It's Halloween

I'm not exactly sure where to begin this post.  It seems like I've done a million things in the past few weeks and I can't believe this is our LAST week of training.  That's right...I'll be a bonafide Peace Corps Volunteer on 13 November.  Get ready, world.
I guess one notable thing about the past few weeks is that my host mother's house is a straight up mess.  Her step daughter is sending money from America to her step son who lives here to fix up the house.  Instead of tearing it down (which seems to make the most sense), workers have been literally raising the roof of this house in order to make it bigger.  Somehow.  What this means for my host mother and me is mainly just a few inconveniences.  For example, I can't walk around the house after my shower in just a towel with the workers around.  I have to lock my bedroom door when I leave the house because, as Lorna says, "They're from Negros but we don't know them...", all the kitchen appliances and furniture are now in my host mom's bedroom, so when I need water in the middle of the night I have to disturb her, I usually have to walk through a mound of wet cement when I leave the house, and of course the banging of hammers goes from about 8am-5pm, making staying at the house during the day a bit of a drag.  Last night was actually kind of fun because when I got home around 2 am from our Halloween party, there were 2 thin wooden planks running through the kitchen because--of course--they had completely re-cemented the floor.  I seriously considered taking a picture of how ridiculous it was to have to balance on the boards to get into the bathroom, but I didn't.  I also said a prayer of thanks that I wasn't intoxicated at that point because my host mom's new cement floor would definitely have some permanent Leanna marks on it.
All that's to say I'm really glad they're fixing up this house.  I don't think my host mom really wants to be living here in the first place and it will be a lot nicer for her once the house is fixed up.  I think she'll even be getting air conditioning in her bedroom once all the construction is done.  It will also be nice for her to not have cats living in her ceiling.  I'm kind of sad that I won't get to see the completed house unless I come back to visit in a few months.  Which is fine with me, because there are lots of people here in Iloilo that I want to stay close to for the rest of my time here.

Other than the housing situation, which is more ridiculous than irritating, things here have been crazy.  This past week has been filled with some of my favorite days since being in this country.  Kesley, Andrew, Sharon, Carlos, and I went back to Lambunao last weekend to visit the family farm again.  We played with the children (I would just like to say that Andrew's super shy host sister loves me now), which took the forms of a sack race, blindfolded Marco Polo, and hair styling, ventured out in a deluge to ride Karbaw, waited 30 minutes in the deluge for the Karbaw, and rode the Karbaw.  It was a really good day.
This past week has been devoted to review in our language class, which basically means we took trips instead of having class.  The first trip we took this week was to an Ati village north of Iloilo City.  It was about a 2 hour van ride, which put me in a good mood more than anything.  I will not say whether the air conditioning in the van or the company of my fellow PCTs contributed more to my good mood.  A small group of us went to a courtesy call with the mayor of Barotac Viejo (I think).  He was really young-looking and jacked and told us his child was conceived in America.  Cool.  Then we went back to the Ati village and listened to the history of how they got their land from the government and saw a short traditional dance.  That was interesting, from what I understood of it, but the highlight of that day was definitely climbing up the river there.  We walked up the river for about 30 minutes until we couldn't go any farther.  In the rain.  Then the river started flooding and we almost didn't make it across because the current was so strong.  I got scraped and bruised in a few places but it was all very worth it.  














On Friday, we all took a trip to Allan's family's private island.  I can't really put into words how much fun that day was for me, or how I won't ever forget how great of an opportunity it was for me to be able to go to such a beautiful place with such wonderful people.  It was about a 3 hour drive to Concepcion, then we took a 20 minute pump boat ride to the island itself.  We drank and ate on the beach, swam in the clear water, took facebook pictures, swam to another island (I know...), and in general enjoyed how ridiculous of a place we are living in for the next 2 years.  When we swam to the other island, a few things happened.  For one thing, Sean and I were pretty far behind the other 3 who had started swimming a few minutes earlier.  So it was just the two of us in this deep water.  It took us probably about 20 minutes to swim as far as we got, and then Carlos had the pump boat drivers come pick us up.  So we hitched a ride on the outrigger for a few minutes, which was really fun.  While we were swimming, I swear I saw a manta ray or something in the water below me (it was probably a plastic bag).  Then I started thinking about sharks and got scared.  Having Sean there was a little bit of a comfort, even though I just knew in my heart that I would be the only one to die if a great white got to us.  It was not until afterwards that he told me he couldn't see a thing because he wasn't wearing contacts.  So, if there had been something in the water, he would have been completely useless.  Great.  Once the water was shallow enough to walk, I swear I was also bitten by a sea snake or eel or something.  Luckily, I was wearing shoes.  So that was fun.


