'll be good being around these other pcvs who I feel are really different from me. They can teach me so much about living environmentally friendly...which was something I definately didn't think as much about in the states as I could have. I recycled all my plastic bottles from home and work...but only b/c Dell had large bins giving me a place to dump them all. While we were at Pam's, we watched a movie called, The Corporation. It featured Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, and various CEOs and economists. Definately see it if you haven't. Its purpose is to highlight the negative effects of corporations...such as environmental damage and exploitation of low wage workers. First, what a corporation is was defined. So, basically, I guess, its a large group of people whose sole purpose is to legally make as much money as it can for itself, its stakeholders. The corporation is legally seen as a person in the sense that it can buy and sell property and make many other decisions that a human can. The movie really wanted to stress the dangers of seeing a corporation as a person. A flesh and blood human being has some moral standards, while a corporation doesn't. B/c "the corporation" is legally viewed as a person, why not let it be analyzed by psychologists to determine its personality type? ...it has no conscience, it is incapable of admitting guilt, it has complete disregard for others' feelings and well-being...etc. At any rate, psychologists determined "the corporation" to be psychotic. Theoretically, we are living in a sea of psychos. ...wonderful. :) Unfortunately, we started watching the movie really late and I fell asleep at the end, but I vaguely remember a section talking about cows in the US and their being injected with carcinigenous (is that a word?) hormones to increase the milk supply. The hormones alot of times would cause the cows utters to inflame allowing for puss and bacteria to invade the milk supply, ultimately endangering those who drank it. The corporation that was advocating the use of this hormone tried to cover up the fact that there were ill effects. Two of their employees found out about it all and when they attempted to warn the public, they were fired. Not sure what happened after that...I'll have to borrow the movie from Pam. That's all I'll discuss for now, as this entry is getting kind of long. My next blog, I'll tell you about moma i.e. beetlenut. Its all the rage up here in Mt. Province.

6-20-05

2005-06-20T16:48:00.000+08:00

k...so, I'm writing b/c I'm friggin tired of hitting brick walls. Everytime I try to work on one of the computers in this school, some other issue arises that I have to take care of first before I can complete what it was that I was working on. then something else happens with that issue causing me to have to work on some other issue. arggghhh, its an endless downward spiral. ...but I luv it. Last thursday, my super and my host mom and I left for Baguio City, which is sort of considered the Manila of the north. My super had to go get her GSIS card. I had to go to visit NEDA. (don't you hate it when people use acronymns assuming you know what the heck they're talking about. ...I'll explain). GSIS is the Philippine Government Service Insurance System. If you are a govt. employee, which it seems most people here are, then you are a member of GSIS. This past september, they started issueing ID cards called E-cards (which are more like credit cards than anything) to all their members. Through GSIS, members can apply for loans, unemployment, life insurance, disability, retirement, etc. Members can also now use their e-cards in ATM machines to receive a one time cash advancement of up to P5000. There are 25 (I think) designated locals in the Philippines for recieving your e-card. You have to go to one of those locals, and wait in line for a few hours to get it. ...makes me think of the dreaded DMV. Baguio City is the closest local to us...and its 6 hours away! And NEDA...it is the Philippine National Economic and Development Authority. I had to make a "courtesy call"...or just introduce myself to the director letting him know who I am and what my role as a pcv is. I guess there's a possibility that they may fund some projects at the highschool in the near future. But, anyway, Baguio was a nice treat, but I don't think I'll be making it there very often b/c its so far away. We went to SM (which is one of the biggest mall chains here. It stands for Shoe Mart). I almost felt like I was back in the US while I was there. It was four stories high. They had a pizza hut, mcdonalds, starbucks, a movie theater etc. Oh, yeah, and Tucker...there was actually a magic tournament going on on the ground floor. I spent a butt load of money there (not much in $ but much in comparison to how many pesos I'm actually making each month) on things that I really needed...like shoes and a couple of shirts, a backpack, a water bottle, toiletries, etc. My super and host mom laugh at me b/c they say I don't look like the typical peace corps volunteer. Apparantly, all pcvs 1- wear chacos, 2- always travel with a backpack, and 3- carry a nalgene water bottle at all times. I don't do any of those things. I came here with a couple of pair of flip flops that I think I got from target (which I've already thrown away cause they got real skanky real quick). I gravely underestimated the necessity for good shoes here. Also, I didn't bring a backpack with me...which to this day I don't understand why I didn't. I had to buy a shoulder bag right off the bat when I got here, b/c I was taking lots of weekend trips. I wasn't about to wheel around a huge suitcase for all my 2-3 day trips. And then...no water bottle. Its actually a good thing to try to drink as little water as necessary. Only drink what your body needs, b/c bathrooms are few and far between here...and tp is even more scarce. I carry it with me...when i remember to...but I can be forgetful more often than not. I met up with about 10 other pcvs one night while in Baguio. We saw Batman begins which was pretty cool. I saw the previews for a couple of other movies I'd like to see, "year of the yao," "the evil dead," "hitchhikers guide to the galaxy," and "war of the worlds." "The evil dead" is either Chinese, Japanese, or Korean with english subtitles. While my super and I were at the mall, I helped her get a video card with tv out. We got a Radeon 9250. It was about 2500 pesos. My super has a budget of 5000 pesos she can spend on the computer lab. We got it so we can run one of the computers to a tv so the teachers can show their students powerpoint projects and stuff. Before I can install the vid card, I need to reinstall the os. Currently, its running 2000. There is an admin acct on the system...and no one knows the password for it. Plus, its chock full of viruses, and the person who installed it in the first place created 2 partitions. The c partition is only 2GB with currently only about 50MB of free space. The only os cd that the school has that actually works (there's an ME and a 98 cd, but there all scratched up) is 2000 server and its locked up in a cabinet with the key nowhere to be found. I don't even know if there is a product key for it anyway. When I get done writing...I guess I'll try to hunt down one of the handymen around here and have him try to take the hinges off the cabinet. But anyway...My super, host mom, and I stayed with my super's brother and his family while we were in Baguio. They had a little apt. in the basement of their place. It was kewl...cept the bathroom smelled like death. One of the pcvs, Jodi, lives in Baguio and she says her bathroom is pretty foul also. ...I think it may be the water there or something. ...And it really shocked me to realize just how much English is spoken in the big cities...and mostly by the kids. Greg (my super's brother) has a couple of grandkids. One of the grandchildren, Natalie, is in the first grade. ...k...English is her 1st language! what the?! But, of course...its not American English. If a Philippino knows English well, it will be an english that reminds you of the english spoken in Jamaica or the Bahamas. Its English vocabulary structured differently and used in different contexts. I couldn't believe it when I asked Natalie "mano ti kabsat mo?" (how many brothers/sisters do you have) and she replied with, "what's kabsat?" Even in the movie theater, I was sitting next to this young mother with a little boy about 3 or 4 years old. He was speaking English the whole time...really loudly...to his mom. hehe. Aight...well...I'm going to find a janitor or something. I'm ready to get rollin on an install. BTW...dad...happy father's day!!! I want to call, but I don't have any load on my cell phone as of now, so I can't make a call out. I'll give you a ring soon.

6-14-05

2005-06-15T09:31:00.000+08:00

I'm surrounded by some Tai chi luvin foos for real yall. First off, my host mom gets up at 3:30 every morning! Then she does TC for 4 hours every day! The first two hours are from 5 to 7 in the morning. The second two hours are from 7 to 9 at night. I go to the evening sessions with her and my super. At first, I thought it would be a pretty kewl thing to get into, so I was like, sure, I'll go with you. I thought it would be a good way to help me "enter the community", but, man...it could really start to drive me crazy though. There's no turning back now. I'm in the class...I'll be in the class for the next two years of my life...every night...for the next two years of my life. All in all...I guess its kinda cool, but ultimately, I guess its just not my style. Maybe it will grow on me. It better grow on me. So...the things that could drive me crazy about it. 1- the detail at which the instructor explains the movements. Listening to his explanations is sort of like listening to 30 minute expositories on how to walk. 2- the music is anything but relaxing. Dude puts some old homemade tape into this little tape player with this crappy little speaker. Then for the next two hours we're doing TC to these crazy shrill sounds. I think he recorded one of the songs from "the empire of the sun". Its probably a cool song, but its hard to tell what's actually coming out the speaker due to it having been blown long ago and its lack of bass. One of the other songs sounds like a tune from a child's music box. ...I'm waiting for the night when I actually hear it in my nightmares. hehe. but, anyway, I'll get used to it. Who knows...I may actually be a tai chi addict once I get back to the states.
Sunday was the Philippines Independance day. It was pretty kewl. I was able to take lots of pics which I'll probably get around to posting...come christmas. hehe. I'm not quite sure who they gained their independance from that day though. One person told me that it was from the states. Two other people told me that it was from Spain. ...guess I'll go with Spain. There's a third independance day as well somewhere on their calendar for when they gained their independance from japan. The philippines history is pretty wild. But, anyway, there was a parade on Sunday as well. ...Its funny b/c almost half the town it seems was in the parade. It basically consisted of lots of govt. employees marching...and a few school bands. I love school bands. I love the drumline! drumlines can bring some funk. yeah, drumlines just all around rock. University of Tennessee's band was awesome!! ...and Stratford highschools band...they were amazing! omg...i could go on about marching bands...but...haan (no). I will refrain.

6-10-05

2005-06-12T14:51:00.000+08:00

So, I've made it to Bontok. I got here two days ago. I was so sad to say goodbye to Colin and Rachel. I was having to fight back tears. I had been "somewhat" fearing the ride up here to Bontok. okay...so, I had been friggin petrafied of the ride. ...I thought i was gonna die, really, on the way back from Bontok about a month ago. I was on a rather large bus...in the rain...travelling on really, really high, narrow, curvy mountainous roads. ...at one point, we hit a part of the road where there had been a landslide. I didn't think the bus was gonna be able to pass. I was all for getting out and moving rocks...as opposed to the only other alternative I could see, which was friggin falling off into the ravine. The bus driver didn't think it necessary to move the rocks. He just slowly inched us through the super narrow pass. I was freakin out...no joke. I was with Dan, Teri, and Rachel (a different one) as their sites are in even more rural areas than mine. They have to go through bontok to ultimately get to their respective sites. But, anyway, I was sitting next to Dan. Dan was so great. I was freakin...he was calm. Turns out, after we got back to Bayombong, he said that he was freakin out also, he was just better able to mask it than I was. As the bus driver was inching us through the pass, we were looking out the right side windows straight down into eternity. ...not fun. I was actually standing up in the middle of the aisle way, with my bag on my shoulder one step away from telling the bus driver to let me off. I've decided that when I travel to and from Bontok now, I don't care if it takes twice as long...I will NOT take a large bus. I'll take a jeepney which is much smaller. That way, I've got more road to work with incase I come upon another landslide...which I'm guaranteed to do. What can I say...I like a little buffer between me and death.
So, this time, when i came to Bontok, I actually rode with my host mom, and supervisor, and some dude they hired to drive us. We took a small pickup truck which I was really excited about. Only a few times did we get a little too close to the edge for my comfort, but all in all, it was a safe ride. When I can put my fears aside, I'm really able to enjoy the scenery like it deserves to be enjoyed. The mountains and rice terraces are so green and lush. The rice terraces are truly a landscaper's dream. They're these enormous steps etched into the sides of the mountains. Many are inhabited by scarecrow thrown together with a couple of 2x4 and some old clothes.
I happened to arrive just a couple of days after the start of the new school year. My supervisor, Evelyn Taguiba, the principal of Mt. Province general comprehensive highschool, actually missed the first day of school in order to attend the peace corps supervisor's conference with me! I really hope the peace corps plans a little better in the future. But, anyway, today, I showed up at the highschool. My desk is in Evelyn's office, but, I'll probably be hanging out in one of the computer labs most of the time. At the supervisor's conference, we hashed out my projected 6 month work plan: 1- give seminars on how to create powerpoint presentations so that the teachers can incorporate them into their lesson planning, 2- to have personally "mastered" postgresql by december, so we can start its implementation and start entering in all the students' data, 3- find a way to get the school atleast 1 lcd projector, atleast 1 laptop, and atleast 20 nics (so that i can network their upstairs lab). ...hehe...maybe Michael Dell would be interested in helping out?? Those are the goals that we've pretty much written in stone. There are many other things that I'll be working on on the side though, such as helping out with various clubs in the school. Today, my supervisor and I met with the student government. I'll probably be working with the newspaper committee, and I may start a yearbook committee down the road. ...So, here's what I'M PERSONALLY STOKED about doing. There is no movie theater here in Bontok. As a matter of fact, the closest theater is about 6 hours away in Baggio. I want to get the school an lcd projector and laptop so it can serve as a movie theater some evenings. There is a large open courtyard in the middle of the school that would be the perfect place for showing movies. We could charge a minimal fee, sell concessions...it would be great! The students could run the whole thing...and raise money to be able to buy other electronics for the school. That's my plan anyway.
This morning when I reported to the school, Evelyn was on her way out. She was going to a wake for a very distant relative. She asked me if I wanted to go, so I said sure. What an experience! The wake was for an old woman (baket, in Ilokano). We walked to her house. The whole town was practically there. Lots of people were sitting outside her house and across the street just hanging out paying their respects. There were tons of people inside the house as well. I was half way expecting an old traditional wake with ti natay (the dead person) sitting up in a chair, bark wrapped around her mouth. However, when I entered, I saw her laid in her coffin, with all of her children and grandchildren seated around her. One by one, family and friends got up and talked to her, sang to her, and told stories about her. What was awestriking to see however were all the mountain women gathered in front of and inside her house to pay their respects. Imagine a crowd of tiny wrinkled women (My 5 foot self was several inches taller than all of them!) all barefoot, with colorfully woven skirts, snake bones in their hair, and tatoos all over their arms! I wish I could have taken some photos! However, I'm finding myself missing out on some of the greatest photos for the sake of respect. Guess I'll just have to keep the images in my mind. BTW...check out Jackson's pics...link is to the right. We're both in batch 264. Not sure if I'm in any of his pics, but, he and I have experienced much of the same things, so you can atleast see some of the things I've seen since I've been here. I've mailed Bruce a cd of my pics...he should post them soon.

