Saturday, September 18, 2010

Chika-Chika

Hello everyone!

I had my first official co-teaching experience on Thursday with a first-year class in Iloilo City National High School.  It went well for the most part, although my co-teacher and I could have used a little bit more time to plan.  We covered the different sounds that can be made with the letter "a" in the English language.  The students seemed to enjoy hearing the words pronounced with an American accent, and for most of them it was a new experience for them to practice English with a native speaker.  At the end of the class period we had the students play a "pass the message" game, which is the same as the game "telephone" in the U.S. In small groups, the students were given messages which they had to whisper down the line until the last group member heard it, and would have to tell everyone what they had heard.  Once the students understood their instructions, they had a lot of fun repeating the sentences, but had a hard time remembering them, and by the time it got to the last person, the message usually was very different from what it had originally been.

The game of "pass the message" is actually a good representation of the way news and gossip spread around communitites in the Philippines.  This concept is called "chika-chika," meaning everyone knows just about everything about each other's lives.  But, like "pass the message," the story tends to change along the way.  And for us Peace Corps Trainees in Iloilo City, the effect is doubled, because we tend to stick out as the only Americans in the neighborhood.  Additionally, most of our host families know each other or are related, and the PCTs are a favorite topic of discussion.  So, I get a lot of questions about my co-trainees and I heard all about how Leanna is a vegetarian and Andrew hadn't done his laundry yet.
Meanwhile, info about me gets passed around too, so when I go to language class on weekday mornings, I hear, "So, Kelsey, my host family tells me how much you looooove milkfish!"

"Um... yeah it's pretty good."

"Well at dinner yesterday the main topic of discussion was how much you love it!"

Or

"Kelsey, I heard your family was coming to visit in about a month! I didn't know the Peace Corps allowed that!"

When in reality I had just mentioned the likelihood of my family visiting at some point during my two-year service.  Of couse, chika-chika doesn't just take place among the host families.  The two education clusters in Iloilo tend to have a LOT of spare time between sessions, which we spend reading, playing cards, playing cell phone games, and discussing other trainees.  Who has gone home already? Who has gotten sick? WHO already has a Filipina girlfriend???  But, you know, it's all just chika-chika! 

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Visit to the Farm!

Hello again from Iloilo!  Last Sunday my host family took me, and two other PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) to their family's farm near Lambunao, a smaller town a bit further inland.  It was a 1.5-hour ride through beautiful countryside before we got to the farm.

These are some pictures of the group that went with us, in the jeepney.  My host mom is in the back, with my 5-year old host cousin, Kyle in the middle, and our great-auntie in the front.  She used to live alone in the country house we visited, but has recently been living with us in the city, due to health concerns about her living alone.


My host "uncle," Nonoy, is on the left.  He's Kyle's father and is very friendly and talkative.  Sean, on the right, is another Peace Corps trainee in Iloilo.


On the left is Dart, another "host cousin," and my host brother Michael is on the right.


Me with two other PCT's, Andrew on the left (Dart is his host brother) and Leanna on the right.


The church in Lambunao.  Most of the churches I've seen are Spanish colonial-style, like this one.


The scenery in the countryside is absolutely beautiful.  These are the rice paddies.


Moving forward in a parade of umbrellas.  Many people in the Philippines use umbrellas for shade because the sun is so intense.  Makes sense!  In this picture you can also see that rice paddies have raised dirt pathways that you can walk on.  It was around this time that Sean fell into the rice paddy and got mud all over is feet and hands!  I don't think he'll ever be able to live that one down.  I guess he just wanted to get "up close and personal" with the main food source of the Philippines...



Behind the family's house there was a huge hill covered in forest.  So we decided to climb it...


Turns out it was incredibly steep and slippery!  You can see the guys ahead of us in this picture, which gives you a little more of an idea of how steep it was!  I had to grab on to vines to keep climbing, and I almost fell into Leanna once!  But we all made it!



Baby goats!  They were really cute.  I almost wanted to take one home.



This is a carabao, the Philippine water buffalo.


Here's one more bonus picture of Kyle, sa balay (at home).


I'll update you all again soon!  Until then, halong!  (Take care!)

Friday, September 3, 2010

From Illinois to Iloilo

Maayong aga sa Iloilo City, Pilipinas!!! (Good morning from Iloilo City, Philippines!)


I've been with my host family for just over a week now, and they are wonderful! So nice and welcoming! In fact, just about everyone I've met in the Philippines has been really friendly and hospitable, in true Filipino tradition! There are several extended family members living in the house, including some younger kids. I'm really having fun with them! There's a 5-year old boy here who is really cute- his name is VonKyle. He seems to notice everything about me and is always by my side, wondering what I'm doing. I'm going to miss him when I go to my permanent site! I'm very busy here, between Pre-Service Training and adjusting to the major life changes I'm making here. I'm getting used to hot weather, insects in the house, rice three times a day, washing my clothes by hand, and non-flushing toilets.

Here's an example of an experience in the Philippines. Last night I had a run-in with the biggest spider I have ever seen!!! I was about to take a shower, when I saw a large black CREATURE on the wall. I put my glasses back on, and it turned out to be a spider about twenty times the size of any spider you might find in Frankfort. Seriously, a big spider at home does not even compare with a big spider in the Philippines! My normal strategy of trapping it under a cup wouldn't work because I could never fit the whole spider under a cup! Then it scurried with lightening reflexes under the soap shelf. I was afraid to try and kill it, because... what if it didn't die? It would probably jump at me and attack my face! I decided to use my secondary strategy of avoidance, and proceeded to take my whole shower without going any nearer to the spider than I had to and not taking my eyes off it. After I left the bathroom and came back after a minute to check, it had disappeared. Typical... At least I haven't woken up with a cockroach on my face, like some volunteers. My mosquito net is my friend. :)

Anyway, other than avoiding large insects, I'm also keeping busy with my Pre-Service Training. I am learning to speak Hiligaynon (slowly but surely), and on Tuesday I will start observing an English classroom with my co-teacher, Dexie! I really like her so far. She's close to my age and seems happy to have me there! The following week I will begin co-teaching with her! I'm nervous, but very excited! Wish me luck! I'll update you again soon!