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Week 3: Cookout & V2/Community Project (August 3 – August 9)

We continued to have language and training sessions everyday. This week we focused on V2 and preparing to implement the selected community project (singing and dancing workshop). The youth leaders we identified would mostly be in charge of facilitating the workshop and we would be there to assist. Our main activity for the week was a cookout we did per language group. However, my technical group decided to have the cookout together instead of by language group because we were so used to eating together everyday. We planned which language group would be in charge of cooking what and then made a list of the ingredients we needed to buy. We decided to make a trip to Balanga (the closest city, about 30-45 minutes away from Bagac) so we could practice using the jeepneys and buying at the palengke (market). We went to Balanga on Thursday and spent the first part of the morning buying ingredients. I was in charge of buying onions, garlic, condensed milk, and graham crackers. Some of the ingredients we had to get at the local mall in Robinson's. Once we had successfully bought our assigned ingredients, we went to the mall to get the rest of the ingredients and have some time for personal shopping. Adam and I decided to walk around and we found a little coffee shop. It turned out that the owner used to be a host mother for a PCT a few years ago. After getting some coffee, we decided to check out the World War II museum that was nearby. We took a trike to Balanga Elementary School because the museum was located in the back of the lot. We walked through the school until we reached the museum. We met some nice women who were excited that Americans were visiting and were impressed by the little Tagalog we could speak. We got a private tour from two of the women. We learned more about what happened in the Philippines during WWII and the Bataan Death March. We would have liked to spend more time but we had to get back to the mall to meet up with our cluster so we could return to Bagac.

Instead of language on Thursday, we went to Ate Eva's house which she shared with Ate Shirley, another LCF so we could better learn cooking vocabulary. Their staff house was near NPC, just in the row of houses across the street from NPC's entrance. Liza's husband, Tim, joined our cookout and helped prepare our lunch. Ate Eva, Kuya Joefil, and Kuya Jes were all showing us how to prepare the different dishes. We all helped with the preparation for each dish: dicing, slicing, cutting, chopping, and mixing. Ate Eva, Kuya Joefil, and Kuya Jes did the actual cooking. We made chicken adobo, seafood curry, grilled fish, arroz caldo, Bikol express (two ways: one with shrimp and one with tofu), crab, buko salad, mango float, and rice (of course).  Once we finished everything, everyone had to take pictures before we could eat. We ate shortly after and were joined by some other PC staff who were visiting. It was all delicious but my favorite was the seafood curry because it was nice and spicy.

Saturday was the implementation of the community project. We had met with the youth leaders throughout the week to help prepare them for the workshop. We divided into two groups: singing and dancing. I worked with the dancing group. They led some warm-up stretches and then began teaching moves to a dance they could present after lunch. The whole morning was spent practicing and making up moves, only interrupted by merienda and then lunch. After lunch, it was time to present what each group had been working on. The singing group went first and sang two songs, one in English and one in Tagalog. The Tagalog song was “Ikaw” and the English song was “Let It Go” from Frozen. The dance group performed their dance up until the second chorus of the song because that was all that they had choreographed. Both groups did a wonderful job and had lots of fun. After the workshop was finished, I went home to change into a swimming suit and then join some others at the pool at NPC to swim for a bit and cool down.

Week 4: Mt. Samat & Training of Trainers (August 10 – August 16)

Our training for this week helped us prepare to train our youth leaders to co-facilitate sessions during the upcoming youth camp. We worked with them to decide a theme for the youth camp and decided upon “Let's Get Physical” which would have four stations that addressed four different life skill areas relating to physical well-being. I was paired with Stacie and we worked with four youth leaders: Louise, Lovelyn, KC, and Patricia, all really wonderful young ladies who are great youth leaders (the youngest being only nine years old!). We would focus on oral hygiene and why it is important. Stacie made big fake teeth out of paper and I made a big fake toothbrush that we could use to demonstrate and have our participants practice proper brushing techniques. For training of trainers we only worked with our youth leaders and focused on good presentation skills as well as the information about oral hygiene. We then had each group do a practice run in front of the other groups at the end of the workshop. Each group did a great job for their first time presenting the information. It was also Charli's birthday that Saturday and the youth leaders made her a little bouquet of flowers and sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. After finishing the training, I went again with some other trainees to swim at NPC before heading home and resting the rest of weekend.