6-9-05

2005-06-10T10:43:00.000+08:00

Please send any mail or packages to my new permanent address:

Nancy Yount
Tchaiyapan Hotel
Poblacion, Bontoc
Mt. Province, 2616
Philippines

I'm not living at the hotel now, but its the best place to send my mail to. All the pcvs in and around this area get their mail sent there. After living with my host mom for three months, I may see about renting one of the hotel rooms as an apt. There are no apts. here in Bontoc.

6-7-05

2005-06-07T16:50:00.000+08:00

My chikka ID- 639283803788
My screen name- Nancy
Text my phone from your computer using chikka from chikka.com
I've got my phone with me at all times, and I can text you back.
Plus, It's free!! :)

6-5-05

2005-06-06T11:21:00.000+08:00

We are now entering into the panagtudtudo (rainy season). It has literally rained every afternoon of everyday for the past couple of weeks. Its cool as long as you can get all your errands run by noon or else you're gonna be takin a shower.
...Anyway... So, not only did we Kalding create our own t-shirts, but we took it upon ourselves to create a hub t-shirt for everyone as well. No one had stepped up to the plate to volunteer to get the whole t-shirt ball rolling, so I decided that I would. Reason being, Nellie (one of the peace corps instructors) told us that if we didn't make a hub t-shirt, that we would be the first pc batch in the Philippines ever (since the 1960s) to have not made one. I "wuh-in even tryin to hear that" hehe, so that night, I created the necessary spreadsheet for taking t-shirt orders. The next day, I showed it to Colin and Rachel. All the peices of the puzzle for making a hub t-shirt were there except for the actual t-shirt design. Earlier in our training, all 20 of us pcvs had somewhat brainstormed possible designs, but as a group, we hadn't really decided on any one design in specific. Peyton, from the San Luis cluster had drawn the words, "Peace Corps" in a bamboo type font. No one had really had any objections to it. It was pretty cute. So, Colin, Rachel, and I decided that we'd go with that one. From that point on, everything else fell into place. We called everyone up and took orders for sizes and colors of t-shirts, rode jeepneys all around creation collecting everyones' t-shirt money, we tweaked the design a bit, we bought all the t-shirts, and then we finally dropped them off at the silk screener. Three days later, we had 32 colorful t-shirts beautifully done, 32 happy customers (all the pcvs and the staff), and about 1000 pesos left over! We were able to strike a deal with the silk screener once we got there. ...then, Colin and Rachel had the brilliant idea of having a movie night. Several of us pcvs have bought pirated movies since we've been here, so the movie choices were bountiful. And we decided to use the left over money to buy popcorn and other snacks for everyone. The movie night was such a success. We had soooo much popcorn...which I've been missing so bad since I've been here. We also had vanilla icecream, oreos, m&ms, mixed nuts, coke, and grape kool aid (which i've also been missing like a mad woman). We watched "the criminal" which was pretty good, and then we watched "motorcycle diaries" which i thought was somewhat slow, but still interesting b/c it was in Spanish and filmed in Argentina and Chile. The scenery in the movie was breathtaking. Plus, i just dig foreign films. Unfortunately, I fell asleep during it though, we started watching it around midnight...but its my movie, so I guess I can watch it whenever (after I buy a region 3 player). We used the pc's laptop to play it, which was purchased here in the philippines and we projected it using an lcd projector. Bruce, many thanks for the VLC media player info. The pc's laptop had a dvd player, but didn't have any decoding software installed. I quickly installed the VLC and we were up and running in no time.

6-1-05

2005-06-05T17:25:00.000+08:00

Tonight is the last night I'll be spending at my host families house. The next two nights I will spend at NVSU and then its off to the Governer's Garden Hotel in Solano for our supervisor's conference and then our swearing in as PCVs. Its supossed to be a pretty formal gig. I only brought one friggin dress with me...and I have to keep wearing it over and over again to anything somewhat dressy we may attend. I've tried shopping here once...but no luck. All the dresses I tried on were too tight. I'm gonna have to rack up on some more clothes this christmas when i go back to the states. The few clothes I brought are wearing out too quickly. Maybe I'm scrubbing too hard when I wash? Dunno...not an expert at hand washing.
This morning, I completely woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Thankfully, going to language class and hanging out with Colin and Rachel changed my mood for the better. They are soooo great. Just an all around fun and down to earth couple to be around.
***NOTICE, THE REST OF THE BLOG IS BASICALLY ME VENTING***
So, first off, I've had it with having to listen to how hard life is here. If I had a nickel for everytime I've heard someone, my host mom especially, start in on life's difficulties...well, we'll just say...I'd had enough money to make life easy for her. I understand that life is hard here...but there are many people who are alot worse off than my host mom...and alot of countries that are alot worse off than the philippines! My host mom has a job. She makes enough money to pay all of her bills plus send all three of her kids to college! I'm sure that she has to be thrifty to make ends meet, but big deal. She makes ends meet. ...so she has to budget her money wisely...and that's a bad thing? I only wish more people did that. Yes, it truly is much harder to find a job here than in the states. College grads compete for jobs at Jollibee (the Philippine equivalent of McDonalds). (check jollibee out at http://www.jollibee.com.ph/default.htm ) But, of course, not everyone is unemployed. ...I just think that there's a fine line between truly being down and out, and just thinking that you're down and out, b/c your whole life, that's what you've been told. And thanks to the media, my host family has this completely absurd idea of what the US is like b/c they think that everyone has endless amounts of money. If I spent my whole life comparing my lifestyle with that of Paris Hilton's, yeah, I'd think that I was broke too. Really stupid preconceived notions are just annoying. Whatever you think about a country, whatever you think about a culture, whatever you think about a people...just forget it. Forget it all. Because whatever you THINK...is NOT what IS. You will NEVER know what IS until you experience it, until you're plopped into the middle of its labyrinth and have to learn your way through it.
There aren't a whole lot of things that annoy me here though, thankfully. Just a couple of things that I'll either learn to accept, or will just drive myself crazy with otherwise. First off...this whole thing with dudes taking a whiz anywhere, anytime...really gross and disgusting. Its like everytime I turn around, some dude is up against a wall. They're discreet about the whole thing which is good...i mean, they've always got their backs to you. its not like there are a bunch of dudes running around flashing everyone, but still its just kinda gross to walk right by a guy whose relieving himself. And little kids taking a takki in their front yards. Yeah, that takes some getting used to as well. btw...takki=poop. ;)
***NOTICE, THE FOLLOWING IS A SLIGHTLY GROSS STORY ABOUT TAKKI...READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION***
So...me and three other pcvs were travelling to Bontok a few weeks ago for our first site visits. We're sitting on this jeepney up in the mountains waiting for more passengers to get on before the driver decided to take off. There was a cliff along the right side of the road. There was a long cement staircase going down into the ravine. As we were sitting waiting for passengers, I noticed this little kid about 5 or 6 years old waddle down just a few of the stairs...his dog was following closely behind. Next thing I know, the kid pulled his pants down, bent over, and completely mooned our jeepney. I started chuckling b/c i thought the kid was just mooning us. But then he started taking a takki. That in and of itself was gross to see, but what was really sick was seeing his personal "pooper scooper" in action. His dog was totally on top of cleaning up the mess. That dog didn't even give it time to hit the ground. We're talking cleanup directly from rear to mouth. We were in total shock at what we were seeing. Complete disgust and complete awe at the same time. ...crazy times.
***END OF GROSS STORY***
One other thing that can really drive me crazy here is the "no line" concept. Rather than form a line at a counter or ATM, people just kind of hang out in a group, waiting in no particular physical order. I have yet to determine if it traditionally produces a free for all, or if people just, in their heads, keep track of who is next. One time when i went to an ATM, I wasn't sure where to stand. There were about 6 people infront of the ATM in what looked like to me to be two different lines. I "flipped a coin" and got behind some dude. It turns out the two lines ended up merging into one, right infront of the ATM? It was very much like this in Mexico as well. There is a system. There is order. It may not seem very apparent or obvious, but I know its there. It'll just take some time to figure out.
K...done venting. Otherwise...I'm having a great time here. I rocked my final language interview. Maysa ken Maysa agadal ak ti Ilokano..."little by little I'm learning Ilokano." btw, Bruce, I burned a cd chock full of pics. I'll try to mail it out tomorrow. As well, I bought Caitlin a cute lil Jollibee backpack she can sport in a couple of years. Its got Jollibee's jolly lil face on it.

5-27-05

2005-05-29T15:49:00.000+08:00

Today, we Kalding made our cluster t-shirts. They are so kewl. Sporting the silouette of a Kalding on the front with the Kalding motto on the back, "ag-gitrdun ak". I had three made for myself, a black one, a grey one, and a lavendar one.
Tomorrow is our "handdog," for our host families, which is an Ilokano term for a "thank you luncheon." When discussing the handdog with my fellow pcvs, rather than verbally mentioning the word handdog, I like to just make a quick dog hand puppet. hehe...gotta luv it. So, tomorrow, I'm supossed to be speaking on behalf of the Kalding cluster. I'll say a few words thanking my family, Colin and Rachel's family, and Elaine's family, and maybe throwing in a funny story or two. Not sure...I'll figure it out later tonight.
Viscaya days ended with a bang. The second to last night, there was a beauty pageant, and the last night, there was a body building contest. The beauty pageant was awesome! Of course all the girls were beautiful, but the really cool part was when they were sporting traditional costumes from their hometowns. Some girls wore enormous headdresses that would have barely fit through double doors. The costumes were so elaborate and so elegant. But of course, unlike the "evening gown" competitions you would see in the states, these costumes were very tribal and ornate. My host brother's classmate actually won first place. She was the youngest in the competition...only 16 years old while all the other girls were in their 20s.
The muscle man competition was quite cheesy, as they always are. Speedos don't look good on ANYONE...I don't care who you are. All in all though, watching dudes think that they're all that is kind of entertaining.
While at Viscaya days, I bought two dvds: "LOTR, return of the king," and "the motorcycle diaries." Its been a long time since I've seen the first, and I've never seen the second, but I heard that it was great. Plus, its in Spanish with English subtitles which is a plus for me. LOTR was pirated for sure. I just need a codec that will play it. It'll play just fine on Colin and Rachel's mac. However, I don't think the motorcyle diaries is pirated. It won't play at all on either of our systems, but it'll play just fine on a region 3 dvd player. I don't want to change the region code on my dvd player. I think later down the road I'll purchase a usb dvd player for my system...from dell philippines. hehe.