Then we found some starfish on the other island and played with them.  All that was so much fun that I really feel bad for the PCTs who decided not to come.  It was honestly one of the best days of my life.
Rounding out this past week was our Halloween party at the staff house.  Our theme was "Ukai-ukai Halloween", which meant we had to buy our costumes from the bargain piles of clothes donated from America.  I unfortunately didn't take any pictures, but I can say we played cards, took care of the intoxicated amongst us, and stayed out until way past my bedtime.  I'm really eager to get to my permanent site, but I'll definitely miss the friends I've made in the past few months.  This past week has definitely been the best of my time here in Iloilo Province.  Our language exam is on Thursday of this next week but I'm more concerned about spending time with my friends than studying.  More parties are coming up this week, and then we're all back to Bacolod for another few days...and then swearing in! Ahhh.....

Masskara! and Typhoon Juan

The past week has been a little crazy.  We spent Tuesday through friday at City High, mostly observing and pretending to be useful in our classrooms.  I spent Thursday and Friday being sung to and danced for by about a hundred high school students.  My favorite act of them all, however, was the rendition of "Reflection" from Mulan, sung by a boy in a silky pink bathrobe and lipstick.  I was also asked for my autograph, took about 38,000,089 pictures, and was asked by 15-year olds to send regards to my single brother in America.  I will miss those kids.  Even though I only visited some of their classes for 3 sessions, they still told me they loved me and that I will always be remembered in their hearts.  

Who is that girl I see?

On Friday, three of our co-teachers took Meg and me out to dinner at the mall.  They are very nice people and told us about how they view their role as a teacher.  I know that the poverty of my students is going to define my position as their friend first, then teacher.  These kids face challenges few in America have to deal with (like working all night as tricycle drivers, leaving school to help their families grow sugarcane, and having to work long hours to get food).  Teaching here will be way different from teaching in America, and it really seems like the teachers here have no choice but to accomodate their students' lack of focus, time, and ability.  It will be interesting and challenging to see where this job takes me...
But on a lighter note, Masskara.  This is the Philippine version of Mardi Gras that takes place annually in Bacolod City (my permanent site, as it so happens).  We were invited to attend the festival overnight by my supervisor, who got us second-row seats on the VIP stage.  We watched 5 hours of children dancing to the same Masskara theme song.  The dances were really impressive and the song will be forever in my heart and mind.  Diri sa Bacolod...

These are elementary school students...

After the dancing--which, I should note, interferred heavily with my dinnertime and constitutes the only event to supercede any meal I've had in the Philippines--we went out on the town.  A bunch of PCVs were there and we wound up at a ridiculous place that had firebreathers and Filipino men asking us to dance.  We ate dinner at an outdoor tent which reminded me a lot of the dingy places I used to eat in China.  We got back to our hostel around 2am and slept until about 10:30 on Sunday.  
To top this week off, we have an "extremely catastrophic" storm headed our way.  Evidence of this can be found in the foot-deep water that surrounded my host mother's house when we got back to Iloilo.  

