Sticky, Tired and Happy

Mabuhay all!

Before I begin, I want to inform you that after a very tiresome 28 hours of traveling (SFO >> Tokyo >> Manila>> Cavite), Group 271 has finally made it to the Philippines! Despite the long trip, we made it in one piece and with absolutely no complications.

I don't want to jump the gun quite yet so I'll begin by telling you of "Staging" in San Francisco (Friday July 6). Staging is a one day orientation that gives trainees a broad overview of the Peace Corps' missions and goals with the intent of preparing you for a successful service. It was basically a common sense workshop on how your actions can influence your performance over the 27 months period. We were reminded to make good choices and be aware of our duty as ambassadors. Anyway, the long staging was followed by some quality time with the people I love most. The last hurrah was a just what I wanted, a calm evening one filled with good friends and good food. Thank you again Alex, Andy, and Lizzie for making my last in the States a memorable one. I won't describe too much about the tears that were shed but regardless, your support will be what helps me through my service, so many thanks for that last pep talk. ;-)

The butterflies fluttering about in my stomach didn't let me sleep much and I was up every hour wondering about what good things were to come. Soon enough 6 am rolled around and my roommate Allie and I were chattering and preparing our bags to check out. An hour later we met the rest of the group down in the lobby with their travel backpacks bursting at the seams. We loaded the buses and we were off to SFO. There really wasn't much excitement at the airport so I'm skipping this part. I'll just jump to our 12 am registration at the International Training Institute for Rural Construction in Cavite just outside of Manila. This training site resembles that of an old rusty looking resort. However, the foliage and landscape is incredible and the bugs are welcoming to say the least. Allie and I checked into our room and found a new little friend waiting for us, a very scorpioneque looking spider. The initial freak out led us to inspect the bathroom and sheets and wardrobes and anywhere else we thought these little friends could be coming from. After a labor intensive shower of filling buckets and crouching over the faucet in the shower, I curled up and fell asleep to the sounds of Filipino crickets chirping away.

The next morning began bright and early with breakfast starting at 6 am. The eggs and rice and lettuce with tomatoes that was being served was heaven in comparison to Delta Airlines' god awful meals. I loaded up my plate and gorged. My fellow peers poured into the cafeteria and between the eating and "where are you froms" it was time to begin our first day of Pre-Service training. Day 1 was exhausting and Day 2 (today) wasn't any different. Today we had workshops on how to mail stool samples to the Peace Corps Medical Office in Manila, the importance of taking our designated Malaria pills and prophylactics on a weekly basis, and discussed the many areas of the Medical Handbook. We also got a wonderful visit from the Country Director of the Philippines and 2 officials from the United States Embassy (Manila) and a representative from US AID informing us of the role Peace Corps has played and currently plays in the Philippines.

We ended the day with an adventure to the local mall, which by the way is the biggest mall I've been too in my life. We loaded the "jeepney",  a communal taxi , and headed off. (I will posy a video of the jeepney ride.) The mall was like stepping back into America. Tweens with ice cream and boba tea in hand giggled about and McDonald's was flooded with people getting their Tuesday night hamburger. It was colorful and clean and all of the shops were wittily named.  Allie and I and some of the other group members walked about and enjoyed some local cuisine, pearl tea and pork and shrimp siomai was tonight's meal and I enjoyed every second of it. Our time at the mall ended rather quickly and before we knew it, we were back in the jeepney venturing back to our outdated barracks.

The gang.

 Japan.

 Fresh off the plane.

 The tropics are awesome!

The pineapple grove in front of our training room. :D

 Some relative of the Bird of Paradise I presume.

Spidey/Scorp (below)

   

My roommate Allie and I on the jeepney.

 The gigantic sized mall in Cavite.

The delicious Simoi I had for dinner.

So here I am, finally able to blog to you all. I hope you weren't too bored by the details. Tomorrow we are all informed of our site training and I will definitely keep you all very well informed of my placement the next 11 weeks. My bucket shower awaits! Talk to you all very soon. Please feel free to email me, facebook, or skype me and I will gladly reply.

Best of the best,
KP!