Magandang Gobi,
Howdy,
it feels as though time is melting away while i am sitting here talking to you all. I recently acquired a constant Internet connection which is great, i love the ease of always on, so unpeacecorpsish, but it is available, cheap and keeps me online. So one more weekend down after our usual link session, along with a couple of friends i saw two, not one, but two movies this weekend and let me tell you that watching movies here is an experience, people come and go throughout the movie and the theatres are often bigger than they need to be, but i saw Pirates 3 which was kind of lame and Shrek 3 which was awesome. Malls in this country are busier than malls back home during the holiday season and it is not even holiday season yet. Language learning is difficult but i am gradually beginning to speak the language. Not much new to report, i have posted photos from the Santa Cruzan Festival on my photo site which is www.mpopkin.smugmug.com
Pahalam
Monday, May 28, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Welcome the Shy King
Magandang Gobi ako sa ilyong lahat: Good Evening Everyone!
So yesterday i got a shocker of magnanimous proportions, we had a community event or festival which we were invited to participate in, it was the annual Santa Cruzan Festival, which goes on for the rest of may but we were invited to walk in the initial night, we dress in Traditional filipino clothes and walk with a community partner, i was through the manipulation of my host mom who knows that i have a girlfriend managed to make me the king of the festival, upon which i was placed with Miss Tarlac(actual city omitted) and i tried to have a friend take my place but my shying out was quickly discovered and i was then shuttled back into position, but i quickly let everyone know that i was taken and the seeming quiet that permeated the moment quickly made me uncomfortable, but besides being placed in a position that i did not want, i felt that i did not want to be seen for what i am not, an available man and moreso an available american(the stories are true folks, we are often seen as tickets to a visa to the US), but after the momentary silence lapsed we set off around the barangay which was actually very big and despite sweating profusely, had a good time, my host mom and sister came out to wish me luck and gave me water while i was walking, and then before you knew it, the event was over, my first festival that i have been in here makes me feel very good and i have already seen signs that i have been accepted by the culture and my host family, my family jokes with me all the time(i am the butt end of their jokes) and the townspeople go out of their way to greet me in Tagalog instead of english and actually know my name, which is great. Well take care and enjoy this colorful story because i have to say i do not plan on being king again any time soon
Pahalam Balam Ako( bye see you later)
So yesterday i got a shocker of magnanimous proportions, we had a community event or festival which we were invited to participate in, it was the annual Santa Cruzan Festival, which goes on for the rest of may but we were invited to walk in the initial night, we dress in Traditional filipino clothes and walk with a community partner, i was through the manipulation of my host mom who knows that i have a girlfriend managed to make me the king of the festival, upon which i was placed with Miss Tarlac(actual city omitted) and i tried to have a friend take my place but my shying out was quickly discovered and i was then shuttled back into position, but i quickly let everyone know that i was taken and the seeming quiet that permeated the moment quickly made me uncomfortable, but besides being placed in a position that i did not want, i felt that i did not want to be seen for what i am not, an available man and moreso an available american(the stories are true folks, we are often seen as tickets to a visa to the US), but after the momentary silence lapsed we set off around the barangay which was actually very big and despite sweating profusely, had a good time, my host mom and sister came out to wish me luck and gave me water while i was walking, and then before you knew it, the event was over, my first festival that i have been in here makes me feel very good and i have already seen signs that i have been accepted by the culture and my host family, my family jokes with me all the time(i am the butt end of their jokes) and the townspeople go out of their way to greet me in Tagalog instead of english and actually know my name, which is great. Well take care and enjoy this colorful story because i have to say i do not plan on being king again any time soon
Pahalam Balam Ako( bye see you later)
Monday, May 21, 2007
Magandang Umaga(Good Morning),
Another post, another day,.
So today we got to take a courtesy call of our municipality which is in Tarlac Province and met the Mayor, the Police Chief and our local Barangay Captain, Barangays are living communities that are represented by a captain who looks out for the interests of those she or he represents, but the Philippines is a matriarchal society and the barangay captains are often women which is impressive. Other than that the rainy season has sort of started with daily rains and cooler weather which is nice. Food here is great, you have all the same varieties of food found in the US coupled with great filipino food from Adobo chicken to Eggplant, and for those who are interests Mangoes abound as it is mango season, so sweet and cheap they fall off trees in our families compound and we eat them for breakfast. though i find them to sweet, it is a solid and healthy food. well take care
sige babay( ok, bye)
Another post, another day,.
So today we got to take a courtesy call of our municipality which is in Tarlac Province and met the Mayor, the Police Chief and our local Barangay Captain, Barangays are living communities that are represented by a captain who looks out for the interests of those she or he represents, but the Philippines is a matriarchal society and the barangay captains are often women which is impressive. Other than that the rainy season has sort of started with daily rains and cooler weather which is nice. Food here is great, you have all the same varieties of food found in the US coupled with great filipino food from Adobo chicken to Eggplant, and for those who are interests Mangoes abound as it is mango season, so sweet and cheap they fall off trees in our families compound and we eat them for breakfast. though i find them to sweet, it is a solid and healthy food. well take care
sige babay( ok, bye)
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Mabuhay! Welcome
welcome,
i have now been in the philippines for over a week and i am finally beginning to adjust and to fit in, it is really hard to adjust to a different culture, and Filipino culture is so nice and accepting that it can be a bit overwhelming at times, but my host family is very welcoming and is starting to help me adjust to the culture, its ways and i will hopefully create a routine that will make me comfortable, i have not been able to post pictures yet, but hopefully i will soon, it is very exciting here, i am going with a co volunteers host family to a mall in a nearby town today and that should be fun, training starts fully tomorrow and i will try to keep this blog updated, oh are families dog is expecting puppies later this week and that will be fun
Take Care
Sige Babay(goodbye)
i have now been in the philippines for over a week and i am finally beginning to adjust and to fit in, it is really hard to adjust to a different culture, and Filipino culture is so nice and accepting that it can be a bit overwhelming at times, but my host family is very welcoming and is starting to help me adjust to the culture, its ways and i will hopefully create a routine that will make me comfortable, i have not been able to post pictures yet, but hopefully i will soon, it is very exciting here, i am going with a co volunteers host family to a mall in a nearby town today and that should be fun, training starts fully tomorrow and i will try to keep this blog updated, oh are families dog is expecting puppies later this week and that will be fun
Take Care
Sige Babay(goodbye)
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Going online
I have been an active online member for years, but have yet to create a blog, here is the location for an online account of my travel in the Philippines while in the Peace Corp. just a month left !!!
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