boracay

so the past few days we have been at hub site, which is where all of the volunteers from my group gather for 4 days and have classes in peace corp policy. it is pretty stupid and pointless, but we all love getting together to hang out. so the last day we were there, thursday we went to the island of boracay, which is the tourist destination of the philippines. it has white sand beaches, crystal blue water, beautiful palm trees, shopping and lots of sun. we did our water safety class there. we rode out about 200 meters in a big boat and had to jump out. in pairs of 2 we had to climb into a little bonka boat. a bonka is a 1 1/2 meter dug out canoe, with outriggers -- ALL boats here have outriggers. we climbed in, and had to flip it over, so we would know what to do if we were ever in the situation. then we had to flip it back over from the water and bail all of the water out -- it took so long, but so fun. the rest of the day we spent swimming and snorkeling. we got to eat pizza, which was so good that we all scarfed our faces -- i mean enough rice already!!!! each day is getting better and better, hopefully the rough patches will get farther and farther apart too. my ilonggo is getting better, i am making sentences -- which don't always make sense, but they love that i am trying, and also love to correct me. i am getting better at getting around, the jeepneys and trikes aren't quite so scarry when you can communicate with the drivers -- so i am venturing out more and more.

life is great

Ok, i think i have gotten through the hardest part -- the first few weeks. I was really sick last week, i had a respiratory infection, thought about coming home -- but i am so glad that i stuck it out. Moving in with a host family is difficult, I have a 6:00 curfew -- which is probably safer anyways. I am only there for 2 months anyways. I got my permanent site yesterday. I am going to the island of guimaras -- which is famous for their sweet mangoes, white sand beaches and lobster. how perfect is that. I will be close to the 3 other girls that i have made friends with -- they will all be less than an hour away. I am so happy here right now. I am still bathing with a bucket of cold water, no makeup or hairdryers, and am constantly sweating -- but it really makes me so happy to be here. Sorry family, but i am not coming home just yet. We are taking lots of jeepney rides, which is so fun -- jumping into a long jeep, giving the driver a couple of piso's and jumping out whenever you are where you need to be. the hard part is trying to figure out where in the world you are going. English is spoken, but not always well -- so Ilonggo class is mostly translating phrases about directions. we never travel alone though. the 16 of us have split up into different towns -- 2-3 per town. every 10 days we come back together at Aklan State University, which is our hub site. I am here now, and get so excited to come back and see everyone. Seeing other Americans and speaking understandable English is so wonderful. I don't think that any of us would make it if we didn't get to come back for a few days and hang out. Tomorrow we go to Borocay for water safety training. Borocay is the most famous beach in the philippines, known for its white sand beaches and beautiful water and diving. So really getting excited to see it and swim. Girls here have to swim fully clothed -- such a pain in the ass!!!!! Really who wants to swim in clothes. But since Boracay is so touristy, we can wear suits. I haven't been taking pictures really, but I am going to start -- and will try to post something soon.

nanay and tatay

I have been living with my host family for3 days now, they are so nice. I have my own room, pink decorated in hello kitty, and an electric fan, which they are very proud of. My nanay (mother) and tatay (father) are both retired, so they are at home alot, and they are always trying to teach me things . . . but most of the time i have no clue what they are talking about, so i find myself nodding and saying "sige" (OK) alot. I am on my 2nd day of Ilonggo class; it is nothing like spanish - i'm so screwed. I have learned my greetings, and how to say i don't understand -- "hindi ako ka intyende", I have been using that alot. Philippino's don't eat vegetables, so going into my host family as a vegitarian was hard, but they are trying. They keep saying vegetables need meat to be palliateable. So I was teaching my nanay to cook only vegitables, but she kept adding more butter everytime I turned around, saying this will make it palliateable. My tatay would not try the vegetables - he said they were not food. I find most Filipino's spend their day either eating or thinking about what they are going to eat, or telling you about a dish they are going to make you. They have told everyone about the meatless veggies, and everyone laughs so hard and points at me. We got to meet the mayor of our town today, his office has AC, so that was a nice treat. AC here is different, it is only wall units. Only the rich have them, but even they can not afford to run them. Every day we have a "brown out" -- the electricity goes out for an hour or so, and we sweat with out the electric fan. I went to catholic mass with my nanay on Sunday. The church is open, so there were dogs and birds running about all through church, no one seemed to notice or even care. A couple of dogs came in and peed on the pulpit, and no one seemed to notice -- so life here definately has a different set of rules or at least standards. My house has one CR Comfort room, the toilet and shower are connected. I fill a bucket with water and pour it over myself with a smaller bucket. It's really not that bad. There is no hot water, but in this heat who could really take a hot shower?!!! I should have brought more books, I have alot of down time with nothing to do, but sit in front of my electric fan -- so that I don't die. If you all think that Florida is hot and muggy, man, this is a whole new level of hot and muggy -- i would give anything for that right now. i love the phone calls and emails, so keep them coming . . . love you all, Lindsey