5-22-05

2005-05-29T15:47:00.000+08:00

I ate aso (dog) for the first time last night. ...it was pretty good. The way it was seasoned, it had kind of a sweet taste to it. ...really no different from eating cow. It looked the same...looked like steak...and tasted good. I'll probably have it again sometime down the road.
I'm really starting to feel comfortable here in Bayombong. In some ways, I don't look forward to having to pick up and move to Bontoc in about two weeks. I know in time, I'll really like bontoc as well...but, there are things that I really like about living here in Bayombong. First off, I really like my host family. My host mom can be a lil obsessive compulsive at times...but all in all, she's a very pleasant woman and has really gone out of her way to make me feel welcome here. I rarely see the eldest host brother. When he's here we don't really chat. The youngest host brother and I don't really chat either. First off, I have no idea how good their english is. If I say something to them, or ask them something...they tend not to respond. ...I know that they're not trying to be rude...I just don't know if its because they don't understand me or if they're just really shy (or ashamed). side note- Philippinos freely interchange the words shy and ashamed. It's useless to explain that those two words mean completely different things in the states. They mean the same thing here...they both mean the American equivalent of shy. But anyway, both my host brothers can sing in English though. They have the tv tuned to the videoke channel all the time, and they have no qualms about belting out some old American 80s song I've somehow never heard...yet they've heard a million times. I've gotten pretty good at belting out some of my own songs as well. I've recently started walking around the house with my ipod...like all the time now...singing really loudly and obnoxiously. I love it! Reagan and Clark may be really shy in talking, but dude, they'll belt some tunes. Kristine, my host sister is great. We quasi talk alot...I'll throw in a word or two of Ilokano...she'll throw in a word or two of English. We always find things to chuckle about. Like...the violent milkings. So...whenever anyone approaches the two, one-month old baby goats in my front yard, they get scared, run to their momma, and then proceed to violently wail on her teets, feverishly trying to milk her for all she's got. It'll definately catch you off guard if you're not expecting it. ..Its just such a funny coping mechanism to witness.

5-20-05

2005-05-21T10:02:00.000+08:00

These past two days, I've been enjoying "Viscaya days", which is sort of like a "state fair" I guess you could say. Viscaya days takes place on the capital grounds/park in Bayombong. There are tents posted and vendors stationed all over the park selling all sorts of wares. You've got your standard popcorn and cotton candy vendors. But, there are also some really great craftsman selling some amazing peices of art. There are beautiful weavings, baskets, and carvings. There are some really talented wood workers here who make furniture (coffee tables, end tables, benches, etc.) out of tree trunks. The peices are huge, yet so amazingly put together. Somehow or another, they're able to mold these massive tree trunks into these smooth, rustic, yet almost regal peices of furniture. I really need to start taking more pics. I've definately been slacking in the picture department. I missed some great photo opps today... A while back, my hub met a pc vol who's been here for one year already...his name is Kiwi (nickname I'm sure, but I don't know his real name). Wouldn't have guessed he was American by the way he talks...actually...I think he's got dual citizenship from both the US and New Zealand. Both his parents are American, but he spent most of his formative years in New Zealand. He's been in Ambaguio for the past year working in water sanitation. He's gotten to know the men in his barangay very well. So well in fact, that they told him he was gonna take part in the traditional dance exhibition with them at Viscaya days. All of us 20 or so pcvs (minus Rachel who is sick in a Manila hospital, and Lubna who is recovering from an amoeba) attended the exhibition to check out some of the old traditional customs and dance...and to be entertained by the white boy dressed in traditional garb. hehe. The venue took place in a small dirt field encircled by a couple of hundred onlookers. We had heard through the grapevine that the traditional dress was a "g string." Turns out we heard right. the traditional g string looks very much like what a sumo wrestler would wear. Theres a strip of material that serves as a waist band, and then another strip of material that covers the crotch and crack. All the g string material is hand woven into these really vibrant and intricate patterns. Kiwi was obviously uncomfortable in so little clothing, but he handled it well. I asked him if he put any sunblock on "the cheeks." He said no. He may be regretting it now? They didn't look as if they'd ever seen the sun before. hehe. Unfortunately, we missed him in action though. Before we got there, he and the other men from his barangay had already ceremonially killed 10 pigs, and drunk tapoy (rice wine) as part of the exhibition. They hadn't danced yet, and I don't know if they ever did. One thing I've learned since I've been here...venues do not start on time. You're actually pretty lucky if a venue starts an hour or an hour and half after its supossed to. Nevertheless, after we all chatted with Kiwi for a while, we went to eat lunch at the "dutch pancake house." It was everybody's fav restaurant up until today, when the owner totally cheated us all out of 250 pesos. Dude sells some good Bratwurst, but oh well, we're all officially boycotting his restaurant now. After we ate, each person forked over his/her share of the bill. Two different pcvs counted the total payment two seperate times to make sure the entire bill was covered. Both pcvs made sure that we not only covered the bill, but that we covered the tip too. We gave the cash to the owner and as we were walking out, he stopped us and said that we were 250 short. ...impossible. ...dude pocketted the money no doubt. He was way shady from the get go. We each forked over a little more cash so we could just get the heck out of there. We ventured back over to Viscaya days. The second round there was even better than the first. This time, we were able to observe a couple of traditional "wrestling matches." Two dudes at a time would get in this boxing ring. They would square up with each other latching onto each other's waist bands. Basically, the premise was to give the other dude as big of a wedgie as possible while at the same time trying to pull him up and off his feet. The first guy to fall backward off his feet lost. ...Whichever dude ended up on top was the winner. The championship match came down to "pink panty boy" vs. "the other dude". hehe. Pink panty boy definately had the advantage...younger, svelt, much muscle definition...and he had the power of the pink panties on his side. hehe. Yes, he really was wearing pink "non briefs" under his g. With backup coverage, PPB didn't have to worry about even more embarrassing exposure. They kept having to stop the match b/c "the other dude"'s g kept coming loose. "the other dude" eventually wised up and got himself a pair of panties too...grey. Once they both had backup coverage...the real match began. No holes barred wedgie action at its best. I was rooting for PPB...but sadly he lost. Dude whose willing to wear pink panties in public definately gets my respect. He lost all momentum though when his pink panties were completely ripped off of him. Miraculously, and fortunately for him, the g was still partially hanging on. The whole event had to be quite embarrassing for the dudes no doubt...but all in all, it was very entertaining for us.

5-18-05

2005-05-18T11:52:00.000+08:00

...Currently sitting in Rezal's internet cafe. Colin, Rachel, and I are his best customers. ...suki (regular customers). Happy late birthday dad. It was good to talk to you the other day. Well...my face is better...but, now I've got a rash on my arms and neck. Not sure if its a heat rash, or if it could be another alergic reaction to something. Yesterday, we worked at magsaysay elementary for the brigada escuela. I picked up trash around the school. The rash started coming on a few days ago, so I know its not due to picking up trash. Colin and Rachel did some sweeping and pulled some weeds. All the other teachers mainly just swept and hung out. Colin and Jason (one of the magsaysay elem teachers) are in charge of repairing busted water pipes. They'll work on those tomorrow. The principle designated various teachers to be in charge each day. The teachers are in charge of figuring out what to do each day, what materials are needed, and how to gather those materials. Today is the third day of the brigada and all that has been done so far is mainly sweeping...and yeah...hanging out. Rachel, Colin, and I are putting together a photo album of those present during the brigada and before, during, and after shots of the school. Should be nice...even though its hard to distinguish between some of the before and after shots. hehe. All in all, last week in Bontok was great. ...I was able to witness and eat pinikpikan while I was there. Pinikpikan is the mountain folk's ceremonial/traditional method of cooking chicken. It roughly translates to "killing me softly". PETA advocates would be in an uproar...but anyway... Folks have pinikpikan on special occassions...weddings, homecomings, birthdays, holidays, etc. You basically take a chicken and gently, but consistently, whip it for about 5-10 minutes under each wing...basically freaking the chicken out. Supossedly, that causes all the blood to gather up in the wings ultimately giving the chicken a different flavor. After the chicken is sufficiently "freaked out" you crack it over the back of the neck, breaking its neck and killing it. It seems as though it usually takes atleast two whacks to kill it. You then pluck as many of the feathers off the chicken as you can, focusing mainly on the wings. Next, either build a fire, or get a blow torch (depending on how "old school" you are I guess). In our case, those I was with got a blow torch. You then set the chicken on fire...burning off all the residual feathers. Then, you peel off some of the skin...mostly the skin on the feet and around the head. After the chicken has been sufficiently torched and peeled, you chop it up...put ALL the parts (minus only the beak and the ends of the fingers) in a big pot and boil it with ginger and onions. ...Its not bad. A lil chewy...but pretty flavorful. I witnessed the pinikpikan of two chickens. Yet again...being a product of the burbs, it was alot for me to take in. The first chicken was actually killed after the second blow to the neck, but the second chicken wasn't. It lay on the ground squirming for about 10 minutes while the first chicken was roasted. When they took the blow torch to the second chicken, it went nuts b/c it was still alive. They whacked it for the third time which finally took it out. Not quite sure how I feel about pinikpikan. ...Its a pretty violent way for a chicken to go. ...but people gotta eat...and every society must have its own ceremonies and traditions. ...gotta go to language class.

5-13-05

2005-05-13T10:15:00.000+08:00

Its hard to just hangout. Not so good at chitchat. Even though we're not supposed to "get to work "right off the bat...I can't help it. I've drawn out the topologies of my school's computer labs. The 1st floor lab consist of 7 clients and a server all connected via an 8 port switch. they're all running 2000, mostly pentium IIs and Celeron 855 mhz, 256 RAM, and most with 10GB hdds, serial mice, and the old ps2 kb connectors. There's a satellite dish outside connected to a "satellite modem" inside (unsure of all the terminology) which then connects to the server via usb. Microsoft paid for 2 years of satellite internet of the highschool. The 2 years just ran out, so there is currently no internet connection. The ISP is Gilat satellite networks ltd. They charge 20,000 pesos to reconnect and 5,000 pesos/month for service. I'm not sure what speed 5,000 pesos gets you. My principle doesn't know and the current "IT guy" is on vacation. 2 of the systems in that lab weren't working. One was giving a stop error. I just ran last known good which corrected the problem. Another system wasn't detecting the hdd. I swapped a few cables. Turns out it was the pwr cable that was bad. After it booted into the os, it wouldn't detect the mouse. I tried it in both serial ports. no go. I tried a known good serial mouse. no go. I resat the serial connections to the mb. no go. The serial ports must be bad. The computer lab on the second floor consists of 20 standalone machines all running ME. most of them are infected with viruses from infected floppies. None of the systems have nics. However, all have usb. Most of those systems run on 64MB of mem. The 2nd floor lab also has a few 95 boxes that don't work. I only had time to play around with one. Tried turning it on. no go. toggled voltage selector...voila. One of the problems I'm facing is that there are no cds to reinstall any of the boxes with. all the systems have office, and several other programs installed, but no cds to reinstall anything with. Everytime they've needed to reinstal in the past, they've always called some local dude who charges an arm and a leg. Ultimately, I'd like to set the administration up with their own network so they can access students' records from postgresql. I'd like to get nics for all the systems on the 2nd floor and let students play around with networking all those systems together. It would be great if we could even wirelessly connect the lab upstairs with the lab downstairs. I'd love to have both labs on the internet, but very doubtful we could get enough bandwidth to cover all the systems. I've got a lot to think about. How I'm gonna change the topologies, if at all. How I'm gonna reinstall and with what OSes. How I can/need to upgrade the systems hardware and software. Its overwhelming, but its exciting at the same time. I'm not sure if any of the systems have cd burners. there could be years of important docs saved on some of the computers. I'd need the teachers to take inventory before I wiped any of them out. If any of you reading this have any ideas/knowledge on upgrading systems and/or networking, pls share. I can use all the help I can get.On to other subjects. The language factor doesn't make things any easier. I'm determined to learn as much Ilokano as I can. However, everyone I meet on the street tells me that I need to learn Bontok too. I'm like throw me a bone people! hehe. I went to the Bontok museum yesterday. Very interesting! I'm overwhelmed at how rich the Bontok culture is. Lots of old artifacts on display...baskets, tools, utensils, weapons, etc. There were also lots of old pics of various tribes. 2 pics really left an impression in my mind: The first was of this old dead woman propped up in a chair. The pic was of an old traditional "wake". Family members sit their dead relative in a chair inside the house facing the front door. For several days, they celebrate the dead person's life with food, music, and dancing. Friends and relatives take turns talking to the dead relative as if s/he is still alive. They usually wrap a peice of tree bark around the dead person's mouth to keep the tongue from falling out. The second pic that sticks out in my mind was of a headhunter many years ago. Dude was holding some other dude's face in his hands...not even a whole head...just a face. It was so gross, but I couldn't stop looking at it. It was sort of like how someone takes a whiff of something and then says, "OMG, that's so nasty!" And then they tell you to smell it too...and of course you do. Yeah, that's how I was with the headhunter pic.

