Way Too Long

WOW…so it really has been way too long. Ok, quick explanation of what happened with the delay in the blog. Upon returning home to the states my old engineering email account at CSU was forced to change. No big deal as I got a new gmail email…or so I thought. Apparently Blogger was switching over to a new format and I was unable to logon to my Blog without switching account names which was only possible with the old email address which no longer exitisted…ugh…so basically I had to wait for blogger/gmail to verify I owned the blog and then give me access to it. This took awhile and probably even longer than usual with my limited internet access. Anyway I’m BACK BABY! So here is my entry that was supposed to appear at the end of July/beginning of August:


“Cha Cha Cha Changes…turn and face the strange”

So the trip back to CO was awesome. I know a lot of volunteers who save up vacation time so they can go home for a whole month but 2 weeks seemed just right for me. It was enough time to catch up with both family and friends without having to feel gone for too long from San Joaquin. Its funny how it really did feel like a vacation home but yet I was ready to go back to my other home.

Well, like the title of the blog suggests (I was going with a David Bowie theme), there were a whole lot of changes that happened for a lot of people over the past 15 months. Some of you are in pretty serious relationships, some of you are now married, some of you now have kids, and others were nearly unrecognizable from all the weight you’ve lost. It was great seeing all those changes and getting a chance to really catch up on what’s going on in YOUR lives.

There were also a lot of good times had. I pretty much covered all the things I wanted to do on my original list: Spend time with family, spend time with friends, eat some of my mom’s homemade cookies, drink some quality Fort Collins beer (I still can’t get over $1 micros), play some golf with my Grandpa Bob (he still kicks my ass on the course), go to a Rockies game (bonus with the amazing fireworks after game), eat a lot of ‘Kano food (well I did a lot of this but realize how much I need rice to stay ‘regular’ now), go for a quick CO hike (awesome hike with Brady and Cam up to Gray Rock). I also had an amazing day out with friends on Horsetooth Reservoir doing some wakeboarding and cliff jumping (thanks Jed). And of course the wedding was an amazing time…we kept the dance floor rockin until they shut it down. It was really fun and we all agreed that we can’t wait for the next one of us to get married. Congrats again Chris and Jenna! and thanks for giving me an awesome reason to come back for a visit.

I was pretty bad at taking pictures when I was back but here’s a few:

Jed teaches Brady the finer points of wakeboarding

So fresh and so Clean

Trying to get some action from the groom

So upon arriving back in the Philippines I met up with Christi (a friend from high school) and her friend Dana who were both PCVs in Morocco. They had just finished their service and were doing a little traveling. The rain limited our activities but they had already done a lot of ‘vacation’ type stuff so they were cool with just hanging out and talking. It was really great getting to discuss the similarities and differences between our PC experiences. Between visiting CO and talking with those girls it really hit me that I’ve only got one more year here. Returned Volunteers say that going back “home” is the hardest part of PC and it seemed that both Christi and Dana were struggling with this fact…Changes

The day before I left for the states I received a disheartening text from my good friend and fellow PCV Allan who lives on the nearby island of Guimaras. He was being Medically Seperated for migraine issues, which essentially means he had two days to pack up all his things and then they were putting him on plane back to the States...Grabe (crappy)…He’s doing his best to appeal the decision and we are all hoping he makes it back…Changes

After you leave “home” for a vacation somewhere you don’t really expect a lot of things to change over 2 weeks. Upon walking to work that next Monday I was surprised to see a brand new roof over the corridor of the market (good change). Then as I got to the Municipal building I was little saddened to see the enormous Mahogany tree that used to sit in front and provide lots of shade being cut down. Apparently the powers that be felt it was obstructing the view of the new building…Grabe (crappy). Fortunately they decided to only cut down half the tree (at least for now). Hmmm, it had already been quite a morning and I hoped that was it. As I got to the office I saw that my remaining 11 Biosand Filters that still needed to be delivered had been moved out into the rain while I was gone…Grabe. The wooden lids were water logged and would need to be replaced, some of the finishing had been knocked off which would need to be fixed and repainted, but worst of all my cleaned sand was mixed with un-cleaned sand…Grabe, Grabe gid (very, very crappy). But no worries, it can all be fixed. It would just take a lot of time, which we have a lot of in this country. As I entered my office there had been some rearranging as well as a missing face. Hmmm, “Diin ang gamit ko? Diin si Rodel?” “Where’s my stuff? Where’s Rodel” (at least I still knew a little language). Well, it turns out my good buddy and counterpart Rodel had been promoted to Secretary to the Mayor. He was no longer going to be working in my office and he was going to be a lot busier with a lot of other things. It was hard for me to accept right away that the working relationship and plans we had developed was pretty much over. He was definitely my guy, my “change agent” as PC likes to call them. Hmmm, well I guess that’s life…that’s change.

Those were some serious lows for my first day back but I realized afterwards that this past year has certainly made some changes in me as well as everyone and everything else. I’m pretty sure a year ago I would have flipped out…probably starting with the Mahogany tree before I even saw the filters or heard about Rodel’s promotion. Maybe I should have…I don’t know. Instead, I was pretty calm about everything and accepted it for what it was. The filters and sand could be fixed. My original plans for work the next year were probably not going to happen but that didn’t mean we couldn’t figure out something else. This was just another challenge in the life we call Peace Corps. Rodel’s promotion is a good thing for him and San Joaquin. He’ll be able to have more of a direct influence on big decisions that could have much bigger impact on the town.

