Last day in Cavite

Another whirlwind of a week. Today was our last day of center based training at IIRR in Silang, Cavite. Tomorrow I depart for my training site in Sabang, Morong along with 12 other CRM (coastal resource management) and 11 education volunteers! Although I will definitely miss the hospitality here in Cavite (AC, showers, etc.), I can't wait to get to my training site, meet my first host family, and truly begin immersing myself in the Philippine culture! Our language teachers (LCFs) kept quite a bit hidden from us regarding our families, although I have been told that we will be practically living on the beach! Unfortunately, I have also heard that there is no wifi in Sabang, so my communication might be fairly limited for the next two months (there is an internet cafe in the poblacion, or town center).  

Some quick hitters for ya...Filipinos love to eat!! We typically have 5 meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as 2 meriendas (snacks). The food has been quite good, particularly the fruit and fish. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to try fresh coconut water. Also, there are no knifes here. Filipinos only use forks and spoons, typically using the spoon to pull apart the meat, fish, etc. Takes some practice.

Philippine ice cream, known as "halo-halo!"

Freshly shaved coconut

The driving around here is out of control! Cars are constantly passing each other on 2 lane roads (there really aren't any major highways here). As we drove to Catalagan on Tuesday for our CRM field trip, there were countless times where I was flabbergasted by the way cars/motorcycles/jeepneys zip in and out. It also takes much longer to get from place to place around here. It's very common for random people or livestock to be crossing the road throughout your route. The Philippines collectively is only roughly the size of Nevada, but with an ever-changing terrain and 2 lane roads passing through town after town, places seem like they are much further apart.

I mentioned on Tuesday we took a trip to a current Peace Corps volunteer's (PVC) site in Calatagan, Batangas. Some current PCVs dub this area the "Beverly Hills of the Philippines." A very beautiful place. We were lucky to have a clear, sunny day to tour around a mangrove nursery and sanctuary and visit a local NGO, CAPS Ocean. It hasn't been so nice the rest of this week. Today it has been raining heavily all day because of a nearby tropical depression. If it rained this much back home, places would be severely flooded (especially Charleston!).

CRM 271 at the mangrove nursery

Nice spot for lunch

Loving life!

The next two months will definitely be intense as I have language and technical training sessions 6 days/week...but it will all be worth it come September 19th when I officially swear in as a Peace Corps volunteer!

Stay tuned for updates from Morong. Wish me luck!