So. Typhoon Yolanda.
It was really a nightmare come true here after the super typhoon. As I have
heard from friends and family back home (I appreciate all of your concern and
fb messages), the news coverage was intense, as news tends to do, it was a bit
sensationalized, but completely accurate for certain areas like Leyte and Samar
islands, which were hit the hardest. The rest of the country just awaited news
with uneasy curiosity in dark silence, as almost the whole country was without
power, water, or communication lines for a few days after. My area was lucky,
and I am safe and sound but felt useless for a while because I was not allowed
to leave my island in the aftermath, Peace Corps is not a relief agency and
they the U.S. government is liable for our safety, leaving us consolidated and frustrated.
12 of my friends had to be airlifted out of their sites and have experienced
things I cannot even imagine. Some had to walk for 3 hours to get to an airport
in total blackness surrounded by countless dead blue and bloated bodies… All of
the Peace Corps volunteers survived, but the amount of deaths in Tacloban and
coastal areas is atrocious, and the devastation and destruction is equally unbelievable.
If you are interested in donating online, Red Cross Philippines and UNICEF have
been the most helpful here; just 5 dollars can buy 16 pounds of rice or 21
liters of water! In the following weeks, we have helped out at a giant
relief-packing event in Dumaguete and a few other fundraisers. Things are now
completely back to normal here in Dauin, and the rest of the country is
recovering day by day. People always talk about the resiliency and optimism of
Filipino people, which could not be truer. They have to deal with these
tragedies constantly… then they pick up their heads and start the rebuilding
process, never complaining or asking “why?” A true source of admiration for the
rest of us…
There was actually another
typhoon heading my way the following week, so all of the PCVs in my area,
Negros, got consolidated just to be safe, but it turned out to be just a day of
rain. It was the first time we were all together with the newbies. There is an
astounding 14 of us in Negros Oriental now! Cooped up in a hotel for 2 nights,
we drank a lot of rum, made fun of Chris in his full Santa suit, played a lot
of “Magic the Gathering,” a nerd adult sort of skilled version of Pokémon cards…
and never ceased to be amused that the wall to the bathroom was clear class
with just a tiny curtain that could be pulled down…or forgotten to be pulled
down. To save money, we stayed 4 to a room, which made this even more
entertaining. Jen, Chris, Larry, and I stayed together, the usual party bed
crew… Larry putting up with our obnoxiousness, like our nightly WWE matches…
Chris actually gave me an elbow to the black eye that night! The next weeks
rolled on. Me getting a little more discouraged and annoyed by everything every
day, but then a random spectacular day would surprise me. I am trying to teach
verb tenses to my seniors at the moment… it is actual hell come to life in my
classroom... for everyone….. I hope that does not make me Satan. Do you even
know that there are 12 English verb tenses? Ya. Who decided that? And of course
most rules have unexplainable exceptions to the rule. I will spend hours and
hours trying to think up a creative activity that will engage all students and
make sense. It is impossible when the students are at so many different levels,
some not understanding anything I say in English… but my first class is
advanced, so I have to basically create 2 different lesson plans, and it is a
never-ending experiment. Not to mention the power goes out almost every day
after lunch, leaving the one fan powerless, the room extremely sweltering,
sleepy students, and one very sweaty grump of a teacher...me.