Fast-forward to today and things are good. The filters and sand are ready to rock again. My good buddy Bong as well as some other friends from my barangay Balabago, are interested in possibly doing a community project with the biosand filter. Lantaw-on ‘ta (we’ll see what happens) as we like to say. Rather than sulk about his misfortune my friend Allan has stayed positive about the appeal process and is using his opportunity back in the states to spend some quality time with his family. Christi was sad to leave her community and host family in Morocco but is rolling with the changes with a new job and life back in the states. My Nay’s daughter Claudine who was hit by a van before I left is now almost fully recovered and back in school (Ayos! -Rockin!).

Change is inevitable. I think one thing I’ve learned is that it’s more important to roll with it and stay positive. I’m going to do my best to get a lot of things done this year but I’m also going to enjoy it. There was too many times this past year I got frustrated by lack of “progress” (or what I recognize as progress from my American upbringing) rather than just enjoy myself when the work is slow and enjoy it when it’s busy. I’m planning to roll with the changes and live it up this next year…Lantaw-on ‘ta.

View from a Hike in my barangay Balabago

Dead Snake we saw on that hike that apparently is more deadly than a cobra...if it gets you you're dead in less than 2 minutes...Posted this one for my Dad :)

Me and My Migs hiking behind my house

Ok. So that was my entry for 2 months ago. Since then a whole lot more change has occurred. At the end of last August I decided to take a little vacation up to Northern Luzon for the reason that things were really slow at work (rainy season kills “progress”), I was going to have to go to Manila anyway for my Mid Service Training and Medical Check up, and lastly my friend and fellow PCV Dan was getting married. After the rockin marriage back home I couldn’t resist the opportunity for more wedding fun and just the experience of a Fil-Am wedding. I was also extremely eager to visit the mountains of the North. All I had heard was that it’s like a completely different country compared to the lowlands of Southern Luzon and my Visayan islands. As I rolled into Baguio City after a rather quick 7 hour bus ride from Manila, I certainly didn’t feel like it was the ‘Pines I had learned to love for the past year. The music changed from pinoy pop to classic country. The people dressed in coats, beanies, and shoes. There were no Coconut trees but plenty of Pine...crazy, at least in my head. As I got off the bus I hopped in a cab that wasn’t a car but more of an SUV. Then the cabbie starts having a conversation with me in perfect English!- I mean he understood everything I was saying and most importantly I understood everything he was saying. It’s not that people don’t understand and speak English where I’m from it’s just that they are usually very educated and even then a lot wouldn’t feel comfortable carrying on a complete conversation like this cab driver was doing. It was cool and felt way too easy. As I traveled around other places in the north it seemed like a lot more people spoke fluent English which is most likely due to America’s colonization until the end of WWII. Baguio City was actually developed by the Americans in the early 1900’s as a place to escape the summer's of sweltering Manila.

While up North I was fortunate enough to travel with my good buddy Lee. To sum up the trip the highlights included: tree planting at PCV Sherry’s organic farm; hiking into PCV Dustin’s site Asipulo, Ifugao where we were treated with gorgeous views and lots of fresh organic fruit; a quick day hike in and out to see the rice terraces of Batad, Banaue; a couple days stay in Sagada where we did some more hiking, awesome caving and saw some hanging coffins; and lastly we attended Dan and Berlin’s wedding which was indeed a special day. Overall it was an awesome trip…

Me and Lee at Rice Terraces of Batad

Ridin d Jeep

PCVs at Dan's Wedding

…and then things really got interesting as a group of us headed to our Mid Service Medical in Manila. I got lucky and managed a seat next my good friend Kelly for the 6 hour bus ride. We had been text buddies for the past year but have had little time to hang out with the distance between our sites. Despite having the Oscar Nominated “Snakes on a Plane” for our viewing pleasure we couldn’t stop talking to each other for the whole ride. It was an amazing conversation and we surprised one another with how comfortable and open we were. As the week progressed a little flirting here, a good conversation there, and the next thing you know we are “dating”. It’s been really good so far and I’m amazed how well we have been able to get to know each other just from texting. Last week she was able to come visit my site and things continue to only get better…I can’t get over how smart, funny, hardworking, and cute she is. It’s been difficult with the distance but we are finding ways to make it work and see each other when we can.

We're so Happy :)

Me and Kelly Biking San Joaquin

This is a picture from my 26th birthday which needs a little more explanation. In the Philippines when you have a birthday party you don't recieve a lot of gifts but rather provide a feast for your closest friends and family....I can't tell you the countless bday and fiestas that I've eaten at for free and didn't even really know the host. This year's birthday was an opportunity to give back a little. That's a 90kilo (~200lb) pig that we lechoned (roasted) over some open coals. Since living here I've killed a few chicken and goats but this was a whole other experience with the pig. I'll spare you the details but esentially it took 5 of us to pin that bad boy down and do the deed. I also bought a goat for the occasion and we made my favorite dishes Caldaretta, KBL, Mongo, Dinuguan (blood soup :)) and or course every filipino's favorite the Lechon ng Baboy. It was quite the feast and for P10,000, or $200, and lots of help from my migs we managed to feed (stuff full) over 200 guests. Good times.

…Ok that’s all I got for this entry. Again I apologize to my readers (i.e. my fam and some of their friends and co-workers that they force to read this) for the long delay. Keep on Rockin