Something to Say

(From Saturday, September 20th - last weekend)

So, my friends, it has indeed been awhile. And why, you ask, have I neglected you so? Well, it is not anything that you have done or not done, so do not worry. We’ve been discovering that our cluster is definitely one of the busiest here. Amongst our language learning, homework, and technical sessions, we manage to fit in tutorials for our kids four days a week, an ongoing Olympics competition that we are “coaching”, preparing to be emcees for an upcoming program, and learning a traditional Filipino dance, called Tinikling, that yes…we must perform at the program. Oh yes, I have also had reason and time to submit two stool samples this week, but no worries—the “fecalysis” came back negative both times. So yes, my friends, we have been busy.

My cluster had our first “progress checks” for our language learning. This involved a half-hour conversation in Cebuano, which was pretty much a mix of Cebuan-ish that seemed to spew out of my mouth. Bleck, but it’s coming along. I am lucky because I can usually pick up languages pretty quickly—it’s just really, really challenging. I was asked about the weather during my interview three times. Since we studied the weather unit diligently, I know almost every weather word there is—typhoon (bagyo), dark cloud (dag-um), rain (ulan), whirlpool (lilo) etc. But during my interview, could I recognize the word weather (panganod)??? No, sir. I failed miserably in that department. Yikes, but everything else went great.

Have I discussed the situation of our cluster yet? Well, we are pretty rural. I get stared down by caribou on my way to class, I need to walk a ways to buy a Gatorade, I found a chicken in my kitchen sink—and no, not a thawing one. Thus, transportation is an issue that we have after dark. Basically, we do not have any means of getting home from the city after dark, without long dark walks and someone being alone. For safety reasons, we are really not able to go anywhere if we are planning to return after dark. This has left me a little sad at times and feeling a bit isolated, since we are usually unable to participate in many social events that other clusters are able to go to. So, it’s been frustrating. Last night, however, that all changed and we had a much needed evening “out”. Well, we returned by 10:30 in way worse shape than we planned to be in, but details, details (And speaking of details, if you would like to know more about possibly my two most embarrassing moments in my life that were created within the last day, let me know—I’d be happy to share, just not here). We were trying to catch up from our anti-social past few weeks, and some poor decisions were made regarding quantity. But that’s neither here nor there. And lessons learned—I’m getting too old for this, man. Yikes.

One week from tomorrow, I’ll be discovering where my placement will be for the next two years—the suspense is killing me! Just telllllll me. But, I can wait…this next week will fly by and the day will be here before I know it. But, those worries are always at the back of my mind. What if I don’t like my placement? What if I don’t get a population that I’m interested in working with? What if I don’t like my site mate? What if, what if, what if. I am trusting and hoping that it will all work out for the best and that I will have the job I absolutely love for the next two years.

I also want to do a “shout out” (because I’ve flashed back to 1990s pop radio stations) to Julia, who left for her Peace Corps experience this weekend. Good luck, you’ll be fantastic!