5-12-05

2005-05-10T17:49:00.000+08:00

Suxor...mangos suck! Okay...so I look like i've been punched in the face a few times. Dang mangos! I knew I was allergic to them...so I've been avoiding them like the plague. Actually, its not the mangos I'm alergic to, but rather its just this sappy liquid that comes out of the end of the mango when the branch is broken off if it. I figured a can of mango juice would be okay to drink since its processed and all. I was wrong! My face is covered in swollen, red, itchy patches. My eyes and nose are puffy. I was supposed to meet the mayor and governor today, but my supervisor took pity on me and said that we can go tomorrow instead. the last time this happened to me was 8 years ago when I was in Mexico. You'd think that I would have learned my lesson. I'm talking some benadryl, so hopefully that will help.This morning, I got up at 4:30! Peaple around here do Tai Chi in the city park at 5:00AM. Its a lot harder than it looks! they were doing the old Tai cChi form which consists of 108 moves. The instructor said that there are more modern versions of Tai Chi which consist of only 20 or 25 moves. there is a Tai Chi class that starts at 7 in the evening. I think I'll do that one tomorrow instead of the early one. Tai Chi is based on spherical movements sort of like if you were balancing a ball and rotating it around. ...that's what i was told atleast.Yesterday, my supervisor took me around the highschool. We chatted with many teachers. Philippinos in general are more interested in establishing relationships first before jumping into work. the PC wants me to just hang out and chat with people for about 3 months before I start working on any projects. I'm cool with that. hehe. I think the main project my super wants me to help them with is computerizing all their data. With Bruce's help, I'll probably set them up with some Postgresql open source. ...can't beat free and reliable.Last night, I ate dinner with my host mother at my supervisor's house. we had Tapoy, which is a wine made from red rice. It was awesome! My super and host mom taught me a few choice words in Bontok (sometimes called Igarot). One of the words, "fakfak" pronounced fukfuk means "frog". Another word, fakfaklong (similarly pronounced) is a type of vegetable that grows here. hehe...guess with those words, they're used to getting laughs out of all the pcvs they've hosted. By the way, I had to change cellular networks. Globe doesn't get reception in Bontok, so now I've got a smart sim card and a new phone number. 928-380-3788.

5-8-05

2005-05-10T17:20:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, Dan, Rachel, Terri, and I (other pcv volunteers) traveled to Bontok. We met infront of Chow King (Philippino fast food restaurant) at 6:45 in the morning. We caught a jeepney from there to Lagawe. From Lagawe we took another jeepney to Banaue and then from Banaue we took a jeepney to Bontok. Each jeepney ride took us further and further into these gorgeous mountains. I wore a dress and some nice shoes b/c I was going to meet my supervisor in Bontok for the first time. I wanted to make a good impression. If I hadn't worn a dress I would have ridden on top of the jeepney with Rachel...but, then again...the ride was pretty bumpy. One of these days I'll take the top. In Bontok, we met up with two other current pcvs, Pam and Corey. Pam is fascinating! She's this 55 year old crazy hippie. Bontok, my new home for the next two years is great. Its a little city snuggled between several mountains. Yesterday, we all went to meet Evelyn Taguiba, my supervisor, for merienda (one of many snack times you'll have in a day). Pam is great friends with her. Turns out Pam is great friends with just about everyone around here. She's been here for three and a half years. She's going back to the states in a month to spend time with her grandkids for a few months and then do another pc tour, this time in the Ukraine. she says, once that's over, she'll recieve a retirement pension from the states which she'll use to live out the rest of her days in the Philippines.Later that night, all of us pcvs went out to east at this place that had live music. Okay...have I mentioneed that Philippinos, especially in the northern provinces, loooove American country music! One of the dudes kept singing songs by George Strait and Toby Keith. I swear, his country accent was perfect. I could have closed my eyes and totally believed I was back in Nashville. It was amazing at how dead on it was. After the country music, 2 Baklas sang for us. I have yet to talk about the Bakla. Wow...what to say about the Bakla... Bakla are basically transvestites, guys specifically, that dress like women, wear makeup, get surgery, whatever they can do to look more like women. Its really a huge subculture here. Many many bakla everywhere. After the resturant, we all went back to our hotel and sang videoke till bedtime. I sang a good medley... First, Dan and I sang a duet of La Bamba, then I sang Dreams (fleetwood mac), take on me (a-ha), ticket to ride (beetles), and 100 years (five for fighting).

5-7-05

2005-05-10T16:56:00.000+08:00

Bad news. Tomorrow Natosha is being flown back to the US. The PC is sending her home b/c she was found "fraternizing" with one of the pc staff. The PC strictly prohibits that. We're sooooo sad to see her go. We all feel that the PC has way overreacted, but there is nothing we can do about it. The staff member has already been fired...Natosha's plane ticked has already been purchased. Natosha is sooooo awesome! She's friggin hilarious and kept our cluster entertained. Our cluster is called the "kalding" which means "goat". She loves goats, we all thought the name was cute...so we went with it. Our cluster motto is "Ag git-r-done ak". hehe. Basically playing off the way many verbs are formed here. Take any word, tack "ag" onto the beginning of it, and you've suddenly got a verb. Of course, you can't do that with every word, but we've found that you can do it with alot of them. per two journal entries ago, you know that ak means, I. Hence, "I'll git-r-done." yep, that's the Kalding motto. We're gonna make t-shirts. We'll send one to Natosha as well. Natosha, just like what you told me when I was sick, "we're like a three legged goat without you!" Today, we experienced the strongest rain we've had since I've been here. The electricity went out...again. We experience black outs seems like atleast once every week or two. The electricity doesn't usually stay off that long though. Maybe an hour or two. But the rain was awesome! It really cooled things off. It was really refreshing. I'm looking at the thermometor on the alarm clock in my room. This is the first time I've ever seen it below 90 degrees in here. Its 88 and it feels great! Tomorrow I've got to get up at 5:30 to catch a jeepney to bontok at 6:45. We will all visit our final sites for the first time tomorrow. We'll be at our sites for one week visiting our soon to be coworkers, our soon to be new host families, and just meeting people in the communities. I'll be in Bontok which is the capital of mountain province. Me and three other pc vols will be catching the same jeepney. My counterpart (co-worker assigned to work side by side with me for the next two years) or supervisor will be meeting me at the jeepney stop in Bontok. The other three pc vols have to catch other jeepneys in bontok to continue on to their final destinations which happen to be in more rural villages. It will take 4 and a half hours to get to bontok from here. I'm pretty excited to meet who I'll be working with for the rest of my time here. As well, I'll be meeting my new host mother for the first time. I'll be living with her for the next three months, and then I'll probably move out and just live on my own...rent an apt. or something. Maybe build a nipa hut depending on what the area is like. Yesterday, my cluster had a meeting with the principal of magsaysay elementary school, Sir Edymel Calacala. The pc is pushing us to carry out some sort of community project and fast before we leave for our final sites for good. The first time we visited magsaysay elem about three weeks ago, the principle told us about a project established by the philippine dept. of education called the "brigada escuela". The BE is a week long effort by students' parents and the community to clean up the school grounds and repair any damaged portions of the school. ...beautify the school, paint walls, etc. The kalding thought that it would be a good way to "enter the community" if we helped out during the BE. I called Sir Edymel last week and setup a meeting with him and some of the teachers...(thanks to my phone experience at Dell, I felt like I could handle randomly calling him and setting up a meeting). The meeting went better than expected. We weren't expecting much. From all the sessions we've been sitting through this past month about Philippine cultural understanding, I was half expecting Edymel to completely forget about the meeting or forget to tell the teachers about it, or both. For the past month, we've been hearing about how Philippinos are always late and/or just don't show at all...and how it takes FOREVER to accomplish anything. Not only did Edymel show, but about 15 teachers showed as well! We started about an hour late (American time), but right on time (Philippino time). hehe. Colin, Rachel, and I introduced ourselves and explained our purposes for being at the meeting. Edymel facilitated most of the discussion...we threw in questions every now and then. So, to make a long story short, we'll be helping out in whatever capacity all week long during the BE. Both Rachel and I will be taking many pics throughout. We'll take before shots, during shots, and after shots of the school and the community volunteers. The only problem is, we both have digital cameras. We could burn the pics to cd for Edymel...but the school doesn't have a computer. Rachel and I will probably print a few of the shots in color for him (its pretty costly to do that though relative to how much money were making as PC vols) and the rest we'll print as black and white. The cool thing though is how we're approaching the advertising of the BE. To get people in the community to pitch in, we're having a motorcade the day before the BE starts. Edymel is gonna put the school's PA system in the back of his truck or van and speak into a mic about the BE as he slowly drives around the Barangay (neighborhood). All of us teachers and volunteers will walk behind him to show support and encourage the barangay to take part. The barangay is divided into paroks (maybe the equivalent of blocks in neighborhoods in the states?). There are about 3 or 4 languages that are represented in our barangay. Edymel speaks about 7 languages/dialects. Depending on which parok he's in will decide what language he advertises in. craziness! side note...i just found out that i may have to start studying possibly two more languages!!!! ARGHHHH!!!!!! In Bontok, many people speak Bontoc (go figure) and Kankanaey. Ilokano is tough enough. ...gotta just take it one day at a time. its almost 10, I gotta get up early, so I'm outtie. Another side note...Happy Mother's Day mom! :)

5-3-05

2005-05-04T17:14:00.000+08:00

Today was super intense. From 8:30 to 10:00 we had a session on prostitution in the Philippines. From 10:30 to 12:00, we had a session on Alcoholism in the Philippines. Then after lunch from 1:30 to 3:00, we talked about STDs. From 3:30 to 5:00 we talked about Aids in specific. ...like i said...it was a pretty heavy day. What hit me the hardest was a video the PC directors and doctors showed us about previous pc volunteers who had contracted hiv while overseas. 5 previous pc vols were interviewed about their experiences. They cried and discussed their stints as vols and the circumstances that led up to their contracting hiv. It was extremely hard listening to their stories. Our time in the PC is supposed to be a wonderful, amazing, rewarding and just overall fun 2 years. Yes, its supossed to change your life...to a degree. ...but only for the better. To think that some peoples' experiences was anything but that just really makes me sad. The three women in the video talked about how they had fallen in love with host country nationals (men from the countries they were serving in). All three women thought the men were being monogymous, but in reality, they werent. One woman was in a country where few to no men use condoms. Her boyfriend refused to use one. They both tested negative for HIV at the beginning of their sexual relationship, but he wasn't faithful to her and he eventually infected them both. The other two women used condoms most of the time, but they occassionally broke. The boyfriends' affairs eventually infected them all as well. One of the male pc vols talked about how he was eventually infected by a prostitute. He talked about how his lonliness and the constant propostions from prostitutes eventually broke him. He said at first, he was really careful and used condoms, but he just got less and less careful over time. The second male pc vol talked more about how his careless additude was to blame. He said he just never thought about consequences. He just never thought that he would be infected. ...Despite the fact that today was really heavy, all in all, I'm glad they showed the HIV video and went into great detail about the other issues affecting the Philippines...and the states no doubt. ...and anywhere you go I suppose. We all need to be reminded that specific choices lead to specific consequences... Its something we should never forget. It can be easy to forget though. ...that's what's scary. Many times in our lives, we will all face crossroads related to our physical health and wellbeing. Life has taught me that I want to be proactive when it comes to those crossroads. ...know what road I want to take in a situation before the situation arrives. ...know that a person's life/health is more important than any passing moment of passion. We all know this...but do we all live our lives to reflect that we know this? This is my challenge to myself, and to anyone reading this.

