It's more fun in the Philippines

The island of Bohol is our first Philippine experience.  It was clear we weren't in Thailand anymore because instead of temples, monks and chanting, we had crosses, churches and bells.  I cant lie, the catholicism is intense here-a little too much, but it was nice to see something more similar to home.  We walk around to find a cheap place to sleep and then find cheap philippino food.  One reason I love traveling with Erin is that her love of food is equal to mine causing us to eat a lot, talk about eating and always plan out the next meal.  Erin had done research about the local foods and was on a mission to eat as much of it as she could.  I joined in, but minimally as most food here has meat in it.  Needless to say I was a good cheerleader and picture taker for when Erin found something wild to eat.  We discovered canteens consisting of huge vats of food made in the morning and put out for you to choose what you want.  We had heard that food in the Philippines was nothing special, but we thoroughly enjoyed the many canteen meals we ate here.   We quickly realized that bakery's were also a big thing and we always seemed to find ourselves near one.  We felt it necessary to buy 4 different Philippino baked goods each day to share.  I know, it was a pretty brilliant idea! We ate this one thing that was made on the street: a pancake type thing, warm with melted cheese and sugar folded like a crepe.  AMAZING! We also went to a little off the beaten path beach and hung out with the local kids and a tattoo artist who gave us some home-made coconut rum. AMAZING!

It was quite hard to see the poverty, as in any city.  There were small children begging for food.  When I was in Cambodia, a young girl ripped a piece of corn out of my hand as I walked by her and then ran off.  Nobody did that in Bohol, but they were not afraid to tug on your shirt.  We had been warned about getting robbed and stuff and so I was afraid to give.  It's sad that I felt that way because it was really hard to walk away from them.  Sorry for the downer moment.....

With all the eating we do, exercise is necessary.  So when we looked at a map and realized the beautiful white sand beaches of Panglao Island were only 12 km from the city we were staying in, we figured we would get a good walk in and then relax all day on the beach.  We were told by the awesome staff guy, Vince, at our hostel that it was too far to walk but we blew it off.  We were used to Thai people who thought you were crazy to walk down the block, so we took Vince's warning as a Thai level warning of not threatening at all.  What we really wanted was to rent bikes, but they were IMPOSSIBLE to find.  Everybody told us to rent motorbikes, but we don't know how to drive one.  So walking it was and 2 hours later and about 15 pounds of water weight shed from sweating in the blistering heat, Erin and I realized Vince was right.  Somebody stopped to help us and said we still had 19 km to go.  We feared we would never dip our toes in the gorgeous water if someone didn't drive us there.  We knew there were jeepneys but the locals were saying we would have to wait long and we didn't want to pay obscene amounts of money for a motorcycle ride.  As a crowd of locals gathered to discuss our options, a jeepney comes on by!!!  We jumped right in thanking the locals for their help.  This was by far the best jeepney ride I've experienced.  That sucker was packed to the max, Erin was sitting on an inch wide bench somewhere in the middle and I had half a butt cheek on the seat bench, yet we kept on pickin people up.  Public transport here has a driver and a regulator, meaning a guy who collects the money, bangs a coin on the roof to tell the driver to stop, directs traffic and coordinates "seating" inside the jeepney.  They tend to be older bad ass men.  This regulator was no exception and I appreciated his skills to pack us all in like sardines sitting on top of each other. An hour later, yes, an hour later in a vehicle, we get to the beach.  It took a while, but we got there in true Philippino style and still enjoyed an afternoon at the beach....win-win.

