Getting out of Manila was a 1.5 hour endeavor - I now understand the concept of "Metro Manila". We drove down EDSA, the main highway, which protestors flooded in the 1960's, reulting in the ousting of Marcos. It is a huge highway - 8 lanes across, so the enormity of the protest hit home.
Olangapo is close to Subic Bay, and many families speak English fairly well. Our bus was met by all of the host families and we had 1/2 of a picture to match up with (host family and volunteer). I matched mine and the woman said, "No". I was taken aback and told the PC facilitator that she didn't want me. She did take me but was surprised that I wasn't young...hmmm.
Joie (Joy) told me that I would be living with her mother-in-law, Tess, and that it was a family compound - 3 of Tess's 4 sons and families and the family of Tess's sister-in-law. Upon arrival, we discovered that Tess and I were both born on May 19th and that she is 3 years older than me. So, it was meant to be.
Her grandchildren and nieces/nephew/cousins - all the children - total 9 and there are plenty of animals - 4 dogs, 1 cat, 30 or so pigeons (two of her sons race them).
I played 3 hours of Monopoly my first night - and Angelo bankrupted me. He also taught me vocabulary and even left a post it full of words for me when I crashed.
My room is large, and has a bed and a fan in it. Tess is an excellent seamstress and made a beautiful bed cover and curtains which brightens the room. I have a box where I pile my shirts and pants and have a hanger on the back of the door where I can hang my personal care products - with my small mirror.
Unfortunately, there is no wireless here and our classes last from 8am-6pm and I am supposed to have lunch and dinner with my family (lovely lovely)...and we talk for hours...so I've had little time for studying/writing, let alone this blog and the internet. I've written great items for this blog, but they are on my own computer, so I've been unable to transfer anything to this blog!! Plus, during my training I make 85pesos/day and the internet cafe charges 20p/hr. so I can't use it much anyway!!
I assumed the weather was similar to Houston, where I lived for 10 years - HAH! American ignorance - yes, the temperature is 80-100F; yes, the humidity is 90-100%, but I've never seen such rains as these! Unbelievable - yesterday it rained buckets for 15 hours and the streets flooded. The waterways are filled with garbage - plastic and less benificent items...so, when they flood, you walk through filth.
Yesterday the medical officer of the PC schooled us on parasites which was rather scary - he said about 6-10 of our group of 140 will get them and he has seen thousands of worms be coughed up or come out the other end...although he said all orifices are possible. But there are antibiotics for the worms (hook, tape, round, etc)...the scariest was the amoeba and he said that 30% of us would get that. So, we all walked home (every day is a torrential rain and we walk through flooded streets)...and washed our feet thoroughly, searching for flukes.
The dogs and cats here are in awful condition - I've never seen such barely surviving animals - and they are plentiful, walking the streets in search of a bite to eat, scabbed over with sores...I'm an animal freak and don't want to get close to them. We got our first rabies shots yesterday as well as were vaccinated for Japanese encephalitis.
My family can't understand why I am such an infant in speaking Tagalog - they say, "But the American missionaries can speak!" The difference is that the PC didn't know where we would be posted - and we are learning 3 different languages: Hillagayong, Cebuano, and Tagalog. We won't find out for another 5 weeks exactly where we will be posted, and I only hope my Tagalog picks up!!
In any case - there are people looking over my shoulder as I write this, waiting to sit at this computer!
Mahal,
Debra
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