March 25th, 2019

  Hello everyone! Long time no personal talk…

  Last week I had my midterms. I have one midterm left that I will review today. (It’s about contemporary history and it’s not that difficult). I’ll need to watch a few youtube videos in order to review but other than that I should be fine.

  This past month I’ve focused heavily on my writing but not on my journal entries to you all and I’m sorry that I haven’t been as on schedule as when I first left. I’m hoping that my new project will help me keep up with writing to you all. I have photos saved on my USB to have scheduled. I have more than a thousand photos on my phone that I need to transfer to my laptop but I still need to post the multitude of photos that I have from last year.

  So, I have the content. I haven’t been focused on my blog which is my fault. It’s exciting to know that writing this blog will be a two way street. If I were to go home to the United States, I can then keep my friends in the Philippines updated on my whereabouts also.

  I did update the Q&A located to the right of these post. Google+ was removed so I had to take down the button but for the most part all my blog is missing is content (which I have!!!) If anything, I’m thankful for all the friends that I’ve made thus far. My friends realize that distance does not limit a friendship and that makes me more than happy.

  People talk about how they lose friends because they move away but I have very few friends that I’ve lost because of this. If anything, I feel that these friendships that unpause when we’re around each other make for stronger bonds than ones that are limited to having to see each other on a daily basest. Granted, I do like having someone physically around me for most of my days but overall, I can see my friends after a long period of time and nothing has changed.

  These are friendships that I cherish and I try to be that friend for others because I treat people the way I want to be treated. This project that I’m going to be doing is going to take place on Wattpad but I will also post the results here. I’m going to be rereading what I posted in my first week (at one point I stop posting what week it was lol) and I will write any comments, changes, or remarks about what I feel today verses how I felt the first time I got here.

  What I do know is that I have changed and I do good friends all around me. Next month will be my birthday and I tried planning a few things with my friends and I found out that I have more than I thought I did. Which is a problem but it’s a good problem to have.

  For those of you who haven’t read anything outside of this blog, I’m still happy that you’ve read this blog at all. If you are an active Wattpad reader please let me know by following me and I will follow you back! I enjoy being able to talk to people on that website because there’s a list of artist that are inspiring of different ages and backgrounds… It connects people.

  There’s a shelf the two bookstores I’ve been to in this country and they have a Wattpad section. I think that is so awesome that the website has reached out that to the point where they’re selling actual books! I don’t foresee myself being on that shelf specifically but I do eventually want to publish a book and I do know that my friends who be willing to support me in this.

  Half of the semester is over! I cannot believe it’s already here. I’ve written about cultural dilemmas in my poetry book on Wattpad. I feel that if I were to share them here, y’all would enjoy them as well. I’m having to keep a name database because I try not to spill actual names to the public but there are so many characters in my life that keeping up with a secondary name is difficult.

  Now that I think about it, I suppose that I could schedule a poem once a week from my poetry book and have the link to the poem added into the post so that people who read this and who are on Wattpad can connect with me there as well. My friends have told me that I would be a chibi in an anime. When I told my boyfriend this he told me that I’d probably be the main character.

  It’s adorable how you guys look up to me but I’m so tiny compared to most of you. Today, I went to go eat with one of my friends and I looked in the mirror on the opposite wall and realized that I am super light compared to him. Like, I’m borderline white on our scale of how dark we are. I looked at my photos in the past and realized that I don’t really get darker, I sort glow more instead of getting dark and that’s really weird to say and try to explain but yea… I glow more instead of getting darker. It’s the yellow in me guys.

  There is literally no possible way for me to cover everything in one post especially when I limit myself to a thousand words but I don’t like rambling and I do know people want to get on with their lives which is why I limit these in the first place.

  Cool news though! I finished my first poetry book since I’ve been back on Wattpad (September of 2018). This poetry book contains 100 poems about my life here in the Philippines. It also contains poems about my mental health as well as my relationships with people. I’m proud that I finished this book and I want to share it with you all. I hope I can schedule the poetry. I have a lot to get done on my blog and all I hope is that you guys will stick around to read it all.

Thanks for tuning in,

DJ/Cho/Nar

Keep up with me at the following:

Ask Questions Here

 This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

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 Wattpad

  

       Click this to read my poetry!

