So this is how work goes...

Yesterday was my first day of “work” at the place that I now call my home. I showed up at 9 AM for our agreed-upon meeting time, and the office was just getting opened. I met my supervisor in her apartment, which is in the main building. This is actually quite convenient for me, because anytime I simply want to hang out, eat, relax, watch TV, I can just go to her place. I was shown my office, then I talked to a few people, we looked over my list of things to do in the next five months (which would kind of seem overwhelming to anyone normal, but it was alright), and then I read over the goals of our outreach program. Then, with not much else to do, I maginterneted for a while and then ate lunch with the co-workers. I think this mealtime everyday is going to be crucial to our building relationships, as that is what we’re supposed to do in the first few months. Apparently, if no one likes me, we won’t be able to get anything done. I better practice up on my videoke and my jokes. After lunch, since it’s really hot and we just ate a lot of food, a nap is sort of a necessity. I enjoyed an hour and a half-long nap with my supervisor. Don’t worry, we didn’t share beds—I used her daughter’s. This gets counted as relationship building time as well.

Then, I attended a 2 ½ hour meeting, which was actually quite beneficial in understanding how they do psychosocial and behavioral assessment on the kids that are in the center. I was really impressed, because it seems that they have a pretty efficient system (considering the organization has been around for sixty years and operates all over the world, I don’t know why I was quite impressed, but I was). Anyways, I was then invited to attend one of the house meetings that night, which happen once a year in each house. I agreed because I really wanted to see what was going on. Again, I was really impressed. Each child in the house had a chance to say how things were going in their lives in school, in the center, within the house, in their biological families (if they have them), etc. Each other child was then given a chance to respond to that child with their reactions or suggestions. The way the social workers interacted with the kids was great to watch as well, considering I was told that social workers didn’t really actually do much interaction and that their jobs were actually very different from social workers in the States that work with kids. It was great to see that I have great role-models as counterparts and supervisors. While it sounds like this meeting was great to sit in on, don’t get too excited. By this point in the day, my head was spinning from speaking and trying to understand so much Cebuano that I literally was tuning most of it out. I really couldn’t understand any of it, which just made me keep thinking about the fact that I really need to keep studying, which might have made me more overwhelmed. The main word that I heard and understood throughout the entire meeting was “bah-o”, which (depending on how you pronounce it), means “stinky”. Baho, pronounced a different way, just means “smell” without the negative connotation. So basically, I sat in this long meeting and all I understood was that someone had a stinking problem. I’m pretty sure there were more issues going on than this, but that’s all I got. If this is any indicator of my abilities over the next two years, I’m screwed.

Since I was at work so late last night, I didn’t need to come to the office until noon today. It was actually really nice because I was able to sleep in (also thanks to the lack of roosters), do Pilates, and read. In actuality, I really should have been more productive with my time, such as gone and looked for a much-coveted bike, gone to mail things that need to get sent to Manila, or even just nagsuroy-suroy, which means just wander around. That all would’ve been good, but my brain has been tired. So none of that. Heck, I have two years…

I got to work and ate lunch with the co-workers. There was a super awkward moment at the table since the counterpart who walked me home last night brought up the fact that I’m a fast walker. We decided it was because I’m tall, and I also added that Americans are typically fast-paced at everything. They then told me that maybe it would be better if I were walked home by the co-worker at the other end of the table, since he’s tall and I’m tall—and he’s single and I’m single. A.W.K.W.A.R.D. I then proceeded to say that I don’t want a man, which they understood meant that I wanted a woman. Then I had to clarify again. I’m really looking forward to more awkward moments like this! The many moments of discussing my weight have also been slightly weird, and I’m sure I would have been much more annoyed had my weight been going up instead of down. I’ve definitely lost some chunkiness, and perhaps some of my fun-pouch, since site visit, and there is a combination of excitement and nervousness felt by my co-workers. Heck, I’ll be honest—half of my pants can be pulled over my hips. They’re happy for me (I didn’t ask for any happiness…), because they thought I was a little tambok before, but they’re also worried that I’m wasting away. I’m pretty sure I still weigh plenty, and I don’t need to be med-evacced anytime soon. But it is still a topic of office conversation, which makes me slightly self-conscious.

I was again asked if I needed a nap. Since I just arrived and to be honest hadn’t done anything this morning to actually make me tired, I said I would go maginternet instead. And here I am. I bet you are stressed out just thinking about my rigorous schedule. We’re also still celebrating my birthday, apparently. My counterpart was sent to fetch ice cream to celebrate my birthday, and that he did. Perhaps the celebration will end soon. I am already 25 and 2 days old, which makes me pretty close to 26 already.

And P.S. I know it’s been a while since I’ve responded to emails, but I assure you I’ve received all and I will get back to you in a timely manner (and by timely I mean, soon-ish).