Panorama Labayug

Balcony View of the Labayug House! This gives a hint of how the neighborhoods are in Labayug. It is hot here. Not that it isn't in a tropical country. But it's hotter and dustier because of the cement factory not too far from here. It's their main industry. 

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Week Six: One Official Month!

May 28th, 2018

Sunday: Santiago

Monday: Vigan (Rent)

Tuesday: Hang out in Barayok

Wednessday: To Cabaroan! Mangas! Field Day

Thursday: Hung Out with Kervin

Friday: Candon. I made Gulash for everyone!

Sat: Stayed Home. Work on Ilocano/Tagalog/Itneg

  So I want to start by congratulating my buddy Leo Ramos for not losing hope and being freed of cancer! I'm super stoke that everything worked out for you. I wish I could buy you some 'Congrats, you didn't let cancer kick your ass' present but I can't so this will have to do! Me and Leo have known each other since sixth grade. I probably have an old picture of us somewhere from being in band together. He played tuba and I played trombone. We've always had each other's backs. No matter how far we stray in our own paths we'll always be there for each other and those kind of friendships are the best! Gad you're good bud. I hope all is well after this. Keep strivin' and survivin', bro!

  Also, Friday or Saturday Alan's little sister graduated Kindergarten! His family made me a part of their family and I'll always appreciate that. Before I left I helped her with the last few assignments she had. We had to get pictures that represented words that started or ended with curtain letters. Ex: Beginning or ending with 'th'. Imagine me trying to explain to her that there isn't exactly a picture way to represent the word 'though'. Here little brain couldn't wrap around that concept lol. I want her to know that I'm proud of her. And hopefully sooner rather than later I can teach children her age or older since I'm going for elementary education. 

  When I have connection I'll have a better hold on whose birthdays are coming up. I'll probably dedicate a photo or a post or something to the people that month because I care about all of you who are in my life (whether we met in The States, in the Philippines, or haven't met at all. Friends from junior high up until High School and even those who have worked with me know that I love giving away birthday presents. They're ways for me to say, "This is what I thought about our time together + it's your special day!"

  Here in the Philippines you don't really give gifts of birthdays. You show up and spend time with the person and that's enough. Presents are not expected. Eating the food that is cooked is expected and honestly that's how I feel. Not about the food but for my birthday I enjoy seeing people who care to put the time aside to see me or tell me happy birthday. Although, I don't like announcing my birthday, I never have. Most of my friends know it's either in April or in the week between April 10-20. I know Daniel Lucero knows my birthday because mine is the day before his.

  Anyways, Happy Birthday Adrian Fierro. Gosh, I hope you aren't any taller than last time I saw you. I'll always hope for the best for you and hope that everything is going well. You should be 22 today. If I'm wrong I'm sorry that I don't remember lol. I'm pretty sure I'm not. I also wish I could send you something, wherever you are. All I know is that you're living life and you don't seem to be in any trouble and that's all I could hope for. Always know that I'm here and if you need anyone to talk to I can use messenger for free at all times lol. Happy Birthday/ Maligayang Kaarawan/ Feliz
Cumpleanos! I hope you see this!

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IL - Ilocano
Tag - Tagalog
Span - Spanish
It - Itneg

  It has been an official month since I've landed in the Philippines. There are so many things to learn here it's making every day a challenge that's fun to beat. Little (basit - IL) by little I learn the languages. And yes, I said languages. I'm sure I've said this before but I'll say it again. I'm currently focusing on Ilocano (IL) and Tagalog (Tag). For what words I don't know I use Spanish (If I know it) and most of the time the person or people I'm talking to understand what I'm trying to say.

  Eventually I want to have a word of the day in all of the languages. I'm working with my family to figure out how I want to do this. I'm thinking of having a collection of words per week. Ex: Seven Numbers, Seven Animals, Seven Items, or ect. Most Ilocano and Itneg (It) are the same but not all the words. Tagalog is based off of Spanish. Actually, most of the languages are based off of Spanish. I don't wan to say that they all are but that might not be a false statement. 

  Sunday: Santiago Beach is about an hour and a half drive from Paltoc. This week and the next we went to Santiago but the week after I hope we can go to Urza (San Esteban) again. I have to pay for the cottage and the general drive because we're going to the beach for me. So hopefully, everything works out. Urza is where I took the picture of me and my cousin on the rock and there are more rocks to swim to swim to so I have my fingers crossed. It's also deeper there. I would really love to become a stronger swimmer than I am. I'm not too bad but my cousins (who can swim) are like graceful fish gliding through the sea lol. There are some of my family members who cannot swim and I hope to teach them so they can enjoy the sea (Baybay - IL) like I do and maybe they'll be able to adventure the ocean with me to small achievements like rocks lol. 

  Santiago Beach is clean but it's not as clear water like Urza Major (San Esteban). I hope to find more beaches I can swim at. Salt water helps my skin immensely and that's why I try to go once a week.

  My skin: Overall my skin is getting better. I started using this Aloe Gel that my sister Lynn (Manang Lynn) recommended. So far it helps die down the itching but it doesn't stop it. I'm not sure what to think of it yet. I do know that my lotion doesn't mix with the Aloe Gel (but according to my sister Lynn nothing does) so I have to wait until the gel is completely dry before I can apply any lotion on top of it. I still use hot water to kill the bacteria in the water and sprinkle baking soda to enhance the effect. I lather myself in Sulfur Soap which I know helps my skin. So far it looks like my efforts have paid off. But I've lacked in taking two showers a day because I've been waking up later and I've been told that we're going somewhere or doing something so I don't have enough time to shower in the morning. Two showers help as well. Even if I'm going over my skin and not washing my hair one of the times, it helps the healing process.