February 12, 2019

  Magandang Umaga sa inyong sa lahat! (Good Day Everyone!) [Tagalog]

  I’ll be honest. These past two weeks have been stressful but that’s okay. Everyone has their good and bad weeks. Right now I’m at NSCC Bath and Coffee. This place is real cool! I wasn’t sure if I could do my homework here but I asked and they said yes. Later, I saw that there were students all around me! So, I’ll probably come here when I want to concentrate or to do a study group session. I was supposed to find the brewery that my Brother wanted me to find but I have yet to finish the outline to the powerpoint that I’ll have to present.

  I wanted to share Filipino history with you all since I’m having to read so much of it. But I don’t want to include it in this post because Kanawedan just finished! Kanawedan is a time where a carnival, trade fair, food fair, and concerts all happen in Tamag, Vigan City. My apartment is LITERALLY right in the middle of the commotion and to my surprise I’m used to the noise so I can sleep through it.

  The dorm doors have been staying open all night because of the festival but I’ve been returning at 8 to 8:30 like the regular time that way I don’t mentally come home at the wrong time. I have a mental clock that has me checking the time around 7:50. I check to see what I’m doing and finish up or if I’m out with my friends I tell them that I need to head back.

  Sadly, one of my friend’s uncles died. Out of my three close friends two of them have linage that lead to Pangasinan. Those two friends are from Abra and they also have Igorat heritage. If you haven’t read up on my past post Igorat is the equivalent to Native American for us. So, they are called ‘indigenous’ or they’re ‘native filipinos’. These people are the Filipinos who were living on the Philippines Islands before the Spanish came. Also take note that not all of them consider themselves Igorat. Igorat is what my family’s tribe calls themselves but my two friends have blood from different tribes.

  Anyway! We looked up our three locations and it turns out that Rosales, Pangasinan is right in the middle of all three of our barangays so we could totally plan a trip to see all our families. We jokes with our friend who is from San Vincente and said that we’ll be right back and he got all sad because his family is from the area around Vigan as far as he knows. But! His mother is in Spain so I think that’s still cool.

  I don’t know if I shared this with you all or not but I’d love to live in Spain one day. I looked up the requirements for Spain and I don’t know how it works but if I was a Filipino citizen then I’d could work in Spain for a year and then get my citizenship. So, what I’m curious to know is if I get my dual as a Filipino citizen am I able to get a citizenship to Spain through that?

  Of course, this is a thought for later. I like to travel in general. The plan was to finish school, become a Duel Citizen after I graduate then I’d get to see if I could visit Spain. My friend who has a mother working in Honk Kong told me that Honk Kong is two hours away and I found that interesting. One day, I hope I can meet her mom (while I’m with her of course).

  San Vicente: My friend took us to a Lola (woman who is around a grandmother’s age) in San Vicente who was alive during the Ferdinand Marcos Reign. Here, they call it the Marcos Regime. (I’ve never used Regime before so it’s weird for me to think ‘Regime’ instead of ‘Reign’. Regime refers to a form of government. Now that I’m staring at it, I still don’t feel that I would use the word but that’s what they call it here so I won’t argue with it.

  Anyway, she was really nice! She told us to call her Tita Vini. She worked in Thailand for a long time as a teacher and I found that interesting as well. At her house she has a museum that displayers her (brother’s(?)) art. I’ll be sure to post pictures and see if I can find any articles over the place. If I can’t find any I’ll go back and write one of my own but I doubt there isn’t one. Even then, I really want to go back.

  San Vicente is only ten minutes outside of Vigan City and it feels so much better! I like to think of San Vincente as a suburban area. My friend from there said his family is from San Vicente and Mansingal (I don’t know if I spelled that right lol). I told my cousin that if we had to move somewhere I’d chose San Vicente because it’s only ten minutes away and it feels nice. I know he wouldn’t like it though because he’d be away from his friends.

  Anyways, about Tita Vini’s place and why we went. So, she has a forest like backyard like! Whoa! She loves nature and believes that as long as we take care of it then it will take care of us and she’s not wrong! Originally, I went for the company but when she spoke more English at the beginning than Ilocano or Tagalog I started to listen in. Her life was really interesting.

  She was the oldest of her family. I didn’t catch all the details because she did switch languages and I can’t remember everything she said. But, for a lot of Marco’s reign she was in Thailand. She does like Marcos better than Duterte. She even asked me about my opinion about my country’s politics and I told her that I’m not a supporter of my president either. I told her that I wanted to teach to prevent presidencies like our current presents right now. She smiled about that.

