Monday, January 11, 2010

Finally ...

It is about 7 in the evening on Tuesday the 19th of January, and I left the US with Stephanie on the 2nd. That officially makes me the worst blogger in history, since this is my first post in three weeks. Fortunately this means I have had two whole weeks to observe and experience, so I now have a ton of stories to tell! If you would like to hear even more stories (that are already published) check out Stephanie's blog.
So for my first few posts I'll try and give a basic overview of what I have been up to, and then I'll have a series of posts about daily life in
Tacloban. To start here are some details about the people I spend the most time with here in the Philippines.

The Family - Each volunteer with Volunteer for the Visysans is placed with a family in the BLISS housing project. The projects were established by Imelda Marcos before her husband was kicked out of office in the 80's. Each house has running water and electricity, but some are much nicer than others. Our house is always immaculately clean, cool, and friendly.

Nanay Pipay (Pee-Pie): Nanay Pipay is our host. She owns the house we live in, and she is the President of the homestay organization for Volunteer for the Visyans (VFV). She loves music, is always singing, and can play the guitar. Pipay has had over 70 volunteers, and knows how to spoil us.
Mama: Mama is Nanay Pipay and Nanay Lucy's mother. She has three other children, some living in BLISS with us, and some in Manila with her husband. Mama is a little hard of hearing, but that doesn't stop her from running a little store next to our house, and singing to her dog Yo-Yo.
Nanay Lucy: Lucy is Pipay's sister and the mother of Chabel. She and Pipay take care of the house and make peanut butter and candies to sell downtown. Lucy doesn't talk to Stephanie and me as much as Pipay, who eats every meal with us, but I think that her English isn't as good, so she is more shy.
Chabel: Chab (as we call her) is our 11 year old host sister. She likes to pretend to be shy, but really she loves to play games with us and is currently teaching us to dance! She is in grade 5 and loves math. Chab is a lot of fun to be around because she is full of so much energy! Today Chabel brought home another member of the household, a Maya bird she bought for 3 pisos (about 6 cents).
Stephanie: In case anyone doesn't know, Stephanie is my best friend and roommate from college. She graduated with me in December, and we have been planning this trip together for over a year now.

Volunteer for the Visyans (VFV): VFV is a Philippine organization operating mostly on the island of Leyte (where I am) and primarily in Tacloban City and Ormoc. They have many programs, but the biggest are sponsor a kid, volunteer placements, and community outreach. Recently we have been able to meet some sponsored kids and see the other projects. We are working through their volunteer placement in an "adopted" school.

Eugene: Eugene is the volunteer coordinator, which means he basically is our go-to guy. He picked us up from the airport, took us to downtown the first time, went with us on a trip to Cebu, and daily answers our questions about life here. Whenever we have questions, we ask Eugene.
Niki: Niki also recently went with us to Cebu, and she helps organize kids at the daily tutorial that Stephanie and I help out at. It is basically an after school tutoring program, but on weekends they have bigger classes like dance.
Many, many more: There are lots of employees and volunteers always hanging around the volunteer center, and I will talk about them more in later posts.

Cangumbang Primary School: Our school is a satellite of a larger elementary school in a neighboring town, so we only have grades 1-3. Stephanie and I team teach grade 2. Cangumbang is the name of the barangay the school is located in. A barangay is the smallest political unit in the Philippines, and function like neighborhoods or parishes, so several barangay make a town.

Mam Maricar: Maricar is the grade 2 and 3 teacher. Right now she is preparing the third graders for a big national exam in February, so she is very glad that Stephanie and I took grade two for the next few months. Mam is the equivalent to "ma'am" in Filipino.
Mam Mary Grace: Mary Grace is the first grade teacher. For the most part we don't have much to do with first grade right now, they know even less English than our second graders, but they love to play games with us at recess. We will possibly be working in Mary Grace's classroom once the national exams are done for grade 3.
The Kids!: We have 18 wonderful students, and I could write about each one of them! And I probably will, but not here.

Well I hope that this works for a first post, because I have about 20 minutes left before the cafe closes, and I need to get this published! Thanks to everyone who has been supporting me on my way here. I am loving it so, so much! I promise that more details, and stories are coming soon. Stephanie's computer arrived today, so soon we won't have to pay for the internet!