I'm in the Philippines!

January 2, 2011

yeah- that about sums it up. I'm here, and here is very very very very different than there. The weather has been great, it rains more than not and we are in the cool season so it's actually pretty nice. My hair has been surprisingly not frizzy and actually looks quite nice most days. My companion is Filipino, super sweet, and an amazing cook- and she speaks enough English I can ask her questions. I have never before felt so pale or so tall- I have so far seen no one whiter than me and only one person that was noticeably taller than me.

A bit about the place- as I said, it rains a lot. I've been told that all the islands of the Philippines could fit in Arizona and that if you took California and placed it over us it would cover nearly every island. It is about a 5 hour drive in a jeepnee to get from one side of the island to the other, and jeepnee's aren't fast. (a jeepnee is like a bus...kinda, but they don't hold as many people and aren't government run.) The people seem really sweet- I'm not sure what they are saying, so I'm not certain. In my area, most of them speak Hiligayon, not Tagalog like I learned in the MTC. So I'm mostly starting over, but this language is supposed to be easier and definitely has fewer rules and conjugations. The area I'm in ranges a lot in lifestyles. Some people live in really nice houses with concrete walls and floors, enough space for a distinct front room with a couch and sometimes a TV, and windows with shutters. Others aren't so well off. We taught two sisters, their mother, and their children yesterday. They lived in a house made of cinder blocks, the walls don't yet reach the roof. The roosters and chickens they own live in the house with them. The floor is just dirt, and on top of that it isn't even close to level. The only bed, which is the first thing you see when you walk in the door and also works as a couch, is made of a wood frame with bamboo slates filling it in. Most of these were broken through, or close to doing so, so you had to make sure to place your weight on the wood beams underneath them. It is strange, to think that what is nice here isn't even seen typically in the states. In contrast, what counts as poor is so very poor.

Teaching has been rough- I can't really do more than bear my testimony. Yet these people are so kind. When I struggle they help me to find the words I need, or tell me that I can speak in Tagalog or English, most of them understand it even if they can't speak it. I'm excited to be here despite the challenges that right now seem so overwhelming.

Palangga ko kamo- I love you all.
oh- PS- Happy New Year!