So, I have made it
back to home sweet smelly Philippines after my dreamy Christmas Texas
adventure. It was more magical than I could have imagined. I had been missing
my family so much with all of the typhoon chaos, school stress, and extreme loneliness/seclusion
feelings lately, and skype just doesn’t cut it. My journey began with a 10-hour
layover in Manila until my international flight to Guam. I did some research
and found out that the Mall of Asia checks bags for free, so I deposited my
junk and did some exploring. I stumbled upon their weekly Christmas light
parade, where I saw fireworks shoot out onto the unsuspecting audience…no one
was hurt just confused…poor planning MOA. Suing would no doubt ensue in
America, but the Filipinos just relocated to a safer spot without a word. Next,
I grabbed myself a Krispy Kreme and made way for the over 20-hour journey ahead
of me, consisting 2 more connections in Guam and Hawaii…very long and windy
airports if I don’t say so myself, and my substantial backpack did a number on
my bod. It was the most strenuous flight and travel combination of my life, but
so worth it once I ran into my awaiting family’s arms! Literally nothing beats
just hanging out with my three favorite people in the world… my brother, mom,
and dad… we are a kooky foursome indeed. Why would I ever give up that precious
time and move to another country then? Keep on reading…
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| Roll Out. Auto-timer. |
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| Stunnas |
My first meal request
was my dad’s famous “Steak Don,” it is filet mignon topped with a scrumptious
Dijon and green onion special sauce, delicousssssss, and gave me fiery poop for
days… no surprise, I had not eaten anything that rich in a year and a half. I devoured
more cheese and beer over this vacation than I think I have ever in my whole
life... and I don’t regret it one bit, just what I needed. Bro Matthew and I
had our usual sessions of watching Maury and family feud, but he was on his
school break too, so most of his time was spent with his girlfriend, Ophelia…
Ohhhh to be young and in love… He even missed our family foursome’s traditional
finger food Christmas Eve dinner… when he got home, we all just fell asleep
watching Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Jingle All the Way”… not proud of it.
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| In Heaven |
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| The First Supper |
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| Annie's Tree & The Ladies in Red |
I did a few throwback
activities like attending a game of my old high school’s boys basketball team
and golfing with my dad. The
time with my family surged by way too fast, before I knew it, my best girl friends
were arriving at our Texas house coming from Colorado. It was wonderful being
with Rachel and Mackenzie again, felt like we just picked up where we left off!
We spent a lot of time watching trashy TV, drinking wine in the hot tub, and
girl chika chikaing, wouldn’t have had it any other way… My parents were more
than generous in taking good care of us (keeping our bellies constantly full of
food, beer, wine, laughs,) and getting us tickets to this big New Year’s Eve
Party in the Crystal Ballroom at the Rice Hotel in Houston. It had an all night
open bar, 1AM breakfast buffet, and sells out early every year. It was
spectacular! There was a live band, DJ room, and countless drinks a flowing.
Early on in the night, we did get called transvestites by a wee drunk blonde
sorority bimbo… most likely because we are all 5’10 and were in heels, leaving
her stoutness only coming up to our boobs. Jealous bitches be trippin! We were
amused though and after my minor out-of-Philippines freak out of initial rich
white people overload… the rest of the night went splendidly… well for what I
remember… and we 3 walked heels in hands but fully intact back to our hotel. As
you can imagine, it took the next full day to recover… the few years have taken
their toll on our previously awesome college alcohol tolerance level… and
burritos were probably not the best choice for our subsequent breakfast.
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| Moment of smushing reunion |
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| Spoiled. |
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| Boat Time |
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| Cruisin |
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| Tomfoolery... dad was not impressed... |
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| Yikes... |
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| My Lovelies |
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| Crystal Ballroom NYE Houston |
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| Beauty, Love, and Smores |
My parents took us girls
and my brother out on the boat one chilly afternoon, it was crisp and
beautiful. Our new lake house really is spectacular, the most gorgeous home I
have ever seen, in my book, and it was quite the vacation for my girls, who got
to stay in the mini “casita” guesthouse. Before going out on NYE, we put on girly
cleansing face masks, enjoying Rachel’s chocolate one the most, which looked
like she had fallen face down into a large cow patty. After our New Years recovery
day, we drank my favorite almond champagne with my parents and made smores in
the fire... it was just lovely, and I definitely had a reflective moment of how
happy I was to be alive and how extremelyyyyy blessed I am in this life… which
goes back to answer the former question of why would I ever leave all of that
to move across the world? Well… that is just it… I don’t hardly deserve my
overly convenient American life I did nothing to earn it, and just because my
parents worked their own butts off putting themselves through college, and my
mom being the most hardworking human I have ever encountered (and overly
concerned for the feelings of others above herself)… should not mean my life
should be plush by default. 1 in 8 people on this planet now do not have enough
to eat; there is no reason why they have to suffer through that while food is
plentiful for the other side, but that is the cruel reality we live in. One of
my goals in joining Peace Corps was just to experience a different kind of life
with fewer amenities for a minor chunk of my hopefully long life. Little did I know
how many amazing people I would meet, Filipinos and PCVs, people with such
concern for humanity and lust for living, and I never thought I would feel such
a part of two other foreign families, here in Dauin and Subic. I tried to give
back more than I received… but once again, I guess God had other plans. Why
wasn’t I born with zero human rights because of being a female in Yemen, or
taken from my family at age 8 to become a child soldier in the Congo, or born into
a village of Somalia where genital mutilation is inflicted on 98% of young
girls? It is not fair, the world is not fair, and I am extremely indebted.
