It’s been over a week since we left our 11RR bubble for the real world of the Philippines and it’s been incredible so far! I’ve been putting off this post until I’ve had a day where I didn’t feel too tired to fully reflect but I’ve found myself to be pretty exhausted everyday so I’ll just quickly introduce my wonderful host family and where I’m living. (Pictured above are my host mom and sister at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar on my first day in Bagac)
At sunduan (meeting of host families for the first time), all the host families had half of a picture and the volunteers had the other half and we had to find each other. I was so nervous about meeting them, but I was worrying for nothing because they’re amazing and I feel so lucky to have them! I’m going to try to introduce them all to you without making it too confusing.
My Nanay (mom in Tagalog) Ling Ling was the one who met me at sunduan and it was the warmest first meeting I’ve ever had. There was so much love in the room and all the host families were so excited to meet us. We had lunch with our families and then it was off to our new homes. My nanay’s twin sister and cousin are also hosting volunteers so after lunch, all three of us (Colin, Emma, and I), our luggage, and our nanays piled into my tatay’s (dad in Tagalog) van and we were off! We dropped off Colin, Emma, and their nanays at their places (we’re about 1 minute walk from each other and literally around the corner) and then got to my house where I met my Ate Lara who is wonderful and has been my greatest support system here so far. She’s 30 and is a third grade teacher at the local elementary school. My nanay is super sweet and has run her own store at the market for 35 years now. She is also an amazing cook that has kept my tummy so very happy. My tatay is a retired engineer who had worked abroad in South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia so he’s well traveled and also very philosophical and great to talk to. He now helps my nanay run her store. Also in our household is one and half year old Marcus, my host parents’ grandson and one of the cutest babies I’ve ever met. He has a four-year-old brother, Lucas, who lives with Emma’s host mom, Nanay Lulu (my nanay’s twin). They live here in the Philippines, but their parents (my host parents’ older daughter and her husband) work abroad in Dubai. To make it easy, I’ll be referring to Marcus and Lucas as my host-brothers from now on. Since Emma and my host moms are twin sisters, we get to do a lot together which has been really nice. Everyone in my family is extremely kind and has made me feel at home and part of the family since day one. They speak English very well but are also eager to help me learn Tagalog and take me places which I’m really looking forward to. It is also helpful that they hosted a volunteer last year as well and she happens to also be Asian-American. I was (and still am) worried about how experience would differ as an Asian-American volunteer, so having a host family that has been so welcoming of who I am is really helping me with my adjusting and integrating so far.
We live in Bagac, the largest municipality in the province of Bataan, and also where the Bataan Death March started (I actually walk by the exact starting point of the march everyday on my way to my training site, but I’ll write more about this in another post). Bagac is divided into 14 barangays, which are the smallest administrative division in the Philippines (formerly called barrios). I live in Barangay Tabing-Ilog, but it just feels like one big town because the barangay’s are so small that you can walk from one end of it to the other in about 5 minutes; literally the opposite side of my street is Barangay Ibaba. Tabing-Ilog is where the town proper is located so about a minute from my house is a simbahan (church), basketball courts, a palengke (market), and an elementary school (where my Ate teaches). My living conditions are very comfortable (way better than I expected!). I live in a fairly big two-story house with 4 bedrooms and 3 restrooms. I have my own room that’s much bigger than my room in the States and I’m one of the lucky ones who have Wi-Fi in the house. For the most part, I think I’ve been adjusting to Filipino culture fairly well, but this is also something I want to write more about in another post.
My schedule now that I’m in community-based training (CBT) is pretty packed. We work Monday-Saturday from 8am until 5pm (often later). Mornings are devoted to language class (which I enjoy very much!) and the afternoons are for technical training (learning how to be successful as volunteers at site). Our trainings are held at the National Power Corporation (NPC), a community of houses where employees of a nuclear power plant used to live. After the plant shut down, NPC was converted to a resort and now we use one of the houses as our training site. NPC is about a 20 minute walk from my house so walking to and from training has been my daily workout (it’s a big deal especially in this heat!)
It’s been really exciting to be here, but I’m also tired most of time and am usually in bed by 10pm. It’s after 10pm now and my brain is starting to become mush so this will be all for now! Pictures and more coming soon 🙂
Magandang gabi!
Jac in the Philippines 