So I've decided to set up a blog so I can display pictures easily and won't have to send out a mass email everytime I want to update what's going on...this way the people that really want to know can just check it out on their own rather than getting stuck with a novel in their mailbox. Here's all the email's I've sent out for the past 3 months incase anyone wants to review... Who's that tall white guy in the back?



March 25, 2006

Thrilla in Manilia

Hey Everyone,
Just thought I would send out a quick one to let everyone know I made it to Manila safe and sound. The staging in Detroit was about what I expected with just a lot of general Peace Corps policy information. There are 76 of us volunteers in all and everyone has been real great to talk to. We have a real diversified group with ages ranging anywhere from 22 to mid 60's. I'm currently staying at a resort called Island Cove about 20 km south of Manila. We are in no way Peace Corps roughing it yet with air conditioned rooms and 5 meals a day (apparently Filipinos always have a snack between the 3 major meals). I've only had one full day here but it honestly feels like a week already. I'll remain at Island Cove until Friday morning and then be sent off to my Hub Site for my 10 weeks of training. I still don't where that is yet but I'm supposed to find out this afternoon. There are a total of 5 different Hub sites that we are broken up into and will be the region that we each work in.So far the weather has be real hot and humid but I feel like I'm getting used to it pretty fast. I've been filling a lot of my free time with basketball. So far we've only been able to get one Filipino to play ball with us but we are hoping to get a few more together for a game tonight. Well...I'm running out of my internet cafe time so I'll have to going. I can't wait to find out where my training site will be and meet my host family. I'll send out the next update from there. Hope things are well back at Fort C or where ever you all may be.
Ian

April 2, 2006

Kumusta Kamo!

So I arrived on the island of Panay in the Western Visayas a few days ago. There are 15 of us in my hub group and we are currently all stationed just outside the town of Tigbauan (close to Iloilo city if anyone wants to check out a map). I'll be here until Wednesday and then be heading to Guimbal (my cluster site) with two other married couples for our intensive language training. I'm sure I'll begin to feel like a 5th wheel after a while but on the plus side both of the couples are my age and seem real outgoing...another plus is that today we visited the mayor and since I'm the only soltero (bachelor) of the group he asked me to be a judge in the beauty contest this Friday...so I got that going for me. I'll be living with a host family in Guimbal learning the language Kinaray-a for the next 2 and 1/2 months. Then I'll be sent to my actual site (which I don't know yet) for another 3 months of community integration. I won't actually recieve any technical training til September!...This was a little dicouraging when we first found this out because as Americans and volunteers our natural inclination is to "get things done" asap. But we are beginning to learn that things happen much slower here and nothing gets done without building strong relationships first.The best part of training so far has been talking with the RVCs (resource volunteer coords) and other PCVs at our site. They have really given a unique perspective on the type of cultural differences, the work will be doing, and places to visit. The worst part of training so far has been all the shots...so far I'm up to 6 and will apparently have had 18 before its all done.Some things I've had to learn the past few weeks include bathing with a bucket and dipper, learning how wash my backside with that same laddle after you know..., doing my laundry by hand in a tub, and hitch'n a ride on a Jeepney...all good stuff. That being said, there are a lot of amenities just like home including shopping malls where you can get just about anything and cell phones. My number is #######. I'm not sure how to dial out of the US or the country code but I've heard from other volunteers you can get fairly cheap rates on international calling cards. I can recieve calls for free but I get killed on the minutes dialing out of country. Just remember if you do call me I'm 15 hrs ahead of Mtn time. I'll try to keep you all as updated as possible but they are keeping us real busy and the only time internet seems to be available is not during our time off....There is a lot I'm leaving out but I got to get some igma (lunch)....oh yea so far being a 6'7" white guy who is pretty good at basketball seems to be helping me make some friends. Great to hear from all of you!Ian

