Orphaned.

It was another great day of site visit. I spent some of the time doing courtesy calls, but really, most of the day was spent becoming an orphaned Peace Corps Volunteer and just hanging out with my supervisor and new family. I think it will be confusing from here on out, because I will have my new family (that I don’t have yet, but more on that later) and my new “family”, which consists of all of my co-workers and all 140 children. It really is a family.

So, how did I become orphaned, you ask? Well, I think I have moved my bags about five times so far. Let’s count.
1. From vehicle coming from airport to guest house (to stay in for a while on Wednesday, because my family was not “ready” for me yet)
2. From guest house to vehicle Wednesday night, to go to host family
3. After arriving at host family and not having a mosquito net (and family was not quite ready for me….and host agency counterparts had a sketch feeling about it), from host family back to guest house – leaving one bag because it will stay here permanently
4. Thursday morning, from guest house to vehicle to go to host family for breakfast…but host family did not arrive at agreed-upon time, so I ate breakfast with supervisor and family
5. Decisions were made mutually by host family, agency, and myself that I would stay in guest house during site visit, so we had to fetch the bag that was at host family
6. From vehicle to guest house

Alas, that was six times I had to move my stuff! Finally, though, I am staying in the same place for a few days. I do not yet have a family, but I really trust that they will find me a good one that is willing to take on the responsibility of a volunteer. Let’s be honest, it is a pretty big responsibility to house a volunteer (who needs their own room) and feed them meals. Anyways, so I’m currently orphaned but it’s a welcomed change being on my own.

Many courtesy calls were made today—to the barangay captain and the rest of the council, to the high school where our children attend, to the elementary school (but the principal was gone on seminar), and to the rural health unit, which I’m so excited to work with. There were so many pregnant women there who looked like they were about 18! But I think this might be simply because being Filipina automatically takes about 10 years off the age you appear to be. For example, a woman could be 50 but actually look 35. Or many women are about 40 but appear to be 28. And then there are the men who appear to be 25 but are actually 35. But then there is also the opposite, such as the boys who look 25 but are actually 17. It is my firm belief that it is truly impossible to tell a person’s age here. But I guess this is beside the point. Courtesy calls were successful. The most interesting part of the day was the meryenda we had at the high school (meryenda…scheduled snack that happens during the morning and the afternoon…if someone misses their meryenda, watch out). I have heard many Filipinos claim that a meal is not a meal without rice. For example, both spaghetti and pizza are considered snacks by most people here. They would be served as a birthday treat or during a meryenda, since there is no rice. Often, spaghetti is served with rice during a meal, just in case you are really trying to get away from the Atkins diet trend. Our meryenda today consisted of an entire meal from Jollibee (the Filipino McDonald’s, basically). Each person was served a giant grilled chicken sandwich, large fries, and a soft drink. On top of this, there was bottled water, which doesn’t exactly add to the calorie count but definitely adds to the quantity of items served. Wow.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out with co-workers and the family. I finally got to watch some Filipino television (at my host family’s house, the TV is in their bedroom…usually with the door closed, so I am never allowed the television watching) and see what “regular” Filipinos do. They hang out, watch TV, joke around, chika-chika, etc. My face has hurt so much the last two days from smiling and laughing—usually I cannot understand the Cebuano jokes, but I end up laughing anyways. They LOVE to joke around, which I am totally excited about. The best part about hanging out with them is that I don’t even feel like a guest in their home. They are completely hospitable, but they are not overbearing or overly helpful or anything, which is a great feeling after a month and a half of being a “guest” in someone’s home.

The last few days have also been a transition as well. It’s been a transition from training-training-training to, “Wow, this is what it’s going to be like. I’m really meant to be here. This is the perfect place for me.” It’s such a good feeling. Don’t get me wrong—I am absolutely sure that sometime over the next two years (many times, if I am a sane and normal Peace Corps Volunteer), I will be saying, “What am I doing here? Is this really what I want to do? I could just go get a well-paying job and it’d be so much easier….Ahhh!” So, basically you can’t call me out on it when the time happens because I’m predicting it at the moment. But it’s been a transition time for everyone. There’s been some mad-texting going on (meaning frequent, not angry), and experiences are vastly different. Everywhere from being given a bucket to pee in at night by a host family, to having an overbearing and over-controlling supervisor, to being placed at a center run completely by nuns (with an interesting host family to boot), to finding that our expectations are quite different from our realities even if we’ve been at that site for much of training, we’re all having much different experiences. It’s confusing to feel some guiltiness simply because I have a great site, but I think the thing is that I wish the same for my fellow volunteers. We are all here for an amazing experience and to make the best out of what we are given. We are all here to make a positive impact on the communities are around us, and to completely change ourselves or to become stronger reflections of who we once where. The days and twenty-four months ahead of us will be taxing on our physical, emotional, and mental health, but I am looking forward to every moment.