Music of my Peace Corps Experience

My Compilation CD  that  Reflect my 1^st year in Peace Corps

InAmerica, any track I listened to was all about the beat. I rarely listened to words, I wanted music give back the energy I put out there. When I’m out for a jog or extremely tired, I still crave those beats, but the music I listen to, that makes me feel better on a bad day, gives me inspiration on a sad day, or reminds me about the worth of life has become even more important to me. So if you’re a fellow PCV, maybe these songs can make you feel better on a down day, or if you’re just a stranger, its amazing how music can really reach the core of who a person is, and I’m sure you will see me in all these songs.

 

Song 1: Heavens Eyes- Featured In the Motion Picture Prince of Egypt

Favorite Lyric: “A single thread in a tapestry, though its color brightly shines, can never see its purpose in the pattern of the grand design”

PCV Mood: WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING??? What sustainability??

 

Song 2: Perfect Day by Hoku

Favorite Lyric: “Im in the race but I already won, and getting there can be half the fun, so don’t stop me until I’m good and done,  it’s the perfect day. Nothing is going to bring me down.”

PCV Mood: I worked really hard on this project, it is going to work.

 

Song 3: Dog Days are Over by Florence and the Machine

Favorite Lyric: “Run fast for your mother run fast for your father, Run for your children for your sisters and brothers, Leave all your love and your longing behind you, Can’t carry it with you if you want to survive.”

PCV Mood: There is no turning back, no where to hide, but the worst is over, only 15 more months!

 

Song 4: High School Never Ends- Bowling for Soup

Lyrics: “The Whole Damn World is just as obsessed, With who‘s the best dressed and (who’s having sex), Who‘s got the money. Who (gets the honeys), Who‘s kinda cute and who‘s just a mess”

PCV Mood: Am I in high school still (in regards to how PCV’s interact, gossip, and exclude/include others)?? But really the whole world is.

 

Song 5: Mulan- “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”

Lyric: Tranquil as a forest, But on fire within, Once you find your center, You are sure to win, You’re a spineless, pale pathetic lot, And you haven’t got a clue, Somehow I’ll make

a man out of you

PCV Mood: Sometimes you don’t think you are ready for it… but in the end it will work out.

 

Song 6:  Don’t you – Simple Minds

Don’t you forget about me  (don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t) , Don’t you forget about me , Would you recognize me? Call my name, or walk on by? Rain keeps falling – rain keeps falling down, down, down, down”

PCV Mood: My friends wont forget me will they?

 

Song 8: Fat Bottom Girls- Queen

Lyrics: “Fat bottomed girls you make the rockin’ world go round”

PCV Mood: I just was called, fat, big, chubby or large, but really I like what I got.

 

Song 9:Island in the Sun by Weezer

Favorite Lyric: On an island in the sun, We’ll be playing and having fun, And it makes me feel so fine, I can’t control my brain.”

PCV Mood: I forgot I live on anIsland because all I ever do is hang out in my school, room or plaza.

 

Song 10: It’s My Life- Bon Jovi

Lyric: “Better stand tall when they are calling you out, don’t’ bend don’t break, don’t back down. I’m not going to live forever, I just want to live while I’m alive.”

PCV Mood: After pooping your pants, throwing up your breakfast, itching from mosquitoes, stuck in bed with a fever even though it’s a million degrees, and people ask you, “Why are you still doing Peace Corp again?”

 

Song 11: When Love Takes Over by David Guetta

Favorite Lyric: “Look out for you to hold my hand. It feels like I could fall. Now love me right, like I know you can, we could loose it all. When love takes over, you know you can’t deny.

PCV Mood: I’m in a relationship in peace corps, I am more vulnerable, cried more tears, felt more defeated, more empty, but still there is someone to grab your hand. (And for me, that person is Jaron, thank you Jaron.)

 

Bonus Track: WAKA WAKA- Shakira

Favorite Lyric: Well the lyrics don’t really matter on this song

PCV Mood: I have heard this way way way too many times, but I will include it on my playlist anyways

 

Shout out Track: Tarzan- You’ll be in my heart

Favorite Lyric: My arms will hold you, Keep you safe and warm, This bond between us, Can’t be broken, I will be here , Don’t you cry

PCV Mood: I miss my mom.

My Year in Numbers

My Year In Numbers

My Year In Numbers

0 Number of Vacation Days Taken—soon to be rectified!

1 Year in Peace Corps (in 6 days)

1.5 Number of liters of water I drink per meal on a hot day

2 Number of Languages I am trying to learn

3 Number of Houses I have lived in

4 Number of Cockroaches that have crawled on me…that I’m aware of…

4.5 Number of inches my hair has grown…aka the longest roots I have ever had before

5 Number of times I have eaten Taco Bell while in thePhilippines, also that amount of schools I have done Teacher Trainings at with other PCV’s

6 Number of days spent in the hospital

My sister is Over 7 months pregnant….looking forward to that one

8 Number of English Teachers I work with

9 Amount of days I have gone without shaving (not as bad as I thought it would be)

10.5 Number of Months I have been dating Jaron, and I feel so blessed, thanks Jaron.

11 Amount of people I consider my immediate family in the Philippines, My first host family, Sir Seth, Ma’am Sol, Grace and Suseth, and my second host family, Nanay Atett, Tatay Nong, Rhea Joy, Merlin, Joleynda, Mary Jane and baby Nikki

12Number of purses given to me since arriving in thePhilippines

14 Number of places I have visited in thePhilippines, Cebu, Leyte, Boracay, Banaue, Sagada,Manila,Bacolod, Antique,Iloilo, Gumerias, Alklan, Bagiao, Ifuego, Sagay, Kabankalan

24 My new age!

26 hours spent playing Bejeweled…sadly that’s the truth

51 Books in my room, 41 to read, 10 read

50 Years of Peace Corps in the Philippines Events took place, for mine, I got to go native

150 pesos, the amount it cost for my favorite meal, a spinach calzone at Sabarro

320 Number of pesos I spend minimum per month on my cell phone

443 emails currently in my inbox from my mother

358 Days since I have missed my family and friends inAmerica

465 gb of Movies, Music and TV shows to keep me entertained at all times (Thanks other PCV’s)

1,939 number of friends on Facebook—most of them being new friends in thePhilippines!

2,040 estimate of students taught so far….and counting

2,384 number of tagged pictures on Facebook

2,600 number of students at my school

7,226 number of hits on my blog since it started on my 23^rd birthday (thanks mom haha)

25748 messages sent on my phone sent

And the best number of all of them… 12/16/2011… the day I get to go home and visit my family!

The Too High to Count Numbers

Ants Eaten

Beads of sweat dripped

Burps witnessed publicly

Pounds of Smog inhaled

Number of days spent sick

Additional members in my family

A Quick Note

I just wanted to say thank you for your support this year. Peace Corps has truly been harder than I could have imagined with tribulations coming in ways I didn’t expect. Nevertheless, I feel extremely blessed by God to be place in the community I live in and surrounded by people far and near who are kinder than I deserve. I am positive about this year, and the projects I’m starting in my community. I’m praying this year that my energies spent will really serve my community well.

Thank you very much for being a part of my life,

And as always thanks for reading,

Lysette

(p.s. thanks mom and dad for having me )

(p.p.s I spent a lot of time lining up the pictures for each number and it didn’t work so now its just a bunch of pictures…but enjoy)

Welcome to Peace Corps

The Glorious Rare Days of eating TACO BELL in Manila!!!!!!!

Days spent in the Hospital...not prettys pregnant….looking forward to that one! Congrats!!

The English Department!

18 of us PCV's practiced together and preformed in native clothing and G-strings!

My family, Dad, Rocco, Mom, Tensie, and Sister, Amber

Sir Seth and Grace took me to ride a Carabao in my first host family!