April 16, 2006

Mayad nga aga

Hi everybody. So I've been living with my first host family in Guimbal for about a week and a half now. They are all really great. I have an hmom, dad, brother (16), sister(17), and 3 cousins (5,6,9) and the kids may be the cutest on the planet (the other PCV couples I'm with are all jealous). Our house is kind of out in the countryside and my fam has a few goats, chickens, a cow and a rooster that wakes me up at about 3:30 every morning (but I'm beginning to sleep through it now). The house is constructed of a concrete floor and exterior walls with an elevated tin roof for ventilation. We also share the house with all kinds of ants, cockroaches, and tikis (little lizards). My room is about 6'x8' and its real cozy. We have electricity and a fridge and get water from a nearby well. I think one of the coolest things about the house is that the kitchen is right next to the bathroom and the walls only go up to about my shoulder. So every morning while I'm taking my bath with the bucket I can see what my host mom is cooking for pamahaw (breakfast). I eat rice for every meal accompanied with either chicken, fish, or goat along with fruits and vegetables. The mangoes here are said to be some of the best in the Philippines and I'm averaging about 2 a day. The language is coming real slow but we can already have minimal conversations with locals. The hardest part for me has been the sentence structure. For example if you wanted to say "I will go to the store" in Kinaraya the words are ordered "Go will I to the store" and sometimes the emphasis is placed on the store so it could also be said "The store will I go"...its all really confusing but I'm doing my best to start thinking like Yoda. A lot of PCVs in my region never learn the language (since people also speak broken english) but those who do, like my RVC Kevin, really wow locals and can establish relationships much more effectively. I'm happy that everyone in my cluster group likes to push each other in class and I've heard our teacher is one of the best. My favorite part of the day is my 20-30 minute walk to class. Everyone in my barangay is real friendly and I get the chance to talk with new people while practicing the language.If I do have to go to town the main transportation is either jeepney or a trike. The trike consists of a motorcycle with a side car for 4 people. They can fit 6 adults rather comfortably but my family has had as many as 14 on my uncle's (3 + 1kid on bike, 4 adults [me included] + 3 kids in side car, and 3 teenagers on top or riding on the side of the s-car)...who needs an SUV? For those of you who asked about the beauty contest we didn't make it to town until the day after but we did have prime seats behind the mayor for the Bantayan Festival. The B-Fest consists of Tribes made up of about 3 barangays (including mine Igcocolo) competing in a dance with acrobatics, props, and drums to celebrate the construction of the bantayan(towers) that were used as look out points to spot the Moor Pirates in 1703. If pirates were spotted the drums were beat and the community would be able to organize and fight. Pretty amazing show these kids put on...think of west side story with pirates and teenagers being hoisted on bamboo poles 30ft in the air. So I'm back at my hub site today and I'm supposed to find out my actual site for my 2 years sometime tonight...through figuring out who speaks my language where I'm pretty certain I'll be on the west side of Panay Island in Antique Province or right next to it. I'm really excited because it means I'll be real close to both the beach and mountains...I was really hoping for either or but I can certainly live with both! Later. Ian

May 8, 2006

A Little Overwhelmed -

So it's been a while since my last update. I found out that my site will be in San Joaquin, Iloilo province on the island of Panay. I just had my week long site visit and I'm a bit overwhelmed. The municipality of San Joaquin is huge. About 85 barangays consisting of a total of 50,000 people. There are also a lot of different problems which consist of poor solid waste management (trash litters the beaches and roads everywhere in the Philips), deforestation (leading to erosion and sedimentation along the rivers and deltas), water shortages in the summer months (also a result of deforestation and water table dropping), and poor drainage along the mountain roads (not operational in rainy season and have to be regraded each summer). I'll be working for the LGU (local government unit) of SJ. There is one engineer for the entire municipality, two computers in the office I'll work in (Municipal planning and Development), no internet, and one hand held GPS system that everyone brags about having but no one knows how to use.

During my stay I already got started trying to help a Barangay re-route their water distribution pipe. They currently have one 4" PVC pipe that crosses a river at 3 segments hanging from a wire tied two coconut trees...it was something to see. The pipe used to go under the river at 2 points but it became unstable and forked ripping out the original pipe...Since then the current set up has worked but during a heavy rain the pipes get knocked loose from debris or the river itself. The pipes are already at their max height when they cross the river since the system is all gravity fed from a spring. They're planning on routing the pipe along the bank of the river so it never has to cross...there are a quite a few challenging spots but hopefully I can find a total station or level (to do some surveying) and see if we can't knock this out before the real heavy rains come in July. The community seems real motivated and hopefully there won't be any expenses other than the extra pipe we will need. Anyhow, I'll definitely have my work cut out for me in the next 2 years with projects like this and educating people on swm and deforestation.