The next day we go to the chocolate hills, what Bohol is most known for. It's basically a large hilly region that is brown in the dry season and look like chocolate kisses, hence the name the chocolate hills.  There is a legendary story that the hills were created when a large giant in the mountains lost his greatest love and the tears he cried for her formed the hills.  Pretty romantic.  As nice as the hills were, the most interesting part was the 2 hour bus ride there.  You know, they say "it's not the destination that counts, it's the journey" and I can't think of anything more true than that.  So, we get in the bus and the drive through the mountains is breathtaking.  It's open air bus so there's a roof, but no windows, so you can see everything.  It's a little scary going around those tight bends, but really worth it.  The bus eventually begins to fill up and the " regulator" is really working.  He's in, out, up climbing on the roof, down, banging the coin and shoving people in.  At one point, the bus gets so full that nobody else can get on.  Since this is impossible to allow, the "regulator" takes necessary action.  Him and i make eye contact at this point and he laughs in anticipation of what he's about to do.  He traverses the outside of the bus, like a monkey I swear, and then gets to my window and crawls 3/4 of his body inside.  He crosses over me and Erin to physically make the passengers one to fit in tighter.  It worked brilliantly as he got those passengers in.  People practically cheered as Erin and I got off, and I'm pretty sure it was because we freed up 2 seats!

It was our last night in Bohol, so we decided to hit the local philippino club and get busy on the dance floor.  We drank too much cheap philippino rum and hit the town.....but the 4ft tall bouncer wouldn't let us in because we were wearing flip flops. All these people are talking to the bouncer on our behalf trying to convince him to let us in but he was not budging.  So, this adorable gay couple tells us they are staying in that building and we could borrow a pair of their shoes just to get in....fabulous solution.  We go upstairs and are given very large and loud red and purple loafers.  So, we put them on (these are the times I wish I had a camera with me), looking like atrocious clowns, way worse than in the flops, and we get in! We put our flops back on immediately and eventually give the cuties their shoes back.  We are practically attacked when we enter the club as everybody wanted to dance with the Americans.  I had a young man tell me he loved me, which is apparently common here.....moving quick is an understatement!!  It was a fabulous evening as it always is when Erin and I go out.  Problem was that we got an hour of sleep, overslept and crazily rushed to catch our boat to the next island in the knick of time.  We were off to siqijour (pronounced sigi-whore....best name ever), the mystical island of witches for Holy Week.  We expected nothing less than interesting :)

First stop in the Philippines!!

*Please see facebook for pictures

Spain meets Asia and well, lets just say they liked each other.  That's what the Philippines is like to me.  Asian countries, people and culture are very unique and when you mix it with the Spanish flair, things get all sorts of fancy.  

I arrive in Clark airport, just north of the capital of Manila and meet my friend Erin who is waiting for me.  It's 4 am but we are so excited and have tons of energy.  We hop in a jeepney, which is the main mode of public transportation here.  Apparently the Philippino's made these bad ass trucks out of the jeeps left by the Americans.  They snazz them up, paint them, hang streamers, you name it...but at the end of the day, no 2 jeepneys are alike.  So we hop in one to go to the bus station to catch a bus to Manila.  Immediately, I feel a sense of ease as everybody speaks English.  We make it to Manila and head to a fast food place for a bathroom break .  On line, you can tell the employees are excited we are in their restaurant.  One young man of about 16 y/o comes up to me and says " good morning mum". I say good morning back but im a bit startled because I think he just called me mom.  I think maybe they use the term of endearment mami/papi that the Spanish use.  Well, everybody was super friendly and saying " good morning mum" all day and so I'd joke and say " good morning pop" until Erin told me they are saying ma'am.  I got a  good laugh and was officially in love with the people of the Philippines.

Anywho, from Manila we hop in another bangin jeepney to go to the port.  We really have no idea what we are doing but we knew we wanted beaches first and that Cebu province was a good start off point.  We walk a lot to get to the pier, end up walking all over the place to find the ticket booth for the boat ride we had both heard was 13 hours.  It felt hotter than it ever felt in thailand but we were too excited to care.  Yet, you can imagine my surprise when I was told the boat ride was 22 hours on this enormous ship that    left in 15 minutes.  Making the quick decision to go for it, Erin and I find ourselves in this little room in which the man escorting us said " this is where the Philippino's sleep".  Erin and I were the only 2 non-Philippino's on the boat (with the exception of 2 white men with their Philippina wives, but i don't count them) so we never were sure what he meant by that, but we rolled with it.  Mats were set up on the floor, as we liked to call it, refugee camp style....giving no offense to refugee camps.  We later found out we got the "last chance ticket" meaning they were sold out and gave us another chance so they threw us in this room with other passengers.  Erin and I actually loved this set up: it was big and spacious and there was air conditioning in our sleeping refugee camp....things we consider luxuries.  Perfect.