  Whoa! There’s so much to cover and I already hit my one thousand words for this post. I don’t want to drag on so I’ll just have to have a separate post for the rest of this. Don’t forget to message me guys. I enjoy talk to you all. And I miss everyone. I also support all of you! So, please let me know what you’ve been up to and if your own boss. Things like that! Like my sister makes her own jewelry and she also sells eggrolls on the side! My friend Michael Dye is kicking it at her It! Works sells. My middle sister is a photographer and I have other friends who are also photographers. I have another friend who is working on her Modeling career and her photos are so beautiful!

  So yea y’all let me know what you’re up to! I’d love to hear from you. I also I appreciate all of you who come and read these post. It means the world to me. I like knowing that there’s a steady fifty of you reading these post. Even though I’m not making money off this website it still makes me happy. Maybe one day I’ll have my own business too.

Well, that’s all for now

Thanks for reading!

DJ/Nar/Cho

P.S: This week on February 15th I will be taking the Teacher Aptitude Test! I need to pass it in order to continue studying as a teacher. For those of you reading this before February 15th please think about me and hope that I will pass this test! I'm confident but I don't want to be cocky. Thank you again guys. All of you who read these make my day! <3 all="" and="" are="" doing="" good="" hope="" i="" luck="" me="" of="" p="" wish="" you="" yourselves="">

Keep up with me at the following:

Ask Questions Here

 This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!

 Facebook

      This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.

 Instagram

       I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!

 Wattpad

 If I don’t write a post here there’s probably a chance that I have written something on my Wattpad because there I post poems! They are shorter reads with more meaning. I am currently working on two poetry books but the more important one that ties into this travel blog is called ‘A Barrier Meant To Be Broken’. Below are the last five poems I wrote on there as of thi

Week 9: Progress Made and All The Rain

Me and my cousin Joville at Santiago Beach!

Rain Rain Rain!! (Literally it rained all week lol)

Sun:  Rest Day 

Mon: Transcript Came In! 

Tues: Independence Day (Though no one knows who from lmao) Santiago Dagat!!! High Waves and Gasping Breaths 

Weds: Practiced Languages

Thursday: Practuce Languages

Fri: Birthday Catholic Service

Sat Candon,Supplies

  My wifi has been picky but for some reason my apps work fine so I found a way around my problem! I am currently using my Instagram browser on my phone. I dont understand why ny wifi wont let me log into the factory setting password through my browser (through my laptop AND my cell) but I wont stress over it since I know now that I can go through other apps to get to the website I want. 

  There are 3 people that I want to bring up before I get started on telling y'all about my week. I want to thank Eric Hernandez for helping me with my spanish. My best friend's birthday was this week!!  Yay 22! Your wishes are official through the blog. And Lastly, Connie Hernandez gets a feature this week because I wanted to show her the blog lol.

  I met Eric Hernandez at Stripes while I worked overnight. He also worked overnight as a sweeper for All Clean of Texas. I wanted the job but even through my persistant I wasnt able to land it. Eric ended up changing jobs to work day time and for a higher pay so I asked if we could be friends on facebook and he said sure! Even though he liked to prick at my nerves during my shift I still enjoyed his company and now he's helping me learn Spanish! He's about to have a son soon so congrat and Happy Father's Day! He always post about his daughter, Julissa and I can't help but respect that so yay for good parenting! It's always a good feeling to see children being raised well by anyone, a single parent, a couple, seperated parents, adopted parents, ect. Thanks again, Eric! And I'll make sure I go to the Mexican instead of Google lol.

  If you are one of my friends on Facebook who speaks Spanish fluently, please.... Message me!!! The languages here in the Philippinrs originated from Spanish because it was taken over by Spain for 333 years (That I learned from my nephew RJ when I visited Apayao). Because Spanish is the origin some words bleed through and I know I've mentioned this over the weeks but each week somone new views the blog so here it is. Some words in Spanish bleed through or are very similar in Tagalog or Ilocano and even in Itneg. My favorite  one, for those of you Anime lovers is is Baca.

  In Tagalog, Ilocano, and Itneg: Baca
  In Spanish: Vaca
  In English: Cow

  The Stupid Cow joke makes me laugh but not everyone gets it here and that's fine lol.

  June 13th was my best friend's birthday! Happy Birthday Amber!!! Me and Amber were best friends back in Elementary. We didnt have a single course together in Junior high and didnt reconnect until Senior year of High School when we had Goverment and Economics together. it was as if our friendship was on pause and when I got to hang out with her again it was like the gap if years wasnt there.