5-1-05

2005-05-04T17:11:00.000+08:00

I and the other 20 pc vols from Northern Luzon just got back from the beach! We went to Bauang which is in the province of La Union. We were there from Friday the 29th till today. The water was great! Bauang is located in the South China Sea. Its so awesome to think that I've been swimming in the South China Sea! ...and to look out over that sea, and to know that Vietnam and China are just directly on the other side of it is just to cool! The water and the sand was amazing. I didn't bring a bathing suit...I just swam in a tshirt and shorts. The philippine Handbook I got said that most philippine women don't wear bathing suits, just normal street clothes. I've found this to be true about 80% of the time. The sand was dark due to the historical volcanic eruptions. There were no shells, but some rocks along the shore. The water was somewhat clear. Much clearer than the gulf of Mexico (no seaweed), but not as clear as the caribbean. There were little to no waves. Even though the trip was practically a short vacation, the PC directors did take us there with an agenda. We went for our "water safety training." For liability reasons, I suppose, the pc must make sure that they've told us to bring our life vests when travelling on boat or going to the beach. And they have to make sure that everyone knows how to use them in the water. ...not rocket science ;) The PC loans us the same life vests you'd find on airplanes...you pull 2 strings on it and the thing autoinflates. ...it only autoinflates once...you can manually inflate/deflate it all day long. We're supposed to give the pc the vests back at the end of our 2 years. If you autoinflate it, you've just bought it. One dude jumped the gun...now he owes the PC $60. This particular beach reminded me alot of Jaco Beach, a place I went with my dad and stepmom while in Costa Rica. There were few people there, and those who were there were locals. ...lots of palm trees up and down the beach. I got lots of sun despite the fact that I caked on the sunblock. Natosha has dubbed me the vomit queen. hehe. I got really "car sick" on the way to Bauang. The mountain roads are soooooo curvy and whinding and the bus does a good bit of bouncing along the way. And, have I mentioned how insane Philippine driving is! hehe. ...Constant leap frogging. Here, you seriously don't know how to drive if you aren't passing another jeepney or tricycle by swerving into the other lane of oncoming traffic and then zooming past them and back into your lane right as you see your life flash before your eyes. The only traffic lights I've seen here have been in Manila, so intersections are pretty wild. Its sort of a free for all. I made sure to sit in the front of the bus on the way back. I witnessed my bus driver almost slam into the back of a jeepney once and almost hit 2 bicycle riders on 2 seperate occassions...but, I did make it back w/o puking this time. However car sick I may get, the beauty of the mountains surely makes up for it. They're so green and luscious...and sprinkled with the occassional palm tree or rice terrace.

4-28-05

2005-05-04T16:57:00.000+08:00

Today, our language teacher Elaine told us that the peace corps was firing her. We were all pretty shocked when we heard the news. She said that they were concerned about her health. She's 6 months pregnant. She said that the PC directors were afraid that she wouldn't be able to perform all her duties as a language instructor and facilitator of community entry for us. We all really like Elaine alot so we got pretty upset about the news. After talking about the situation for about 30 minutes or so, we all decided to walk to the hub site and talk to the PC directors in person about the situation. I'm probably the quietest of the group, so i didn't have a lot to comment about. However, I agree with the other American's in my cluster that firing Elaine is unjust. First of all, she was pretty well pregnant when they hired her. To boot, Elaine said that when she was going through her initial interviews, she was the one that brought up the subject of her being pregnant, and she was the one that asked them if her pregnancy would be an issue. They assurred her many times that it wouldn't be. Secondly, as a language class, we only meet with her 9 more times before our final language proficiency exam. Firing her is like firing a professor right before he gives his final. According to the PC directors, we need to be at the intermediate level in Ilokano at the end of those 9 sessions. ...As if that's gonna happen. Thirdly, with a baby on the way, Elaine is gonna need a steady income now more than ever. Lastly, the PC directors decided to fire her without consulting us (her students) first. They didn't even ask us if we had any concerns with her or if we felt that she was lacking as a teacher/facilitator in any way. We voiced our complaints to the PC directors. They decided to rethink their decision, but in the meantime, another teacher taught our lesson for the day. I learned alot during that one lesson. Shirley (the other teacher) explained alot of the grammar. She taught us a general overview of the Ilokano language structure...and knowing that stuff is how I learn best. I want to be taught the structure/pattern of a language so i can then build on those patterns myself. Later, the PC directors told us that they decided to keep Elaine on as our instructor. She is so sweet, I'm glad that she is still our instructor. However, Shirley does reflect more of my learning style. Up until today, the Ilokano language structure was like this big mystery that no one could really seem to explain to me. It was getting kind of frustrating. My host mother is good at roughly translating sentences for me...her English is alright, but she can't dissect a sentence for me. ...Take for example, the sentence, "kitaek no ammom ti agsao ti Ilokano." That sentence means, "I will see if you know how to speak Ilokano." The subject of the sentence is "I". So, I asked my host mom, how do I know that the subject is "I"? Where do i find "I" in that sentence. Her response..."I don't know. Its just understood that the subject is 'I". ...alrighty...that helped tons. :P It takes more probing for me to figure out where the "I" is. So, I then ask her, how do you say, "he will see if you know how to speak Ilokano"? I figure, I'll just compare the difference between the two sentences and deduct the answer myself. ..."kitaena no ammom ti agsao ti Ilokano." The difference is in the first word. The first word is a conjugated form of the verb, kita, which means, to see. Any given Ilokano verb in say, the present tense, can be spelled a maximum of 5 different ways depending on the focus of the sentence. The 5 different focuses are, 1- Actor, 2- Object, 3- Locative, 4- Beneficiary, 5- Instrumental. I know that kitaek and kitaena are both being used in the object focus because of the "e" (with a dropped "n" after it) that comes after kita. If either kitaek or kitaena were being used in some other focus, they wouldn't contain an "e", but rather some other letters strategically placed somewhere else in the word. the "k" at the end of kitaek is one of three pronouns that mean I. The three pronouns for I are Siak, ak, and ko. They drop the "o" off of the "ko" on the end of kitaek just to shorten the word. The "na" on the end of kitaena is one of three pronouns that mean he or she. Those three pronouns are Isuna, isu, and na. So you ask, what do I mean by focuses? The focus of a sentence is the who or what you are emphasizing in the sentence. I'll give you an example of one verb being used in all five focuses. I'll use the present tense verb, "buy" which is, gatang. Here's how you say "buy" in each of the focuses:
Actor- gumatang, Object- gatangen, locative- pagatangan, beneficiary- igatangan, instrumental- paggatang
...same word...five spellings...pretty wild eh?! Remember, the root word in all of those focuses is gatang.
Take another verb, tawar, which means, to bargain...
Actor- tumawar,Object- tawaren,locative- pagtawaran,beneficiary- itawaran,instrumental- pagtawar
find the pattern yet?
back to gatang...here are example sentences of "buy" being used in each focus:
Actor- Gumatang isu ti prutas. That means, "s/he buys fruit." Because the sentence is structured this way, the speaker wants you to focus on WHO is buying the fruit, as opposed to say, what it is that is being bought.
Object- Gatangen na ti prutas. Yet again, this means, "s/he buys fruit." However, when the sentence is structured this way, the speaker wants you to focus on WHAT IT IS that is being bought...not who is doing the buying. Notice...the concept of physically changing spelling to affect focus just doesn't exist in the English language. If we want someone to focus on the fact that fruit was bought...we just emphasize the word through intonation in our voice.
Locative- paggatangan na ti prutas? This means, "where did s/he buy the fruit?" Ilokano also has two other seperate words for where..."Ayanna", and "Sadino". But, you can also tack "pag" onto the beginning of a verb and "an" onto its ending to make one big word that means, in this case, "where (did he) buy?" ...how cool is that!
Beneficiary- Igatangan ni Jack ni Jill ti prutas. This means, "Jack buys fruit for Jill." When the verb is structured in this way, we know that someone is going to act, and someone else is going to recieve or be the beneficiary of that action. The first person mentioned in the sentence will be the subject (person doing the action) and the next person mentioned in the sentence will be the object (recipient of the action).
instrumental- Paggatang ni Jack ti kuarta na ti prutas. This means, "Jack buys the fruit with his money." the verb is structured this way when the speaker wants you to focus on the "tool" or "instrument" that is used to carry out the action. For example, the speaker wants you to focus on the fact that Jack used money to buy the fruit, as oppossed to say, check, or credit.
At any rate...sorry for the grammar lesson. I'm guessing that 99.9% of you stopped reading this journal entry a while ago as a result. ;P Truthfully, I'm kind of just documenting this grammar for my own sake...to help me internalize it I suppose. ...and for any of you that may be interested in other languages too. The thing I find fascinating about other languages is how they help you to think outside of the box. ...the box being English language structure. how cool is it to be able to say, "where (did he) buy" in one word? or how cool is it to be able to combine "for" and "buy into one word like with Igatangan! And...the object isn't even identified until later in the sentence. Unlike English where it comes directly after for...always. Anyway, its late...about midnight. I've got an early day tomorrow. ...going to the beach! woot!