Peace Corps Office Manila

My Second Host Family, whom I currently live with

The Big Moment, Swearing into Peace Corps

Scariest Picture Part 2

Scariest Picture of the Year Part 1

My Backyard (sideyard/frontyard) in the Philippines

My Backyard in America... as you can see a very different life

I teach at School and at Camps outside of the school

My Sister is Pregnant!! Congrats Amber and Donald!

Before Peace Corps....

Almost 1 year into Peace Corps, the After notice any differences?!?! haha

Save the Fish…and the Tadpoles

This summer was more productive than I could ever imagine. Thus, I didn’t have time to document all the exciting things that happened. All I can say is, I had to sleep in places/not sleep, encountered a TON of cockroaches, and saw more body parts of fellow PCV’s than I expected. Overall, I would rate the summer a success. I’m really happy with the work that I did, and more importantly the relationships I made with other PCVS. My summer included, CampLead,an Elementary Camp, 5 teacher trainings and  2 workshops. Essentially, no time to write a blog, so this one will be the highlighting story from each summer event.

NOMET/ Teacher Trainings

The whole gang, Peace Corp Volunteers from all over the Philippines gathered for a Mobile Teacher Training

As far as Peace Corp is concerned, it seems that my batch, 269, is very large in comparison to other batches. I have heard in other countries that batches are as small as 8 and usually up to 60-80. Our batch was 140+, the highest number brought to the Philippines. With that being said, it means that there are a LOT of PCV’s around. Although we are all relatively close, bus rides, boat rides, and jeep rides away we don’t get a chance to meet in large groups. NOMET was the answer to all of that.

It felt like a family reunion in a way, mostly because PCV’s are a lot like family. Each of us are assigned different topics and we train teachers on the topic. When I did my first two teacher trainings the numbers were smaller, around 50-150 for the 2 day training. However for NOMET there are around 500 teachers, meaning we have many topics for them to learn from.Jaron and I did two teacher trainings back to back in Antique, and our topic was Remedial Reading.

RemedialReadingis a difficult subject to teach because most of the teachers are brand new to the idea, thus its broken down into 2 sessions. After the 4 days, I don’t think I ever want to talk about Remedial Reading again. NOMET has 4 schools in a row. At each school teachers from the surrounding areas come, and then we transfer to another school and 1hr plus away.

My topics for NOMET were Microsoft Word and Researching. The benefit of teaching MS Word is that there is usually an air conditioner inside of the classroom with the computers to protect them. The negative side, is that there is an air conditioner inside of the classroom and its really hot outside so people will sign up for your class just to be in air conditioning and they have no desire to learn. Unfortunately for my students, I was very sick. So sick, that the air-conditioning bothered me so I had it off. I lost my voice the majority of the day, and would preserve it for the moments when it was time to teach. Almost like adrenaline, I would be able to talk because I wanted to teach so badly.My partner Evelyn, we taught MS Word and Research Fun and Games.

Teaching Research, we talked about Plagiarism

Researching was not as popular as MS Word, but still very important. My partner and I taught about plagiarism, because here in thePhilippinesstudents often turn in copy and pasted work from wikipedia or other sources. Teaching teachers how to help students write in their own words is more difficult than you would think. However I really enjoyed it. The highlight moments of NOMET were not actually teaching, (because I felt like crap the whole time) but instead the moments were we could be ourselves. On the weekend before the transition to the next school we played games like Mafia, and Monopoly Deal. We danced, ate pizza and just hung out. Even though we were sleeping on a cockroach invested school floor with thin pads and mosquitoes attacking us despite the layers of OFF, it was wonderful. Data Base WorkshopThe Data Base Workshop took place inManila. I had to leave NOMET early in order to attend. Being in Manila provided the opportunity to help at a school clean up, called Brigeda Eskwela. Every school across the Philippines has a clean-up campus week before school starts. USAID and the US Embassy adopted a local school by providing supplies. They invited PCV’s to help pain the school. It was an amazing opportunity because painting reminds me of home, and I met workers from USAID who really left me inspired about my future opportunities.

Painting the School for Brigeda Eskwela

All that Habitat for Humanity came in handy, teaching the kids how to get paint on their clothes... haha

PCV's doing an event with USAID and the US Ambassador of the Philippines

Usually in our trainings we get to bring one counterpart, but in this case I had the chance to bring two; Margot, the computer genius at my school, and Jerome the Barangay Captain and PTA President. Margot had never been on a plane before or out ofIloiloarea, so for him it was a huge deal to come toManila. When he came he said he didn’t have a desire to travel, but when he left he said he couldn’t wait to come again, and that pretty much summarizes the Workshop. I was really proud of my counterparts, they participated and brought up excellent points and we all made action plans for our communities. The highlight moment for me was taking Margot to the Mall of Asia. MOA is bigger than any mall that I have been to inAmerica, and that’s saying something. Now can you imagine someone from San Miguel seeing one? Inside there is an ice skating ring with fake snow falling, Margot had never seen anyone ice skate so we watched the people glide and spin across the glass. Then I took them to a “Mexican” food place, which is as close as we are going to get here in thePhilippines. They didn’t know what to order, so I ordered them random things I thought they would like. Margots full name is Margorito, and so we decided to get Margaritas, something he had never tried. Watching someone try something for the first time, or stop and recognize something that you just think is ordinary really changes a persons perspective on life. Surrounding my neighbors house are rows of Hibiscus, I told my mom and she asked me if I ever stop and look at them, and the truth is I don’t. Tropical flowers have become my habitat, and watching Margot and Jerome eat Mexican food, or Margot watch snow fall has made me re-evalaute the things that I forget to see.   Elementary School Camp  

The Schedule of Camp, I did team building, drama, and sports

At group sports, they learned how to play "Bacon"

Teambuilding

The memories from this camp are too many to share. Unlike the Camp LeadI did earlier this summer, I was in charge of  Team Building,Sports and theater. When you imagine sports at a camp I imagine balls, and equipment and big fields to play on. Instead we had a small space, with 2 small balls, 1 mostly deflated, and it was all we needed. We taught them American games such as tag, capture the flag, bacon, soccer, a version of basketball, relays and created obstacle courses. By the end of each day it was fair to say that everyone was exhausted.

Running Relays

The highlight moment was when one of the Sports kids took interest in adirty pond area.

The student who started it all...

They had just come out of the environmental seminar and they wanted to save the fish. I went over to the pond and together all of the kids I was in charge of decided that we were going to save the fish and clean their environment.

saving the tadpoles

We all tried to catch the fish and put them in a safe bucket, we scrubbed and worked hard as a team, using cups and our hands to empty the water. I didn’t have a camera, but when we were almost done and the water was clear again another PCV took pictures. I can’t really describe the amount of team work, or how I felt about these kids after that day, but it was beautiful.

We saved the FISH!!!!! Best day of Camp!

Anyways, those were my favorite moments from summer. Thanks for reading, Lysette and as an extra bonus for reading this far…im including an embarrassing picture of myself dancing on stage

notice the child starring at us in the background-- i am not afraid to be a dork. haha.

Earthquake in the Philippines

At approximately 4:47am on Tuesday I started to feel dizzy. Could my bed possibly be shaking? Am I dreaming? Is this an…. Earthquake?

Earlier the previous day I had started a new work out plan, after eating breakfast I got sick and started vomiting, believe me, you don’t need the details. The cause now is something I’m still unsure of, maybe it was working out too hard, maybe it was drinking unfiltered water at the mall, but the best news is, it hasn’t happened again.

Although, I wasn’t sick for the rest of the day,  I was scared it would happen again (it sure wasn’t pretty, excorist style) so I stayed home from school. Confined to my room and afraid to eat I started watching a new show called Breaking Bad, which I can fairly say is more than an addiction. I have 3 seasons of it, and I doubt they will last me long. I did a few other things that day, but nothing worth remembering.