  Amber can have moments of randomly NOT ANSWERING cell phone calls or messages but I dont mind. When I have time, I go see her or if she has enough energy she messages me. I love Amber to death and support whatever she whats to do in life. She's super creative and artsy and she's good at taking  care of kids. She watched Rylla in 2015 when I landed the Stripes overnight job for the first time. I asked her to watch her because I was going to school in between. Right now she's with a guy from Canada and he seems pretty cool but I've never talked to him lol. All he needs to know is that if he ever hurts her in a way that I causes me to retaliate he better we ready because I may be cute and adorable but I pack a punch :3  But I'm sure it wont come to that! Love you, Amber. One of these days you and I need to go to Canada. I have family there!!!

  And Lastly, Connie Hernandez. We had talked about the Philippines and some fun words like "Puto". Here in the Philippines Puto is a food, which is delicious, while in Soanish it's a curse term lol. Me and Connie had many classes together and if we didnt have the class together it was because she had the other period for the AP or Duel Credit course.

  Connie has a strong personality. Our senior year we campaigned for each other for Homecoming nominee. We told each other that if one of us made it on board to Homecoming we'd help that person get more votes. it would've been great if we both had made it but instead I made the court and she did not. I still appreciate Connie, she's a great person and even though we don't hang out I still consider her a friend! (I didnt win homecoming by the way. But I wanted tk get on the court so that I didnt have to play "My Girl" for an hour lol). Thanks for that Connie! Always know that if you need help with something, I'm here and I'll do my best to help!!!

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Now onto the actual post!

Sun:  Rest Day

  The bus ride back was 9 hours. It wasnt as dreadful because we didnt switch buses. The ticket was 1,300 for 2 people (me and my cousin Joshua). That translates to $25. Which isnt bad. But, we had to take a bus to Tuguegarao (Too-goo-goo-r-[ou like ouch] fitst and that ticket was 1,500 - $28.84. Which again, doesnt look like much but I only took 3k on the trip and luckily that left enough money for snack and a meal but that was it lol.

  I've grown to lik the bus snack Mani (peanuts) with garlic. It's only P10 (P - pesos) for a portion, which is small but Filipino size so it's okay. Right now the exchange rate for USD to Pesos is P52 to $1 so the snack was only $.20. I was glad to be home. I missed Inang (She is Lola but everyone calls her Inang so that's what I call her lol). Inang means mom. And even though Apayao feels better on my skin, it's a nice place to visit but I prefer the small town of Paltoc over any city area.

Mon: Transcript Came In!

  There was a typhoon here in Luzon, the island I'm on but my family is up in the mountains so we were okay! Jessa, the only cousin on my mom's side that's older than me retrieved my transcript from her address in Candon. I was super excited because it was supposed to come in a week before but I cant control the postal service and the transcript was making to the other side of the world.

  Despite all the trouble, I have decided to only turn in my high school transcript because I graduated top 10 percent but I wasnt top 10 percent in college. In order for me to be in the teaching program I need to score an 80 or above on the entence exam. And many people faith in me. Since I dont know what is on the actual test I have doubt that lurks in the pit of my stomach. All I hope is that everything works out and I can start on my journey to completeing the General Education Degree that I have been wanting.

Tues: Independence Day (Though no one knows who from lmao) Santiago Dagat!!! High Waves and Gasping Breaths

  Because of the typhoon there were waves at Santiago Beach. There normally isnt. But it made a fun experiance. The second time I went I was more prepared but this time, I was not able to keep up with the waves and kept getting knocked off my feet, which was still fun BUT being thrown 20 feet from your original location in one single swoop makes you think twice about what youre doing sometimes.

  I wanted to be Navy a long time ago. I knew I wouldnt be able to because of my medical records. But I also know that I dont do well at getting yelled at and in the military, there's lots of yelling. I'm not a person who can fall in line and follow orders without questioning what I'm being asked to do. It's not one of my skills but I am glad that there are people out there willing to do so.

  Eveyone was excited to not be in class today but NO ONE seems to know who they won their independence from that day. There's only two options: Spain and America. I'm assuning it's Spain because America let the Philippines do their own thing after helping get the government set up. But, independence is independence so it could have been from either.

  According to my nephew Rico Jay (who is 17) the Philippines had natives before Spain. They were tribes and working fine without Spain. Then Spain came along! Then World War Ii happened and the US bought the Philippines. During World War II, the japanese came over to the Philippines to hide and the chinese came over to sell merchandise. Today, many Koreans and Indian (from India lol) come to the Philippines for education because it's cheaper than their home.