4-26-05

2005-04-27T12:18:00.000+08:00

for the record, I'm 100% well now. ...not sure what happened a few days ago, or why i was throwing up, but its all good now. the water tested negative. anyway, not much has happened since i last wrote. I've just been going to language classes every morning and then going to town or just hanging at the house afterward. Narigat isu ti Ilokano. ...that means Ilokano is hard. Narigat= hard, isu= it is, ti= the (that is more or less the translation). Mapan ak idiay ti klase ti Ilokano inaldaw (I go to Ilokano language classes everyday). Intono bigat adda ti klase idiay Capitol ti Nueva Viscaya (tomorrow, we'll have class at the Nueva Viscaya capitol bldg). okay...enough ilokano for yuns. I'm excited tho, looking back over the past week, I can see how I've actually started retaining some vocab, and I'm able to say some simple sentences/phrases to my fam. hehe...today i told my host brother that the host family of my friend Natosha (one of the americans in my cluster) lived near squash. i was trying to say that they lived near the main road. squash= kalabasa (like the spanish word, calabaza), road= kalzada. I got a chuckle out of him. Notice, the spellings of adopted spanish words have been transformed from their original spanish spellings. In spanish, if the word has a "C" in it, it will be spelled with a "k" in Ilokano. And if it has a "z" in it in spanish, the "z" will become an "s" in Ilokano. The Spanish "v" becomes a "b" in Ilokano. For example, violeta or vaca in spanish (violet, cow) become biyoleta and baca. And Ilokano replaces the "ll" or the "ll" sound in spanish with a "y", like we just saw with biyoleta. We also see that with the spanish word amarillo (yellow). Its spelled amarilyo in Ilokano. So, yeah, the fact that some of the vocab sounds like spanish is kinda helpful. But, then again...ALOT of the language has little to do with spanish. Learning verb conjugations are always hard. In spanish, you've got AR, ER, and IR verbs. So far, In Ilokano, I've learned that there are AG, UM, M, and MA verbs. There could be more, I don't know yet. The spelling transformations that each of those types of verbs go through in order to shift from past to present to future are pretty complex. The cool thing tho is that there are only 5 tenses in Ilokano. I'm pretty sure spanish and English have like atleast 10 or more each. In Ilokano, you've got the infinitive form of a verb, like "to eat" or "to sleep" in english. You've got the imperative form or the command form, like "sit down" or "stand up" in english. You've got the past tense, the present tense, and then lastly, the future tense. And what's even cooler is that the infinitive form and the future tense of an Ilokano verb are exactly the same. Doesn't really make much sense in English. "to sleep" and "going to sleep" or "will sleep" obviously don't mean the same thing. But...in Ilokano, it works. Alright...enough language, I mean it this time.So...I cooked dinner for my fam tonight...spaghetti. It was...okay. Colin (one of the dudes in my cluster) told me how to make spaghetti sauce. He and his wife went to Italy for a few months a while ago...he learned how to make it there. ...In a big pot, cook about a kilo of tomatoes with a stick of butter. I added some sauteed onions and garlic. then, I fried some hamburger meat. I seasoned it with about a teaspoon of soy sauce and some salt and pepper. I added the meat to the pot and let it all simmer for about 30 minutes. Colin said its good to add Oregano too, but we have yet to find any here. I had to go to atleast two different grocery stores in town before I found one that sold butter. The fam said they liked it. I thought it was kind of bland tho. Most of the family added banana ketchup to their helpings. Its much brighter red than our regular tomato ketchup. And its a little sweater since its got bananas in it. It was pretty exciting walking around the meat market trying to get some ground cow. Theres all kinds of flesh everywhere...different parts of the cow and pig...lots of different kinds of fish, live and dead. lots of clams and other seafood. All the baca is hung up. You just tell the vendor how many kilos you want. I got them to grind it for me too. The vendor asked me what i was making. I said spaghetti...he then asked me if it was my birthday? hehe. Most Philippinos only make spaghetti on special occassions...like a birthday.Yesterday, Natosha's host mom took my cluster to the Nueva Viscaya University library. My cluster is supposed to be practicing community entry. That means...just getting out and about and talking to people. We chatted with the librarian for a while. Rachel (Colin's wife) is a librarian and wanted to gather some info about libraries in the philippines. We also went to a council meeting for our barangay (neighborhood). They discussed taxes the whole time (for about 2 hours)...all in Ilokano of course. not fun...but necessary as part of our community entry. Not much else to write at the moment.

4-22-05

2005-04-23T13:44:00.000+08:00

dude...i've been nauseous and throwing up some for the past three days. Not sure why...one of the PC instructors thinks that the water at one of our hub sessions a few days ago could have come from the tap. ...amoebas suck. A few other volunteers have gotten sick too. They sent a sample of the water to the PC lab in Manila for testing. If amoebas are found...I guess I'll have to get deamoebafied...or something? I'm staying hydrated by downing tons of gatorade...so, I'll be fine...by and by. hehe. I've just been running on very little food for the past three days. My host mom bought me some choco puffs cereal and milk (both of which are very uncommon for the avg philippino to eat). I was extremely grateful to her. I just had a bowl, and am barely able to keep it down now. ...Spirits are low when one feels like poo. hehe. But, nevertheless, things are looking on the up and up. I got my work assignment two days ago. I'm really excited about it! So, here's the deal. From our having arrived here, all 80 of us Philippines PC vols moved in with different host families. We'll be with them for two months to start learning the culture and language of the region we're living in. Then...after that two months, we're moved to another city to live with another family for atleast three months, or however long we want to stay with them, whichever comes first. At that time, we also start our jobs. OMG! I'm gonna luv where I'm going! I'm going to a city called Bontoc in the province (like a state) called Mountain Province. Its located in the chico river valley in NOrthern LUzon. The native mt. province folk are mountain people called igarot. Ilocanos which are the "lowland" people began to migrate north to mountain province back in the late 1800s, early 1900s. The igarot and the Ilocano traded with each other alot, but they also fought alot too. americans moved into the area in the early 1900s and setup schools and churches. Japanese troups occupied Bontoc from 1942 until 1945. In 1945, Bontoc was destroyed by American bombs. It has been rebuilt over time I suppose. The interesting thing about the Igarot is that they were head hunters! Here's what my crash course history text says about the Bontoc Igarot: "Numbering about 120,000, these former headhuters were the most warlike of the mountain tribes. Though characteristacally gruff in manner, they're known for their sociability. Today, Igarots adhere to both Christianity and their traditional rituals and superstitions. Their subgroups (Central, Talubin, Barlig, Lias, and Kadaklan) show considerable cultural variation across their range. Like their mountain neighbors, they are industrious, hardy farmers. They, too, have built incredible stone-walled rice terraces. In the past, the Bontocs were fierce headhunters. The death of a fellow tribesman was avenged by taking the head of a member of the killder's group, thus setting up a viscous circle of revenge. Tribes became bitter enemies; wars sometimes lasted for years, before a peace pact was agreed upon. In addition to being a matter of duty and honor, headhunting was regarded as great sport, and all young warriors aspired to becoming successful headhunters. The undertaking of a headhunting expedition involved a great deal of ritual and the observance of omens. Enemy villages were raided at dawn, usually followed by swift withdrawel. A triumphant return was followed by days of feasting and dancing. Sometimes the enemy retaliated during the celebration. Successful hunters were tattooed. Headhunting is now illegal, but even today, the clan of a murdered Bontoc may observe some of these rites and attempt to kill someone from the offender's clan." Another thing that's fascinating about Mountain Province is that's where you'll find Philippine's well known rice terraces. I myself don't even know a lot about them yet. I just know that the Igarot built these "shelves" into the sides of the mountains and grow rice on them. The rice terraces in a city called Banaue, which isn't too terribly far from me, are suppossed to be the 8th wonder of the world. Where I'll be, from March to June is considered summer. From July to October is the rainy season. From November to February is winter. Since i'm in a valley, i doubt I will get that cold. They say the avg daily temp in the mountains is about 65...how awesome is that! I'll be surrounded by them...I'm sure it will be beautiful, I can't wait. One person I've talked to who has been there says that the terrain of Bontoc kind of reminds her a bit of Colorado.
So, now, onto my job assignment. I'll be working in Mt. Province General Comprehensive High School (MPGCHS). I haven't even looked at its website yet, but I was told that one of the students created it and manages it at www.mpgchs.cjb.net . And again, I haven't visited it yet, but I was told that I could find out info about Mt. Province at www.mountainonline.cjb.net . The school has three computer labs! None of the 20 computers in the main lab are networked. They were donated by the dept. of trade and Industy in P. The 2nd lab, which is the internet lab (and the community's internet cafe) houses 8 networked pcs. This lab was donated by Microsoft P under its "Connected Learning Community Program." the third lab, which I don't know anything about yet is managed by a private institute in partnership with the school. All in all, by job responsibilities are pretty ambiguous. When I arrive, the school's principle will assess my skills, I will assess what the school needs, we'll work together, and we will forge out something for me to do. In general, from the documentation I've received, what I think they need most is for me to train teachers on general microsoft software like powerpoint and excel, to help them develop curriculum for computer basic courses, to help english teachers with their grammar and phonetics, and to help the teachers conduct some workshops, inservices, and maybe do some co-teaching with them. hmmmmm...most of which is very new territory for me. ...We'll see how it goes. I very much looking forward to heading to Bontoc and MPGCHS. ...lets just see if I can keep some food in me first. ;)
By the way...total side note...Videoke rocks! It really should catch on in the states! A few nights ago, I went out and sang Ghostbusters, Our House, and Heartache tonight.

4-17-05

2005-04-21T14:11:00.000+08:00

I haven't had too many crazy foods here so far. The only "out of the ordinary food" I've had is squid...for breakfast. I also had carabouy milk during dinner tonight. Both were very good. The married american couple, collin and rachael have eaten frog. not frog legs...I'm talkin bout entire frogs just cooked up and thrown on a plate. They said it was pretty good. My fav food so far is fish. Fried fish, any kind. They fry the whole thing, head and scales still on it. It is soooooo tasty!!! It was a little difficult to eat at first, b/c I didn't really know how to eat it. I was like...do I eat the face? do I eat the skin? what about the bones? Now, I eat most everything except for most of the head. I leave it be for the most part. I even eat some of the bones which most people do. You just have to chew them up really good. ...hehe...i brewed my host family some lipton sweet tea today. canned nestea is kinda common here, but there's not a lot of brewwed iced tea. and for anyone who knows me, you know that i luuuv brewed sweet tea suthern style. My fam hasn't tried it yet b/c its gotta cool in the fridge overnight. We'll see how they like it tomorrow. my host mom told me that she's never drank brewed tea...but she did used to wash her face with it. hehe. she said that its good for the skin. I think I've heard that before too. ...but, i'd rather drink it i suppose. :)
So...I got sooooo sunburned today. I hand washed some of my clothes...out in the sun...at noon...without any sunblock. The tops of my thighs and my forarms are flaming. to boot...they don't sell aloe vera anywhere. the pharmacist recommended that i buy a certain type of cream that should help though. the box says that its good for dry skin, irritated skin, and skin that has been overexposed to the sun. Its funny...I would have totally had to have had a prescription to buy this cream in the states. You can pretty much buy any sort of medication here that you want w/o a doctors presciption.
Hmmm...what else to write about. Oh yeah, one of the goats in the front yard had babies two days ago!! I missed the actual giving birth b/c i was sitting on the front porch studying. I heard some crazy goat sounds, but I didn't pay much attention to them. Then a few minutes later, it suddenly occurred to me that the momma goat was probably having her babies. I walked out into the yard and saw two little bitty goats sitting on the ground, the momma was licking them clean. The placenta was still hanging off the mom. I got to see the babies stand up for the first time. I'm pretty much a product of the suburbs so I had never seen an animal give birth before. We had a cat one time that had kittens, but we weren't home when she had them. The hanging placenta was kinda wild. hehe. And seeing them stand up for the first time was awesome! ...speaking of crazy goat sounds...its gonna take some time for me to get used to hearing animals being slaughtered. The moment I arrived to my host families house, the neighbors were slaughtering a goat. It was really unnerving to hear the goat screaming and crying, but at the same time people have to eat. And when people eat meat...that means animals die. Having not grown up around farm animals nor had hunters in the family, I've always been pretty disassociated from the death that has to take place in order for me to eat my cheeseburger or chicken sandwich. Today, I heard a pig being slaughtered. At first, I didn't know what was going on, I just heard a bunch of chaotic animal sounds, they actually scared me at first because they were just so wild sounding. i guess my host sister realized i didn't know what was going on...she told me that the sounds were coming from a pig...It sounded so violent, the pig's cries were sooo loud and desperate. yep, its gonna take me a while to get used to it.

