young love

My love for the Philippines is young and hopeful.  Idealistic about the future, full of vision and passion.  I’m waiting for the bubble to burst as I know it will.  It always does at some point, but then the strong bond begins to form. 

I feel I should document this love affair while it’s still fresh, before it gets difficult.

So, I have no idea how to teach and I know nothing about the English language let alone how to learn another language.  This is a bit discouraging from time to time and I get a but worried that I will fail miserably at whatever it is there is to fail at.  But these fears and worries are always fleeting thoughts. 

There is a difference between thought and feeling.  For me thoughts are dangerous while feelings are clear and lead me to what is right.

By this I mean, yesterday I was frustrated and worried coming from an intense training session about a program we are running in a week.  I have no idea how to do what I’m supposed to do etc. 

In the Philippines typhoons seem to be a pretty common part of monsoon season. I have yet to successfully differentiate between typhoons and torrential downpours and floods and any other possible tropical storm involving wind and water.  I do know though that there have been a few typhoons since I’ve been here and we are supposed to have two tomorrow (they sound a lot scarier than they actually are…it seems the U.S. news only shows the ones that are deadly and rare but they’re pretty common features in tropical life).  With monsoon season/typhoons come great flooding. 

Yesterday I was walking home from  the above mentioned session of frustration and panic when I literally felt as if I was in a bollywood movie.  It was as if the world stopped while I was standing in high waters filled with feces and garbage (just two days earlier we had a 2 hour lecture explaining  the various worms and other parasites we will get while we’re here from said feces and garbage), and someone turned on the “good feelings” you feel when watching a happy movie as the two lovers are reconnected despite all odds.  The music starts and the bollywood back up dancers appear from the most obscure locations just to take part in the celebration of this beautiful relationship. 

There were, of course, no back up dancers or colors or songs or lovers meeting after years and wars of separation, but there was me with sagging jeans due to the weight of dirty water in the middle of street in the middle of the Philippines.  As I was walking I just kept laughing because I was so happy that I had the opportunity to walk through those waters even though I knew I should be concerned about the parasites I’m sure to be infested with.  I passed by a man showering in the rains, several children splashing in the water, trike drivers huddled under the sari-sari shop tin roofs and everything was right with the world. 

It’s also gotten to the point where I’m starting to recognize people.  It used to take me ten minutes to walk to my classes, now I need to leave between 20 and 30 minutes before I’m supposed to be at class because neighbors want to talk and the trike drivers are the trike stand on 12^th want to talk and the kids who live on the road without a name want to know the next time I’ll be at school and the sate guys ask me how my night was and the clothes-washing mothers want to wish me a good day. 

There’s also Connie.  When I was in Indonesia I was sure I was going to have no friends.  I got there and knew no one and for several days, almost a week, was completely alone (I didn’t speak the language and I was the only one in my program).  Then I stumbled into an ice cream shop and met a wonderful woman, Rinrin, who became my first Indonesian friend.  I remember the afternoon after our first conversation and how thrilled I was to have a friend.  It was the greatest feeling in the world.  I’m a bit dramatic and those first few days of isolation, despite being surrounded by millions, literally, of people, were really depressing.  Then, once I met Rinrin, everything turned around.  I had someone to talk to and laugh with and sit with and eat with and debate with etc. 

The other day I was walking and this woman shouted out to me, in perfect English, asking where I was going. I told her and it turned out she had lived in Canada for 20 years and hten returned to Olongapo to take care of her aging mother.  She has a little shop and she has invited me to visit so she can help me with my Tagalog.  The day of my bollywood flood experience I passed by her shop and that feeling of having a friend reemerged.  Sure, I have PC friends and my host family, but this is a friend I just met.  Its one of those friendships that makes you feel rooted in a place.  It just came naturally.  The universe orchestrated it to help you.

And there are the teachers at Kalalake National Highschool.  I’m doing my training at KNHS so the other day I packed my lunch so I could stay for the teachers lunch period and get to know them.  It was such a fun hour and it made me really excited to continue to get to know these gossiping fun-loving teachers who struggle with the things that we’ve learned greatly affect the Philippines (gambling husbands and not enough money etc).  They are eager to teach me about teaching as well as about their culture, but I’m most excited just to learn about them and their lives.  How they are able to laugh and celebrate despite some of the sad stories they shared with me.

Then there is Charles.  Me and Charles are still in the “getting-to-know-you” stage of things.  A character to say the least.  So my buddy Charles was in my room to greet me upon my arrival.  I don’t think he was too used to humans being in his space so he quickly darted back into the wall.  Since then though I think he has increased curiosity about me and my doings, so he is becoming a bit more social we could say.  I think he thinks it’s a game.  He is always where I want to be or on what I need to use.  I think he has my routine down as well as any giant cockroach can memorize a human routine.  I’ve been trying to catch the guy so I can release him outside but he’s just too quick.  Every now and then I’ll go a bit without seeing him then he’ll decide he needs to remind me he’s still around and isn’t getting enough attention so he will literally jump onto my arm, or head, or foot.  He just thinks it’s funny, and without fail every time I’m startled.  I don’t mind sharing my space with this giant fellow, but I really don’t want to be startled in the middle of the night with him on my face, so before I go to sleep I, out loud, say “Charles please don’t crawl on me or my bed tonight.  Please stay somewhat concealed so I’m not startled.”  While I have faith in his ability to understand and respect my wishes, I still pray that his inactivity at night continues or else I will have to increase my efforts to catch the guy.  But, like everything else, Charles is charming and it would be a little lonelier in my room with out him.  A lot of volunteers adopt cats and dogs but I can’t do that cause I’d be too sad to leave them behind.  A cockroach however I won’t be sad to leave behind but can treat him as my animal friend while I’m here. 

 

And, today was the first day I didn’t get lost.  And I bought rainboots. And I successfully said a few things in Tagalog to my host mom.  It’s the simple things that make me love this place.