Christmas Vacation

Christmas Vacation:
This Christmas I got a much-anticipated visit from Nuni, Josh and Malia. Leading up to their arrival I could hardly contain my excitement, and got few hours of sleep. The morning of December 16th, after a long flight they arrived. Malia didn’t really recognize me until I made my grunting noise that we spent many hours bonding over. She immediately recognized it and gave a big smile, confirming my identity.

We proceeded to my high school where the tired threesome agreed to be interviewed by my students. It took some prodding but eventually questions about American teenagers began surfacing. “What do American teenagers wear?”, “What are dating customs in the U.S.?”, ”How do people celebrate Christmas in the U.S.?” were some of the questions asked. Malia made her rounds winning the hearts of the students, by being her cute self. When it came to say goodbye she was surrounded with students pinching her now deflated (from when she was a baby) cheeks.Visiting class at Negros Oriental High School

After school, a quick tour of Dumaguete during rush hour proved to be not the best choice in affairs for the afternoon. It was motivating to head to the countryside for the weekend. We ate dinner with my old host family, the Amasulas, and were in for an early night.

The following days brought tours to Putang Bato Waterfalls area, a zip line not only conquered but made fashionable by Josh, and a dinner with other Peace Corps volunteers.

Bong, the driver and our own personal jeepney.

Josh rocking the zip line.

Next we headed to the famous dive spot, Apo Island for the weekend. Our journey to get there consisted of a motorized Banca (Filippino style boat) that not only got us to the island but also washed our clothes at the same time. Malia was a superstar on the boat ride and proceeded to fall asleep standing up with her papa holding her head. The following days we relaxed on the island by swimming, eating, sleeping and repeating the process over and over.

The lovely views from Apo Island

For Christmas we headed over to the island of Siquijor, known for practicing Black Magic. This island by far wins the nicest people of The Philippines award. Everywhere you went people would shout “Merry Christmas” to you. Even men sitting drinking with their buddies would put a big smile on their face and wish holiday greetings to us as we passed by. This island has a lot less people living on it then Negros and so the vibe was really chill here.

My beautiful sister.

It was amazing to see the changes little Malia has been through these past four months since I have been away from her. Her language development has exploded, and according to Josh, this trip really brought about a lot of new changes. She is one smart cookie! She knows body parts, who her mama, papa and auntie are, and can sing the Alphabet song. She amazes me.

Then the three headed to Thailand for some more adventuring. It was such a delight to have them visit, and really helped me to put a lot of my life into perspective for the next two years.
Happy New Year!