Suddenly it was night. I fell asleep quickly, which is very unlike me, by 10:00pm. I woke up at 1:30 am wide awake, but still closing my eyes. I fell in and out of sleep, and its usually when I am in this phase that I dream. I love dreaming. Your brain is still slightly working because your aren’t all the way asleep, yet you don’t have control. I wish I could remember my dreams, or at least remember to write them down.

Anyways, 4:47 came, and I thought I was dreaming. Then I thought, UGH- I’m going to throw up again– and then I stood up. I pressed my hands on my bed, and realized I wasn’t dreaming. I threw on more clothes and went into the hallway, where my host mom was there about to knock on the door.

Conversation:

Me: “Is this a…”

HM: “Yes”

Me: “I think I have felt it for over 30 seconds”

HM: “It’s been a minute, don’t be scared, we have earthquakes in the Philippines”

Me: “I lived in Southern California in the 90s, we had drills at school to practice getting under our desks. My mom used to take the pictures off the wall to protect them because we lived on a fault line. My sister and I would eat our after school snacks under the table. I’m okay, but are we in a danger of a Tsunami?”

HM: Lets listen to the radio

Me: (The radio is in Illongo, I understand about every 10-15th word) Did I  hear the numbers, 6.2, 1 minute and 20 seconds?

HM: Yes, no Tsunami warning

My thoughts: Here I am sitting in my pjs in the dark listening to a radio I can’t understand. I’m used to CNN special reports, and being able to call all my loved ones. Its the first time I really really felt like I was in a foreign place.

HM: Its okay, you can go back to bed. Leave the door open in case anything happens. Expect aftershocks.

Me: Okay thank you.

I immediately texted my parents, I needed them to know I was all right. Then I texted everyone who I knew who lived close by to make sure they were okay.

Surprisingly, not everyone was woken up, but everyone was okay. After I got the last response from one of my friends, i imagined the people in Japan. I had so much time to react, and I still moved slowly. It breaks my heart thinking about what they have gone through, so I wanted to dedicate this blog to the people in Japan, and say that you are in my prayers. Because I was scared. I was scared that a Tsunami could come, it was a very long earthquake and I didn’t know where the center was. I was scared for Jaron because he lives on an Island smaller than mine and he lives in a Nipa Hut.

I then touched the walls of my room, and I prayed some more, because I was grateful. After the fear and worries came a calmness.

And thats how I am calm. Calm and grateful. Grateful for my life experiences and all the opportunities I have had. Grateful that it was only earthquake with no damages, and that all my friends are okay.

In those moments, you suddenly think of all the people who mean the world to you, and to those people, thank you.

And to you,

Thanks for reading,

Lysette

Peace Corp Philippines documented in the News!

Hi All,

I decided to post the two articles that are out right now. I have come to view this blog as a journal in some way and I want to remember the highlight moments,  being featured at my University where I did my undergrad and in the local paper back home.

If you have already read them, don’t worry about reading them again. After re-reading the articles myself , I just want to highlight my favorite part in case anyone reading this is a future volunteer. This was asked in the Tribune article,

 What were your goals when you decided to go, and did they change once you got started?

When you decide to do something like the Peace Corps you set out thinking you are going to change the world. When you get here, you realize that changing the world isn’t exactly what you thought it would be like. Instead, you realize that focusing on one student, one classroom, one teacher, one year level, one school and finally one community is about as much of the world as you are going to change, but it is way more important than I could have ever imagined.

Anyways, here are the links to the articles

The Press Tribune:

5 Questions: Roseville high grad joins Peace Corps

http://granitebaypt.com/detail/181979.html?content_source=&category_id=&search_filter=Lysette+Davis&user_id=&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&event_ts_to=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=1&sub_type=&town_id=

The Catholic University of America:

Lysette Davis, B.A. 2009, Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines

http://www.cuatoday.com/s/817/internal.aspx?sid=817&gid=1&pgid=1473

also– i didn’t get to pick the picture on that one, sorry about it <3

Thanks for reading,

Lysette

4th of July in the Philippines, cue Katy Perry and Firework please

Happy 4^th of July!

This is the second major Holiday that I have been away from home that is not celebrated in thePhilippines, the other being Thanksgiving.

My American family would have you know that 4^th of July is one of my favorites, and even at 22 I had my dad buy sparklers for me to enjoy when I got home from a friends wedding. I doubt I will ever stop loving those things, spelling your name, and watching the dark sky brighten with light, transforming what seems to be a mere sparkler into a magic wand of some sort. (ps Harry Potter is coming to thePhilippines).

 This year however, as you know I’m in the Philippinesinstead. I didn’t expect to miss 4^th of July, but of course I did. I still dressed in red, white and blue to school, just in case anyone knew of the American holiday. I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t plan some sort of event at my school,  but I had been away from my site for most of June and couldn’t think of anything to do.

 Luckily, the American Association of the Western Visayas President texted me and invited me and a few other Peace Corp Volunteers to a Potluck. After school I met Jaron in the city and we went to the party together.

 What to bring to a potluck in the Philippines?? (oh and on a budget). The first food I think of when I think of 4^th of July is Watermelon. Here in thePhilippines they have an array of melons, and one of the best things I have ever tasted called Yellow Watermelon, and let me tell you its good. When I was in training I looked forward to it everyday. In fact if I lived on my own I think I would heavily invest in Yellow Watermelon stock because I would eat that much of it.

 However, when I got to the grocery store……NO WATERMELON!!! What bad luck! Jaron and looked through the “American” isles deciding what to bring. We settled on Tostidos, above our price range, but chips seemed acceptable.

 Then we had to take a taxi to our destination. Two things PCV’s never do, take a taxi some place or buy expensive food.

 We rolled up in the taxi, and I no longer felt like I was in thePhilippines. It was better thanMalibu, or the nicest houses near my hometown inGraniteBayfor those of you are reading this. No Joke. Mansions.

 Jaron and I suddenly felt embarrassed of our chip contribution. We tired to hide it in his bag, should we kept the grocery plastic bag on? Take it off? It was so silly, but the place was that nice.

 The event was at the club house, it had a live band, a huge pool, an indoor basketball court (first one I have seen here) and about 20-30 members of the AAWS. The members from AAWS are mostly PhilAms. They have lived inAmerica, become American citizens, but returned to thePhilippinesto retire.

 I met many people from the east coast, but of course to no surprise, there were many who once lived inCalifornia.

 The event including singing of the American National Anthem and America the Beautiful; they invited Jaron and myself to sing American the Beautiful but I quickly informed them I was a really really bad singer.

 Still, it felt good to hear the songs. My favorite part of 4^th of July is the fireworks, and nothing is better than when America the Beautiful is playing in sync with the show. It makes me think of Sandlot, andWashingtonDC, and nights in my driveway all at once. I remember learning that song when I was little, it says, “Amber waves of grain” and I remember being so proud of my sister because her name was in that song. It’s funny how little kids think.

 Anyways, our chips were a success as they quickly disappeared. Being Vegetarian, my options were rice, bread, and chips. Real healthy.  But, they had brownies (I guess that really doesn’t add to the health thing either)!!! And they were delicious!! It had been so long since I had a brownie.

 The best part of the night was the connection we made with a Professor at University of the Philippines. He is American, and married a Filipina and lives in Villa, a few towns over from me. He had books in the back of his car, and his wife and Jaron drove me to my house to drop off the books. It made me feel like 4^th of July had a whole new purpose. Also its really cool to be driven in a car!  

 It gave me the drive to do my library project, especially because I have about 30 books in my host familys front room. I also felt really inspired in being able to work with others in the community to make things happen.