Out language and culture field trip this week on Friday was to Mt. Samat, a memorial for those who lost their lives during the Bataan Death March in WWII. The main feature of Mt. Samat is the giant memorial cross at the top of the mountain which also has an elevator and stairs for people to go to the cross section. The LCFs had arranged for a couple of jeepneys to take all of us up to the mountain in the morning. As we got closer, the road began to get steeper and curvier and we were surprised when both jeepneys managed to make it to the parking area at the gate. We then had to continue to walk to the first memorial, an open building with three beautiful stained-glass windows in the middle and the story of the memorial written on the two walls at the sides. From this vantage point, we could see all around and the valleys of Bataan. On one side was another, larger mountain. A few of us went into a small room to the side of the memorial and went down the spiral stairs to the WWII museum. There was a scaled replica of Bataan with colored lights representing Filipino and Japanese troops during the war. Also in the museum were artifacts from Filipino, Japanese, and American troops and pictures of war-torn Philippines.

CYF was divided into three groups, our technical clusters. Each cluster lived in a different barangay, or neighborhood, in Bagac which were all near each other. My cluster lived and worked in Barangay Tabing-Ilog. The other two main barangays are Ibaba and Atilano Ricardo with a few people living in Pag-Asa. Tabing-Ilog means “by the river” because we lived very close to the river. Near my house, there were many rice fields which are very beautiful, especially in the morning and at sunset.

Pre-Service Training (PST) began with the whole sector making courtesy calls at the municipal hall, social work office, and barangay halls. First impressions are very important in Filipino culture and making courtesy calls are required when you are a new resident, especially when you work in the barangay like Peace Corps. We all met up at the municipal hall as a sector for introductions. Everyone went up by barangay to introduce themselves in Tagalog. After introductions, we met with the social workers from the social work office. Next, we went to the barangay hall in Tabing-Ilog to meet and introduce ourselves to the barangay captain and the other barangay hall workers. My cluster also stopped by the barangay hall in Pag-Asa since we had two trainees live there.

Weekly Schedule:

Our overall schedule for every week during PST included language every morning from 8 am until 12 pm and technical sessions in the afternoon until 5 or 5:30 pm. We had small language groups with a maximum of five trainees in each. Two language groups made up the technical cluster. My language teacher (LCF, Language Culture Facilitator) was Ate Eva and in my class were Adam, Jackie, Liza, and Mallory. The other language group was taught by Kuya Joefil and had Charli, Paige, Stacie, and Terry. Every Friday we would have one-on-one sessions with our respective LCF to go over bi-weekly self-assessments and practice for the Language Proficiency Interview (LPI) by speaking, answering questions, and performing role plays in Tagalog. The LPI is mandatory for all volunteers and the benchmark is Intermediate-Mid to be able to learn the local language of our site. Trainees who do not pass the LPI must continue to learn Tagalog for an additional two weeks before having a second LPI. The LPI is not held until right before Site Placement Reveal, towards the end of training.

We would be in our separate classes in the morning and then work together for technical sessions after lunch. Our Technical Cultural Facilitator (TCF), Kuya Jes, led us for all of our training and activities. Every Friday we had medical sessions and vaccinations. Saturdays were when we implement our activities with the youth and Sundays were our rest days to spend with our host families.

Week 1: Water Safety Training (July 20 – July 26)

The first week was spent getting used to our new schedule. My technical cluster met at NPC D-17 while other clusters met at other houses Peace Corps has rented for staff members. Our afternoon sessions this week went over safety and security and record keeping in addition to more details about Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA). On our first Saturday, all of the sectors went to Mabayo, Morong for water safety training. It was nice to see everyone again even it if had only been a week. We started with wearing our bright orange, Peace Corps-issued life vests to practice safety and rescue moves on the sand. Then it was time to break up into small groups to go on some boats. We were taken out to open water to practice getting in the water and getting back on the boat. My group-mates were all successful. The water was nice and refreshing but incredibly salty. We all wanted to stay in the water longer but we had to get back so the next wave of groups could go out to practice. When we got back to shore, it was time for merienda. There were fried bananas on sticks and some locals were cutting coconuts for everyone to drink. I got my own coconut but couldn't finish it.