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| The Sissies |
The Australians in
Dumaguete are heading home, their contract is only 6 months. They had a fun
“house cooling” party. The next day was a waste of time of the best kind, nothing
beats a lazy Sunday, escaping the scorching sun by sitting in a dark videoke
room singing my heart out for hours with my best friends. The next weekend, a
lot of my friends were celebrating Thanksgiving up in the cooler north, but I
went to a foam party with my Filipino friends instead… is that integration? Another
side-note preventing my integration, I stayed up til 3 am the other morning
binge watching 5 straight episodes of my new show addiction, “Orange is the New
Black.” It is a both amusing and depressing comedy/drama about a typical WASP
dealing with 15 months of prison, for having a brush with international drug
trafficking in her youth. It is almost terrifying how many similarities I find
here with prison and Peace Corps…(animal organs for food, speedy spreading
gossip, lack of human affection, isolation, having to hide your snacks, forced
friendships out of necessity, going crazy, outsiders not understanding the
experience, limited outside communication, I could go on and on….haha) Of
course, I am kidding because I choose this experience and it is way more
rewarding daily than the small struggles. There are no adorable children or
mangos in prison…
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| My Fab Four Videoke Survivor Besties = Me, Chris, Jen, & Larry |
One of the new batch
volunteers, Rocky, the one who proposed to me on the first day we met, and who
has still not ceased with his unreciprocated affections (no matter how pretend annoyed
I act on the outside…I am truly flattered, and being told that someone “adores”
me and thinks I am “perfect” (right…) brings me up on my bad days, no matter
how anti-feminist it may be to say that I need that. Maybe because I did not
get that from my last year-long relationship. Anyways, he put on this big Thanksgiving
shin dig for all of the Negros Oriental Vols, and almost everyone from hours
away, came! I wanted to bake a delicious dessert, but like most Filipino
families, mine does not have an oven. So I splurged mula on some fancy cheese
and crackers from the city. A few of the girls made cake and cookies using some
hotel’s oven, and Rocky made chicken fajitas, mashed potatoes, and pulled pork
with homemade barbecue sauce (he is overly proudly from Kansas City.) It was
the best food any of us had eaten in a long time, not the traditional
Thanksgiving, but as we played drinking games with a dradle under the countless
clear stars from another power outage, talking about how lucky and thankful we
are in life, I reflected on how these people have become my family here.
Knowing that I get to be with my family at home in Texas for this Christmas,
made me even more appreciative of that unique and magical Thanksgiving… even if
Jen and I had to wait 3 hours on the dark street for a bus to get back home. Then
run down some old ladies to get on it. Worth it.
The mosquitos are on a
feasting frenzy rampage now here. The worst is when I am teaching, they somehow
fly into my pants just to specifically bite my plump butt. Sending me into an
awkward attempt to be sneaky itching frenzy. Even after a year and a half here,
I am not used to or happy being sweaty 24/7 and at constant war with insects.
The small pleasure of colder weather, carpet, no bugs in food, and no dog barks
or rooster howls at 4 am may be the greatest gifts this Christmas. A Christmas
Miracle! 3 more DAYS! I am repeatedly having dreams about the grocery store and
the many foods I want to stuff in my face. It is a good thing that I am so busy
before leaving. I have started teaching yoga classes twice a week after school for
the teachers, they absolutely love it. I did so much during college in Boulder,
that I am totally comfortable leading in the Philippines Bikram like air, and
most of the teacher are so good at it! (My guess is their strong legs from
growing up with only squat toilets) We also just finished our speech choir performance
from my best class in response to the typhoon, it is entitled “Filipino is
Resilient,” and they will perform next week. Next week is Education Week, so we
have a big culmination event on Friday, that I am MC-ing, which is stressful.
All of us teachers are practicing this big rehearsed dance number too…so
Filipino… and my Glee Club has a big performance. I am a little nervous it is
too ambitious of an idea. It is a mash-up up of students dressed as teachers
singing “I’ll Stand by You,” alongside the students singing “I Believe I can
fly,” with an incorporated drama. It is cheesy, I know, but the Philippines
loves cheesy tear-jerking performances…if they don’t blow up in smoke of embarrassment, but our
practices have been going superbly…wish us luck! I also got a wonderful surprise
post-card from a volunteer in Mongolia (I think they were told to send us
something inspiring since the typhoon and all) Mine said, “Character cannot be
developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can
the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”
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| Sayaw Sayaw Teacher Dance |
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| Our First make shift Yoga in the Library |
Jen
planned a photo scavenger hunt in the city for her birthday. Things included were
a jump shot with strangers in front of Jollibee, pictures with landmarks, a
picture of us with a mango, to find someone with the same birthday as Jen (our
opponents cheated again by skyping in Larry’s cousin) and many many more. Rocky,
Chris and I, were teamed up against Larry and our Filipino friends, Ivory and
Noel. We should have won…I am still a wee bit bitter because the Filipinos rode
their motorcycle around the city to get the pics while we were stuck on foot…
then they made fun of how sweaty we were by the end… Well yea… but it was
really fun nevertheless, and we ended the night with more hours and hours of
videoke. How does videoke never get old? Ok well, This will be my last post
until I get back to the Philippines after my vacation home in Texas. I have
never been more excited about anything in my life… very strange feelings of
elation mixed with intense anxiety. SO CLOSE I CAN TASTE THE EGGNOG!!! Happy
Holidays to one and all!