  My old habit has been coming back of me waking up at 2-3am in the morning and staying up till 4-5am sometimes 6. I'm trying to eat less in the last meal of the day that way I don't have too much energy when I go to bed but I can't cut the last meal out because if I don't eat my Inang/Lola (IL/Tag: Grandma) will get upset and I don't like upsetting her.

  Monday: Vigan (Rent): Went to pay rent with my cousins Dimer and Joshua. We ate Sinigang at a small mall across from Mang Inisal because Mang Inisal was too crowded. Got to share my music with Dimer and introduced him to Skillet (Thank you Hannah!) Although I wish I had more CDs to show Dimer (and the rest of my family who is really into music Skillet will have to be the start). They got me to download a music downloading app and a music player. Right now I'm going through my cousin or niece (I think she's my niece lol) Genalye Rose. She has another name but I don't know how to spell it or say it.

  We paid rent in Vigan and looked into turning in our applications but I can't until I have my transcript. (I literally have everything else). Also, I learned a little about the money classes here in the Philippines and how to blend in because converting my paycheck from America into pesos was a BAD idea lol. But that's okay. I have six extra applications for a reason. Hopefully my transcript will come in this next week. Otherwise I can't take the test and neither will Joshua. I don't know how Dimer applies because he's younger and is coming out of Senior High (High School( I think.

Tuesday: Hang out in Barayok

  When I was working for Stripes I worked in San Angelo and Big Lake (an oilfield based town). In Big Lake I learned how to speak enough Spanish to get customers in and out of the door and that helped me tremendously when I got back to San Angelo and had a Spanish speaking customer and even in Dollar General when I occasionally would have a Spanish speaking customer. One of my cousins who went to Hawaii for some time thought that Texas was part of Mexico and sometimes, we might as well be lol.

  Before my mom left she joked that I should get a part time job helping my Auntie JingJing at her Marienda (Store IL/Snack Tag). Even though it was a joke I thought it was a great idea because of my experience in Big Lake. So Tuesday my Uncle McKenny took me took me to Barayok to get my first experience at the store. Even though some of the words didn't stick it was still easy enough for me to understand. I hope to help her out in the future which I probably will. 

Wednesday: To Cabaroan! Mangas! Field Day: This day scared me. My cousin Lander woke me up and said that we needed to go eat in Cabaroan and I thought that meant eating at some restaurant or some side food chain. What he meant was, "Let's go the field to go eat." I asked him why his little brother wasn't coming along and he shrugged and said, "Okay if you want." After getting off the motorcycle we went for a hike to where the huge mango (manga IL/Tag) tree was. Had he told me that we were going to the field I wouldn't have suggested for his younger brother to come along but he wasn't sure how to tell me before hand. Lol. We hung out watching people harvest mangoes. They divided the harvest and we ate (I have pictures that will be posted). It was an interesting experience but my skin worried me. Any unattended cut or open wound (no matter how small) that I have can get me Staph Infection and I'm highly sensitive. The moment I got home I took a shower and thankfully, nothing happened. The field is where my cousin Gary works. He doesn't go to school but he does work out there and that's not necessarily a bad thing! He chose what he wanted to do and he's doing it. I haven't talked much to him. Out of all his siblings (Joshua, Dimer, and Jovelle) he's the one I don't get a chance to talk to because he's out there all day. I hope we get to talk when I learn Ilocano.

Thursday: Hung Out with Kervin:

  Me and the Kervin (Lander's little brother) hung out at the house all day. We read through part of his 4th grader book (Tagalog) and watched TV. I worked on some computer things and other than that I don't think we did much. I think I sang with my cousins this day. They really like my voice. I know I have a good voice but in America I never really sang in front of anyone. Here, everyone sings even if they're bad at it and I think because of that I was able to sing in front of them with ease.

Friday: Candon. I made Gulash for everyone!: Angel Hair Noodles are nonexistent here lol. And so is Garlic Salt lol. But Gallic Powder mixed with salt is the same thing. And Elbow noodles will have to do lol. I bought 1 Kilo (2.2 lbs) of lean ground beef (80/20??) and 1 kilo of elbow noodles. I bought 2 big cans of tomato sauce and onions (which were tiny. I'm used to bigger onions this was weird for me. Also the shopping experience was different. (I have pictures of that too!) Lol. I called it American Soapas (American Soup) because I thought Soapas was noodle in Ilocano but it's Soup. Which makes sense. But I asked Lander what it meant and he said it was noodle (This was later explained to me by Jovelle lol). Anyway. It was a success and most of it was gone. They don't have a fridge here so I couldn't put it away when lunch time was over but people still came over and tried it. (Apparently, I need 3 cans of tomato sauce and a 4th just in case for reheating lol but besides that the 'American Sopas' was a success,)

Sat: Stayed Home. Work on Ilocano/Tagalog/Itneg:

  I'm going to be honest and say I don't remember Saturday. I'd sit here and type to you every day when the day is over but I don't always feel like opening up my laptop to do so and it gets annoying when you go from your laptop to your phone and sometimes it's on your phone or maybe it's on your laptop and then there may or may not be a chance that there's wifi. Lol.

  Overall: One month. Whoa. I can't believe I've made it to a month! It's now officially the rainy season. Hopefully next week me, Joshua, and Dimer will have our stuff together to turn in our applications and get ready to take our Entrance Exams! Woo, College! Another thing about this place is they have uniforms per day based on what you're going to go to school for so that's interesting. I'm not really for it because I like choosing what I wear. All I hope is that the material is cotton and if it's not. I want to know if I can invest in one that is cotton. Because my skin doesn't work well with any other material.

  Well, goodnight for now. I wanted to make these short but I only seem to be making them longer lol. But more of you are telling me that you're keeping up with it so that makes me happy! Thank you for reading everyone. My dad this morning even told me that he read my blog and that made me really happy. If you all are commenting and I'm not responding it's because I don't have wifi but please, don't stop commenting! I want to hear what you're thinking.!