 For example, the Professor told me about a organization that helps cleft children. Groups such as Operation Smile have come toIloilobefore, but have not been able to perform any operations because the children aren’t healthy enough for the surgeries. They have to be de-wormed, and properly nourished among other things. The organization has a data base that identifies the children before the medical missions comes, and brings them to a healthy state so they can perform operations. When one of the medical missions came a few years ago, they could not perform one operation. However, they came again last year and thanks to this new organization they were able to do 88 surgeries. I talked to teachers at my school, and they already know of people that can go on the list!

 Now time for something funny: When Jaron comes to my community we give each other literally a High Fiven when we see each other, we don’t touch each other because that is the standard. When Jaron helped by carrying the books in the house we waved goodbye and as he was heading to the car my host mom said, “Aren’t you going to kiss her goodbye? go kiss her!” And Jaron and I didn’t know what to do. I said, “she said it was okay come kiss me.” And he came back to my porch, and  pecked me goodbye. Haha. We were both redder than I have ever been before, and my host mom and I laughed for a good 20 minutes after they left. It was a great ending to the night. You have no idea how much I appreciate the little things, and the laughs that come with it.

 During the AAWS event they also celebrated all the birthdays in July (which was one girl) and all the birthdays in August (I was the only one) with a cake. I had an entire room sing happy birthday and blew out imaginary candles. It was not something I expected, and it made me realize, my blog is almost 1 year old! I started it the day after my 23^rd birthday.

 In May I only wrote one blog, in June, none. So much has happened, so many things I want to share, but the month of June didn’t go as I expected.

 If I learned anything about blogging since I have been here this last year, is that this blog is already way too long.

My goal for July is to catch everyone up with things that happened this summer. I will be writing blogs about the really life moving challenges and experiences I have had. And because I’m publicly saying I’m going to do it, expect a lot of blogs this month, and by a lot a mean more than May and June! Haha.  

 And before I end this special blog that is special in recognizing an American holiday, I have to include a sappy paragraph, because well, its me.

 I just wanted to say, that before I leftAmericaI didn’t appreciate all the systems in place such as programs, schools, and organization. Working in the school system here, I had no idea how valuable Elementary School was, the options and choices I had in my classes in Middle School and High School, and the preparations I received in order to go to college in my dream location.  I don’t think as Americans, we appreciate the value of Education, as its quite impossible to realize the blessings we have until you have seen something different.  I never realized how lucky we are to have freedoms, to be able to search whatever we want on the internet, to have internet accessibility, to be introduced to so many cultures, and to be able to pursue any dream we want. Success or failure, we still have the freedom to try, and more importantly the freedom to learn.

 Happy 4^th of July!

 And as always thanks for reading,

 Lysette

 

 

 

 

Camp Lead

CAMP LEAD

Their love inspired me. Their hearts moved me. And their desire to be loved will always be my motivator.

Sometimes in life we come across moments where we don’t know how to feel, whether we should smile or cry from joy and sadness. This Friday I had one of those overwhelming moments where I felt so many feelings all at once.

Camp Lead is a camp for young girls that addresses issues of self esteem, trust, and decision making. Girls were invited from two different homes/orphanages. While their ages range from 11-15, in their young lives they have already experienced pain and hardship. The girls are sent to the shelters for reasons of sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment, human trafficking, and prostitution. I took about 400 pictures of the girls while I was there, well actually I gave them my camera so they could take the pictures, but I am not allowed to post any of them. I wish you could seem their smiles, the fun they had, and the love they shared with each other.

Highlight moments of camps included dance parties, singing Karaoke, making friendship bracelets, letting the girls play with my hair, giving them my camera to take underwater pictures at the pool, and doing ice breakers and team building.

The bonding process happened so quickly, as some girls became attached at my hip, following me around like I was a mother duckling. I seemed to attract the quiet girls, and it was really beautiful to watch them come out of their shells as camp went on.

They eventually asked me questions about teenagers in America, and if like movies everyone has sex. It made me embarrassed of my culture for the first time. Here were girls who just came out of bad circumstances and they think it’s just typical of America. I explained to them that in movies when you see a big house and a nice car it is not representative of all Americans, just like the Philippines everyone comes from different backgrounds. We talked about values, and God.

Although the camp was not a “Christian” camp, the majority of the country is religious. God is incorporated in the schools through prayers and all government activities. Camp was no different, during breaks between sessions we listened to Christian songs, and I heard songs I hadn’t heard for a long time like, “Lord I lift your name on high,” a song I loved to sing when I was 10. Their love for God was so beautiful and pure.

One of the sessions was an “auction,” the items for sale included things like houses, and cars, but also values such as being loved by the community, having a good relationship with God, and honesty. I was amazed to see designer clothes go for 10 pesos, and a close relationship with God for 4,000. The girls valued having a good relationship with the community at 3,000 pesos, and honesty as the third highest at 2,600. The point of the lesson was that you can’t buy values, but the beauty of the lesson for me is that they didn’t even want material objects, they have a desire to be good to others despite what has happened to them.

I lead a session on building trust, and I was amazed to see how despite the hurt they have felt from their families they are still capable to love and respect them. Each girl had to make a map, the map had three circles, friends, family, and other connected to a center circle with their name in it. They wrote the names of their family and friends in each circle connecting the line to their name in a straight line (strong relationship), Zigzig line (medium relationship) or a dotted line (poor relationship). I had to make my own map as an example and it surprised me how people have hurt me in my own life, and how other people really support me. I thought about how I let the people who have hurt me affect me more than the people who are kind.

I thought about reasons I have stopped talking to friends, ended relationships and have been rude to others. As those thoughts were circling my mind I asked the girls to write two letters, one to a person who they have a strong relationship with, to thank the person and to write to them what makes a strong relationship. The second to write to the person who has hurt them, to tell the person why they were/are hurt, and what they wanted for that relationship, how it could improve. I didn’t expect the girls to share with me, but I went around to each table just in case.

Although I had only been in their life’s for less than 48hours, some had me on the list for a strong relationship, because they knew that I cared about them. It really affected me to see my name on their list, because it showed me exactly how impactful just a moment can be; and how truly capable each of us are for caring for another person and wanting to be cared for.

Some girls shared with me their letters to the people with dotted lines, the poor relationships. Those letters were hard to hear, any person would instantly fall in love with each of the girls and to imagine someone hurting them hurts you. I expected their letters to be like mine, angry and accusatory, but they were not. They were still thankful to the people who left them. For example, one girl thanked her mom for giving her life even though she abandoned her. Her letter explained that value of having her, and that no matter what her mother was going through she would always love her.

Several letters were like that, thanking the person who hurt them for being in their life at all. And that’s why even writing this now I don’t know how to feel.

When I had to say goodbye to the girls some of them cried, they came back for multiple hugs, and asked if it was okay to kiss me goodbye. As they loaded in their jeep we waved and blew kisses, I didn’t know how to feel, because I think I was simply feeling everything at once, but mostly love.

Tears filled my eyes, but a smile across my face, and that was the end of camp. I am still exhausted from emotions. 

Lesson Learned: Be grateful to all of those around you, forgive those who have hurt you, and realize that to every person you encounter you are making some sort of impact, so make it a loving one.

So if your reading this now, thank you for being part of my life. Whether you have hurt me, barely know me or are my best friend, thank you. The girls taught me so much about life, and how to treat people. Although I was the facilitator, I learned the lesson.

Thanks for reading,

Lysette

A Play by Play of Daily Life in the Philippines, Peace Corp Addition

Pagtaltal

Somehow it’s the end of April and I don’t really know how that happened. This month has been a whirlwind, either I have officially become to the used to the slow pace of life, or my life is really moving fast. I have too many stories to tell, so I decided to break this blog up by day so you can get a peek into my daily life, my encounters and what the heck I’m doing!

