The life and times of a PCV in the Philippines.
Since I posted on Wednesday a fabulous thing has happened, the power came back on!!! After almost exactly 22 days of being without current, we have it once again. My refrigerator works again. My fan works again. My laptop/boredom prevention device works again. I am happy. This is not to Read More …
A brief update: We are still without power, it has been almost three weeks. We were told that Oct. 15th would be the magic day, but it came and went without power. Now I’ve been told that Oct. 19th is the new magic day for power. I’m not holding my Read More …
It’s been a while since I’ve posted much and that’s because I’ve been gone. The past week has been mostly without power and communications other than smoke signal and messenger pigeons. Before that, however, I was away from my town for about 2 weeks. The break started with a pretty Read More …
I had an update mostly written when we had a sudden brownout and the computer I was using shut down suddenly. I thought that I had updated here on Wednesday, but I cannot find it here anyway. Anyway, I posted merely to announce that we were expecting a typhoon and Read More …
The “big” room of the apartment. Soon, when I get furniture, it will be a sitting room type area. For now it serves as bicycle/shoe/umbrella storage. My little kitchen & table. The two bedrooms are off to the right and my bathroom on the left before the fridge. Read More …
In the last month it seems like both nothing and an unfathomable amount has happened. While it seems impossible, I think both are pretty true. My days here are far from full, but I manage to find ways to fill my time with various nonsense-activities. Volunteers from earlier batches knowingly Read More …
I know I’ve been quiet lately. There’s been a lot going on and I haven’t been up to writing long updates in the evening. The last week has been spent preparing for my move and before that was a workshop with another volunteer. I will update soon, with pictures of Read More …
One of the difficult things about making the decision to go away for two years is knowing that things will happen at home that you will miss: births, deaths, marriages, life changes. Shortly after I left, we found out that a life long friend was very sick and declining at Read More …
As is the case in most of Europe, here you are responsible for furnishing your own kitchen- including cabinets and appliances. The only thing that is built into the house is generally a countertop and sink; anything else you want you need to provide. I’m hoping that I’ll be able Read More …
Tonight I received what I will consider the first honest compliment since I’ve been here in the Philippines, from a Filipino at any rate. It actually cheered me up a little bit, rather than irritating me like all the not-so-honest compliments I get on a daily basis do.To be white Read More …
If you want something to arrive in time and intact, don’t use it. My mom and sister mailed out some rather sensitive items to me and sent them express mail through the USPS. They arrived last Friday, about 3 weeks after they were sent. This would be impressive if it Read More …
Since I have been here, I have seen several volcanoes and there have even been a couple of minor eruptions around the country- but until this weekend I hadn’t actually witnessed any, until now. This past weekend I went to Legaspi to continue my SCUBA open water course and we Read More …