After merienda, we were allowed to swim in the water. I went with a small group to swim in deeper waters. The water was warmer than my showers at my host family's house and the sand was soft. We swam for a while before a handful of people were stung by jellyfish. We went back to shore in time for lunch. Some of the host families from Mabayo prepared lunch for all of us and it was delicious! There was so much food and everyone was having a good time talking with each other. After lunch, there were rumors of ice cream nearby. I went with Jackie to investigate and we found an ice cream cart, which locals refer to as dirty ice cream. This is not because it is dirty but because you can only choose between the two flavors they are selling that day. They were selling banana and chocolate and I got a small cone with both flavors for 10 pesos. The vendor layered the small scoops on the sugar cone ending up with three scoops of each flavor. After coming back from eating the ice cream, Kuya Jes flagged the vendor down and had him move his cart closer to our building so everyone else could get some. Once people started to meander towards the ice cream, I went out to the floating cabana in the shallow part of our beach. Others were sitting around the picnic table in the middle and talking while watching others play in the sand and swim in the water. I stayed there until it was time to say goodbye to the other sectors and head back to Bagac. The rest of the weekend was spent resting and exploring Bagac.

Other trainees had discovered the local bar, Manifesto, which had more of a cafe atmosphere but served alcohol (albeit more expensive than the surrounding sari-saris). It was located in the main part of Bagac with the plaza/basketball court to one side and the local palengke (market) on the other. It was also popular with the trainees because it had free WiFi. Around the corner we discovered a small pizza shop called Lots-a Pizza. We would order pizza and the young man who worked there, RR, would deliver it to our seats at Manifesto. The pizza reminded me of warm Lunchables pizza but became a nice treat every once in a while especially since pizza isn't as common in the Philippines as it is in the US and tends to be expensive.

Week 2: Dinner with the Mayor, PACA, & Las Casas (July 27 – August 2)

This week in technical was spent preparing for our first activity with the local youth, PACA. We had started to settle into a routine with our PC schedule and host families. My technical cluster, since we stayed at the main staff house in NPC, ate lunch there everyday and fed the stray cats leftovers. We started to name some of the regulars: Pusa (meaning 'cat' in Tagalog; her former name was Tsika-Tsika which means 'chat' or 'gossip' in Tagalog because she meowed the most; she was also pregnant and had her kittens just before we left Bagac), Skinny Pusa (a cat that looked like Pusa but was not pregnant and did not meow as much), Papaya (a small orange and white kitten), Muffin (a brown and black spotted cat), and X (a big, black cat that looked like a mini-panther). Others that came later that we named were Squirrel (a gray kitten with a small break at the end of his tail) and Alvin (a kitten that looked like Squirrel but had a straight tail). (By the end of training there were about 20 cats who stayed outside the staff house and always waited for us to give them food)

The Friday of that week, our sector was invited to dinner with the Mayor of Bagac at his newly opened farm restaurant. We all met at the municipal hall to ride the van to the farm. Now, I have to tell you, I walked all the way to the municipal hall (about a 30 minute walk) to catch the van which then proceeded to drive by my house on the way to the farm. I was mildly irritated since I was sweaty from walking to the municipal hall but could only laugh at the situation. The van could only take nine people at a time, so we arrived to the farm in waves. It was already dark when I arrived but the area was warmly lit and lanterns were in the surrounding trees. We walked up to the open seating area to claim a table and seat before standing in line to get our dinner (buffet-style). In the back area there was a billiards table and a bar near the food line. A three-piece band was playing live music in front of the bar. It was an open-bar so there was a line almost all night. Dinner was delicious with different seafood, meats, and vegetables. Waiters and waitresses came around to give us (non-alcoholic) drinks and make sure we had everything we needed. The mayor and some others were sitting at a high table near the buffet, talking and laughing. Everyone took time enjoying the food and drinks while some played billiards. Towards the end of the evening, some of the trainees went up to sing a few songs with the band. We started to leave in small groups in the van. I left in one of the early groups and got home around 10 pm (I had Kuya Manny, the van driver, drop me off at the road near my house instead of going all the way back to the municipal hall).