My Daily Life in thePhilippines

April 1^st: Recognition Ceremony at the High School, where I gave a speech and help hand out awards to top students.

April 2^nd: Graduation, where I had to say goodbye to 426 of my 4^th year students.

April 3^rd: Fly to Manila to use the IRC and Doctors appointments, the peace corp library is an amazing place where you can get resources for your site. There is also a special shelf where PCV’s bring their old books and you can take as many as you want. I took about 10-15 books!! When your finished you just bring them back the next time your inManila.

April 4^th:  HIV/AIDS Conference by USAID and Peace Corp where I learned so much and really felt inspired as a Volunteer. I live in Iloilo City (outside the main city) which is the 2^nd fastest growing rate of HIV in thePhilippines. There is so much work that can be done!

April 5^th: Mall of Asia, after the conference was over at night the PCV’s would stroll down to the MOA, only a 15 minute walk through intense traffic. I felt like it was theDisneyland of malls, and I quickly felt swept up in such a fancy place. With so many American stores, I almost forgot I was in thePhilippines

April 6^th: Lincoln Lawyer, I went to the movies with some PCV’s at the Mall of Asia after conference. Many people live in such rural sites that this was their first time in the last 8 months to see a movie. Movies cost 150 pesos, about 3.50 US dollars, and a box of popcorn is 60 pesos, about 1.40 US dollars. Despite the low costs for an American, it is an extreme luxury to go to the movies. Before the move starts the theatre played the National Anthem and everyone stood up in their theatre seats and sang. They also only played previews for scary movies, I haven’t seen a scary movie in 8 months and I think because I live in such a happy culture I can no longer bare watching a scary movie, although it used to be my favorite genre.

 

April 7^th: Last day of the HIV conference, also the last day of a HOT SHOWER!! I enjoyed 4 amazingly hot showers. I suddenly became aware of how much water a shower wastes. It doesn’t even take ½ a bucket to clean myself, and about 5 gallons when you shower. Despite knowing that I was wasting large quantities of water I over indulged and took between a 15-30 minute shower every day.  My ipod touch stopped working, with no computer, a crashed a hard drive my heart broke when I no longer had an ipod. Luckily I was near the MOA, and it had a MAC Store!!! I skipped dinner and a few PCVS came with me see if it was fixable…and it was! They fixed it free of charge. Then I spent American money on a hoodie, yes a hoodie. I was freezing (because I was sick) and I wasn’t used to Air Conditioning. Then we went to Mexican food (well sorta) and I had a Veggie Burrito and it was YUMMMYYYYYY!!!

April 8^th: Doctor Appointments, I had to stay an extra day because of my skin and ears. My skin has become extremely discolored and  I have lost pigment in many places, aka I’m the new Michael Jackson haha jk!! I went to the dermatologist and its just the sun affecting my skin in a severe way, but when I go back to the States it should clear up.  Secondly I went in for my ear. I have had an annoying ring in my ear for the last month. I went to the doctor inIloilo and he pulled all the ear wax out on one side thinking either an ant or a cockroach (yes its common for people to get cockroaches in their ears!!!) went into my ear. He couldn’t find anything, so he didn’t know what was wrong. For about 1 week my equilibrium was severely messed up, I felt dizzy all the time, and started getting severe headaches. The doctor in Manila put oil in my ear and the ringing stopped soon after, then he pulled out some ear wax on the other side (GROSS), so I don’t feel dizzy anymore and my ear is much better.

That night was pretty epic. When we go toManila for doctors appointments we get to stay at a pension house. Due to the fact that all of us are constantly sick with something you will always find at least a few PCV’s at the pension house, usually people you don’t know but find an immediate bond with due to the fact that you understand exactly how that person feels. You celebrate that bond by filling your stomach with tons of delicious American Foods, such as Veggie Burgers, Taco Bell, and Dairy Queen. You spend all of your monthly allowance in one day, yet you don’t care because the recognizable food was so delicious you would have paid triple. The night usually ends with good conversations, drinks and dancing. That’s right, dancing. I have been toManila two times now, and both times I maneuvered my way to a dance floor into the early morning hours. It amazes me how I don’t know any of the songs they are playing, but by the end of the night I’m singing along like it’s the best song I have ever heard. Sometimes when I’m in Peace Corp I feel so old; I’m a leader among my community, co-teachers, and students. They look for me for ideas and knowledge. I feel that for the majority of my life I have chosen to act older than my age, but when I get to dance and sing to songs with lame lyrics but good beats for a moment I get to feel my age, 23, and its amazing.

April 9^th- 14th: Language camp, the hardest part of my summer went by almost too quickly. I had the chance to be reunited with PCV’s and some of my dearest friends here. They saw me struggle, and they supported me. I wrote more about this in my last blog, but the week included learning a new language, pizza, a cockroach, a nun home, feeling really intelligent, feeling like a total failure, feeling overwhelmed, and the feel of hope, that I one day, just maybe, I will be able to speak.

April 15th-17th:Mangahan festival in Gumerias, where over 25 PCV’s came together to celebrate Mangoes! The highlight moment, quesadillas with REAL CHEESE!

with tons of mangoes!

I got my first tattoo, henna of course, had mango smoothie, and mango pizza (not with real cheese L) and of course dance with the local children and friends with most of Gumerias as local bands played top 40 songs. My second favorite part was the firework competition, different regions set up a colorful firework display and the crowd judged their favorites through their ooo’s, ahh’s and applause.

With Sean and Leanna

April 18^th- Scheduled Nap 15 minutes. Haha! Truly though, look at my month. This marks 8 months in Peace Corp!!!

April 19^th- Internet access at my school delivered excellent news, my community was accepted into the database workshop that will be inManila by Peace Corp and USAID. They only had six slots, and I feel really lucky to have the opportunity. I get to take 2 of my counterparts. When I told the school the news I received a standing ovation. They all hugged me and told me how much they missed me (they are used to seeing my everyday and so far I had been gone most of the month), and they told me that most of them had never been to Manila and they were so happy to have one of their own get to go to the capital city. We had a good time chika-chicking about the summer, and I just enjoyed the companies of my teachers. After language camp I was able to pick up a few more words when they were talking.

April 20^th- Visiting the Mayor, this summer I wanted to do projects in my community with the health department and the municipality office, but as you can see from my schedule, time did not allow. I went to meet with the mayor and we talked about what the rest of my service will look like. We discussed many projects to work on, so many in fact that I think next school year I will only work at the school 4 days a week and in the Mayors office 1 day a week to plan community projects.

I then went into the city to meet my very best Pilipino friend. She was my first counterpart at my school in Mandurrio and we have remained close friends. She is one of the most beautiful people I have ever encountered, as she is selfless by design and has one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen. As a child she was sickly so her parents sent her away to live with her old maid aunts, she desired to be a cook, but aunts rely on her income and she was forced to go into teaching. She works with the remedial children, the ones who are always hungry, have extremely poor  hygiene and are otherwise tossed aside. She loves them, sings to them, and teaches them to be good human beings. Despite her parents leaving her, they are sick now, so her one teacher income supports both of her sick parents and two very old aunts. All her time is dedicated to the school, the students and her church where she sings in the choir. For her birthday I insisted that I take her out for dinner. In American culture we treat the person whose birthday it is, in thePhilippineshowever, when its your birthday its your responsibility to give a party or treat your friends.