Until next time, Dj/Cho/Shinar 

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Aldrin Paliwen and Vanessa Santiago (Mr. and Mrs. Paliwen)

So happy for these two! Mr. and Mrs. Paliwen. Married May 8th, 2018! Best of luck to them both. 

Aldrin babysat me when I was younger. His kid brother is one of my best friends in the Philippines! Literally every time Aldrin would see me (over course of years) he would say, "Do you remember when I took care of you?! You were like five! You were so cute! Look at you and how much you've grown! What have you been up to?!" Literally. Every. Time. At least he's consistent lol. 

Selfie Taipei

On the plane heading for the Philippines. I was so tired but excited to start my new adventure. I sat next  to a Filipino couple who live in Chicago! They were talking about how they appreciate EVA Air. I second their opinion. The ride was nice and the flight was cheap compared to what it could have been. The only reason why my ticket was so expensive was because mine is an extended round trip. One of the few photos I took in Taiwan. One day I might visit the actual country who knows!

San Esteban

This picture was taken by my niece Dhexciah's phone. I'll be getting a waterproof case hopefully soon!!

Taken in the water in San Esteban. The water here is clear and it's peaceful. There are rocks you can swim to. It's really neat! Lol.

Sign in Candon!

There are many signs like this one in lots of barangays (cities/towns) 

(Left to right) Manang Gina, Sharmi, Dhexciah, me, Rico Jay

Lunch 5.7.18

Mini Crab and Mini Fish! 

(I'll let y'all know the name when I know lol)

Dress Up Selfie

What I wore to the wedding of Aldrin and Vanessa Paliwan in Labayug!

(It's so hot in Labayug it's ridiculous) 

Ramen Nagi at SM Baguio

Ramen Nagi at SM Baguio (mall in Baguio). A picture of the condiments!

Family

Waiting for our food at Jolibee in Vigan! (Me, my mother, and Uncle Dencio)

Veggies from Cabaroan, San Emilio

Follow my Instagram for current updates. I try to post a picture when I have wifi! Also, Don't be afraid to make comments or ask questions. I want to hear what you have to say.

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Week Five: First Week Without My Mother

Week Five
Sunday: Del Pilar and Hot Spring after Church (Happy Mother's Day!)
Monday: To Candon then Labayug with My Cousin Gilbert to see mom leave
Tuesday: Labayug. Antong Falls then Bottles Up
Wednessday: Learn What Not Bus To Take
Thursday: Rest Day! Back In Paltoc
Friday: Another Chill Day
Saturday: To Vigan!

  I will be buying wifi this saturday. It makes me sad that I couldn't post last weeks on time but I did write it for you all! As I said I can't schedule post through the app which is annoying but I'll at least be sure to write to you all what I did this week. I'm making a small progression on my Tagalog and Ilokano. There is some progress with Itneg but it still doesn't stand out to me. I can see the difference with words between Tagalog and Ilocano. I know what my family is saying but I can't tell you what language they're speaking. I'm happy enough that I can understand them lol.

  My mother went home on Monday. That's why me and my cousin Gilbert went to Labayug to see her off. A lot of people expected me to go all the way to Manila but to be honest I've traveled so much I don't want to travel for a while. It was sad to see my mom go but I was happy to know that she made it home safely.

  This will be the first official week without my mother! Woo! I made it through the first week and this is my 5th week of being here. Next week will be a full official month. I want to thank the friends that read this and that message me on Facebook to see how I'm doing. I appreciate it you guys.

  My skin: It's doing a lot better now that I've been here and changed my diet. I still can't keep up with how many times these people eat here but I've been able to eat every time they do. I eat small portions is all. I also eat the way I do because it makes my Inang (grandma) happy. She gets really upset if she doesn't see that I've eaten so I try to show her that I'm not starving myself.

  The sulfur soap has helped a lot. I'm running low on the aloe lotion my sister Lynn gave me but there is fresh aloe here so when I run out all I have to do is go upstairs. Now that my skin isn't breaking out in heat rash it's becoming SUPER dry. Which I can handle. All I have to do is put lotion but sometimes it takes layers of lotion to break though how dry it is. It doesn't itch as much so that's an improvement.

  I'll be sure to try and get a better schedule running for these things. I have many pictures that I want to post that I need to upload to my laptop and organize it that way. Generally, if I have connection I try to post one photo at least and my family thinks its a great idea that I started a family album with people's names labeled.

  Sunday: Del Pilar: My Uncle Henry is the mayor of Del Pilar. He has limited facial expressions but he's a good guy, He took us to Sibol Hot Spring that is sulfur based. The water was too hot at first so my family said that we were going 'up' for a while until the springs cooled. What I DIDN'T know was that 'up' meant hiking/rock climbing and the fact that I made it through the hike/rock climb AND back made me feel super accomplished.

  Because we made the hike/rock climb I was already tuckered out by the time we got back so when we finally sat in the hot spring my muscles relaxed and I almost fell asleep. Although, because the water was so hot my skin healed slower I guess? Since then my skin has been SUPER dry but at least I have hardly any heat rash. I need to go back again but the road to Del Pilar might be worse than the road to Paltoc and that's why I don't want to go there too often. I need to either go there or to the beach and the beach seems like the easier drive. We took a small group to Del Pilar. I thought that it was only going to be four of us because we all had to go on motorcycles but we ended up with eleven people lol. After we got finished at Del Pilar we went home and I passed out. I took another shower because I was starting to itch and that was the need of the day for me lol.

