Friday March 31, 2006
Well…Erin and I are both extremely excited because we are very close to finding out where our final placement will be. Our large group of 77 Peace Corps Trainees split into their respective “hub” sites this morning. Our hub site is referred to as the “Western Visayas.” Currently, we are on the island of Panay, just outside the city of Iloilo (pronounced, “Eeelo Eeelo”), and are very excited to continue with our training. Here’s what happened:
The 15 of us who were shipped to Western Visayas are pretty diverse; our ages, abilities and actual jobs vary, but we are all very excited. The Philippines is a deceptive country. On the surface, a lot of the amenities of western culture are widely available. There is an Ace Hardware in the shopping mall near our training center and NBA basketball is very popular here. However, while we may feel comfortable initially, we knew that we were in for a little change in culture once we left the training center early this morning..
Now, as per the American Way, almost all of us recruits decided to bring many aspects of America with us thousands of miles across the world to the Philippines, including a few who decided to smuggle what felt like actual kitchen sinks in their bags. Getting the bags on the bus and the ensuing bus ride to the airport from our training center was pretty easy-peasy…a lot of luggage, sure, but we got to ride in a large, modern, air-conditioned bus, complete with a short showing of some pretty funny Mr. Bean skits on the DVD player. However, once we got off the bus, we had to all take all of our bags past security 2 times before we could check them—no problem. We boarded our jet and the flight to Iloilo City was quick and efficient. The scenery gliding past under our windows was absolutely magnificent. Beautiful blue expanses of the Pacific intermingled with islands large and small. As we approached Iloilo City, the rolling, high mountains in the middle of the large island of Panay took our breath away. Upon landing, instead of the modern conveniences of jet ways and air-conditioned terminals afforded to us in Manila, we stepped off our plane directly onto the tarmac. After getting all 239,429,387 of our bags, instead of a bus, we took what is called a “jeepney” to our destination. In case you are not sure what exactly a jeepney is, picture a brightly painted old-time American military jeep with an extended, covered bed. The bed can fit about 10 Filipinos with knees drawn under chin, but Filipinos are generally a bit shorter than Americans, so imagine the love that exists in our group when we squeezed 15 Americans. We had so much stuff with us that we actually had to commadere 2 jeepneys—one for the people and one for the luggage. Along the route to our new training center, there were signs that remind drivers to “Please obey local traffic laws,” and after making the hair-raising journey, I would be interested to know exactly what those laws may be. The nipa huts and colorful stands selling everything possible under the sun whizzed by in a blur of motor bike fumes and sharp gasps as we passed and were passed by many vehicles. We did arrive safely, though, and scarffed down a hasty lunch of rice, chicken, beans and the juiciest, freshest fruit you could wrap your tongue around. Everything is justso gorgeous. Currently we are staying at a training center across the street from the aqua blue coast of the Sulu Sea. (Of course Erin and I already went swimming shortly after arriving). We begin our language lessons this week. There are three languages being taught in our region. The two of us will be learning Kinaray-a. By the end of the week will be moving in with our first host family. Keep us in your prayers; we love all you very much!