The following day, we had our first official facilitation with the youth. Most of the youth participants were from 4P's families (families in poverty who receive government assistance and must attend family and youth development sessions) who lived in my area, Sitio Aqui. Each technical cluster worked in different locations and focused on youth from their respective barangays. We were able to use St. Agnes Institute of Bagac (a local Christian school; my host brother, DM, attended school there) because Adam's host family lived there and his host nanay was the founder and principal. It is located near the barangay hall of Tabing-Ilog. Our cluster had almost 40 youth participants. We split them up into four groups based on age and rotated through three rooms with the last room doing a fourth session. The half-hour sessions in each room focused on a Community Map first, Seasonal Calendar second, Daily Schedule third, and Needs Assessment last. In each group, the youth were divided by males and females to get a sense of different perspectives of their community. The youth first drew maps of their community which helped highlight what places they considered important in their community. After the groups rotated rooms, they began to make a Seasonal Calendar. This was to help us learn more about what happens in this particular community in each month: which holidays were celebrated, when school was, when parents may have more or less work, weather, and important days for the youth. The last rotation focused on the youths' daily schedules to help us see what their typical day was like and when the best time to meet up with them would be. After completing their schedules, we asked them to think about something they wanted to do for their community to help make it even better. This would determine the community project we would implement. The previous year's community project was for the parents and they decided to create a community garden (which is still there). Once the boys and girls came up with a list of projects, we had them narrow it down to one idea from each to present to the larger group. They chose repairing their basketball court in Sitio Aqui and selling crafts and baked goods. Once we got back into the large group, we wrote the six total ideas on poster paper and gave each youth two stickers to vote for their two favorite ideas. This narrowed the choices down to three ideas: repairing the basketball court, a singing and dancing workshop, and another garden. We voted again using a different method and repairing the basketball court was the winner. However, the following week we learned that the Mayor was already planning on repairing the basketball court, so we went with the second choice: singing and dancing workshop.

I was the second trainee my family had hosted, but I was the first who stayed the entire training. The previous trainee went back to the US after one month of training because of homesickness.

They live in an orange house near the rice fields in Sitio Aqui, near Tabing-Ilog. During the week, only four of us stayed in the house but three more joined us Friday nights until Monday mornings. This is because they own a cashew factory that makes cashew cookies, cashew butter, and other cashew products and they own the sari-sari (little store) below the factory. The store is located near the palengke (market) down the same street as Manifesto (the local bar). During the week, Ate Marivic, Kuya Don, and my little host brother, DM, stayed at the house. Ate Marivic and Kuya Don are married and are both 28 years old. DM is their five-year-old son and Ate Marivic is pregnant with their second son who is due in October. Kuya Don's mother, Nanay Raquel, stays at the store with two of her daughters, Donna (23 years old) and Doris (21 years old). They all work at the store and help with the cashew products. Nanay Raquel's other daughter, Daisy, is currently living and working in Dubai. Donna left earlier this month (September) to also look for work in Dubai.

My family is always busy and hard-working. They travel almost everyday to Balanga (the nearest city; about 30 minutes away), Pampanga (the next province north of Bataan), or to Manila (about 3 hours without traffic) to deliver their products or to attend conventions. Because of this, Ate Marivic and Kuya Don usually came home later at night, so I would be home alone after technical sessions until they returned. I would come home, take a tabo (a dipper for the toilet and bathing; I also looked forward to the cold water since it was also hot and I was always sweaty from walking home) and work on my language homework until they came home and prepared dinner. After dinner, I would have Ate Marivic help correct my language homework or we would talk, sometimes about the differences between the Philippines and the US.

My family are also extremely generous and caring, always making sure I had enough to eat and that I had everything I needed. They gave me one of each of their products in my room when I arrived which I shared with the other trainees. Every morning, Ate Marivic sent me to class with a huge baon (packed food) for morning merienda, usually fruit, cookies or cake, and crackers. For lunch, Ate Marivic or her cousin would deliver my lunch to NPC, fresh and hot. When they would come home from Balanga, Manila, or another city, they would bring pasalubong (little gifts) for me, usually food.