  Monday: Mom was going to be leaving Tuesday so I asked my cousin to come with me to Labayug. Here everyone travels in pairs. It's safer that way. We took a bus which was four hours long and ended up in Labayug. I was upset because I brought two cds of the audio book I was listening to and I finished them faster than I thought. Due to it being Election Day the bus was filled even in the aisle and it was uncomfortable. My car sickness kicked in and when we finally got off the bus I thought I was going to hurl but I didn't. It cost me being able to eat much food. I drank soup and added rice. My mother, Aunt Helen, Uncle Alex, and Manang Ambit were waiting for us at the bus station. After that we slept I believe.

Tuesday: Mom left for Manila. I asked my brother in law if I should stay in Labayug and he said to go home. I should have but I didn't. I wanted to spend some time with my cousin Manang Ambit. Her real name starts with an M but only my Aunt Helen calls her that lol. My mom made it safely to Manila. While she was heading there Gilbert, Rhanie, and I went to Antong Falls. That's like all you can really do in Labayug and it's not even in Labayug lol. Rhanie is actually my nephew but I don't call him that. I barely got the guy to stop calling me Auntie because that's weird when you're only months apart in age. He's born in September and I'm in April.

  Rhanie thinks it's funny that the english way to spell Rhanie is Ronnie. But in english we say ron-ne where as they say rah-knee. He thinks the way to say Ronnie is Roe-ne and to them that's correct lol. The fact that I got him to talk to me is an accomplishment in itself. He's really shy but I tend to be able to talk to people who are shy. Most people are afraid to talk to me because they don't speak english well and the other percentage who do know how to speak english take it to pride and speak only english to me and I don't appreciate that because that doens't help me to learn the language.

  We ended up going to Antong and hiking farther than last time when I went with my Aunt Lorie. Rhanie introduced me to my favorite snack here Mang Juan Chicharon (vinegar and salt chicharon lol).  I have to be careful when I eat those though because they make me feel hungry even after I ate a whole bag of them lol. We hung out at Antong from 8 to 12 and then headed back to the house. When we got back we ended going to my Manang Ambits and drinking a few beers and singing songs. It was a fun social time that I haven't had in a while.

  Wednesday: After we cleaned up Rhanie drove me and Gilbert to Paldit to find a ride to Candon where we were supposed to meet our cousin Joshua. We ended up getting on a local bus instead of one of the franchised ones. Those buses are good if you want to be dropped off at a specific place but they stop a lot of literally anyone and everyone. We even had to switch buses at one point but the ride was cheaper. We left around 10 and got to Candon around 3 and then we got home around 4-5. That was probably the worse ride I've had yet on a bus so I know better next time. Gilbert said I'd probably memories the route from Labayug to Paltoc.

  About my Dad: The more I make the trip from Paltoc to Labayug or vice versa the more I'm awe inspired about the drive. Used to, I'd sleep through it. But I don't do that as much anymore. Back when my Dad was dating my mother he would ride his bike (not a motorcycle) from Labayug to Paltoc and he would do that EVERY weekend. My father would bike from Pangasinan, through La Union (La Onion), to Ilokos Sur and up the mountain to Paltoc through the fantastic dirt road they had. Like whoa. That's freaking dedication. It's also why my dad had monster thighs lol. (That's where I get mine from x.x)

  Thursday: Rest Day! Thankfully! I'm so tired of travel it's ridiculous. I can't spend my rest days in my room unless it's later in the day. I wait for it to get dark then I retreat to my room. Until then I hangout in the living room or upstairs. Usually in the Living room because it's cooler downstairs than upstairs. All I did that day was listen to the rest of my audio book (I found out that I'm missing CDs so I'm going to have to look for the book to read the rest of it lol). I wrote in my journal, watched cartoons, and worked on a story that I'm trying to pick back up.

  Friday: Another chill day. We went to a wedding to eat and I got to meet another one of my crazy aunties who insisted that I dance but I told her no lol.

  Saturday: To Vigan! I told my cousins that we need to leave at 8am. We didn't leave the house till 8:30 which isn't bad for Filipino time lol. (Filipino time is when the event starts at 5pm and everyone shows 7pm). We spent most of the day waiting for a bus or being on the bus. Once we got to Vigan the first thing we did was eat at Mang Inasal. I had sisig while Gilbert and Joshua had chicken. Then we try to pay rent. Which we'll have to do Monday because the landlord lady wasn't there.

  This is something that I think is weird in the Philippines but I guess since they don't have to pay as many taxes or have as many regulations as we do they don't have 'business days'. There are day shops and night shops. Most of the night activities area cheaper shopping, street food, or drinking. The reason why I bring this up is because I asked my cousin what time the dorms start taking money so we could go and put down our deposit the moment the landlord opened her doors. But he said that we could go at any time because she lived there too. I understand that being more convenient but normally I'd call or check on google what time she'd be open and I'd go the earliest in the morning. Here, there may or may not be a phone number or a google reference so there might not even be store hours.

  We traveled around Vigan. We went to UNP to get more applications then we went to the studio (photography studio) to get a picture for my applications and went shopping for some necessities. Gilbert tried to convince me to get on a plan with Globe (Their version of Verizon/Suddenlink and AT&T combined lol) so that I could always have internet but the truth is I don't really use internet all the time. I spend more time taking pictures on my phone than being on the Facebook app (I depend on messanger but that's free). The only reason for me to have internet all the time is when I'm in school and right now I'm not in class so I'm not worried about that. If anything, there should be a library where I can use a school computer to do research. It was a long day. We got home around 5 but it gets dark starting at 6. I call Saturday a sucess though!

  Overall: I think I'm adjusting pretty well. My body is at least with all the hiking/rock climbing. I say hiking and rock climbing but these people don't use their hands to rock climb. They have super good center of gravity which I normally have a good center of gravity but it's not while going up slanted rocks and what not lol. I can't wait to go swimming again. Swimming is my favorite outdoor thing to do even though I can only swim at the beach. (The Baybay).

