Peace Corps?

(From Monday, November 17, 2008)

This weekend left me pondering whether I am really in the Peace Corps or not. I finished last week successfully (I’m not quite sure what defines successful, but let’s just say I was) and was able to enjoy my Saturday night and Sunday off. Now, if I were at my training site where I was really rural and unable to get transportation anywhere (also where my family really did….nothing), I would have been in bed by 9 PM on Saturday night, would have tried to sleep in on Sunday morning, would have been woken up first by roosters at 5:30 and second by knocking on my door at 6:30 or 7:00 to come eat breakfast, would have gone to town with the others to escape and maginternet all day, and would have been in bed again by 9:00 and maybe even 8:30 since heck, it is a school night. This family and city is totally different – it’s modern! I absolutely love it. Saturday after returning from a meeting, I went with my sisters and one of their boyfriends to the mall for the HUGE sale of the season. It was a biggie, so the mall was open until midnight for all the shoppers. I could not believe how many people were there! It may have been worse than the day after Thanksgiving. We ate dinner (chicken and macaroni & cheese—mac & cheese! Yum!) and then headed to buy new shoes for one of the sisters and just to walk around.

There happened to be a health and wellness fair going on in the mall also, which was awesome because my sister had the idea to go around to all the booths and get free whatever-we-can-get. We all availed of the free hand massages, one sister took advantage of the reflexology, the boyfriend tried out one of those ab-muscle contractors that apparently makes your abs into a six-pack and you don’t have to do anything (!!!), we all played on the exercise equipment, and I got a free 15-minute massage. The massage was only supposed to be included if you purchased a package from that spa, but my sister is amazing and knew one of the people who worked there. She convinced them that I really needed to test out the massage before buying a package, and I think the fact that I spoke Visayan really helped me out. By that time, it may have been 10:00 but we were waiting for our brother to come meet us as well. When he got there, it turns out that he hadn’t eaten yet, so we had to go eat for a third time (oh yeah, the second time was trying out the strawberry yogurt pops at the health fair). This was fun, but I was definitely super tired by the end of the night, as in, could hardly stay awake. We didn’t leave the mall until 11:30, and there were still so many people there! We took a taxi home, and it was so cute how Mama woke up when we got home just to see what everyone bought. Aw, like a real family, cute!

Sunday morning, I woke up with a headache at 7 AM (oh yeah, I had a headache the night before from being so tired and from eye strain), and I got up to get some water and then went back to bed. The next thing I knew, I woke up at 10:30 or 11:00! Wow, I didn’t even think it was possible to sleep in here! I went into the kitchen, and all the other kids had just woken up too! How great—I don’t feel like a lazy bum any more. We ate a delicious brunch of Corn Flakes, spaghetti, bananas, French fries with cheddar powder, and chocolate cake. I mean, could there really be a better combination for brunch?

Early afternoon on Sunday, I met Angela at the mall for just some girl time and hanging out, because of course that’s what you do when you’re in the Peace Corps. We bought tickets for the girliest movie they had (which doesn’t say much because there were only four screens at this particular mall, and two of them were showing Bond anyways), and since we had a half an hour we went to get the biggest ice cream sundaes we could find, because that’s really what we needed (and by needed, I really mean wanted, but that’s neither here nor there). We shared a Brownie chocolate something-fantasticness sundae and a banana amazingness-something-or-other sundae. What could be better? Brings me back to my roots in the Dairy State. And plus, we don’t get much calcium here in the Philippines, so I could do nothing better for my body than to stock up on my calcium intake at the mall, every weekend. We saw the movie in a ridiculously large, overly air-conned theater and we realized why every person in the world thinks Americans are all rich and own big houses and drive nice cars. To make it worse, the previews that were shown before the movie were ridiculous and also represented Americans in such a bad way. One was about these two best friends who are planning weddings at the same time, and they turn on each other and apparently become the most evil, materialistic, prissy bridezillas ever. Now, if you’re reading this from home, you might know what movie this is—I’m not sure, it was the first time I had seen the preview, but it looked ridiculously bad. Someone would definitely have to pay me to see it. Anyways, I returned from the mall back to my family, and we had a nice night and watched Dirty Dancing together. During the movie, I also talked to both my mom and my dad, which always makes it a great Sunday.

Today, I returned to work where I was busy, busy, busy (I mean, I did take a nap after lunch and upload some pictures to Facebook). I finished out the day with three intense games of basketball, which left me slightly dizzy since it was freakin’ hot and humid out. I’m exhausted even just thinking about it! Lunch was interesting, since we spent about twenty minutes discussing the shape of my body and whether or not I could wear a black leotard in the performances that the staff and kids perform for our visitors and donors. I mean, it was slightly awkward since there were about twelve co-workers and the director there and everyone was discussing my body, but since it was determined that I have a Coke-bottle body (which is apparently desirable, as opposed to a water jug-body), I mean I guess it’s all good. So this means that I will in fact be wearing a black leotard, along with everyone else, at the next performance. I also need to learn the dance moves and get my rhythm down, so man, this might take at least a few months!

Next weekend I’m looking forward to doing an overnight leadership training with the social worker and about twenty-five kids from my center. We’re staying on the beach! It’ll be sweet…and the weekend after is obviously Thanksgiving which indeed must be celebrated by going to a beautiful island, possibly killing a turkey, and definitely having a beer or two. I really can’t believe how fast time is flying by here. I was just talking to my mom about coming to visit in April, and that is only five months away! It’s crazy, and Christmas season will probably fly by.