land of flip flops

i have found my home here in the land of flip flops -- i have not yet seen anyone wearing shoes. they have stores dedicated only to flip flops, it is pretty amazing. this is as close to being famous as i will ever come, everyone stares and yells to you "hey joe" and "hey cano" but in a very friendly way. everyone knows your name and whether or not you are married. if you aren't married they are trying to marry you off. kind of like panama city. a few volunteers took a trip into the city yesterday, on the way back we couldn't find a jeepney -- but motorcylcles with sidecars are everywhere (tiny motorcycles) -- so 6 of us piled into the sidecar, and rode a few miles. it was the scariest thing ever, but so much fun -- i have never felt closer to 5 people, literally!!! I love the transportation here, price is always negotiable and it's always an adventure. the fruit here is amazing, i am in the mango capital of the world -- they serve fresh mango juice with every meal, it's very thick and sweet -- i water it down. they also serve alot of watermelon -- they are the small round ones, but it's so nice to have something familiar. i can not eat another bite of rice!!!!! I have been putting ketchup on my rice, they think that's wierd, and maybe it is, but they make their ketchup with banannas here, so it is very sweet. tonight at dinner we had cabbage rolls, and what was rolled in them you ask -- oatmeal, i don't know who thought to put oatmeal in cabbage, it was not wonderful -- i miss american food. i am going to come back so skinny. I move in with my family tomorrow, so going to go and get lots of sleep.

still flying

i am on the island of panay. we flew in yesterday to the city of kilebo --it has a 1 room airport, it was so neat. we are staying at Aklan State University for 2 more days, then we meet and move in with our host families. the university put on a dinner and show for us. They roasted a whole pig, the skin and the fat are supposed to be the best parts, so that is what they gave us -- of course i didn't eat it, still holding out for as long as i can. i was served a whole fish, it was the scarriest thing i have ever seen. they eat the heads here, so of course i was expected to too-- thankfully the guys sitting next to me were braver than i and ate it for me. food is definately going to be the hardest thing for me. they put on a show of drums and dancing, the dancers were boys dressed in tribal gear -- and had deer heads for hats -- we danced as well. more fun stuff to come.

western visayas

i finally got my assignment, the year of saying i don't know to all of your questions is over!!!!! i am going to the western visays, with the most wonderful group of people -- everyone is so much fun. the western visayas are supposed to be the most beautiful islands in all of the philippines -- i'll let you know on wednesday -- that is when we fly out. i have a cell phone, i have emailed everyone with my number, so use it. if you didn't get it email me. we went to the us embassy yesterday, met with the us ambassador, and all of his staff -- they gave us alot of security warnings (nothing bad). I am still having the best time, it is going to take a while to get used to the crazy driving. they have no traffic lights, signs or laws for that matter -- and they get in way less accidents than we do, go figure!! have more shots today and typhoid meds, malaria meds, hep A & B shots, Japaneese encephilitis, rabies, and more tomorrow. lots of people have gotten sick - our bodies are on overload. tonight is our last night as a group, so everyone is planning to go out - we fly at 4am - so good luck to us all!!!!!!

Magandang hapon ( good day)

hi everyone - i finally made it to the philippines, we got here on April 1, but totally missed the 31st because we crossed the international date line, that is mind boggling to me. Our flight was about 20 hours - with a stop in japan. i got detained in japan and searched. it was so aggrevating because no one would speak english to me. the japan airport was the cleanest, most organized and quiet place i have ever been -- until we loud americans walked in -- everyone stared. i tried to go to the bathroom, but opted otherwise when i saw the porcelain hole in the floor that i was supposed to squat over -- no thank you -- i took a picture. we got here to the philippines around midnight, we took a bus to the resort where we are staying. the ride was crazy, there are no markings on the road, so whereever your car will fit is where you drive -- busses, jeepneys, motorcycles, trycicles all squeezed in to a two lane sized road. i now understand why we aren't allowed to drive for 2 years. we leave the resort on wednesday to go to our hub sites for more training and shots. we started our malaria med's today -- they are supposed to give you crazy dreams -- we'll see. everyone is so incredibly friendly -- and wants to help. i can't wait until the real action begins. we have been doing tagalog training -- it's nothing like spanish-- much harder. i will try to stay updated, computer time is limited, which hopefully explains the lack of punctuation and capitalization. please stay in contact i miss everyone - especially my family and gracie lou. love you all ~ lindsey ps - i am so brown after hawaii, a man asked me if i was part filippino -neat!!!!