Weds & Thursday: Practuce Languages

  I dont quite remember Weds and Thursday. I do know that traveling here mentally exhaust me which is why I don't like doing it to often but we still do it lol. I picked up my story that I wrote back in 2010. Ive written it more than once but I have faith this time. I tried to wrok through some of the lessons in my workbook and the phrase book my brother gave me but I have to have someone check over it and my cousins arent always home.

  What I do is write for about an hour. Then I get up and do something else becauee my head usually hurts at that point lol. I ghve myself an hour break and read over what I wrote. I try to finish about a page or two in my journal a day. But the only books I have are for Tagalog. So if I can get a hold of Ilocano, Itneg, and Spanish I write that too. It's a long process but if I want to learn all of the languages it's what I have to do.

Fri: Birthday Catholic Service

  I'm not super religious. I havent been church lately. I've been sleeping in lol. But friday there was a birthday party (or maybe it was Thursday I dont know lol. Either way, my cousin Kervin and Lander wanted me to go to a birthday party to eat. But this birthday party was different. Honestly, if the people here can find a reason to hold a service, they will and this time I got experiance or more catholic kid of service.

  I noticed that there wasnt a single male adult in the house at this birthday party. It was for a a 3 year old. The people kept standing and randomly singing after they said a verse or so but I couldnt sing along because everyone k ew the songs by heart, in Ilocano (I'm assuming). So I sat awkwardly thtough the service. The women sang and it had an ominious ring to it. I tred to pick up on the rhythems to see if I could think of the english version but didnt find a rhythem i recognized.

  It downpoored onced the food was given so me and my cousins headed home. I feel odd not being required to give birthday presents but I do like that the only requirement is taking food home lol.

Sat Candon,Supplies

  Living in Paltoc means that i cant to the store whenever. There's no short 'ten minute drive' to the store. i was running low on supplies (like my sulfar soap) and my Uncle needed to go buy feed for the pigs so we went. Every time we go to the CSI I have to buy the Buko shake from the stand in front. Don't ask what that CSI stands for but it's like a Sams, the prices anyway. They can sell bulk but they sell indivual items with a free add on. Say that its P120 for 3 + 1 is free so P120 for 4.)

  Why my mom insit that i buy things at an SM (Save More) which is basically a walmart is beyond me. AT the CSI the quality is the same and the prices are cheaper so if I can get away with it I am for the CSI but SM sometimes is easier to navigate. I'd like to buy things at The Market but in order to buy things there you have to speak the language or the prices will be raised because English is a higher status marker. 

  I feel that this post is shorter than the others and that's okay! Not a lot happen this week and I'm fine with that. I dont really want to have a set schedule until school starts. Let me know if you're curious about anything. I try to post when I have connection through my instagram which post for my facebook too. 

  Til Next week, 

Shinar/Cho/Dj

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Corn

Took this photo while waiting for my family to get back from their Underground Cave adventure in Luna, Apayao. This is a field of corn (Mais/Maíz: Tagalog/Spanish)

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Mcdo!

Left to Right: Manang Gina, Uncle, 

Rico Jay, Me, Dhexciah, Joshua,

Part of Cielo lol 

Location: Candon in Mcdonalds

(They call it Mcdoh here)

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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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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!

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

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.

Baguio May 4th

Panorama from the hotel balcony (:

Santiago Beach! 4.28.18

We always go here at least once when I come to the Philippines. I got my swim on early when it was cool (around 10AM) now it's 15:00 and there are way too many people out there lol

Breakfast 4.28.18

Brekfast! Crab, Rice, Clam, and Tomato! There was Fish, Watermelon, and Bittermelon as well.

Lunch 4.27.18

Papaiten, Dinuguan, and Bangus Sinigang! (Goat, Blood Pudding, Fish soup).

EVA Air Food

Flight from Taiwan to the Philippines! Fish and Rice!

Taiwan

Taiwan Airport. $250 in their currency. $8 in US Dollar :3

April 25th, 2018: And We're Off!

Hello Everyone and welcome to Forward Flight!

(By the time you all read this I'll be heading to the Philippines.)

I’m excited to say that even though I didn’t get to see as many people as I wanted I still got to see people that I cared about. If you didn’t see me before I took to the skies then it’s okay. It’s the thought that counts! Besides, I know that most of my friends are antisocial and/or introverts. That alone makes it difficult to get a lot of us together in one spot. Whether you saw me or not I want you to know that I still care about you. No one deserves to not have someone that cares about them!

The plan is to update you every once a week on Mondays. Tuesday my time. I chose Mondays because a lot of people don’t look forward to Mondays. I don’t exactly have a professional way of writing this blog. This will be more of a casual, “Hey by the way! I’m doing okay!” sort of set up.

