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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