After a 40 minute battle, I took her to the most expensive restaurant in the mall because I really wanted to treat her nice, as I feel that she is most deserving. I finally got her to go in, but she knows about my Peace Corp budget and so she wouldn’t let me buy the meal there after we looked at the menu. She instead chose Kenny Rogers, a chain restaurant here. I know she chose it because she thought it looked American. She wanted to order what I ordered, many of the Philipinos touch my stomach here, they think its flat because I’m vegetarian (I think I just hold weight differently and I eat as healthy as I can and work out, but they think its because of being vegetarian). It often makes others copy my order, or whats on my plate. So I ordered, my new favorite food!! It was a pesto, mozzarella and tomatoes sandwich on wheat bread with real cheese!! For 105 pesos, I can’t maintain that as my favorite food, as its not very big or filling, but it was delicious. I also got her a side of potatoes and macaroni and cheese (fake cheese—not so good to an American) and a smoothie.

As we ate our meals in celebration of her birthday I found out she turned 37. As we talked about her life, she held back tears, no one had ever treated her to such a meal. That was one of the most momentous dinner in my life, something I will always remember. How many times in my life have I been treated by my friends or family? How many times I have treated a friend?? And did it mean anything to me? Did it mean anything to them? It made me realize how blessed I have been my whole life, and I will be forever changed. Here in the Philippines I have learned one of the biggest lessons of my life, to appreciate.

April 21^st: Beach Day, yes I finally went to a beach while in thePhilippines. Sean Leanna and I went to Jarons house for Pagtaltal. We all got there early in the morning for the start of Holy Week so we could go to the beach. We decided to go to the “closest” beach to Jarons house. The Tryke driver “dropped” us off at the beginning of a trail that led to the beach. There was no such trail. It turned into a hike, a muddy, humid, and scary movie style dangerous when we couldn’t really tell if we were on the “trail” anymore. We found ourselves in front of a spread of fish farms with a “No Trespassing Sign.” Since I am short and have a non-threatening  smile I took Sean with me and we walked along the ridges of the fish farm, crossed over a fence, avoided dogs and “spoke” in illongo. The fishermen were very kind to us, and they took us by bamboo flat rafts across the fish farms, through a persons house, and pointed to walk through a forest. The scene was unforgettable, the way the light hit the trees, the idea of what was lurking around the corner, seeing wild cows, and native Filipinos with little clothing. Finally we came upon it, one of the most beautiful scenes I had ever seen, it felt like I was inCapri,Italy a private cove with a beautiful beach and delicately placed mountains.

We were soon greeted by the people who lived there who stared at as from a distance and feared our white skin. Jaron and I approached them with a mix of English and Illongo and they allowed us to use the beach, only after we took pictures with them. Sadly non of us knew that we were going to go on such an epic adventure and didn’t bring our own cameras.

The crowd rooting to crucify Jesus

April 22^nd: Pagtaltal- Good Friday was one of my most cultural experience thus far, a small group of PCV’s assembled to witness a reenactment of Jesus Christ being crucified on the cross.

While I could tell you a step by step of the day, Jaron let me use his camera, and I went crazy. I hope the pictures can better explain to you how serious Religion is here.

Old and young participated in the recreation

Also I think I may have found a new passion for photography. Side notes, the day was really really really hot, the event took place through stations along a trail leading to the very top of a mountain. My blog, The Day I Became A Peace Corp Member, shows pictures of my cluster reaching the top of the mountain. The climb is very steep, yet the “Jesus” character still had to carry the cross up the mountain. About every 5 minute walk was another staging of a part of the bible, so each scene in the pictures below took place along the trail.

The Last Supper

I’m really happy I experienced the event, although I wasn’t as moved as I thought I would be due to the fact that I was buying water at every stand and focusing on my sweat while looking for stage. Looking at the pictures afterwards I am reminded about what Christ did for my sins, and feel so loved by God. I hope these pictures effect you.

Look at how many people came!

The Romans

Betrayed

Last Prayer

April 23^rd- I planned to return to my site so I could spend Easter Sunday with my host family and community, but all the Jeepnys in San Miguel (our form of transportation) stopped running because it was their day to be blessed by our local Catholic Church. Disappointed about how early I would have to wake so early the next morning, I went with the other PCV’s at Raymens beach for a few hours of sun. I was able to read on the beach and felt very relaxed. My mom shipped me a GIANT salsa, and for dinner it was almost all consumed. Overall it was a really nice day, and I got to go to the beach again. It was a 3 dayHoliday away from work, and it was lovely.

April 24^th- Happy Easter!! I woke up at 4:30 am to leave Jarons house at 5:00am. I took a tryke, to a jeep, to a boat, to a jeep, to another jeep, to a tryke. Three hours later I arrived in my town, and just in time for church and the towns first ever Easter Egg hunt. Easter is a special time to remember what Christ has done for me. One of my most memorable Easters was when I was 12. I lived inWashingtonD.C., and we attended sunrise service on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The marble steps froze our feet as we stood with hundreds of others, and rays of light shined through the clouds and graced the buildings with a purity I had not seen before. That memory has always been an inspiration, and maybe it’s why I love that place so much.

Brown out easter dinner, there is really no other way to have it

My host mom and me at Easter Sunday Service

Finding Easter Eggs

On Easter Sunday in San Miguel I missed so greatly Easter inAmerica. I missed a service in English, my family, and of course Easter Dinner with twice baked potatoes (my favorite food-which by the way my family said they wont’ have until I come back). The only thing that resembledAmericawas the Easter Egg hunt, it was fun to watch the children discover their prizes, and I was even given a Dumdum!!! I attended breakfast/brunches/lunches with friends/family/community members. Then I went home and skyped from my house for the first time since I had been at site, as Jaron FIXED MY COMPUTER.

I was so excited to talk with my parents, but very sad to hear the news. I could tell from my parents expressions that something was wrong, and it didn’t take them long to tell me; my grandpa had been in the hospital and things are looking good. A few blogs ago I shared a story about how I was feeling about my grandpa being sick because I was so far away from him and I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to see him again. It seems that the likelihood of me ever seen him again is grim. I am extremely effected every moment of the day, as my grandpa is constantly on my mind. I have a very special relationship with him, and although I know everyone has a time to leave, its still very hard. With the news of my grandpa and seeing my parents for the first time in months I was almost in tears. I had events planned later that evening, but just spent rest of the evening reflecting alone.

Easter dinner was cold pasta, due to the brown out we had no electricity, but my family did give me a coke light.

April 25th-29th – Teacher Training in Antique

I did two teacher trainings on Remedial Reading I and II, and Creative Writing. It was excellent practice and a good outline of what the rest of summer will look like for me. Teacher trainings occur when you bring a group of teachers to one location and a group of peace corp volunteers become “experts” on a topic and present ideas and information on how to develop the topic into the school/personal life. It was a completely different experience teaching teachers. Many funny things happened, but if your still reading this, I don’t think you probably want to hear them all. Highlights, I stayed in a mansion that one of the Peace Corp Members, ran on the beach, presented with Jaron on 12 1 ½ hour presentations and worked incredibly well together, managed my sweat well, and ran/walk/jogged about 10km with Jaron in about an 1hr-1hr 1/2 and I’m not sore anymore.

April 30^th- I ate my monthly calzone from Sabarro. It was delicious. 150 pesos, well spent. And the end to a successful month.

Thanks for reading,

Lysette

Happy 8 Months!!

Still a Student!!

I will begin this blog by adding all the pictures I was going to include throughout my blog, because my connection is too slow and its not letting me organize them. The paragraphs will explain the pictures.

This stuff is freaking hard!!

Bowling in the Philippines, just my size!

Our Language Camp was run by Nuns taking care of the elderly

Learning at Language Camp

Look a US quarter collection given to the principal at Graduation

The boys swearing an oath to be good alumni

All the 4th year girls at graduation

 

 

The valedictorian and all his medals

 

This morning I went for a 16-20km bike ride. I woke up with energy, spirit, and a happiness that I truly thought I had lost. My first thought was about God, and I woke wanting to praise him for the day, I haven’t felt that way in a long time.