4-16-05

2005-04-21T14:09:00.000+08:00

I just got back from villa margarita which is sort of a public swimming resort. The grounds had three swimming pools. A large kiddie pool, a larger pool for everyone else, which even had some pretty cool slides, and a pretty small pool that anyone could swim in for free. We paid 25 pesos to get in, and then chose to hang out at the free pool. I witnessed my first "accident" there. the pool was inundated with kids. most of them were probably seniors who had just graduated the night before. The kids were all over the place playing all sorts of crazy games, water going everywhere...normal public pool scenario except villa margarita doesn't employ life guards...atleast for the free pool. Me and the three other americans in my cluster were sitting on the side of the pool with our feet dangling in the water watching the fun and games going on around us trying to keep from getting splashed. I saw a group of kids in the water moving toward the edge of the pool. One of the kids, a girl, was slumped over on someone elses shoulder. I thought the group was playing some sort of game until i saw blood coming out of the girl's mouth. I went over to pull the girl out of the water as they lifted her up out of the pool. The girl was knocked out cold. apparently she had hit her head on the side of the pool, her cheek was scraped up pretty bad. Rachel (one of the girls in my cluster) and I went and got management. They brought out a stretcher and took her to the hospital. The reaction time for the whole situation was pretty alarming. ..."group think" is a strange phenomenon. Someone gets hurt in a large crowd of people...no one does anything...maybe because everyone thinks someone else will do something? Maybe no one really knows what to do? I wish i had my certification in CPR. ...i went through CPR training when i was like 14, but i definately need a refresher. ...i think i would make a good EMT. But, anyway...I'm sure the girl is gonna be okay...she may have a slight concussion...but she'll be fine. All in all, the day at villa margarita was pretty fun. I'm getting a lil sun, but not as much as i would have expected. ...by and by i will get sun. ...hehe...there is definately an American English, and Philippino English. many people here use the phrase, by and by...and they also say, "i will be the one" alot. For example, if I offer to wash the dishes after a meal, my host mom would say, "no, I will be the one." ...doesn't sound so strange...but when its used ALL THE TIME...you just have to chuckle.
On another note...I'm getting kinda discouraged about my language progression. The other people in my cluster are learning alot faster than me, so its a bit frustrating. I thought that the fact that i know spanish would have really helped me out...but its not. Some vocab sounds like spanish, but its spelled differently. Knowing spanish...just makes me want to...speak spanish. hehe...not very helpful. I just really need to take some time to sit down and make some flash cards and then study them for a long time.
Last night, I went to Clark's highschool graduation. Clark is the youngest son in the family. The graduation ceremony was sooooo long. we got there at 4 and it was over with at 9. My host mom and I left around 8 and went and got something to eat and then came back to pick her son up. ...I thought it a bit weird to not wait till the graduation was over...to atleast take Clark out to celebrate...but Zenaida was hungry. We went to this restaurant called Food Fiesta. I ordered a cheeseburger...I just had to get it when i saw it on the menu just to see how it compared. dude...it was awful. It was like a krystal patty on a hawaiian bread tasting roll...mayonaise and cucumber were the only things that came on it. strike 2 for Food Fiesta. I ordered Halo Halo there a few days ago. Halo Halo is a sort of smoothie type drink. I think its made of regular milk, condensed milk, and ice. And then, you can add all sorts of goodies to it, sort of like how a blizzard is made I guess. I have no idea what all was in this halo halo. There were all these multi-colored looking gummy things. They were pretty good. But, the downer was the corn. yes...you read correctly. CORN...who the heck puts corn in a dessert drink? Food fiesta does. boo. hehe. I've heard many a good thing about Halo Halo in general from many people...I don't think corn is a usual from what I've heard. I'll definately give it a go from somewhere else.
But, anyway, back to the graduation. So, it was really long. And, it was in English. I was really confused about that. Alot of people do speak english here, but there is no way in heck that everyone is gonna know english as well as they know tagalog or Ilokano. I asked a few people why it was in English as opposed to Tagalog. I couldn't really get a straight answer. I later asked my Language Instructor, Elaine (who is 29, 6 months pregnant, and the cutest thing ever. hehe. She's a few inches shorter than me and is just all around itty bitty and cute). She said that it was probably in English rather than in Tagalog to impress people. Ceremonies sound more official or formal when carried out in English? I would have thought it more important for many people to actually understand what the hecks going on than for a few people to be impressed. oh well. ...and the valedictorian and his speech! whoa... first of all, the valedictorian won like a million awards!!! No joke, he was up on the stage for about 30 minutes...by the time he left the stage he had atleast 15 medals around his neck. I met up with Natosha at the graduation (one of the Americans in my cluster). Her host sister was graduating too. Natosha had me rollin when she started describing the awards ceremony like a saturday night live skit. The valedictorian completely dominated the kudos. It was ridiculously funny the way they kept the medals coming and coming and only to him. When he approached the podium to give his speech, you could hear the medals clanging away in the mic. ...but the crazy part was his speech! It started out great...positive, encouraging, hopeful, just like any valedictorian speech you'd ever hear. But, then...it went strangely awry when he asked his parents to come up on the stage. As his mom stood to his left, and his dad stood to his right, he started talking about his parents marital problems. He talked about how he lives with his mom, and his dad left, and that he wished his parents would work things out for the sake of him and his sister. It was totally crazy...complete and utter public humiliation for his folks! At the end of his speech, he asked his parents to shake hands. They quickly and awkwardly shook and then jetted to their respective seats far away from each other. We were sitting kind of far away from the stage, so i couldn't make out the expressions on their faces, but Natosha and I just looked at each other like...what the!? yep...pretty crazy it was. All in all, the graduation was long, but the drama that unfolded kept it interesting.

4-10-05

2005-04-12T17:26:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I met my first host family. Well, actually, just the mom and her neighbor. My host nanang's (mom's) name is Zenaida Salagoste. She is a widow with three kids. Hmmmm...funny coincidence, when i was an exchange student in mexico, I lived with a widow with three kids also. But, anyway, Zenaida's husband died five years ago. He died of a heart attack. For 10 years, he lived in the middle east working to provide a good living for his family. Nanang says that when he first left for the middle east, he stayed for two years before he was able to come back to P. She says that he stayed for one month and then left again. She said that after his first visit back to P, he would stay in the middle east for a year at a time and then come back for just one month each time as well. Could you imagine being married to someone and only seeing him for 10 months out of a 10 year span?? ...i couldn't imagine that for myself. But, people get married for different reasons. And different cultures have a way of fostering our reasons. I've met many young couples here. They all have babies and young children. In my short time here, I've learned that families and relationships will always be a topic of conversation here. One of the first questions I'm always asked is if i'm single. ...I lie. I have a steady boyfriend back in the states...as a matter of fact, we're getting married when i get back. hehe. The peace corps says its okay to say that. ;) I'm just here to learn as much as I can about another culture and another language. Its hard as hell...but, its fun. I want to make friends here, but I want to go back to states in two years...alone. ;) Its very much the mindset here to always be surrounded by family...and then (almost hurry up and) get married and have babies to make the family bigger and stronger. Here, everyone has his/her niche in the family, and in the society, and they're are expected to fit into it, whether they want to or not. This is a culture of much tradition, and Of course, that is very good in some ways and not so good in others. A tradition of strong family breeds healthy spirits. American culture can breed some lonely folk. Last night was my first night with my fam. All day yesterday, I was with nanang's brothers and sisters and their kids. One of her nephews (Carter) is leaving for Canada (Manitoba) on wednesday...for good. He's 28 as well. He has a wife and baby. They will stay in P and are going to try to join him in one year. He's leaving strictly to make more money. At various times all day yesterday we would gather around in a circle and his aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents and neighbors and godparents...etc. would take turns standing up and talking about him and blessing his trip. All of his family are Jehovah's witnesses and at various points throughout the day, his family would circle and pray for him. When it was his time to address his family, he cried the entire time. In some ways, i felt that i shouldn't have been there...that I was sitting in on a really private time between he and his family. But, they were very friendly with me and never made me feel like I was imposing in any way. At one point in time, I was asked to stand and give him some advice for when he gets to Canada. I was kind of expecting it. ...I quickly learned that people here like to gather in groups..and often...and when they do, EVERYONE is to give his/her two cents. So, i think i said something like...1- TAKE A COAT. hehe. Its friggin hot here people!! You don't even know dudes. hehe. Then i think i said something like 2- Canadian's are nice people so if he's willing to get to know them and their culture, they no doubt will accept him with open arms. Later, I had a chance to talk with him one on one. I wanted to tell him that I hoped that he would find the Canadians to be as friendly with him as his family and other Philipinos had been with me. I felt the need to tell him that if he finds it hard to make friends or if people aren't as quick to talk to him, that he's not to take it personally...its just a different culture. people in the US and Canada tend to be more independant and can come off as being standoffish or disinterested. I also told him to create a blog at blogspot.com so his family could more easily keep track of his wellbeing and experiences. Hehe. ...So, needless to say, he's got a tight family as many here do. A tight family is very much the tradition here. Emotionally sound individuals are raised from close knit families, however, economically thriving economies aren't. Booming economies are built by entreprenuers, risk-takers, free-thinkers, non-traditionalists. I wouldn't necessarily classify myself as being any of those things, but I am thankful that I come from a place full of them. The next topic Philipinos bring up with me, apart from my being single is their poor economy. Nanang is always talking to me about how small her house is and how poor everyone is. ...I'm running out of reactions. Her house isn't really that small. Its about the size of a two bedroom apt. Maybe she thinks I grew up in a really big house? I don't think she would understand my description of the trailor I lived in in highschool. hehe. This morning over my breakfast of fish, rice, tomatoes, and bananas (the cute itty bitty baby ones), she talked to me yet again about how poor everyone in P is. I told her that there were poor people in the states as well...but the large majority of them are poor for different reasons. I told her that the one thing that the US offers is opportunity. ...opportunity for growth, for change, for an education...the most valuable kind. The opportuniy to teach yourself...life long learning. The states offers endless opportunity because it smiles upon growth, change, individuality, new ideas. In the states, those who have money generally know how to think, learn, and take advantage of opportunity. ...or win the lottery. hehe. In the states, those who don't have money either don't know how to do those things...or don't want to do those things. I told nanang that i have been fortunate in the states. I had the opportunity to make money while learning!! I learned a little about computers on my own, and then Dell paid me to learn more about them while, at the same time, passing on my knowledge to others (customers). Brilliant!! well...time to go eat dinner...to end, I'll say, that I know that I'm extra fortunate b/c I have family that loves me, and a family that I love, and I've had opportunities to make money while learning! I don't want to take that for granted.

4-7-05

2005-04-12T17:25:00.000+08:00

Hmmmm, journal, journal, what to journal? Yesterday, we left our posh Island Cove resort to travel north to Northern Luzon. On the way, we stopped at a mountain peek. I was surprised to find Chinese plaques/memorials at various locations along the mountain peek path. I find myself having to remind me that I'm not in central america, but rather on the opposite side of the friggin world. And It's sites just like the plaques written in chinese that help me to remember that I am actually in ASIA. Yesterday, my other fellow vols and I arrived at Nueva Viscaya University. Actually, just to their dorms to be exact. Yet again, we attended more sessions led by our PC trainers. Yesterday and today, we heard quite a bit from 4 current pcvs who have been in country for about a year now. Dawn is very cool and very helpful. She is by far the most upbeat and positive of the four. The other three pcvs (who all three happen to be guys) are pretty helpful as well, but seem to be a little burned out. I've got tough days ahead as well...so I can't criticize. One of the guys, Brian, is friggin hilarious. Today, a group of us were talking about animals, and the topic landed on dogs in specific. He started telling us about this one dog in his barangay (village) he calls "crazy legs". His description and dramatic representation of crazy legs had me rollin'!! Imagine a dog with 2 good front legs and 1 good back leg. The other back leg literally is sticking straight up and out behind the dog...sort of...well...you know...crazy like. ...somehow it got crushed at some point i suppose. This should totally not be funny...right? Its actually quite sad, as I love animals as we all know. I never want to see an animal hurting. ...it was just that Brian's description was just so funny. Maybe it helps a bit if I think of crazy legs as just a children's fictional story book character...sort of like Oscar the grouch or animal or any other unkempt yet adorable sesame street muppet. He told us how crazy legs would always growl at him...and Brian would hold his backpack up like a weapon and threaten crazy legs with a beating if he tried to attack (as if crazy legs could understand his threats..hehe). He had many other stories that were quite entertaining...but I'm not a good REteller of stories...so...um...know that I just had a good time listening to some good stories today. hehe.
On another note, wrapping back around to what I was talking about with burn out, I know that my coming two and a half years will not be easy. Seeing as how I got so comfy, cozy at Dell...and in my life situation in general, I am in for some rough days ahead no doubt. But, I like challenges. During one of our sessions, my eyes started wandering around the room. Someone had posted numerous quotes throughout. My eyes stopped on the one straight infront of me in the top left hand corner of the dry erase board. It spoke to me at that moment in time. It shall be my meditation from here on out...and it goes: "Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared." When I read that quote, I was actually feeling kinda scared...More nervous and anxious than anything else. Listening to the pcvs for hours on end talk about their frustrations and their failures made me anxious. But, listening to their amazing successes made me... even more nervous and anxious. Sometimes, I feel like I'm not cut out for this b/c I'm not super outgoing, or super creative, or super practical... If given an inch to keep to myself in my safe little world...I'll take a mile. There's no turning back...I'm here. I may not be the best person for whatever jobs I will have ahead of me, but I will try the best I can. I just have to hold onto my courage and keep reminding myself that its okay to be afraid.