  I'm sad that my mom rushed herself in the last week but that's how my mother is. I wanted to get something for some of my friends back home but as I said but my mother was rushing so I wasn't able to get any souvenirs for my friends of my family for that matter but this these post are all I have for you guys lol. I also have pictures. My phone cleared at one point which upset me but I have more now. 600-700 lol so expect more pictures when I can get this blog working right. I know I have to fix the pictures and the text. Ask me questions and email me. I'll answer as soon as I have connection. I really look forward to comment, emails, and messages on facebook so send one if I come across your mind!

  Thanks everyone, I hope to hear from you some time! (Tune in next week!)
Dj/Nar/Cho

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Filipino Snack One

  Banana Q! Fried Banana coated with sugar. 10 Pesos. Bought it on the way to Baguio on the bus.

  When riding the charter buses here in the Philippines at each stop a merchant or two or more will enter the bus and ask if you want to buy any of their merch (mainly food). It's convenient and not much usually.

Week Four

Sun 6 - Labayug Church
Mon 7 - Antong Falls (I fell)
Tues 8 - Wedding Lubayug
Weds 9 - To Paltoc. To Apayao
Thursday 10 - Underground Cave (I didnt go. )
Friday 11 - From Apayao (road trip) to Vegan. (Found apartment) left Apayao  (8:30am -10:30pm)
Sat 12 - Rest Day!!

Church: Not being a super religious person is weird in a country that is very religious. What I've squired to try and learn the language or better myself in the culture is a Tagalog version Bible (Biblia) and an English one. I'm still looking for an Ilokano one which is sold only in specialized booked stores according to my Paltoc pastor.

  Both sides of my family push that I have to go to church. So I'm having to redo the routine of having church clothes, reading the bible, and looking over the songs. The church in Labayug that my family mainly goes to is a Wesleyan Church. I need to remember to get you all a photo next time I go. All I currently have of that place are the wedding photos which I also need to post lol.

  Even though I'm not very religious I find that attending church is a good way to socialize and learn how to speak the language even if the vocabulary is aimed towards the bible . The way I see it. Words are words and I need to use them, hear them, and read them.

  What I should get is a Tagalog/ English Bible but despite my families being super religious having a variety of bibles isn't on their to do list lol. I don't blame them. If they don't need an English, Tagalog, and Ilokano one then why get them all? I'm also thinking of looking back into my Spanish because Spanish has saved me through a lot of communication issues and even though it's no Tagalog... Anything helps at this point.

  As I've mentioned my family speaks three languages. Ilokano, Itneg, and Tagalog. Tagalog being the national language, Ilolano being the native, and Itneg being the home language of Paltoc. There's little to no sources for me to learn Itneg. Only the locals. I have notes on my phone keeping track of a small dictionary in each language. Most of Itneg is Ilocano but not every word. And spelling here is confusing. My family constantly tells me to sound out words but I sound out words in English lol.

  Antong Falls: I have pictures for you all that I will post eventually. My cousin told me that I should find out why its called Antong falls and I tried to google it but only found that some people call it Limmingaling Falls. Antong is a hidden treasure. I remember when I was younger the place was more beautiful but because of a recent mine there is less water going to the collection of falls. Antong is located in Sison, Pangasinan. I'm lucky that my Aunt bought a place somewhat near the falls. From her house it is still a good hike to get there.

  Hiking here is normal. In sandals /Flip flops at that. I have to be careful with what I do to make sure I don't end up with staph infection. Most people don't have to worry about this issue but because of my sensitive skin I need to make sure to be aware of any cut or open wound and clean it every day. Luckily, here they have sulfar soap for cheap and I use that to my advantage.

  My skin: With a change of diet, the amount of walking/hiking, and natural resources my skin has looked the bst it has at any time that I've been in the Philippines. I still deal with heat rash but I have hope.

  Back to Antong Falls for a minute. On the way back my aunt decided to take a short cut. I told her that I CANNOT touch the water here unless it's salt water. The same goes for back home in Texas. I'm allergic to chlorine so pools arent an option and my skin is too sensitive to try and swim in any 'fresh' water areas. On the way back my aunt wanted to take a short cut which meant crossing the river. Well, as I said. I told her I cant touch the water but she continued to get annoyed that I'd have to take the long way around. So I tried it and I fell.

  The moment I got back to the house I wiped my legs down with alcohol. I cant touch the water here as I said so in order to take a shower/bath I have to boil water and poor it into the water we use here to kill the bacteria. I also poor some baking soda in the water to make extra sure that I've cleaned the water.

I use
(During a bath)
-Hot water (kill bacteria)
-Baking Soda (ensure that I've killed the Bacteria)
-Sulfar Soap (cleans my skin)

(After a bath)
-Aloe Lotion and or Fresh Aloe which I can get on the 2nd floor of the house.
-Coconut Oil: Antibacterial to get any spots that's I may have missed or cannot see.
-Renew Lotion: One of the few lotions that I've found to be effective for my Eczema.

Im also going to buy Chamomile Oil to see if that helps any later on. My sister told me to add a couple of drops into my water.

  Bathing here is a ritual. Not that it wasn't back in Texas. But back in Texas I didn't have as much to worry about water wise and skin wise. There, my skin was dry. And if I ate dairy or gluten products my skin would be itchy. It's hot back home in Texas but it's a dry hot and that type of hot I can handle any day.

  Here I get heat rash because of the humidity and how hot it is. My skin doesn't allow me to sweat (unless it's on my face) so I relied on AC and being inside back home. But when you're in a tropical country where the humidity can reach over 100% (how is that even possible lol) not sweating can cause some major problems. I only sweat on my nose (which I'm highly self conscious about lol). Heat rash is the result of clogged pours which explains why I have such a hard time with heat rash. Through the bathing ritual I've gotten myself into my skin has less heat rash but now is becoming more dry, resulting in what feels like sunburn so I'm still working on figuring out my skin lol.