The walkway in front of my house

Hopefully I won't get leptospirosis.  Walking to school tomorrow is going to be a dang mess.  To make matters more interesting, apparently my room flooded a little bit while I was gone and got into a few of my books.  Topping off the interestingness of my return home is a rat poop that was found on top of my mosquito net.  On top.  
We only have 3 more weeks in Iloilo, which is both a good and bad thing for me.  It's good because I am looking forward to moving to a more comfortable house and starting my life for the next 2 years.  It's bad because I will really miss the people I have come to care about here.  My fellow PCTs here in Iloilo will be scattered accross 3 islands.  My host mother and the children around here will also be sorely missed.  And perhaps worst of all is the uncertainty of if or when we will see our Peace Corps staff again.  They have really made this experience so far worth remembering.  
Sharon: best known for her incredible cuteness and good nature in any situation.  "It's still warm!"
Carlos: food eating legend and one of the most generous people I've ever met.  "Unicorn."
Hanna: who smiles always, our kasama queen
Roli: I have only had class with him a few times but he seems to be able to make anything funny, such as warning us that a turkey wearing slippers is probably a Filipino demon called an aswang
Allen: who always keeps the van freezing cold and whose son sings about dirty underwear with little hair (no joke)

Bacolod

So first off I'd just like to say that I ran a 5K the day after I got out of the hospital.  Here's a picture of me with some of the other PCTs who made it through.
The next day, we were off to our Supervisor's Conference in Bacolod City.  Bacolod is the capitol of Negros Occidental, the next province over on the island of Negros.  We had to take a boat to get there, which took a little over an hour.  Note that at this point in time, all the PCTs in this area of the Philippines know that their fate for the next 2 years is about to be revealed to them.  So we get to our hotel and of course have to endure 2 hours of anticipation before actually finding out our sites.  And I got...Bacolod City! I'm not quite sure how this happened since I told PC that I had no real preference on going to an urban or rural place and some of my friends who wanted an urban site were assigned to the boonies.  
Anyway, we met our school principals/head teachers and spent the next few days doing seminars and training on how to not be sexually harrassed during our service.  The next 3 days we spent at our actual sites.  Some people had to travel all day to get to their sites, while Andrew and I had to travel all of 20 minutes to get to our homes.  I'm not complaining about that. 
Let's just say my time with my supervisor (who is actually the head teacher at my school and not my counterpart or principal) was interesting.  Very, very interesting.

I pretty much love my school and location and host family.  I will be living about 15 minutes by jeep outside the city.  My neighborhood is very quiet and, if you go along the road that leads into the city away from the city, you drive straight toward mountains. 
 I'm really glad my school is only 2 minutes walking distance from my house and only has 500 students.  I met almost all the teachers in about 10 minutes and visited every classroom.  The students held banners, played drums, and danced as I walked on campus.  It was really moving and I'm excited to start getting to know the students.  The campus is pretty clean, most of the rooms have functioning air conditioners, and there's a fish pond!  And it's also kind of in the jungle.
My host family is really nice and I felt comfortable there quickly.  My host mother, her son, daughter, and granddaughter live together in 2 bedrooms.  I have been given the master suite of the house, on the complete opposite side of the building.  I have a huge bed and a bathroom to myself.  The house is so big that they have at least 4 extra bedrooms right now.  This house is much bigger than my mom's in America.  I think I can get used to living there.
Food wise,  I also couldn't be happier.  My mom made me veggie lumpia (for me the memory is still too near), stir-fried veggies with rice, and fried bananas.  I felt bad that she might be going through way too much trouble for me until she said she might just start feeding her children (who are in their 30s) the same things she gives me.  That made me feel terrible.  But I don't think she'll go to that much of an extreme unless she really wants to.  She seemed shocked that I said I can eat leftovers.  She also doesn't want me to take my lunch to school like I have been doing here in Iloilo because it's bad for my appetite.  Instead, she wants me to come home at lunch time.  I'm fine with that since the school is so close to her house.  
Her son and daughter seem really nice.  Yen, the daughter, talked to me and watched TV with me for a few hours on Thursday.  John G, the son, used to manage one of their uncle's bars in Manila.  I'm glad he lives in Bacolod now because he makes me feel safe.  And the best part is Cher, Yen's 3-year old.  I'm so glad I get to live with a child because she's my instant friend.  We watched Spongebob together last night and she drained the battery on my camera.  Oh, and she only speaks English. 

The Cher

So now I'm back in Iloilo for my last few weeks of language training.  I don't think I could be happier with my site and most of my sitemates seem to have gotten equally great placements.  Also Carlos bought us a 3 course meal at Pizza Hut today.  All that stress I had before getting sick is pretty much gone now that I have some idea of what I'll be doing for the next 2 years.