Today makes 8 months in the peace corp. I just finished looking at some pictures and I can honestly say I don’t look like the same person. My body has changed, my hair color brown, and my skin slightly toasted. Not even a third of way done with my service I don’t know how to feel. I guess I mostly feel grateful, grateful for this opportunity and the community I was blessed to be with.

 This month started off difficult, I was going to go to America to see my family. I really needed a break from this experience. I had been counting down the days, but after the earthquake in Japan and the nuclear reactors my family didn’t feel it was safe to fly through the radiation because scientist had not yet tested the air quality of the flying zone. Although it hurt tremendously, I understood my parents.

 RECOGNITION CEREMONY:

Recognition was a real highlight for me as a teacher of the 4th year students. This last quarter I had the opportunity to work with every 4th year student as their computer teacher, and for section 1, an English teacher as well. There were 9 sections total. The teachers allowed me to give a special message during the ceremony. I spent a long time deciding what I wanted to say to the students, as it was my last chance to address them. The day was quite moving, and I felt very proud of my students. All of them. If I have time later I will type my speech.

 GRADUATION:

For Graduation I was really impressed because the event started nearly on time, a rarity in Pilipino culture. The students were all there before it started, lined up by sections. People from the town gathered along the halls watching the graduates’ parade down the hall way one by one. I received a program, and I still can’t believe how nice it is. It will serve as a year book for me as it has section pictures of each 4th year class. Jaron was kind enough to accompany me both through the recognition ceremony and graduation. As anyone knows, even for graduations in America, when you don’t know anyone or even if you do, its not fun. I was very lucky that he was willing to come support the work I had done with my students.

the highlight

We were place on stage with other political figures and donors while speeches where made and diplomas handed out. The highlight moment for me was when section 9 was called to the stage. The 9th section is the lowest section, some students older then myself. Most of them have had to drop out many times in order to help their families financially or to pick rice. The whole place roared with cheers as each student crossed the stage. When one of the oldest students walked across, you would assume it Oprah on her very last show. It made me so proud of my town, that they are so encouraging to the students who have faced the most difficulty but yet still prevailed.

Rhea Joy, the helper in my house and my dear friend also graduated with the 4th year. Watching her walk across the stage I felt an extreme pride for her. She has been working as a helper since a young age, her father who lives only a town away she rarely sees yet she worked hard and made him proud as she finished at the top of her section. It was a sad day because it was the last time I may ever see her. Her mother came back into her life but lives on the other side of the Philippines, islands away. Her smile always lit up my days, and her eyes showed extreme kindness, I will miss her greatly.

After graduation two teachers provided lunch for some of the guests and faculty. Ma’am Norms, my co-teacher and head teacher of the English departments’ daughter was solitarian, while another English teacher, Ma’am Prados son was valedictorian. I am proud to work with a faculty who produces such excellent students, and was also happy that the top two students came from parents of the English department! I didn’t have much time to celebrate. I ended up getting an allergic reaction to something, popping a bendryl and falling asleep by 8pm.

 The next morning I had an AM flight to Manila for a training, and I had to say goodbye to Rhea Joy! HIV/AIDS I was selected at the last minute to do an HIV/AIDS workshop in Manila. I was eager and happy to have the opportunity. I decided to go a day early in order to use the IRC, a resource center in the Peace Corp office, and to meeting with PCMO to talk about my many illness’.

HIV/AIDS CONFERENCE:

When I arrived in Manila I was still upset about not getting to go to America, so I went straight from the airport to Taco Bell. No joke. Its at a random mall in Manila and when I told the taxi driver I wanted to go to the mall with my bag he thought I didn’t know what I was talking about. I ordered enough food for lunch and dinner, and then took another cab to the Peace Corp office. Since it was a Sunday, no one was in the building and most of the lights where off. It was really scary. I found my way to the office and felt such a peace. I had my Taco Bell and unlimited resources. I was able to go up and down every isle of the library selecting all the resources I could want.

The next day was a Monday, so all the staff were in their offices. I met with PCMO and sure enough I had to go to see some doctors. I barely made my appointment before the conference started. Overwhelmed I didn’t realize how nice of a place I was staying. Air condition, hot showers, good food, a real bed, and tv. It was epic. Then came the training. I truly can’t believe how much I learned. How much there is to do, and how much I want to do. Of all of my trainings from Peace Corp, he HIV workshop was by far my favorite.

I went to the Mall of Asia for the first time and went all American by going to the movies and eating popcorn. They also had a huge grocery store and I purchased granola bars, something that I rarely find. I used my American money. I got sick at the hotel because I wasn’t used to Air Conditioning, I broke down and purchased a sweater, again using my American money. I really hate to break into it, because I know I will need it when I get back, but for taco bell, a sweatshirt and some granola bars life is good. I never thought I would need a sweatshirt! Maybe that means I’m turning Pilipino.

I had to stay an extra day in Manila because I was sick. But the good news is that I’m much better, although it took some time.

 Language Camp:

 Instead of going to America, I attended what will most likely be my toughest challenge of the summer. My language skills are laughable. I can say things like, who I am, where I work, where I live, where I’m from and that someone is pretty, the food tastes good and that I’m full. But that’s about all I can do. Oh, and classroom commands, like be quiet, and sit down etc. I think I can understand some, but actually speaking and formulating my own sentences are near impossible.

I was so intimated and insecure about going. Worried that I was going to fail the LPI, a language proficiency test given by Peace Corp, I dreaded going. On the first day I found out there was no test and my confidence boosted. I as able to participate strongly, try the material and learn the new language. My training was in Hiligaynon, but the language spoken in my town is Kinarya. They speak extremely fast and use word softeners so its really impossible for me to pick up naturally.

I met a man today from Saudi and he said he would teach me Arabic. As soon as I learn Kinaray I will try Arabic, but I’m doubtful that will really happen.

I went to another wake in the middle of the camp, as my closest Filipino friends mentor passed away. Being at Language Camp I forgot that I was American because I was around so many American in a secluded place. The camp was at a nunnery that takes care of abandoned elderly. It America its common to Old Folks homes, but here in the Philipines they don’t really exist because families take great pride in caring for their loved ones. When families abandon the elderly there is really no place to go, so the nuns take care of them. Its really beautiful, but sad at the same time.

 Anyways walking down the street everyone was staring again and I remembered quickly where I was. On the way walking down a random street to what looked like an oncoming farm a cow ran out from no where, I got scared and startled because it was running and everyone started laughing at me, afraid of a cow. Cows often roam the streets here, its very common to see them graze along the roads, but to have one loose and running is startled me quite a bit. I ended up laughing at myself too.

The last day of camp was the hardest for me, and I almost had a break down with how hard language was for me, but I survived my hardest week. They had no vegetarian food at the camp, and my friend and I who are vegetarian didn’t want to complain, after all nuns were making us food and on the first day they told us to be grateful for the food because we are eating for those who can’t eat and not to waste any food. Finally when we brought to their attention we were hungry they made us cheese lumpia and salad!!! It was a great last day food wise.

I am really appreciative of what Language camp did for me. It allowed me to rebuild my confidence and give me hope that I can conquer the language. I was very thankful to my trainers and peers to be so supportive of the effort I was putting in. I was grateful to make better friends with people I barely knew and enjoy the company of my friends who I had missed so much. There were 17 PCV’s at the camp. And I truly grew a lot as a person during that week as I faced my hardest challenge.

 During camp my friends and I went bowling. The bowling is very different, the pins are tiny and you get three turns. Its 13 pesos a game so less then 50 cents…still the most I have ever played at one time is 2.