4-7-05 message from Paul, the maker of shoes. ;)

2005-04-11T15:11:00.000+08:00

Wow! Alright, that was an excellent analysis of P :PHey have you thought about starting a blog? http://www.blogger.com/ is a free resource and you can update daily if you'd like. It seems quite interesting there and could give you a central resource for writing journal based entries...and you won't have to fiddle with email :)

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE PAUL!! AS YOU CAN TELL, I TOOK YOU UP ON IT.

Have you noticed any similarities in the dialect since being there for afew days? You say something about 100 languages being spoken there,that's crazy! I would think that it would be mostly redundant in its structure but...who knows haha.

SOME WORDS ARE SIMILAR...AND SOME AREN'T. IT JUST DEPENDS ON THE WORDS. I HOPE THERE IS SOME REDUNDANCY! BUT I HAVE COME ACROSS ANY YET THAT I'M AWARE OF. I'M ACTUALLY LEARNING BOTH TAGALOG AND ILOKANO B/C MOST PEOPLE WHERE I LIVE SPEAK A COMBINATION OF BOTH. MOST PEOPLE SPEAK ATLEAST THREE OR FOUR LANGUAGES AROUND HERE INCLUDING ENGLISH. YEAH, ITS PRETTY WILD. I'M JUST NOW BEGINNING TO LOOK AT THE STRUCTURE OF ILOKANO. THE PC GAVE ME A NOTEBOOK THEY PUT TOGETHER FOR US CALLED, "LEARNING ILOKANO WITH A NATIVE SPEAKER". RIGHT NOW, WERE WORKING ON JUST STRAIGHT ROTE MEMORIZING SIMPLE PHRASES. LIKE GOOD MORNING IN ILOKANO IS, "NAIMBAG NGA BIGAT MO." (THAT'S IFYOU'RE SAYING GOOD MORNING TO ONE PERSON). "NAIMBAG NGA BIGAT PO" (TO MULTIPLE PEOPLE). SOUNDS LIKE- NAH-EEM-BAG NAH BEE-GOT MO/PO. IN TAGALOG ITS "MANGANDANG UMAN". SO AS YOU CAN SEE...NO SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THOSE TWO PHRASES. MY HOST FAM GAVE ME A MAGAZINE THAT'S WRITTEN IN ENGLISH, AND THEN ALSO THE EXACT SAME MAGAZINE WRITTEN IN ILOKANO. COMPARING COMPLETE SENTENCES BETWEEN LANGUAGES REALLY HELPED ME LEARN SPANISH SO I'M GLAD MY HOST FAM OFFERED ME THE MAGS!

How did the flight go?

THE FLIGHT WAS DANG LONG! HEHE. BUT, THE SITES ABOVE NORTHERN CANADA AND ALASKA WERE TRULY AMAZING!! I TOOK SOME PICS FROM THE PLANE. I'VE GOT TOO MANY PICS TO TRY TO UPLOAD FROM HERE. I'LL HAVE TO BURN THEM TO CD AND THEN MAIL THEM TO MY BRO FOR HIM TO UPLOAD.

How long wasit? Hmmmmm....random questions....oh look Nancy something shiny :)

HEHE. YES...SHINY IS MAYAT! VERY MAYAT (GOOD).

aight...talk to you later. Seriously think about the blog this is a perfect opportunity for something like that...of course then EVERYONEwould be able to see it so...that's a bit of a drawback depending on how private of a person you are. K...i'm really going to stop talking now... Later paul

THIS BLOG WAS AN EXCELLENT IDEA! AGYAMANAT (THANK YOU IN ILOKANO) SALAMAT (THANK YOU IN TAGALOG).

4-7-05

2005-04-11T14:55:00.000+08:00

Me and about 20 other PC vols are currently staying in a dorm at Nueva ViscayaUniversity in Northern Luzon, which is in the northern part of thePhilippines. I will be in the dorm for a few more days and then i move on tostay with a family for a few weeks. I start learning Ilokano tomorrow.iLokano is one of about 100 languages spoken in the philippines. the north iswhere most of the indigenous folk live. Its awesome!!! Its sooo tribalsounding i luv it! The numbers are about the only carry over from spains 300year rule. Today some of us have been walking around the town and universitycampus. the major modes of transportation here are by way of either jeepneyor tricycle. tricycle being a motorcycle with a side car.We had a "formal" dinner last night. some of the local govt was supposed toshow up to welcome us, but at the last minute weren't able to attend. Some ofthe university students who study dance performed a lil number for us. A girland guy danced the samba for us. The chics outfit was practically nonexistent. her top was lycra and only had a strap on one of theshoulders...sort of like a one strap halter top...if you could imagine. whileshe was dancing...the lycra got pulled down and her boobie popped out.everyone was kinda gigglin and whispering...it took her about 5 or 10 secondsto realize it. It was pretty funny and entertaining...I'm sure it wasn't forher though.later in the evening...i swear i saw the biggest beetle bug ive ever seen inmy life. It was flying around the room while we were watching theperformance. It plunged itself onto the side of one girls face. she grabbedit to try to knock it off, but it held onto to her face and like clung to herear and stuff. she had to pry the thing off! I was like..what the!! It wassooo friggin funny...yet, if that had happened to me...i would have screamedlike the little girl I am. It was sooo huge.Anyway, no other stories right now. I didn't have time to type up a goodemail on my computer first and then save it to my usb mem key to pop into ausb port at an internet cafe. wouldn't have mattered here anyway. the sysI'm on right now originally ran 95, but has been upgraded to 98. doesn't haveany usb ports.Tucker, yeah, i got ur pics of presley. i was only able to open 1 b/c it wasa pretty big file and was taking a while. next time i get access to a syswith a usb port, i'll copy them over and look at them on my 300m. btw...whatis presley's first name? hehe. i'd like to email him sometime.btw..i have since bought a cell phone. if you ever want to call, feel free.or better yet...text message me sometime!!!! pls!!! you can use some softwarefrom chikka.com to do that. Ask oliver Ilagan more about it if need be. Email me if you want my phone number. sige (means okay)....I gotta go.babay (means bye)-nancy

4-3-05

2005-04-11T14:53:00.000+08:00

Hello all,I am currently at an internet café at the local mall. The below is an email I typed on my computer while at the hotel and saved to my usb mem key.I am currently sitting on my hotel room's balcony. My room is right next to a really nice pool. We are currently staying at a resort called Island Cove. We will be here till Wednesday, April 6th. You can check out Island Cove's website at www.islandcovephil.comThe break down of what all 80 of us will be doing and where we will be the next few weeks is kinda complex. April 6th, we all leave for our respective "hub sites." There is a peace corps hub site in each of the PCs four designated regions in the Philippines. If you are looking at a map of the philippines, I can give you an idea of where the four regions are. I'll refer to the Philippines as "P" from now on, so i don't have to write so much. The northern most region of P is called northern Luzon. The northern central region of P is called southern Luzon. Central P is called the Western visayas region. eastern central P is called the eastern visayas region. No one will be going to the southern most part of the Philippines called mindinao, as that is where the muslim groups are located. None of us volunteers know for sure which of these hubs we'll end up going to on the 6th. I've heard that We should find out this coming monday. So...basically, all of 80 of us will be divided into four groups each group going to its respective hub on the 6th. I will stay at my hub site with the other 19 volunteers for a few days. After a few days, we split off into even smaller groups, four groups of five. These smaller groups are called "clusters". Each group of five will go their seperate ways within the region in order to form their own cluster. Each pc volunteer w/in the cluster stays with his/her own host family. The host families for a cluster should be located pretty close to each other, so me and the other four pc vols that will make up my cluster should be relatively close to each other. So, in conclusion, by mid april, I should be living with a host family in one of the four P regions.Island Cove seems to be very nice. Its sort of like a compound in the sense that there are several things to do here. The resort has its own little zoo, its own water park, karaoke bars and pubs. Today, i left the resort for the first time. When we arrived here the other night, it was dark outside, so i wasn't able to see the terrain very well at that time. Me and a handful of other people took a bus to the mall. It was about 15 minutes away. They don't have "buses" here in the sense that we would think of a bus. Their public transportation is by way of what is called a "jeepney". Its like a mini bus. The vehicle is supposedly reminiscent of military vehicles used in wwII. However, they are pretty shiny, clean, and well taken care of for the most part. Most of them are elaborately decorated with various decals and symbols. The mall was very westernized. We could find anything there we would need. ...as a matter of fact, I'm buying a cell phone tomorrow. We're not required to buy one, but it is strongly encouraged. More people have cell phones here than in the states. the cell phone technology here is quite advanced. Once i get my phone and get it "activated", you should be able to call me on it. From what i hear, it won't be a big deal or super expensive for me to receive an international phone call on it. I will have to buy what's called a "sim" card for it in order to "activate" it. I won't actually buy a sim card until I know which region I'm going to. There are only 2 cell phone companies here. They're called "Globe" and "smart". globe is only available in some regions and smart in others. so, until i know what region I'll be going to, I won't be buying a sim card.Riding from the resort to the mall, I could see much better the p terrain. Wow! its actually quite different from a latin american country...quite different. P is a bit rougher around the edges.. mexico and central america look to be cleaner and more economically stable than P. There are lots of bodies of water. The bodies of water are sooooooo littered with trash. I was awestruck at the trash. Bruce, when i get my website designed, I'll burn it to cd and mail it to you so you can host it. I'll send all my pics. so far, I've taken about 100. I'd like for my domain name to be skeetermaddox.com if that is possible. Once the domain name has been purchased, can it be changed later free of charge, if I think of a better one?We got our first round of shots and pills today. I got one shot in the right arm and two in the left. One of the shots was for denge (spelling?) fever...another was a tetanus shot. I can't remember what the third was for. I also took a malaria pill today and a typhoid pill today. I will have to take a malaria pill every saturday morning for as long as I'm here!! Knowing that malaria is deadly...don't worry...i WON'T ever forget to take it. They speak many languages here...many dialects. They have only taught us a few general phrases in the national language, Tagalog...pronounced, tuh-gah-lug. Its going to be a difficult language to learn I think. Alot of vocabulary comes from spanish, but i think the general language structure, like how you form a sentence and so forth is quite unlike spanish or english. They haven't gotten to far into the teaching tagalog with us, because after we're moved to our respective hub sites, we may be learning a different language all together.Its really hot here. Alot hotter than i remember mexico or costa rica being. But then again, its been so long since i was in mexico, its hard to remember. And, i was in costa rica in the winter months, so i guess it would have been kind of mild there anyway. Well, that's about all I can comment on right now. Oh, yeah, bruce, I was having trouble emailing to several people at once using my smarterthings address. in the "send to" section i would type several emails seperated by semi-colons, but for some reason it would cause me to get an error if I tried to send. I'd have to just send to one person at a time. I think i even tried inputing just one email address in the "send to" section and then the rest in the "CC" section. I think it still errored on me. At any rate, i can send to several people at once using my collegeclub address. Oh, yeah, tell memaw that I got her lil note and $20. Thanks memaw!Love,Nancy

4-1-05

2005-04-11T14:47:00.000+08:00

hi all,I made it the philippines last night. we got to our hotel around 1:30 in the morning. from what i understand, I'm 12 hours difference from you all. right now, its 1:23, friday afternoon. We had a short layover in japan which was pretty cool. we got to get off the plane for a bit and walk around the airport. northern canada and alaska looked amazing from the plane!!! I had a window seat the whole way! It is veeeeery hot here!!!! I luv it!! palm trees all over. It looks very very much like costa rica or a latin american country...except all the signs are in english and most every speaks english. I wish i could write more, but i just wanted to let you all know that i'm here and safe. I don't have any info with me...but I do have a physical address where you can snail mail stuff to me. not sure when i'll be able to email or call...but just know I'm doing great!! I'm really excited. I have to go to a language class right now. I'll be in touch again when i can.love,-Nancy