We spent the afternoon walking around the boat and relaxing when we came across the island fiesta room where we enjoyed some karaoke and discovered our meals were included....this boat was getting better and better!!  I met a really special young artist while looking at the brilliant sunset.  He was a deep thinker who was extremely insightful and it was apparent in his art work which he showed me.  We got into interesting conversation about the western influence that asithe Philippino's have embraced which make them a unique people and culture, but mainly about authentic Philippine culture and the preservation of it.  It was a wonderful welcome to the openness and warmth I would become accustomed to over the next 3 weeks.  English is so widely and fluently spoken that it was the first of many meaningful conversations to come.

We met many people on that boat trip who were curious about us and not all that intimidated to approach us and start a conversation.  What was most startling to us was that they were all men, and not in a creepy way.  Coming from Thailand where men and women did everything separately and a man would never approach us to talk, this was refreshing.  We left our new friends heading for the island of Bohol, causing us to immediately hop aboard our second of many boat rides, excited for what Bohol would bring

All good things must come to an end

*for pics please see Facebook

Leaving my village and my closest Thai friends and family was bittersweet, full of tears, hugs, love and many good luck celebrations.  these celebrations consisted of tieing white strings to whisk away the bad spirits and to bring on the good ones to provide luck, health, money and happiness.  Everybody wished for a boyfriend for me....and they made sure to wish for it quickly!! It's a very emotional ceremony in which you really feel the love and good wishes.  It was a wonderful last 2 weeks at site making my favorite Thai desserts, eating my favorite thai dishes, sharing good memories and enjoying the people who've become a significant part of my life over these last 2 years.  I've officially COS'ed, which means I've closed my service, although PC Thailand staff considers the acronym to mean " continuation of service " instead, encouraging us to consistently live our lives as volunteers who provide for our communities. I like that thought process as well, but I've decided to hold off on that for a few months and take advantage of being in SE Asia to travel.  

As Americans, the typical lifeline goes as follows: school, job, marriage, house and kids.  Very rarely do you meet Americans who take time to travel before/after school or work.  Largely because of the typical way of American life I described above, but also for other reasons including: Americans work too hard, cost of living is higher and so finances are often tight, too tight for extensive travel, and because we are so far away from most of the rest of the world. Americans are very fortunate in many ways and I feel lucky and blessed to be a citizen of a wonderful country, but this is one aspect I think puts us at a disadvantage, and something I hope changes. 

PC has exposed me to tons of opportunities I've been oblivious to and backpacking is one of them.  I've backpacked the appalachian trail and have travelled prior to PC but for short periods of time due to work and money restrictions.  Most of these travels included stuffing an over-sized suitcase with every pair of heels I own and too many outfits....."just in case!" Traveling like that is fun and a good work-out, but being a PCV I had to master the art of traveling light.  Travel in Asia is not as developed/ advanced and planes don't fit my volunteer budget, so lugging my crap all over the place in janky buses for 12+ hours on the regular taught me the lighter the better.  I've learned to travel for long periods of time with 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants (of course one cute dress as at least one good night of dancing gets thrown in the plans) and some other basic necessities.  Dealing with a little body odor becomes par for the course because there's no deodorant in the world that can control the sweat or its smell and a good shower isn't always available.....a hot shower being almost non-existent.  All this to save a few extra bucks to splurge on food as that is my priority!  I mean, I'm blessed that your tax dollars have supported my ass for 2 years but it certainly doesn't support anything lavish.  And so this is how I've learned to backpack, revel in the grossness and the fact that everybody else you associate with, both travelers and locals, are often just as gross and smelly as you!

So with that, im taking the next 3.5 months to travel before returning to 10% unemployment rates and being a 32 year old, unemployed woman living with my parents.  My first stop is the philippines, then vietnam, laos, burma and turkey for a good friends wedding.  I'll return to America on July 8th.  I'll be with my volunteer friend Erin in the Philippines and Marjie will join me for most of the travels.  We have no set plans because we have the beauty of flexibility instead.  I am quite self aware of my desire to plan, but I'm going to be winging the next few months and see what adventures come.   I'm so excited I can practically burst! Until then.....