My new host family for the next 3 months is quite a bit different from the one I have for training (which I really feel is like my second fam now). My Nanay is a 70 year old widow who lives with her 35 year old son (who works as an accountant at Municipality), and a maid (who is pregnant, and I feel really guilty when she waits on me) and her two daughters. They are all really nice people but they treat me like royalty and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be harder integrating in the community while I'm living in the "rich" house. Anyhow, its nice to know that my first fam is only a 30 minute jeepney ride away and can put me back in my place of doing my own dishes and laundry.One of the highlights of the visit was a trip to one of the more remote barangays in the mountains. My kasama was a real active municipal worker named Erlyn who's extremely motivated and I'm sure I'll be working with a lot in the future. We were going to take a jeepney but the chief of police insisted he would escort us since I was a foreign national and it could be dangerous (honestly I think he was just looking for something to do...but that reminds me that all the police here carry either a shotgun or M16 everywhere they go!). So we headed up to the mountains along a bumpy, narrow, and dusty road. The ride in itself was quite the adventure. When we got to the barangay we were greeted by the capitain and then hiked a short trail up the mountain to a beautiful spring which was the community's water source...it was seriously like something out a movie. After we cracked open a couple coconuts and rehydrated I took a few minutes to take in the view. It was pretty amazing with the mountains and the ocean as a backdrop but also a little sad to think that at one time those naked hills were blanketed with lush forest. Erlyn explained that this is where she grew as a little girl and it used to be completely covered with trees accompanied by monkeys. There really is a ton of work to do here and hopefully I can help make a little. We then sat down for lunch and conversation. My Kinaray-a is still pretty shaky but I'm at the point where I can make basic conversation and can get the jist of a conversation from words that I pick up here an there. However I was completely lost by the mountain dialect. Nothing sounded familiar at all...I was later comforted when Lloyd (PCV in neighboring municipality who's been here a year) said he still gets lost when he heads to the mountains.

The other awesome highlight was meeting Gert the Belgian Diver. He's lived here for about 4 years now and speaks fluent English, Dutch, French, Spanish, Kinaray-a and a little Tagalog. Him and his filipina wife own a dive shop but they basically only make money off there two jeepney's. Most of his guests are just buddies or relatives from Europe that he never charges. Me and Lloyd have been looking for a place to get certified and when Erlyn told me she knew a guy I jumped at the chance to meet him. He showed me his homemade video of some dives he's done and it got me real excited. He said he would give us a 5-10 day course to become certified at our leisure (so we can space it out over weekends) for just just 9900 pisos (only $200 which I'm told by many is a deal). Well needless to say I'm pretty excited about spending some of my weekends diving for the next two years. I have also been checking out the coastline for a good location to move to after my 3 months with the next host fam....there are really some beautiful beaches.Only a few more weeks of training and I'll officially be sworn in as a volunteer on June 1st.
Hope this one wasn't too disorganized.
Ian

May 29, 2006

Almost Done with Training

So I'll be swearing in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer this coming June 1, and completing my "training" this week. As always a lot has been going on. To start off I survived my first Typhoon in the Philippines about about 3 weeks ago. I was kind of confused whether is was a real bad storm or just a common occurence. My host family seemed to be laughing and joking through most of it despite 3 days of straight rain, no electricity, and the road outside our house converting to a river. The worst part was the wind. It definitely made me think twice about whether I want to live in a Nipa Hut (even though a nearby volunteer said she was fine in hers). In San Joaquin (my future site) the pipes I was planning on helping re-route were completely washed out. There was also a bridge destroyed and a landslide on the major highway. After talking with my supervisor it sounds like a lot of it has been cleaned up but I'm sure there will still be a lot of work for me when I arrive.

Me and the two married couples completed our community activity for training this past week at our cluster site in Igcocolo. Since our group consists of 3 teachers, 1 youth social worker, and 1 extremely tall american that kids like to climb on...we thought thought a day camp for kids would be a great project.We proposed the idea to the Barangay council and they loved it. The name of our camp was Kamp Kasadyahan (FUN) and we ended up having about 50 kids from 6-9 years old. We broke them up into 4 teams that each made a team name, handshake, flag, and cheer. My team was the "MAD CRABS" and we dominated the relay races! We also felt it was important to incorporate a lesson plan regarding solid waste management so we had a dance and song about the 3 R's, reduce, reuse, and recycle (never been a huge Jack Johnson fan but God bless that man for writing that one...the kids loved it!). Overall the day went great and the community really got behind the event with some women cooking lunch and teenagers acting as counterparts/translators with each volunteer.This was also our last week with our host families which was pretty sad. Last Friday I took the fam out to the nicest restaurant in town. They had never been there before and it was great to treat them to a night out (especially my host mom who never gets a break from anything...I swear that woman is always doing something from 5AM to 10PM everyday). I also gave some going away gifts to all my little cousins and brother and sister but the best was the photo album full of pictures from the last month (eventually I'll get some of those up on a site to share with all of you...when I get some more time). Then on Saturday we had a going away party with all the families and volunteers. It's hard thinking that I won't be waking up in that small country home again but I'm thankful San Joaquin is so close so I can come visit often.

