Hello Folks,
Time is flying by here in the Phillippines. We cannot believe that we are closing in on the end of training. It has been a busy couple of months and we are really getting used to the culture and the environment. Things that used to cause our jaw to drop no longer do so. We have passed the point of visitor and earned our status as resident here in this beautiful republic. Last week we did our site visit to check out where we will be living/working for the next two years. It is a beautiful small town right at the base of the Serria Madres Mountains on the eastern side of the main island Luzon about half way up. I’ll be working at Jeorge Padilla National High School and Kate will be at the DSWD Home for Girls in Palayan City. High Schools here in the Philippines consist of 1st thru 4th year and is the equivalent of grades 7 thru 10 in the states. My schools is expecting 450 students for the upcoming school year and I received the wonderful news that 25% speak Illocano forcing me to double my current language struggles.....fun. Ahh language. Both Kate and I are moving along quite well in our studies. I constantly feel that I am just about to have a breakthrough when another focus or verb conjugation is presented. We long for the day when we can return home and have secret conversations about all of you right in front of all of you. We have been experiencing this phenomena on a daily basis here. I can get the main points of a conversation in Tagalog however my comprehension drops drastically as speed increases. I have sat through countless discussions that are clearly about Kate and I. It goes something like this.
Pinoy 1: blah blah blah blah Patrick blah blah
Pinoy 2: Ha Ha, Blah Blah Spouse, Blah Blah Blah
Pinoy 1 & 2: Ha Ha Ha Ha (deep rolling endless laughter)
This happens all the time, mostly a few times each day. Last evening Kate and participated in the Fiesta. For our part this involved in walking in a parade in traditional Filipino wear. Kate wore a fuscia 80's style gown with silver stars all over it and I wore a see through Purple shirt called a Barong Tagalog. Keep in mind that the entire community shows up for Fiesta and the Americans provided plenty of laughter. We walked for a few miles in the middle of the Typhoon because you cannot cancel Fiesta no matter what. Quite an experience and check back soon for some photographs of this wonderful event.
Time is flying by here in the Phillippines. We cannot believe that we are closing in on the end of training. It has been a busy couple of months and we are really getting used to the culture and the environment. Things that used to cause our jaw to drop no longer do so. We have passed the point of visitor and earned our status as resident here in this beautiful republic. Last week we did our site visit to check out where we will be living/working for the next two years. It is a beautiful small town right at the base of the Serria Madres Mountains on the eastern side of the main island Luzon about half way up. I’ll be working at Jeorge Padilla National High School and Kate will be at the DSWD Home for Girls in Palayan City. High Schools here in the Philippines consist of 1st thru 4th year and is the equivalent of grades 7 thru 10 in the states. My schools is expecting 450 students for the upcoming school year and I received the wonderful news that 25% speak Illocano forcing me to double my current language struggles.....fun. Ahh language. Both Kate and I are moving along quite well in our studies. I constantly feel that I am just about to have a breakthrough when another focus or verb conjugation is presented. We long for the day when we can return home and have secret conversations about all of you right in front of all of you. We have been experiencing this phenomena on a daily basis here. I can get the main points of a conversation in Tagalog however my comprehension drops drastically as speed increases. I have sat through countless discussions that are clearly about Kate and I. It goes something like this.
Pinoy 1: blah blah blah blah Patrick blah blah
Pinoy 2: Ha Ha, Blah Blah Spouse, Blah Blah Blah
Pinoy 1 & 2: Ha Ha Ha Ha (deep rolling endless laughter)
This happens all the time, mostly a few times each day. Last evening Kate and participated in the Fiesta. For our part this involved in walking in a parade in traditional Filipino wear. Kate wore a fuscia 80's style gown with silver stars all over it and I wore a see through Purple shirt called a Barong Tagalog. Keep in mind that the entire community shows up for Fiesta and the Americans provided plenty of laughter. We walked for a few miles in the middle of the Typhoon because you cannot cancel Fiesta no matter what. Quite an experience and check back soon for some photographs of this wonderful event.
posted by Patrick at 11:42 AM
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