I know that a lot of you will have questions over time. You can either comment on the post itself or go to my ‘Ask Questions Here’ page. There you can ask me questions and I’ll receive them through my email. I know that some of you wanted to Pen pal me and I’m not against it but being able to send me mail in the Philippines is either expensive and/or difficult because of the postal system. When I have an update on this I'll let everyone know. Until then, if you want to email me directly you always can. I'll answer as soon as possible. I'll have my email at the bottom of this post.

Here's a question that people keep asking me.

When are you coming back: The plan is to go there until school ends so the general trip will be around two years or so.

There are other questions that I've been asked and I don't mind answering. Overall, this experience is one that I want to share. I'll be flying with my aunt and my mother. We'll be leaving Wednesday, April 25th, at 12:50AM (Or, 00:50) and getting to the Philippines on April 26th at 11:40AM (their time).

It's weird to think about the time when traveling but try not to put too much thought into it.The actual travel time that will pass for me is about 25 hours. However, when you look at it from a timezone perspective only eight hours will pass.

I'll make sure to let y'all know what I do in Taiwan. Another question that has come up since I've told people that I'm 'moving' to the Philippines is "how are you going to get your stuff over there?" The answer is quite simple really. I won't be taking my 'stuff' to the Philippines. Here in America a lot of people like to be attached to their belongings and their 'physical' things.

For me, there's no need to bring most of it. Or hardly anything to be honest. All I need to bring is a weeks worth of clothes to last until I can get to the store. I’ll need the minimal amount of toiletries, a journal to write in, and the CD I invested in.

There's no need to bring my posters, my boxes of journals that I've finished, the mass of books that I've collected, and ect. I won't be bringing these things because as much as I like my personal 'stuff' I don't 'need' them. After all, what's stopping me from being able to buy more clothes in the Philippines. What's stopping me from buying the essentials in the Philippines? Nothing! That and, it's cheaper so why not?

 These last few weeks have been exciting. I got to be the center of attention even though I’m not one who likes to be in the center of it. Alan (my boyfriend) and I went to New Mexico for our last anniversary. I know that a lot of you wonder what he thinks and what we’re going to do. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what we decide because that’s between us. There’s a lot to think about when looking into a distant relationship. Now, I want everyone to listen to this because this will my only answer. If anyone ask me about my relationship or relationships I’m going to tell them that it doesn’t matter because they’re not part of that relationship. If anyone comes out to me and tells me how much they feel for me I’m going to tell you that I don’t care. There’s no way around it. I’m going to school in the Philippines and my focus isn’t on a relationship. I don’t want to answer questions about any of my past relationships. If the subject so happens to come up and I talk to you about it then that’s fine but please don’t insist that I tell you about my relationships because I won’t.

 New Mexico was fun. I got to spend three whole days with Alan and once we came home I had to focus on saying goodbye to everyone else. I got to see my best friend and another close friend on the 19th and then stationed myself at The Gathering Place (a place in town where I could go play card games or meet up with friends in general). I didn’t plan on attending the Pre-Release for Dominaria but since I won’t be planning on playing Magic The Gathering in the Philippines I figured, why not?

 For those of you who were able to attend I want to thank you. I had a great time playing different games, eating snacks, and overall socializing with people that I enjoyed spending time with. I was hoping to see more people but I don’t know what I would have done if I had run into more people that I needed to spend time with.

 When I sent out invitations Facebook thought I was spamming people and that’s why I didn’t send out too many when I tried to re-invite everyone. It made me sad that I had technical issues but that’s alright. Anyone is who connected to my Facebook is always welcome to message me I have my Instagram linked up on my blog as well. I don’t mind adding people on my Facebook as long as I’ve met you. If I haven’t met you I probably won’t add you on Facebook but you’re welcome to follow me on Instagram. Let me know that you came across my blog and I’ll follow you back.

 After today I’ll be posting an update on Mondays at 12pm (-5 UTC/Central Time). Let me know what questions you come up with and what things you want to see. For example, I have a friend who wants me to find out everything about Arnel Pineda (the lead singer of Journey), Now, I won’t be 100% focused on only finding out what I can about him for her but it’s a fun side quest for me to take upon while I’m there.

 Say that you’ve never been to the beach. I’ll take a video or take pictures of one in response to your request. I want to know what y’all want to see while I’m over in the Philippines so please don’t be afraid to ask me about whatever comes to your mind.

Till Next Time,

Shinar/Cho/Dj

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

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