Sooo I woke up at 4am this morning which worked out well because I was able to call Corey and my family at what would be a normal time for them. I took another cold shower which wasn’t too bad, and wanted to plug in my straightener to make a good first impression for everyone at work – and I guess for me that means straight hair? I looked on the tag to check the voltage, couldn’t find anything, but noticed it had a test feature to it, so I figured if it didn’t match, the test button would tell me so. As the plug-in TOUCHED the plug (not go inside…then turn on the appliance…touched.), I saw a spark, heard a boom and everything in my apartment turned off. I found my breaker box and still wasn’t able to make all the lights and ac turn on. I thought the boom was so loud, it was possible I may had affected the entire floor, or worse, the entire building. I opened my door to check, and thankfully those light were on, so I was the only person affected. I started to freak out a little, because my making a great first impression plans were totally shot, plus I was getting really hot and sweaty. I sat down….and thought I should try the breaker again and it worked! Thank goodness…I guess I wont be using that straightener the rest of the time here. I think they’ll still like me anyways...even if my hair isn't straight.
Did a lot of apartment type shopping yesterday with Edgar and Mike. I’m feeling more cozy in my apartment already now all I need is internet access so I can start skyping and emailing and all that. There is a mall right across the street to go grocery shopping. I spent 800 pesos there and started freak out a little until I realized my total bill would translate to only $16. I was a little traumatized after seeing the process of someone buying a live eel and how the butcher man ended up….dealing with it. I tried to watch because I was a little bit curious, although slightly disturbed, and had to walk away once I heard mike say, “he’s paralyzing it by hitting its back with the dull side of the blade.” I like eel in sushi, but I might not like it anymore. The thing had whiskers.
I was also looking to buy body wash and found one I really liked, but then read that it was “whitening” body wash ( which I definitely do not need), as is most face washes and lotions that I saw. It was just so amazing to me to see these products, especially since the tan the Filippinos have is the one I constantly strive for (and really want while I stay here) and could never attain in my lifetime. I am either white or red….no in between. I know the grass is always greener on the other side, and being white can come with inherent (although unfair) privelege, so it was just very interesting and suprising to me to see these porducts. I just want people to know how beautiful there skin is, but I guess I also need to be saying that to myself. I was talking to Leah, another intern here, and she was saying how hard it is to explain to some of the clients here that they are beautiful, since here you are considered beautiful just because you are white and for no other reason. If only they could see what we see in them, or more importantly how God sees them. I start work in a few hours and am so excited to meet everyone and get to know the IJM office.
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