Hi, Mama! I had quite the adventure yesterday! In the morning I headed out to Regional Haven for my first day volunteering with the women. I had such a great time. I decided to keep things low key and our activity for the day consisted of name games and other games so that I could get to know the girls. We laughed and had fun, and quite a few of them have seemed to warm up to me right away. I know there are some that will take a little longer to feel comfortable with me.
After work, two other volunteers (Fred and Shimshon) and I decided to go to the Immigration Office to get our visas. We were allowed into the country for 21 days with no visa, but since we're here longer than that we had to get visas. What seemed like such a simple errand turned out to be quite the ridiculous adventure. We took a jeepney downtown and got off where the driver told us to. We walked down a road where we passed City Hall and several other buildings. We felt like we were walking for a while, so we asked a local where it was. They told us that Immigration was inside City Hall...where we had been earlier! We started walking the long way back to City Hall, when about halfway I looked up and saw a building that said, "Immigration!" It was a good thing I saw it, otherwise we would have walked all the way back to City Hall. We start walking toward the Immigration building, which was up on a hall. As we approached we realized that the hill was made of mud and trash. Literally...the entry way was trash mountain. It was ridiculous. We got inside and there were two ladies working the desk. They told us that we would have to make photocopies of our passports...but naturally, the Bureau of Immigration did not have a photocopier, thus we were sent off on a wild goose chase. Only, there was a problem: we had 20 minutes until the office was closing. We finally found a photocopier on some side street, where a woman was essentially selling photocopies at a small stand. It was very strange, but anything goes here. We go all the way back to the Immigration Office, and we made it back in time. While we are waiting for them to process our paperwork, we get trapped into a conversation with a German pastor who has been living in the Philippines for 29 years. He starts telling us all about God and Jesus and how he accepts all religions, but the Jews are stupid basically (bear in mind, Shimshon is Israeli). The whole situation was just so absurd. The Bureau of Immigration was literally the least legitimate place I've ever been, but I survived and now I'm allowed to stay in the country, so I guess it's ok.
After securing our visas, we headed to Leyte Park for some dinner. I had a heart attack on a plate: deep fried shrimp wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cheese. Oh my gosh, it was so delicious. Of course, I coupled it with a mango shake because the restaurant in Leyte Park has the best mango shakes. The mangoes here are unreal. They're nothing like the ones we have at home. So amazing. Once we were done with dinner, the three of us headed over to get massages! We got a 1 hour, full body, Swedish massage for about $8. It was amazing. It was exactly what I needed too. It really helped me relieve some of the stress and tension I've been carrying the past two months. Once we were nice and relaxed, we met up with friends and headed to the Astrodome for drinks and pizza to celebrate one of the volunteer's last night. It was fun. We sang some karaoke, and What a Wonderful World came on. I started to get really sad about the fact that that was your wedding song and that the words say "what a wonderful world" and it was hard for me to call this world wonderful when you were taken away from me, but then I realized that's not what you would want. So, I turned myself around, put a smile on my face, sang the song for you, and came to the conclusion that even though you're not here anymore the world still is a wonderful place. Sometimes it's hard to see it, but I know it's true.
This morning I went with my first real activity for the women. I had everyone write letters/draw pictures for Andria, the previous volunteer whom they love and miss. They were all so excited. I am going to put all of the letters in a big envelope and mail them to her. I know she'll love it. After they were done with their letters, I had them do a journal entry. Andria started the journals with them, and now I am continuing them. I told the women that I did not read their journals because journals are very personal and I thought I'd let them get to know me before I read them. They seemed very appreciative. For their first entry with me I told them to write about themselves. I told them they could write whatever they wanted about themselves as a way for me to get to know them.
I realized that today is the 4th of July, so I am going to do a 4th of July celebration with them tomorrow (even if it is July 5th) and introduce them to an American holiday. I am excited. It should be fun.
Miss you, Mama. By the way...the girls all wanted to see a picture of my parents and they told me that you were "mahusay" which means beautiful. Love you, Mama.
After work, two other volunteers (Fred and Shimshon) and I decided to go to the Immigration Office to get our visas. We were allowed into the country for 21 days with no visa, but since we're here longer than that we had to get visas. What seemed like such a simple errand turned out to be quite the ridiculous adventure. We took a jeepney downtown and got off where the driver told us to. We walked down a road where we passed City Hall and several other buildings. We felt like we were walking for a while, so we asked a local where it was. They told us that Immigration was inside City Hall...where we had been earlier! We started walking the long way back to City Hall, when about halfway I looked up and saw a building that said, "Immigration!" It was a good thing I saw it, otherwise we would have walked all the way back to City Hall. We start walking toward the Immigration building, which was up on a hall. As we approached we realized that the hill was made of mud and trash. Literally...the entry way was trash mountain. It was ridiculous. We got inside and there were two ladies working the desk. They told us that we would have to make photocopies of our passports...but naturally, the Bureau of Immigration did not have a photocopier, thus we were sent off on a wild goose chase. Only, there was a problem: we had 20 minutes until the office was closing. We finally found a photocopier on some side street, where a woman was essentially selling photocopies at a small stand. It was very strange, but anything goes here. We go all the way back to the Immigration Office, and we made it back in time. While we are waiting for them to process our paperwork, we get trapped into a conversation with a German pastor who has been living in the Philippines for 29 years. He starts telling us all about God and Jesus and how he accepts all religions, but the Jews are stupid basically (bear in mind, Shimshon is Israeli). The whole situation was just so absurd. The Bureau of Immigration was literally the least legitimate place I've ever been, but I survived and now I'm allowed to stay in the country, so I guess it's ok.
After securing our visas, we headed to Leyte Park for some dinner. I had a heart attack on a plate: deep fried shrimp wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cheese. Oh my gosh, it was so delicious. Of course, I coupled it with a mango shake because the restaurant in Leyte Park has the best mango shakes. The mangoes here are unreal. They're nothing like the ones we have at home. So amazing. Once we were done with dinner, the three of us headed over to get massages! We got a 1 hour, full body, Swedish massage for about $8. It was amazing. It was exactly what I needed too. It really helped me relieve some of the stress and tension I've been carrying the past two months. Once we were nice and relaxed, we met up with friends and headed to the Astrodome for drinks and pizza to celebrate one of the volunteer's last night. It was fun. We sang some karaoke, and What a Wonderful World came on. I started to get really sad about the fact that that was your wedding song and that the words say "what a wonderful world" and it was hard for me to call this world wonderful when you were taken away from me, but then I realized that's not what you would want. So, I turned myself around, put a smile on my face, sang the song for you, and came to the conclusion that even though you're not here anymore the world still is a wonderful place. Sometimes it's hard to see it, but I know it's true.
This morning I went with my first real activity for the women. I had everyone write letters/draw pictures for Andria, the previous volunteer whom they love and miss. They were all so excited. I am going to put all of the letters in a big envelope and mail them to her. I know she'll love it. After they were done with their letters, I had them do a journal entry. Andria started the journals with them, and now I am continuing them. I told the women that I did not read their journals because journals are very personal and I thought I'd let them get to know me before I read them. They seemed very appreciative. For their first entry with me I told them to write about themselves. I told them they could write whatever they wanted about themselves as a way for me to get to know them.
I realized that today is the 4th of July, so I am going to do a 4th of July celebration with them tomorrow (even if it is July 5th) and introduce them to an American holiday. I am excited. It should be fun.
Miss you, Mama. By the way...the girls all wanted to see a picture of my parents and they told me that you were "mahusay" which means beautiful. Love you, Mama.
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