We also had our LPI (language profiency interview) this weekend. It was a little nerve racking and none of us were not real sure how we would do. The LPI is basically a 30 minute one on one interview with a native speaker in your target language. I felt pretty good about mine and found out today that me and the couple I study with Erin and Scott (also my closest PC friends) passed/rocked the interview. We all got ratings of advanced low (which is the highest they give within training) so we all had that going for us. Our cluster definitely performed the best compared with the other cluster sites at our hub which is a testamant to our awesome LCF teacher Roli. Roli is also into hiking, caving, and lives in Iloilo so I know we'll be hangin out more later. Well...like I said earlier I'll be swearing in this June 1. It's weird thinking this is the last time all 15 of us at hub-site will be together and pretty soon we'll all be solo without the comforts getting to vent and confide in one another as often as we have been. However, I am really looking forward to getting to work and the closest volunteers to me are some of my favorite (Erin & Scott and Lloyd) so I feel real lucky in that regard.

I love getting emails from all of you and don't feel like your "taking up my internet time" because now that I'm out of the city its a lot cheaper (15P/hr or 30cents/hr) or free if I'm at a good library. Here's my address if anyone wants to send a letter and feel free to email me yours and I'll be sure to send you a post card. Hope you're all still doing well!

Ian Maycumber
Municipal Hall
San Joaquin, Iloilo 5024
Philippines

June 20, 2006

Good Times in Cebu

So I'm now a 100% pure Peace Corp Volunteer. Overall the swearing in went real well. My Western Visayas Hub crew decided to take the over night boat to Cebu in order to save a few pisos as well as spend some last minute quality time together. The boat had beers, chicken & rice, and most importantly videoke...what else could we need? Once in Cebu we met up with the other vol's from the Eastern Visayas (Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, and Bicol had their event in Manilia). It was good to see some "old familiar faces"...its funny that we had really only spent 2 weeks together in Detroit/Manilia but we had this strange PCV Philippines bond like we were longtime friends. We spent some time sharing our experiences and discussing the differences and similarities in our languages. For example I found out that "karon" which means LATER TODAY in Kinaraya and Ilongo means NOW in Cebuano. It's tough knowing that I can't travel all over the country and speak to people in their language, but it seems the dialects are similiar enough that I can still get by with the basics. Some of the highlights of the swearing in ceremony included the presence of the U.S. ambassador, a slide show of pics from our training, and the tiniklik dance performed by my cluster mates (the two married couples). The tiniklik is basically a traditional philipino dance that involves a pair of dancers stepping in between two pieces of bamboo that are clapped together to the beat of the music....it's also been refered to as the "ankle death dance" since a foot often gets caught inside when it's not supposed to. Anyhow, I was one of the bamboo players, which was definitely better than having to dance, but also required countless hours of practice. It all came together for the ceremony and I was real proud of my cluster mates, particularly Eli who is a big guy with big feet and really fought his way through the whole thing. As fun as that all sounds the best times in Cebu for me personally were the videoke nights with the Eastern Visayas crew. On Panay I really didn't get to do a whole lot of this since both my cluster and hub sites had no videoke bars. The Eastern Visayas had made it a weekend ritual and it showed. The final night we took over a bar with about 20 of us in all. We sang all night and used the San Miguel beer to soothe or weary throats. I managed to even belt out a Tagalog song (only cause I hear it about 3 times a day on the radio) which really got the Pinoys excited. However, the highlights for me included Allan's (this kid is really shy) rendition of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" and a duet of Destiny's Child "Say my Name" by Erin D. and yours trully....hilarious. About 10 of us lasted from 9pm to 2:30am (only cause they were closing). We had heard of a 24hr McDonalds and we made it our mission to find it...and find it we did. I've never been a fan of the organization or their food for that matter, but we had made it an American night and the fast food was calling. I'll just say I was in Mcflurry heaven. The next day I slept in til 10! I don't think I've slept past 7:30 since being here.

Wow...so this was supposed to be an update on how my work and new life in San Joaquin is going (since swearing in was 3 weeks ago). Unfortunately I've got some errands to run and I will have to update you with those details another time. In general I'll say it's gotten a little better everyday...meaning that my first week was pretty rough. There are some serious solid waste management issues that will require a lot of work. Right now we have no waste segregation or landfill...the dump is basically a huge pile of trash on the side of a cliff. At the same time I'm also trying to help a barangay get their pipes re-routed. The typhoon completely wiped out their system that crossed the river which has resulted in about 900 people trying to manage their daily use from a few wells. The good news is that the rainy season is coming so their should be more water available. The bad news is that a lot of those people will try to store that water in buckets and tubs which can lead to mosquitos and dengue fever. I've certainly got my work cut out for me.
Haw lang (take care),
Ian