  Why don't I go to the doctor: Because every year time I go to the Philippines I go to the Doctor due to staph infection and they give me the same thing. Antibacterial cream and a steroid shot I think. Sometimes I feel like this country isn't for me but I cant keep thinking negatively. My main goal here is to get school finished and that I try to keep in mind.

Wedding Lubayug: Aldrin and Vanessa Paliwan!!

  Literally every time I see my Manong Aldrin he says, "Shinar!! Do you remember when I took care of you when you were 5?! You were so adorable!!! I miss those days!! How are you? How have you been?!" That phrase exactly. Lol.

  Manong is a respectful term used to indicate that some is older than you and in your generation.

  His wedding was beautiful. I still have to get over culture differences here but I have pictures for you all that I will eventually post lol.

  Aldrin has a younger brother who is my age. (I'm older by months) His name is Andrei. I should have a picture on my Facebook and Instagram of him. After the wedding me and my family went to the Reception. My mom was part of the wedding so we couldn't sit with her but Aldrin considers me close family so I got us seats at one of the few tables instead of having to sit in the bleachers (which are made of stone).

  My cousins weren't enjoying the wedding too much since they weren't close to Aldrin. But I couldn't help but be excited to see how Andrei had been doing since the last time we spoke. I finally found him after me and my family ate and then broke off from my cousins for the first time to go and catch up with Andrei. We talked for 2 hours!!

  I found out that he's going to school to become a High School teacher for 'Morals/Views' which I guess would be considered Ethics back in the U.S but I'm not sure. He went from being really quiet to being super loud (that caught me off guard). He also took me to Paldit to go eat Balut and have more time to talk since he was on a time limit and had to go back to school that night.

To Paltoc. To Apayao: This. Was. Stressful. And I'm glad these type of days are coming to an end. We went from Labayug to Paltoc (4 hours PERFECT conditions). Then we stayed in Paltoc for a few hours tops. I got ready to go to bed and mom was aggravated with me because 'I wasn't ready to leave' WHICH she said we were going to do in the morning. But. I guess not. I didn't even eat I was so tired lol.

We went from Paltoc to Apayao (A 6 hour drive perfect conditions) then we took a break and headed out to the Underground Cave which I didn't participate in. As I sad, I cant touch the water unless it's salt water. In order to get to the cave you had to cross a dam and I turned around then lol. After 2-3 hours my family returned and we ate then headed back to the house where we got some sleep but then headed back to Paltoc.

  So another 6 hour drive which turned in 12 hours on the road. We went to San Nicolas for my mother's shopping list and then we went to Vegan to see if we could find me and my cousin an apartment. The apar

tment we found was 6k pesos electricity and water included. So all we have to pay for is our wifi, food, and travel expenses.

6k pesos - $117.64
(This is our bill per month lol)

  We found an apartment meant for 4 people. It's literally 2 rooms with a small hallway to the bathroom and kitchen. Luckily it'll just be me and my cousin Joshua. However, he only has 2 semesters left and I'm just starting. My best friend Andrei suggested I go to his college for a month but he goes to a Bible College and I've already said that i'm not super religious.

  The apartment is on like the 5th floor with no elevator lol. It's near the college so that makes it convenient. I hope that the school thing works out. Right now I have to wait for my transcript. Other than that I need to go back to Vegan and turn in my application.

  School here: They dont have 'basics'. If you want to be an elementary teacher you start with right away with the curriculum which is nice. But that makes what classes I did take in college here pointless. I'm basically starting over but hopefully some units (credits) will transfer. In order for me to get into the school i have to make an 80 or above on the entrance exam. 70 is passing but if i want to get into the teaching program i have to make an 80 or above which i hope i can do. Literally everyone here is like "You'll ace it not problem!! You're fluent in English which makes the test THAT much easier for you." Like okay. Thanks. The test is supposable basic information. It's a general IQ test. Again, I hope I pass but I dont want to go in there thinking that I'm perfect and then bomb the test lol.

Saturday: Rest day: I looked forward for this. I slept through most of it. My back hurt so much from the traveling. The seats aren't too comfortable here. They're more comfortable then last time but still lol.

  I cant believe it has been 4 weeks since I got here. I counted the week that I flew in on a wednessday as a full week. Technically this is my third and the following is my forth but anyways. I miss my friends at home. I miss my puppy the most.  My dad has been taking her to his work so at least she has a big backyard to play in.

Thanks for tuning in with me this week guys. I'll update you next week! -Dj/Nar/Cho

Lunch 5.6 at Iglesias

Anger (Ahn-gar)

Beans and rice ft okra

Week Three

May 1st, Tuesday: Reunion and Skyline! 

May 2nd, Wednesday: UNP (University of Northern Philippines) Inquiry 

May 3rd, Thursday: San Esteban Beach

May 4th, Friday: To Baguio City

May 5th, Saturday: Back To Labayug 

May 6th, Sunday: Another Church Day

May 7th, Monday: Day Before The Wedding

  Hello all!

  Thank you for tuning in again. Hopefully I'll be able to get my wifi situated by the end of the day but until then enjoy pictures that I try to post when I have that glimpse of wifi. I have so many photos that I want to share with you all! I'm getting to know my family and I'm having to socialize on a level that it's exactly comfortable but what can I do when I want to live with these people? Lol. 

  Right now we're in Baguio City! In a hotel! Every time we come to Baguio and rent a room there's always at least one person who hasn't stayed in a hotel before and that amuses me. Like when you travel where do you stay at night? The answer is that they usually get to their destination (like a family's house) so they don't have to stay at a hotel. 

  Baguio is the place to be in order to keep my skin from being effected by the humid heat. Out of all my stays my rash appears but it doesn't itch so my skin gets better each time I come to the Philippines. The point of coming here was to go to school. Now, it's starting to look like I'm going to be waiting a semester or two to make 100% sure that I'll be okay skin wise. 