On a lighter note… My favorite memory of the trip was when Mom, Dad, Matthew, and I went bowling. I can’t really describe why it was so fun, but my bro made some preference that turned each of our faces into characters and would show a weird action scene with our characters on the big screen every time we took a turn. More amusing than you can imagine for some reason…Another
pleasant memory was when Mom, Dad, Matthew, Ophelia, Rachel, Mac, and me played
Cards Against Humanity… yes, that same inappropriate game that I played with my
deranged Peace Corps friends before. Playing it with my family took it to a
whole other level… my stomach pained from hilarity combined with awkwardness. I
also loved playing our family’s version of crazy rummy with my friends and
granny Annie, putting up Annie’s Christmas decorations with her, and eating at
“Just Mac” for tons of mac and cheese versions with my buddy and ex-college
roomy, little miss Momena. I will be missing all of the flavored coffee
creamers and scrumptious coffee at my parent’s house…endless Mexican food…. the
wine cellar…and the most, Dad, Mom, Matthew, Annie, and friends… but those
things will all still be waiting for me after these 9 months of the
homestretch. Living back in that luxury reassured me that I need to finish out
strong, enjoy the new family/friend relationships, and make the most of my last
months here in the Philippines… after all, I am able to go back home into that
lifestyle… but the majority of people in the world will never experience that
easy of a life.
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| Lots of Just Mac! Plus a panini... |
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| Awkward computer generated bowling scene |
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| The most awkward. |
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| Maybe not. |
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| Boot Scootin! |
After a flight
cancellation (after boarding) and two days past schedule, I finally made it
home to my own familiar nipa hut, only to be awoken the next early morning by
little children yelling my name from the trees outside. Crazy kuyas climbing
trees. Welcome back to the Philippines. I slept the whole first day back and had
some insanely colorful zombie warfare dreams. Now the following day at school,
I am realizing even more all of the things I still take for granted. I had
forgotten how freezing the bucket baths are when it is raining… how I can’t
throw my toilet paper down the toilet… how it feels to have 5 mosquitoes
sucking my blood at the same time… how much fiery poop hurts, again… how many
hours and sweat it takes to do laundry outside by hand… living in a fishbowl and
never having the indulgence of privacy. But was it all worth it when my sissies
Mariz and Nicole jumped on me from excitement upon my arrival? Hmmm, to be
announced… haha, give me a few more days, I just finished sweating profusely
after painting all their 20 nails with my awesome new and time consuming
magnetic silver polish. I also forgot how funny my sissies are, how adorable
and hardworking most of my students are, how much love I feel for the other
PCVs, how sweet the mangos are, and how my happy days are so unbelievably worth
the teaching obstacles and distance from my American loved ones. I am here for
a purpose. I passed out all my pounds of “pasalubong” or traveling gifts, the
other day to my family, teachers, and students, and hid a few jolly ranchers
and oatmeal cream pies for myself in a secret stash that won’t stay secret for
long. I came home to my entire hut having been turned upside down, cleaned, and
rearranged… that is very Filipino and was expected. Tampons moved to front desk
display and underwear hidden somewhere in the fabric made taped back together
dresser. I will never understand it.
I missed my Peace
Corps and Filipino friends more than I thought I would. My Peace Corps peeps
and I share a bond that no one besides other long-term volunteers in the
Philippines can ever understand. I really missed their dirty jokes, venting, smelliness,
party bed, etc. Our next big adventure is the Sinulog Festival in Cebu City.
Cebu is the largest city under Manila and this festival is in honor of Santo Niño,
like the festival I went to in Subic last year, but much larger scale and more
chaotic. We are squishing 7 people in a room because the prices are outrageous,
I had to be Peace Corps mean girl and tell a few people they couldn’t join
because we had too many people… which is the truth, I booked early now
everything is sold out, you snooze you lose…
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| Sissy Forever Love |
All in all, it is the
reality check I knew it would be coming back to the Philippines and being
reminded how people can be happy with so little and not caring what else is out
there in the world, not knowing any different than life in their small village
with intense family ties and no global interest… do I feel pity for them or
jealousy of them? I am still figuring that out for myself.