A tough lesson

Throughout my service, teaching at the schools has been one of my favorite things to do.  The kids are excited, want to learn and it's rewarding for me to see positive outcomes.  As much as I love it, sometimes it's difficult as I'm teaching in a language that is not my native language and to say that discipline styles in Thailand are different is an understatement.  It's more accurate to say they don't exist here, so when I discipline (again in Thai), it can be very challenging.  I believe if a Thai teacher were in the room with me to help manage the classroom it'd be easier, but rather than working with me, they leave as soon as I get started as that gives them some time off.  So, I'm at it alone.

Typically, I can handle my own and we always end up reaching the ultimate goal of learning and having fun, but today I struggled with a particularly difficult class.  I was constantly disciplining, the students were hardly listening and talking throughout.  I attempted to tell 4 boys to leave, but they were in utter shock and we ended up having a staring contest for about 1 minute.  I cut the lesson short and told them it was because they had behaved poorly and I was not going to teach that way.  I told the students that there would also be no prizes today, as I use those for positive reinforcement, and well, there was nothing positive about any of this.  So, when I went to my bike, 2 teachers came out to send me off.  They asked me how things went and due to my frustration, I was honest.  I told them I was unable to teach because the kids behaved so poorly.   But I told them I'd continue next week.

Two of my village kids came over my house tonight and they shared something that broke my heart.  They told me that after I left, the teacher used corporal punishment and hit many of the students in the class because of their poor behavior.  I am aware that this is not uncommon in Thailand, especially rural Thailand, and because of this, I always tell the teachers that everything was great for fear of this happening.  I think a part of me leaving the school today, knew that this would happen - I felt bad the minute the honest words fell from my lips.  And tonight my fears were confirmed.

One of the worst parts was that the kids told me that the other students and teachers heard me struggle to discipline them and even heard me try to kick 4 of the students out and they did nothing to help me.  I'm not a teacher at their school, I don't speak Thai as fluently as they do (obviously) and you could hear it in my voice I was struggling, yet none of the teachers came to my assistance.  I was more shocked by this because the teachers are typically very helpful.  I believe my overall disciplinary nature today made them uncomfortable and nervous to come to my aid.  Either way, frustrating, sad and reiterated my gratitude for having received my primary and secondary education in the Long Island suburbs.

2 months left.....and counting?

Throughout the past 2 years, I've experienced what is known as the "Peace Corps Emotional Roller Coaster".  It essentially means a constant, and often extreme "up and down" experience of emotions.  I have certainly ridden the good ol' roller coaster, some times more constant and extreme than others, but was a fairly active rider nonetheless.  Now with 2 months left (wow, how time flies), I'm back on for another ride and experiencing all sorts of new things.  I'm currently battling with the feelings of "I'm ready to GO!" with feelings of fear to leave my second home, leave a life and friends I've made here the past 2 years and leave a lifestyle that I've become accustomed to - all that is so very different from my life in America.  Many say that I'll be fine, that I left almost 30 years of living in the USA and adapted to life here, so I'll adapt back.  The only thing is, I'm a bit different now....I'm not exactly sure how yet, reflection takes time you know, but I just know I feel different. This is rather hard to explain in words. I don't know if I'll ever be able to explain it, but I've compiled a list of things I will and won't miss about Thailand with hopes of giving you an idea of what I'm leaving.  It's an ever changing and growing list, but here is where it stands as of now :)
                         
                 WILL  MISS                                                      WON'T MISS
1. P'Dtang, P'Dtou and Grandpa                          1. Sitting around all day/for hours just waiting.....                      