  Moving here changes my diet and that's one major change that helps out my skin. There is a lot of walking here. Not as much as I've had to deal with in the past but we've gone to a beach twice now and each time I spend at least 2-3 hours in the water. I found out that I'm a better swimmer than I thought I was. I'm hoping to improve on my swimming skills as I stay here because I love to swim! But I can't swim unless we're in the ocean because my skin can't handle chlorine or bleach which is a main cleaning agent for most pools. 

  Right now I'm fighting to stay awake so I can make a phone call back home. I need to stay up for another 2 hours or so. Or have an alarm go off in 2 hours but there are others sleeping around me so I find that rude. I could always put the earphones in and the alarm should only go off for me so I might try that. 

  For a long time I wanted to live here in Baguio because it's good for my skin but the Philippines has grown in population and advanced in many ways since the last time I was here in 2015. There's a chance my college might be free if a bill passes and I hope it does! Even if it doesn't I'll be able to afford school anyway because it is way cheaper here than it is back in the US. 

  I miss my friends and family but mainly my puppy. I know she's fine. But she's my home screen on my cellphone and every time I open up my phone I see her cute little face and I want to hug it and hold her. She's my baby. Lol. Anyways. Gaming wise I haven't done much of that. This is the first time I've gotten on my laptop since I've been here to be honest. The wifi crapped out on me and I haven't bothered to fix it lol.

At one point my phone deleted all my photos but thankfully my family takes tons of pictures so I can go through theirs for memory sake. I joked on Facebook that everyone will know that I'm okay because my family tags me in all the photos I'm in (or I was there but I may not be in the picture). If you're connected to my facebook you know that it's true. Filipinos takes a lot of pictures and that's why I don't care to take too many photos. I've gotten used to selfies but I still don't take as many as them. 

  We traveled on bus to get to Baguio and we're going to take another bus to get to Labayug. Here, the average bus is called a Jeepney while the air conditioned buses are called buses but they're actually charters which is nice. What you do is take your seat, a person will come up to you and ask where you are heading, you tell them then pay based off of that. They'll hole punch a ticket and hand it to you to tell you how much you're going to pay and then the bus will stop based off of where you want to get off. It's neat. 

  It's weird how manners work here. I'm not a very polite person based on American standards. Here, I have to stop myself from saying 'Thank you' or 'Please' or 'You're welcome' because if I say it, the gesture is rude. How is it rude? Here in the Philippines your family and your friends are more of an extension of yourself. You don't say 'please' and 'thank you' to yourself and that's why it's taken rude. If you tell you family 'thank you' they'll take it as you acting professional and they don't want you to treat them as if they are someone you work for or are working with. 

  Instead of saying 'Sir' or 'Ma'am' you say 'po' or you can substitute it by adding what they look like. Say that you're trying to get someone's attention. That person is a female, she seems older than you but not by too much, you would then say, "Manang?" and continue on with your question or what you would need to say. 

  I feel that I'll be able to learn better once my mother leaves. Me and her have never been able to break our culture barrier and even as I'm around the culture she grew up with I still don't understand her. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom. But I don't feel that she helps me much learning wise. 

  For now, this is all I have based off a First Grade level workbook that I bought. The following is Tagalog (Tuh-gah-loog)

  "Ako si Shinar. Biente dos taon aking edad. Abirl 15th, 1996 ang aking kaarawan. Nakatira sa Paltoc, San Emilio, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. Nag-aaral ako sa (UNP) University of Northern Philippines." 

Translation: I am Shinar. I am 22 years old. My birthday is April 15th, 1996. I live in Paltoc, San emilio, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. I go to University of Northern Philippines."

  I don't attend UNP yet but I hope I get to. As I said, we're waiting to see how my skin reacts. The beach helps. I use sulfur soap that helps. There is also a hot spring that I plan to go to hoping that it'll help my skin. The diet here is healthier and I have to walk more. In fact, the day I went swimming in San Esteban we swam to that rock, then played volleyball (attempted to lol), then swam to the rock again, and then went rock climbing to take pictures! 

  Another thing that I've learned is that in the Tagalog (and probably other languages lol) they don't translate word for word. Instead, they translate based off the sentence.

  In order to talk to my family I have to learn Ilocano and Itneg. But in order for me to attend the school I have to learn Tagalog so I'm focusing on Tagalog. I also have more resources on Tagalog since it's the national language here. I get a variety of answers on how to spell words in Ilocano so I'm not sure which is correct but that's alright because I need to know how to speak it more than read or write in it. 

  More people have complimented my tattoos this time around. My family got used to them being part of culture since my brother in law, sister, and I all have more than one. They find the price insane but that's to be expected because of the exchange rate. 

  The app won't let me queue anything so I have to physically post and my phone is set to the Philippines time while my computer is set to Central time. If you're ever wondering what time it is here switch the the AM to PM or PM to AM and then add an hour. 

Ex: 

4PM Central time = 3AM in the Philippines. 

  My phone is doing me a real big sad. It will connect to a wifi once but after a while it'll stop connecting to the wifi. I hope if I buy a mobile wifi I won't have that problem because I wanted the phone so I could post pictures and blog my experience in the first place. It takes HD photos which I'm happy about but the connect craps out. My laptop back home had the same issue. It must be me. I don't know. 

  I'm just glad that I'm able to schedule this post so that'll buy me some time to get my wifi situation fixed. I want to thank you guys for tuning in again this week. I'll hopefully post again next week on the 14th. I made it through another week guys. Would you look at that. :) 

Love you all.

Shinar

Email: Lusterdragon72@gmail.com (Title your email:Forward Flight)

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Baguio May 4th

Panorama from the hotel balcony (:

Week 2

April 26th: Flight Touch Down! Drive to Labayug, Pangasinan.