We also went to dinner a real restaurant, in which there was a cockroach and I got so freaked out still I left behind my left overs! Bummer. I told Jaron what happened, so he called the place and went there in person the next day to see if they still had my left overs and they gave me a brand new 8in pizza for free! We really enjoyed that.

Together with another PCV we left for Gumerias for their Mango festival. This blog is already way to long but I will just say that my next blog will include major cultural experiences, and hopefully amazing pictures.

As always, thanks for reading,

 Lysette

 HAPPY 8 MONTHS fellow 269ers!!

March Madness

Yesterday a friend I used to do Model UN with said she is applying to the Peace Corp and asked if I had a blog. I gave her my link, and then looked at my blog myself. I realized a. I haven’t written in a long time, and b. I sound really sad! So I’m here to rectify my blog, and tell you about my life. I used to write blogs a few time a month, and now I’m down to a monthly update so here it is:

My Grandpa- Praise the Lord he is doing much better. Thank you for all your prayers, support and friendship.

Technology- As you know my computer broke, but now so did my hard drive. I lost a story I had been working on and all my pictures, tv shows and movies. Sadly I had already written out a long blog to describe this month, so now I have an hour of computer time and I’m going to give this update as quick as possible. When I re-read posts I often see mistakes, I apologize in advance for these mistakes, I’m always in a hurry to post and don’t have time to edit. Thanks for reading anyways.

Health- I’m not sick, although I have been sick this month I am well now. Instead of going to school and pushing through it I decided to stay home in bed. I missed two days of school, and I felt guilty the entire time, but I’m better now so it was worth it. I’m still hearing a weird crackling in my ear that is really irritating, but I saw a specialist and he said nothing was wrong.

Exercise- Sadly it’s been raining almost every morning, but if it doesn’t rain I ride my bike. As my bike traces the road mixed of asphalts, gravel and grasses I gaze upon acres of rice patti fields and farm land, it’s a surreal experience. Listening to my ipod and the sound of my bike climbing up hills and speeding down valleys I try to take in all that I see. It’s so beautiful and pure, serene really, that I always tell myself to bring a camera so you can see where I live, but it seems impossible to capture. Riding my bike and being a part of the community is one of the experiences from Peace Corp that I had hoped for, riding my bike and being exposed to this completely different way of life is exactly what I wanted. I am so grateful to Peace Corp that they provided the stipend for the bike, its definitely something I plan to use as much as possible over the next 2 years

Language- I am awful. So I stopped trying. However I have been reading a few very depressing books lately about war and persecution that caused me to move towards a new realization. This is the easiest time in my life from here on out, or at least it very well could be, one day all my opportunities could be take away, but right now I have the opportunity to learn another language, so I’m going to learn it. Although language is a huge challenge for me, I’m sure that my life will incur additional and more difficult challenges and therefore I have decided this week that I will become a speaker by the time I leave. Although I didn’t make the pledge aloud, my attitude must have changed because so many people this week have been helping me with words and sentences. I learned 5 words this week and can put them in a sentence. That might not sound like a lot, but for as frustrated as I am with trying to learn I’m happy and inspired with these small improvements.

Packages- This month I received two packages, one from Rosaura that included dumdums. The ants sadly are so small they can crawl through zip block baggies and under wrappers, so I decided to share the dumdums she sent before the ants got to them. The teachers LOVED them, I watched them eat it and they couldn’t decide why they loved them but they did. It was a great experience to share some American candy. My family also sent me a HUGE box, that had gifts inside for both Jaron and myself (have to have a quick shout out—Jaron and I have been together 6 months now<3). I was so overwhelmed with everything they sent. I’m not proud to say that I ate an entire bag of goldfish in one day, I just missed American food. They also sent me clothes. The clothes here are hand washed and they wear out quickly, I’m so grateful to have new things to wear. My sister sent perfume, so I put on some DKNY Green Apple perfume closed my eyes and I just enjoy how good I smell and all the memories that come with it. I just wanted to write in my blog how grateful I am to all of you for giving me Christmas in March.

Community- I’m happy to say that I think I have a good idea about my community. I went to the Mayors office and talked with secretaries about projects that I want to do. We came up with so many ideas, I will be very busy. I definitely feel like I can do great things for this area. Here is a small idea of what I will be working towards

Projects:

-Library for the High School- this will take a lot of my time, we are in need of books, and sets of books—so many things can come out of a good library

-Computer trainings for Municipality Staff and Health Clinic

-Aiding checks and giving vaccines for babies in the town -Creating a sport program for young kids

-Working at the pre-school

-Work out and exercise activities for the community

-There are some more, but I didn’t bring my notebook with me

On a big scale:

-I will be working with other PCVs on a camp called GLOW- a girls empowerment camp hopefully by September -

A teacher training for Iloilo

Prom-

Sadly school is ending. These wonderful students that I have come to love and know will be leaving, and it feel so weird to say goodbye. One of the events of course that marks the end of the year is prom. I had so much fun with the students, dancing, and celebrating with them this very special time of year. Prom is completely different then that of America. For example, Prom started at 2:30 in the afternoon, with a Mass. Then the students line up by sections and have a parade through the school in their dresses. Their family and friends like the halls of the school and the students walk with their partner. You do not have a date to the dance in the sense of Americans where a boy asks a girl. A 4th year students (seniors) are assigned to 3rd year students(juniors). Then they have a ceremony, a passing of the torch of knowledge and the key of leadership from the 4th year to the 3rd year.

At my high school we had something called a senior alphabet in the year book, and awards at the end of the year given by the other classmates. For example, for the senior alphabet I was letter B for bodacious bigwig and for the class “awards” (i forget what they are called) I was most likely to become president. Here, they have similar ideas or “awards” except I like what they do much better. They have a passing down ceremony. So the person who is most likely to be president from the 4th year would pass it down to the most likely to be president in the 3rd year. Rhea Joy, a student at the high school and a helper in my house had to pass down best eyes! And truly, she has beautiful eyes. It was really fun to see how the same idea is translated differently.

Overall prom was just as fun as it could be, mostly because my friend Claire called me during the dinner and told me there was a Promo to go to Singapore! So for thanksgiving I will be going to Singapore and Malaysia for under 100 US dollars. Also because I barrowed my host moms shoes, and I wore high heels for the first time in 6 months.

With some of the teachers kids

The teachers let me be "queen" haha and hold the flowers

So I have been here for over 7 months now, and I can hardly believe it, mostly because I feel like I have already been here for years and also because time is starting to fly.

MANILA- The highlight of my month was surely Warden Training in Manila because of TACO BELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! haha! You might not be as impressed as I was, but it was definitely a win. Many PCV’s travelled to a far away mall just to eat Taco Bell. I stayed at the mall for many hours so I could eat it twice.

The training was for emergencies, and was just a one day training. At night I was reunited with my long lost peace corp bff Emily and she got us in to this extremely posh club and danced the night away. I borrowed clothes from my host mom, and had so much fun with the PCV’s and Jaron. Definitely a highlight, it was a mini American vacation.

 

At the posh club!

EMILY!!!! SO HAPPY WE GOT TO SEE EACHOTHER AGAIN!

borrowed clothes and a hat for swagga I didn't feel like I was in peace corp

Aren't we cute <3

In manila we had to splurge, Riding in a TAXI

Speaking of American vacations– I have bad news. I won’t be going to Hawaii anymore to see my family. Instead I have to wait 9 more months for CHRISTMAS!! SO mark your calendars friends!!! And prepare to take me to Taco Bell! haha!

Summer is coming and I have a very busy schedule. I hope to have better communication and write more about my life.

I really just wanted to thank those of you who prayed for my Grandpa, which was a REALLY hard time for me because I am very close to him.

Sorry for the fluidity of this blog. Its not as heart felt as I typically like to write, but I just wanted to give a quick update

Thanks for reading, Lysette