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