Pa and Annie - my roommates and anak na babae dito (daughters here) got me ready. Pa straightened my hair and did my makeup and I looked Fabulous as you can see here:
My counterpart from Palawan asked me, when we arrived a couple hours before the ceremony, if I was excited and I was rather blase...but as curtain time approached, I realized that I was really excited. The country director, Sonia, asked if I would be willing to speak with the press and the Embassy - wow!! The ambassador sought me out afterward to compliment me on the interviews - what an honor. I've been bummed not to find the interviews anywhere online, but just doing them was spectacular on an already spectacular day.
We left the next day for the Manila airport - ridiculous traffic..a 40 minute drive took us 2.5 hours.....but we made the plane with time to spare, and arrived in Puerto Princesa City (the capital) in the early evening. 7 people came to get us and we barely fit in their "multicab" - especially with my huge luggage - brand new and scarred - ripped pocket and mangled, unusable handle. My room is pretty small, so I use the luggage to stack my pants and blouses (although while I was laundering today, I noted a broken oval mirror stand and am now hanging blouses on that - scavenging here is a necessity :).
The morning following arrival, I met a PCV who has been here for a year and works on the environment - in El Nido - "The" spot in all of the Philippines. It is a 9 hour bus ride from here, but she promised free SCUBA gear if we help her kill the crown-of-thorns starfish that is eating all the precious coral. If you want to see the biodiversity and beauty of the Philippine marines, just go to the San Francisco Natural History Museum, where the permanent exposition is The Philippines - it's astounding...and to think that I now live here!!!
The Ustares family, with whom I live, speaks mostly Tagalog (and four or five other languages of the Philippines), and I resume my Tagalog lessons tomorrow with a college educator niece of the agency's director...and one of the uncles (Jun for Junior) wants to meet with me every day at 2pm to practice conversation - my head hurts already. But, the agency has a big fundraiser performance on December 10th at the Capitol in Puerto Princesa and is practicing and practicing, so, now is the time for me to cram!
Seredipitously, Pastor Mon (the director) emailed an American who had promised to help fundraise - we agreed that introducing me might prompt something....the following day the man said that he wanted to do a video on our agency and that he would be here in December!! Yikes. So, I wrote a script and theoretically will be videotaping this starting next week! My first week here has been quite eventful.
The Philippines reminds me of where American schools were about 50 years ago regarding Special Education. Actually, they only term such children as "Special" here - there is little actual education taking place. Many children are abandoned by there parents because they know that they can't take care of them; poverty here is almost unimaginable for most of the people I know in America. Mothers will sell their new baby in order to pay for food for their other 5 children - situations here boggle the mind. But, placed in similar circumstances, I think I'd do the same. When you live here, you begin to see that there is no "right" or "wrong" - that most everything is situational - and that only a tiny, tiny percentage of Americans have experienced anything like this at any time in their lives. So, the "Special" children - the deformed, deaf, blind, mentally retarded, autistic - are the first to be abandoned. Those parents who attend to these children are offered no hope for the future and keep their children home from schools which are unequipped to teach them, and students who bully them. Many times children are hidden from the view of communities who do not understand them and shun them and their families.
Lest you be shocked, or feel superior - I recall "Chuck" in my elementary school in California - he was mentally retarded and rode a bike to school - and was babysat in a sequestered room. I remember the boys constantly teasing him and think his life must have been miserable. But, at that time, there was no such thing as SPED in the states - even progressive (and, at that time, well-funded, California). And everyone suffered the consequences.
I came to Taw Kabui, the NGO here in San Jose barangay, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan thinking that I would work to help them with their policies and infrastructure. I was taken off guard when I discovered that these folks have very little training in SPED, but have an incredible amount of Love and Patience and Dedication, just like SPED began in America so long ago. So, it seems that my first tasks will be to train the teachers in the various disabilities (of 52 enrolled students, aged 6-22, all are non-verbal - a daunting task).
And, the communication issues continue - not only have I not been able to telephone anyone (no signal most of the time, and even when all the bars are there, I get cut off!), the teenagers in the family downloaded games onto their computer...and my laptop, external hard drive and USBs all now have a Trojan virus. I'm taking a multicab (like a jeepney, but a Palawan version) into town tomorrow to try to find someone to bail me out - if you have any frugal ideas for me, please email me!!!
Yesterday, the host-mother of my PCV friend and site-mate in Puerto took me and others to the Underground River - quite amazing. I'm sunburned today from swimming in 80 degree water before we entered the river. Stalactites and stalagmites galore - it is about 10km long! Check it out online
So, at this, the end of my first week at my home for the next 2+ years, I am happy and at peace. And wishing everyone well from Paradise!!
