Pictures!

Hello again from the Philippines!  We had our water safety training day today, which consisted of practicing with our life jackets and getting in and out of a small boat while in the water.  Easy and painless.  It was nice to get out of the resort area and see the real Philippines, although the level of poverty we saw on the bus ride brought down the mood a little bit.  We spent the rest of the day at that beach until about 1pm.  Honestly, it was pretty dirty, although I had fun afterwards chatting with other trainees, singing videoke (there was a machine at the beach), playing cards and eating fresh coconut!  It was delicious and nothing like the coconut you buy at an American store.  Here's a few more photos from the resort we've been staying in.

One section of the resort is a 'fishing village,' which is very cool:

The weather changes VERY quickly here.  Usually the morning have been sunnier and we've been getting short, but intense storms later in the afternoon.

The poverty in the Philippines is pretty shocking.  I've only been here for a few days, but the area outside the resort is mostly slums and shantytowns.  You only have to cross a little river to get to them.  This is the other side of the river. I've seen a lot of places like this driving through the Philippines.  I've also seen a lot of large, expensive houses not too far away.

And this is what the other side of the river looks like:

On a lighter note, here's some pictures from some traditional Philippine dancing group that performed at dinner the other day.  One of my favorite dances involved people dancing between bamboo sticks, which other people would tap together.  It would get faster and faster with the music, and the dancers had to be very nimble to keep going!  Sorry the pictures are a little dark.

More to come!  xoxo

Arrived in the Philippines!

Hello everyone!  Welcome to the first post of my Peace Corps Philippines blog!

Here's just a little update to let you know what I'm up to and what my life will be like for the next 27 months!  (As much as I know, at least!)  More substantial posts will come later.

After a 20-hour flight (with a quick stop in the Tokyo airport), my group of about 82 education volunteers arrived in Manila at about 9:30 pm on Saturday night.  The rest of the volunteers arrived a little later, and our total Philippines group consists of about 140 people.  Other volunteers are Coastal Resource Management (CRM) and Children, Youth, and Family (CYF).  Education is by far the largest, because the Philippine government has just requested a large increase in volunteers to teach English.  We are now in a resort called "Island Cove" and have been VERY busy with sessions, immunizations, and getting to know other members of our large group.

 We've covered a lot of Peace Corps policy, basic safety, and some training by sector (which for me was a lot about educational policy here in the Philippines).  Tomorrow we have water training!  Which will include boat safety and what to do if a boat were to capsize.  The PC issues everyone life jackets, which we're supposed to have any time we're on a boat.  For anyone who's concerned about my safety here, the Peace Corps takes it very seriously and covers a lot about it during training.

I still don't know where I'll be going at the end of the week!  Thursday they will tell us where we are going for PC training for the next three months, and Friday we will leave.  I'll let everyone know as soon as I find out!  Pictures are also coming soon!

Initial Orientation (this first week in Manila) has been a whirlwind of information and busyness!  In many ways it's been very reassuring, because it really seems that Peace Corps will take good care of us regarding  cultural/language training, and the technical knowledge I need to be a teacher.  (They're also very good about safety and health).  Everyone I've met here has been fantastic, including the other trainees, current volunteers, and the Peace Corps staff.  I know that sounds like a hyperbole, but I swear it is the truth. The Peace Corps is such an important common ground that ties us all together.  I'm definitely feeling very anxious to find out where my training site will be and who I'll be working with.  The resort we're staying in is super nice, but I'm ready to get out of here and see the 'real' Philippines.  That's coming soon though!  More info soon!  Peace out!
-Kelsey