Let's play a game of...

Would this sell in the US?



Yes, that is meatball pizza with a stack of french fries in the middle....then a pizza with buffalo chicken and onion rings stacked in the middle.  Is this really even pizza anymore?

Friday, October 22

This past Friday we were invited to visit Samaritana for an event: Samaritana's Got Talent.  From what we hear, over the past year the volunteers have noticed the creative talent in both the staff and clients in this organization, so they decided to put on a talent show to celebrate these gifts.  We could tell from the performances that the women used music as a therapeutic tool to articulate what they have and are still going through in their lives.  There was some powerful expressions and incredible talent displayed, we were sad to leave...and even more sad since it was monsooning outside and ridiculously "traffic."  (Translation - there was a lot of traffic on the way home.  Yes...its normal for traffic to be used in a sentence that way here. Aaand it's kind of fun to say it that way.  Feel free to correct me of these things when I get home and say them like they're normal in the U.S.)    

Daria and I have found that shopping at Samaritana is one of our favorite things to do in Manila, and it doesn't happen that often since it is so far away (which is probably a good thing for my bank account.)  Their livelihood room is filled with intricately made cards, magnets, jewelry, and paper.  It feels so good to purchase such beautifully crafted gifts from an organization that you know helps women in such immense ways.  Get excited, many of you back home will be on the receiving end of whatever I have purchased from here. :)

Monday, October 18

Cebu is a place Edgar and I really wanted to visit before we left the Philippines.  We were given the opportunity this weekend to travel with some friends, one who is living in Cebu, so we went when we found out how cheap the plane tickets were.  On the way to the airport, our friend Joey informed us that Zest Air is so cheap because they are a business that used to be called something else and was known for crashing all the time.  The old name used to be like...Philippines spirit, and apparently they used to crash so much people would joke you would fly with them a person and come back a spirit....soooo needless to say I was a little nervous.  Don't worry mom and dad, I'm writing this blog post from Manila, so you know I'm back safe and sound. 

We saw this sign at the airport in the area you walk through to get on the plane, and it was so confusing to me. 

There was no place to wash feet, what is foot and mouth disease, and of all things to advertise....why this?  (foot and mouth disease is something carried by humans, but that affects pigs snouts or something...sick.)

Anyways, Cebu was beautiful.  When we first arrived we went to a mall to get some lunch and ran into the one other person we know from Cebu, which was nice because she was able to recommend a yummy place for us to eat.  That night we visited Ben at his apartment, and he had set up a barbecue and swimming party with the family next door who owns....probably the most beautiful mansion home I've ever seen in my life.  It was amazing.  and had a sauna....and a movie theater...and 3 stories worth of whatever rooms you would need in a house.  We felt so spoiled. 

I had such a crazy vivid dream that night that I probably shouldn't share with the world, but I'm going to...because it kinda rocked my world.  Basically in my dream I had gone back to Manila, but really wanted to make sure I was back in Cebu in time to see the waterfall with everyone else (which we never ended up actually seeing a waterfall while we were in Cebu).  I went to this house where a woman offered me the opportunity to adopt a Filipino baby, and I really wanted to, but I also really wanted to see the waterfall and couldn't do both for some reason.  It was a very tough decision, but in the end I chose waterfall.... Yes. I am ashamed.  As Hope would say, it's a matter of the heart.  Also at some point in my dream everything started catching on fire, but i think it's because right before I went to bed that night, I tried to turn on the aircon and the wires caught on fire.  And we all know I have a pretty strong fear of fire.  I woke up so confused...everything still seemed kind of real and vivid.  I was happy I was in Cebu, but guilty about the slightly selfish decision I made in my dream.  I'm still kind of processing what the dream might mean for me.  Hm.

Anyways, the next day we took a squished van to a nearby beach called Moalboal.  What made this beach so beautiful were the mountains (Negros) in the background.  We got to snorkel, saw some fish, and I had a few mango margaritas which were especially tasty. 

Cebu had some unique forms of transportation.  We rode on trikes, but these weren't any trikes...they were more souped up than anything I've ever seen in the Philippines.  I was so intrigued. 

Yes, we all fit on this trike.