April 27th: To Ilocos!

April 28th: Baybay! Santiago Beach

April 29th: Church and  Getting To Know The family (To Candon!)

April 30th: Infinity Wars  San Fernando, La Union

You'll have to excuse me if i skip details. I've written this entry twice now and something has always happened when I try to save it. Either the app crashes or I press the wrong button and it exits without saving (which is annoying because it automatically saves most of the time). Now that I've gotten that off my chest. Let me begin.

  Whoa! I can't believe I've been here a week already! It'll be a 2-3 hour drive home so I figured I'd try to write this again right now. So far we have a wedding to attend and we need to get my papers in order but my mom hasnt been feeling good. I hope her health improves. I'd hate for her to deal with being sick for the 2-3 weeks shes here for.

  Turns out my goal is to go to The University of Nothern Philippines

  Major changes I've dealt with so far are traffic laws (which are still bad but they exist). There still isnt a seat belt rule for anyone except the driver and front passenger. There are also more police to enforce the laws and dont think I've seen a single beggar. Vans and cars are more frequent. The seats are comfortable but still uncomfortable for more than an hour trip (which is literally anywhere). Roads are better but the road to San Emilio is worse than Bell Street back home lol. (Think dirt road and holes while going down hill or up hill).

  Two years passes by so fast! The last time I was in the Philippines was in 2015. Now that I'm here the kids are older and I can actually spend time with them. Not that I babysat them in the past but I didnt get to talk to them and take them places like the mall.

  Today i got to watch a movie with a group of kids. There should be some pictures coming up in the queue (which im trying to do but the app sucks and my phone doesnt like viewing webpages). Hopefully, I can get my laptop set up soon. For now, all i'm doing is uploading photos to my Blogger and typing captions and tags as I go then when i get connection i can post one. Im trying to limit my text post to once a week. It give less for y'all to read and for me to Babble lol.

  Overall, I miss home. But Im excited to be in the Philippines. My skin is okay except for the heat rashes but after two weeks we'll find out if I can do this. Three months at a time is the goal. School also might be free soon. The government is trying to pass a law for free education and honestly, I think it's a good idea! What better way to invest in the younger generations than free education. If people dont like it then they dont have to go. If they go and find that it isnt for them then that's okay as well.

  My end goal is to be a teacher and make enough money so that I can tutor kids for free or based off of their family's wages to where they can afford it. People ask me why I want to tutor specifically and not teach a classroom. Well, that's because I know it's impossible to teach 30 kids the exact same way in a 45 minute to an hour class. Why do I say I know instead of I believe? Because I was there. And any time I bring it up to people who ask they always admit some sort of problem when they were going through school. Whether it's their own personal problem or someone they know.

  Right now I'm dealing with a language and culture barrier between me and my family. I STILL fight the culture barrier with my mother so I dont feel that I'll win that battle but the language barrier I can at least do something about by learning their language and listening for words and phrases.

  Language wise, I have to thank my Brother In Law Jason (Manong [mah-nahg] Jason). It's ironic that the person who has taught me the most Ilocano and Tagalog is my White American Brother in Law. He also taught me how to drink but hey... That's not bad when being raised by some who's Irish. Unlike my Uncles I can hold my liquor.! (Lol) (Also dont ask me where it goes because I dont know. I have a high tolerance. I can thank my Dad's side of the family for that).

  Before I left I tried to write a prologue and failed miserably. So here's a little about my family. My dad's name is (Sergio Balaneg Compal) and my mom's name is Helen Gallardo Compal. My dad is from Labayug, * Pangasinan and my mom is from San Emilio, Paltoc, Ilocos Sur. I have two sisters. Girlyne Compal White and Lynn Compal. My whole family is artistic in their own ways. My dad own Miller's Family Haircutters. He can draw and write. If any of you have met him you also know that he's sarcastic funny.

  Mom works for the base currently but she can sew (with no hand!) Both my parents can sing and my mom is also book smart. If you've met my mom she probably acts really nice to you and is rude to me. She also makes jokes but a lot of them are bad humor jokes like racial jokes. (Which is still funny). Something you may or may not know about my mom is that she graduated bible college and is a legal Pastor.

  So far on this trip I have spent more time with the Gallardo side of the family (my mom's side). I'm still learning names but I dont think I'll ever get spelling right. There are K's where the C's would normally go and D's where the J's go. Lol.

  I'm picking up on the language slowly but thankfully they understand some Spanish being from Texas (North of Mexico) Spanish is helpful. However, their Spanish is Spain Spanish so there are differences.

Ex:
Viente - Spanish
Biente - Ilocano and Itneg

  Another major difference is that there is more technology. More of my family have cellphones and mobile wifi. Kids are getting lost on their phones playing games and being on Facebook. It doesnt help that Facebook is free with the sim cards that's here. The two major sim cards are Smart and Globe. I have a Globe sim card. I get Free Facebook as long as their is a connection (mobile or wifi). If i want to see pictures I have to use data which I'm not sure how it works because I currently have no load on my phone and I can still see Facebook pictures. Lol.

  Think of cellphones here like tracphones except yoh use whatever phone you want as long as it's unlocked to use any sim card you'd like. Facebook calling and messaging is easier then calling or texting. The message may take 10-20 minutes to reach the person your texting. Whereas a facebook message depends on the connection of the phone data or wifi wise.

  FYI this was supposed to post on April 30th and my app said that it did but when I checked the laptop it didn't show that it existed so here you go. I had a photo uploaded to this post but this'll be the 4th attempt for me to post these words to you and I don't think I'm going to try anymore lol. I still need to write you all an update for this week so. This'll have to do. 

Email: Lusterdragon72@gmail.com (Title your email:Forward Flight)

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Thanks y'all. Tune in next week!

Shinar