2. The veggies and fruit everywhere                      2. The God-for-saken heat

3. Speaking Thai                                                  3 . Speaking Thai

4. Biking through the rice fields in full bloom          4. Being called farang....even by people who know me

5. Going to the temple every week with neighbors to feed the monks
                                                                           5. Greng jai - in Thai this means to be considerate but PCVs consider it lieing

6. Cheap food                                                     6. The transportation system

7. The unique warmth of the people (meaning their warmth is different from let's say, Mediterranean or Latin American people, but they are still warm people)
                                                                          7. Bangkok

8. Sticky rice                                                      
                                                                          8. Importance of and constant discussion of physical   appearance (mine, in particular)

9. Laughing with Thai people                               9. Having to be home by dark

10. PCV friends                                        
                                                                          10. Having to be riap roy (appropriate) in all you do/say/wear when so much of what Thai's do is not riap roy (by American standards, at least).  Example - in America, picking your nose is considered inappropriate and done in private (with a tissue, hopefully!), but here in the land of Thai, shove that finger right on up there wherever you are and whoever you're with....

11. Staying home on a week day, saying I'm working from home/tired/whatever and everybody just accepts
                                                                         11. Having to be "on" all of the time.

12. Animals EVERYWHERE!                           12. Motorcycle smoke in my face

13. Going to the market 100 meters away for fresh food
                                                                         13. Mosquitoes

14. My bike and house                                     14. Kids dropping their pants and peeing EVERYWHERE

15. Not caring what I look like...ever                15. Being considered special solely because I'm white

16. Random, pleasurable trips to Tesco Lotus to remind me of America
                                                                         16. Thai dairy products

17. Conversations with P'Bramote                     17. Being judged as rich and bad because I'm American

18. Shoes off everywhere                                  18. Random power outages / bouts of no running water

19. Picking my feet wherever I am, because it's how we do here
                                                                      19. The constant compliments-it makes me feel uncomfortable

20. Thai kids wai'ing          
                                                                      20. People at my government office talking about me while I'm in the room like I'm meaningless, especially since I understand them

21. Having the hairiest legs ever and the fact that it's expected of me because it makes me more Thai
                                                                     21. People getting mad at you when you haven't visited them in a long time, even though they never came to visit you.

22. Making and eating lunch with P'Dtang, catching up and then napping....in the middle of the day.....because we can
                                                                      22. Burning trash smoke

23. Hanging out with my neighbors
                                                                     23. Getting chased by angry dogs who look like they are ready to kill

24. Going to the school and teaching kids that are so desperate to learn
                                                                    24. Waking up with random bug bites all over your body, even though you use a mosquito net, every night

25. The kids over my house whenever they want, making me feel like a real part of the hood
                                                                    25. The kids over my house whenever they want, driving me crazy!!!

Happy New Year!

For American’s/Westerner’s, New Years Eve is a time for celebration, laughing, partying, drinking, dancing, talking and spending time with good friends and family.  Last year, despite that I was in Thailand, I celebrated in the same fashion in a popular Thai city with my PCV friends.  Since I didn’t experience a true Thai New Years last year, I chose to stay at home this year to celebrate with my villagers.   It will officially go down as the most boring and uncomfortable New Years Eve of my life.  Here’s how it went down.

I’m excited.  I come home from a crazy day of Thai-napping (when Thai people kidnap you and you do Thai-like things for an incessant amount of time) and ask my neighbors what time they are going to temple for the celebrations.  From the beginning, I understand that the celebrations will be different from what I’m used to as NYE for my local villagers consists of making merit, meaning lots of chanting/meditating.  But I was quite surprised when they told me that they’d be there at 6pm until at least 1am, possibly sleeping there.  In my head I decided I would only stay for a few hours because although I want the traditional Thai NYE experience, I certainly don’t want to sit in the chanting position for at least 7 hours.  I was happy with cheering for the last 10 seconds of 2012 on my own, in the comfort of my home.  

                   

Some of the locals sitting around me - everybody is all smiles while waiting for the monks to arrive

But this didn't happen.  In 65 degree weather (which believe it or not is absolutely freezing here), I sat in that damn chanting position for 7.5 hours alongside my neighbors and sleeping children, chanting right on through the countdown.  

With this large quantity of time to think or not think….this is how I utilized my time:

My view  for the night

       1.       This could be fun and relaxing….but I’m still outta here by 10pm

       2.       Hmmm, the aura of the night and the people lead me to believe I may not be leaving by 10pm

       3.       10pm, why am I still here?

