The life and times of a PCV in the Philippines.
I don’t think that the idea of salesmanship here has really reached full maturation hereIn some ways things are better than at home, but in other ways people really seem to have no clue when it comes to selling things. In the US we generally try to bend over backwards Read More …
In the Philippines, never try to watch anything that you actually care about seeing in its entirety. This is a lesson that I’ve learned the hard way over the past few months. It is not uncommon here to have cable TV, especially among middle-class families, and while it’s nothing like Read More …
I know I haven’t had much to say lately, but it’s been a strange mix of business and having absolutely nothing to do. This coming month should be pretty busy and last weekend was certainly jam-packed. Last Friday I left school after lunch, like I will the next 3 weeks Read More …
I found a picture of one of the evil spiders. Rest assured, this is NOT the spider from my bathroom. This one I found in my room my second to last night with my host family during training. He is also much smaller than the one that lives in the Read More …
It is possible that this has made the news outside of the Philippines, but recently there has been some volcanic activity in southern Luzon. Mt. Bulusan in the province of Sorsogon has been spewing ash for the last week or two and is expected to erupt. While Bulusan is in Read More …
I don’t think that I will ever cease to be amazed at the places and methods by which people transport animals here. It’s fairly common to see a tricycle go by with the side car jam packed full of pigs or maybe loaded up with crates of chickens. At the Read More …
At 4:11 Friday morning I was awakened by my bladder telling me that I shouldn’t drink so much water before bed. While I don’t like using the CR (comfort room, Filipino English for bathroom) late at night, rolling over and going back to sleep was not an option. The problem Read More …
As of this afternoon, all of batch 265 who have been training in Luzon for the last 10 weeks have officially sworn in as PCVs. Tomorrow the rest of our group will swear-in in Cebu down in the Visayas. Unfortunately, we did not manage to make it all the way Read More …
Today was our last full day at our site, tomorrow night will be our last night with our host families here in Camarines Sur. The day proved to be, hands down, one of the most bizarre (yet wonderful) days that we’ve had here so far. The day began at 8:30 Read More …
I’m sure this will come and go, but today was a rough day. There are certain things I understand are difficult about working with Filipinos, but I’m starting to understand and learn how to circumnavigate those difficulties. However, when it’s an American, a fellow volunteer, that is the one being Read More …
So, I lost my cellphone a couple of days ago and it has not been returned. I went today and got a new cell and SIM card, so my updated number is on my contact page. I will eventually get it registered with Chikka.com so text exchange will be possible. Read More …
Though it seems like I’ve been here for ages, I still can’t believe that our training is almost over and I’m going to have to do this on my own soon. We have just spent the last 3 days at our hub site continuing our training and meeting a few Read More …