December 2010
After settling into my new placement in Dumaguete I have been starting to get into a routine here. Monday through Friday I head to Negros Oriental High School to teach English to second year students. I really enjoy the openess of my students to try new things that I introduce to them. They welcomed a complete stranger into their lives for the next two years without reservations . After being here for four months I can say that Filippino teachers are some of the most resourceful people that I have met. What teachers accomplish with such little resources, challenges my perception on material things. It seems all we really need is the will to do something and the resourcefulness to use what we are given to accomplish that goal.
Class Tose
Three days a week I am tutoring some girls in English at an Orphanage called Little Children of The Phillipines. These girls melt my heart every time we get together. They love the attention that they get and I love spending time with them.
Class Tose
My LCP Girls
One of the other amazing things that can be stated about Filippinos is their amazing singing, acting and dancing abilities.
No matter where you go, you hear these beautiful singing voices. Not only singing though, young men here love to break dance. Its a common sight to see groups of these dancers practicing in the park. Filippinos are raised to possess star qualities, if only Hollywood could come recruit over here. .
No matter where you go, you hear these beautiful singing voices. Not only singing though, young men here love to break dance. Its a common sight to see groups of these dancers practicing in the park. Filippinos are raised to possess star qualities, if only Hollywood could come recruit over here. .
I am lucky enough to have five other volunteers living here in Dumaguete. We have been doing lots of dinners and ice cream dates. I have found the presence of other American volunteers very refreshing because it gives me a sense of being at home in a place that does not yet feel like it.
Evelyn, another volunteer and I hiked up to the famous Twin Lakes in San Jose. Not realizing out of sheer laziness, that 13.9km is really 8miles, we began or hike up the mountain. Five hours later we arrived at the famous Twin Lakes too exhausted to walk the last 50meters down to the water. Luckily we were able to catch a ride back to the highway from a nice gentleman who passed us by.
After five hours of walking up a mountain we arrive at Twin Lakes, unimpressed.