Overall, a successful and relaxing trip.  We spent Sunday basically doing a food tour around Cebu city.  Ben took us to eat the best Halo Halo I've ever had....where they froze coconut milk for the ice shavings *mmm*...and then we went to eat at a place that has "the big bang burger"...and it's 9 inches wide/long. I'm not kidding. I didn't believe it or understand it until they brought it out, but it was bigger than most of our heads, and soooo good.  I still need to steal a picture from edgar to post on here...



Wednesday, October 13th

I just completed my third day of training at Samaritana.  What an incredible organization.  I'm exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.  It's such a calming and peaceful place, and they allowed me to stay in one of their guest rooms throughout the training so I wouldn't have to commute.  Other participants stayed in guest rooms, as well.  They use the opportunity to teach their clients "hotel management" type skills when people stay over.  I fell asleep one night to a client playing guitar while singing Christmas songs.  I loved it.

For the training, they gathered people from several NGO's around and outside of Manila to attend.  The first day covered victim sensitivity training and trafficking dynamics, while the last 2 days covered an intensive training on each of the 10 components of TF-CBT.  This training felt especially effective as the participants were more than willing to ask questions and discuss various issues that arose with one another.  They really consulted each other on struggles in practice and took advantage of the opportunity of being together in one place.  I appreciated these discussions, although I was quite surprised because in the past I have found when I have tried to initiate some discussion during trainings, it is very difficult since many Filipinos report they are nervous to speak in English, and felt somewhat intimidated since I was a foreigner.  I was very glad people would speak up because I get kind of tired of hearing myself talk all the time...and I'm sure they do too.  There was a good mixture of foreigners and Filipinos, so that the staff from our office could give some insight as to how our learnings might fit into Filipino culture.  The cultural discussions were very rich, and I could really tell the participants were learning a lot from one another.  The participants left feeling invigorated to incorporate some of the things they had learned, and while it was a ton of information, it was a very good starting place in the process of implementing TF-CBT into practice.  It was good to connect and network with other NGOs, and our social workers came back with several ideas of how to improve work with our clients.  Woo hoo! 

Thursday, October 7

Got to work at 6am this morning, had a late meeting last night, accidentally broke my bracelet, feeling stressed with all I have to do for the training next week, feeling sad since we may have lost some of the videos Corey took of the Philippines while he was here, got some more bad news at work....cried and maybe made a scene....left and got in a fight with a cab driver...got out in the middle of the intersection to walk home.


one of those i hate manila days.

Sunday, October 3

One of our coworkers invited us to their church today.  We (the other interns and I) were so honored to receive the invitation and gladly accepted.  This person asked if each of us would be willing to offer a 5-10 min encouragement to the church..once we made sure this would not serve as as the sermon for the week, we agreed to speaking.  As we entered the church we could just feel the joy and contentment of the people around us.  There was even a sign on the wall with our names up welcoming us to the church. The experience reminded me of similar stories I've heard from other people visiting small rural churches in another country or on a mission trip or something when they say they've never seen people worship God like this before...it was so lively, so real and so genuine.  Amidst being so poor, and having to travel long distances...the people were so content and welcoming.  There was just a spirit in the church that was unexplainable.  

Afterwards, we joined the ministry team to visit the homes of an area called San Isidoro.  This is a place where around 5,000 families had been displaced last year due to Typhoon Ondoy.  Several of these families houses flooded so much water actually covered their roofs.    In this displacement area, people lived side by side with no electricity....which is just unimaginable in somewhere as hot as the Philippines.  Many people were begging for prayer for sicknesses and it seemed as though denge fever was prevalant.   In some ways I don't know that my brain could process what was going on...it kind of felt like the kind of experiences you see celebrities having...taking pictures surrounded by beautiful smiling children.  The other church members kept thanking us so much for joining them, but i felt like I had done nothing.  I was the one gaining exposure and learning so much about what it means to be content and at peace regardless of lifes circumsances. I told them they are the ones to be thanked for so faithfully serving the people of san isidoro every week. We were again asked to also speak words of encouragement here, and then later on at a children's bible school.  We weren't prepared for these mini sermons, but we figured out something on the fly.  I don't know how much language was a barrier anyways....and this sounds so cheesy, but I have to say it...we did speak the language of love through smiles, hugs, dancing, and whatever minimal conversation we could attempt.  As we drove away the kids followed us to the car telling us they loved us.  It was incredible.  I'm sad I hadn't done/seen this sooner.  That said, I really think Filipino children are the cutest in the world.  Since I don't have children yet, I can say that....right?