No Matter How Far Away You Roam

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…

Roll Out. Auto-timer.

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.

In Heaven

The First Supper

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.

Moment of smushing reunion

Spoiled.

Boat Time

Cruisin

Tomfoolery... dad was not impressed...

Yikes...

My Lovelies

Crystal Ballroom NYE Houston 

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.

Lots of Just Mac! Plus a panini...

Awkward computer generated bowling scene

The most awkward.

Maybe not.

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…

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.