       4.       You wanted this Erica….this was your decision.     

       5.       Many escape route plans go through my head

       6.       I’m annoyed because none will happen

       7.       Oh, I wonder how long I just fell asleep for?

       8.      I’m bored

       9.   I love America

      10.    How is it that I’m freezing at only 65 degrees?

With my neighbors, while I was still happy

      11. Ants really are interesting.  Everybody should   take a few minutes to watch them work

      12.   Finally thought through that financial thing I had to think about…

      13.   I hope big papa Buddha brings some good things in 2013 for being here

      14.   Erica, what a selfish thought….stop it

      

      15.  12:00am fireworks going off….we chant on through

      16.  Why can’t you be friends with the 19 year old punks?  We all know they are having way more fun right now….

      17.  Woops...fell asleep again!

      18.   I’m hungry and tired 

      19.   1am and they are still doing this...but some people are leaving...this is my chance!  

      20. 1:30 - peaced out!  Home to my semi-less cold house to sleep under my 5 blankets!

One of the of 4 pee/coffee breaks.  The smile means it was probably the first one, still fairly early into the festivities. 

    

I know how you feel grandma....this is about as happy as most of us were after a few hours

What does a farang’s (white person/foreigner) boob look like?

Well, now you can ask my lady neighbors, as they have all officially studied my boobs (well, if we’re going to get technical, it was just my left one).   True story.

Thai people are affectionate with other people of the same sex – their affection towards each other is typically not done in a sexual way or with sexual intentions. They are not affectionate with the opposite sex, someone they are interested in or even their mate/life partner.  Yet, men are known to hold hands, put their arms around each other, place their hand on their chum’s upper thigh, sometimes even go in for a crotch grab.  Women do the same thing with each other: hand-holding, walking arm and arm and on a good day, a love tap on the ass by grandma (I once got a crotch grab when I was told to make babies with a Thai man – yes, another true story).  I’m an affectionate person (I’m a huge hugger, but Thai’s unfortunately do not hug…unless you want the most awkward moment of your life) so I've always welcomed this friendly affection as the closest thing to human touch I often long for (you never realize how much you could miss it until it’s gone).  Tonight, however, my comfort levels were beyond tested and let’s just say, this little lady did not pass.

I was hanging with the ladies on my block this evening.  Discussion turned to bra’s and P’Leet lifted up her shirt to show us her bra, grabbed her breasts and stated how big they were.  P’Mondri shared that she never wears a bra and I stated how envious I was.  I continued to engage myself by telling the crew I was in need of some new bra’s and asked where I could buy them.  This was my crucial mistake: turning the discussion towards me.  Questions began to be fired at me at lightning speed: "Oh, you wear a bra? Does yours have a snap in the back? What kind do you wear when you go running?  How much did that one cost?"  Before I could even attempt answers (drumroll please) P’Leet lifted up my shirt and my sports bra to get a good full-on-shot of my left breast.  She proceeds to pinch my nipple while commenting on how white my breasts are and demanding to know why there’s no milk coming out of my nipple when she squeezes it.  All the ladies chime in by saying it’s because I’ve never had children.  Uncomfortable as I am with all of this, I’m trying to pretend that I’m ok, but thankfully get myself back to an appropriate state (i.e. boobs under the shirt) fairly quickly. 

I was then told that I’m not shy because I’m a farang.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had the conversation with Thai’s trying to explain that Americans are different than Europeans: although Europeans prefer to be topless at the beach, Americans, yes although many of us are also white, do not.  So, rather than going down that path, I simply stated that I normally don’t show my breasts like that. There was an uproar with P’Leet stating that we’re all women, no need to be concerned or shy.  While P’Mondri, in efforts to make me feel better, showed me her breasts.  I can’t lie, but the fact that P’Mondri also shared her breasts did, in fact, make me feel better.  I was then asked if I show my breasts to boys.  It was at this point that I took the simple path of “I’m sorry, I don’t understand”.  Conversation, as always, eventually made its way back to food.  Just another night in the hood.