Under the Sea

[outrigger on our bangka - in the Leyte Gulf]

9.22.09

Week four of training has been our busiest week so far. We conducted our first coral reef assessment, which included being dragged behind a boat while snorkeling and observing coral cover, and a reef fish census. We took a pumpboat an hour out into the Leyte Gulf to reach the small reef and successfully avoided the many sea urchins to get our snorkel on.

After a few hours of snorkeling the choppy waters, we counted and ID’d different fish and coral species – well, kind of. Since we’ve never seen coral before, it all pretty much looks the same right now, and we won’t even go into the fish ID … but we have another snorkel trip in a few weeks and should hopefully get the hang of telling all this stuff apart by the end of training. (We're working on getting better photos, but taking them from the boat is always tricky).

[on the boat]

We left the reef mid-day, just in time to get some wicked sunburns. The sun is so much more intense here – Brandon is always impressed at the high angle of the sun = perfect for panels!

In language class we’ve been learning food and cooking terms, so we had a group cookout on the beach on Friday to practice. Not a bad way to spend a class day. We cooked both Filipino and American dishes, played some word games, and got to relax with everyone under the nipa.

[view from the balcony at our host family home]

On Saturday we had our first medical session on common parasites in the Philippines. Let’s hope we never have to use that info. To uplift our spirits after the parasite lecture, we went to an excellent beach party with most of the other Leyte PC trainees. The party was held at a local village captain’s home, right on the water.



Filipino hospitality really is amazing – the family provided plenty of food for us and even constructed a special party area just for the day. Afterward, the Kapitan led us in videoke, the Filipino party staple, with classics like “She Bangs.” I try to image US government officials getting up and gyrating to “Don’t Cha” by the Pussycat Dolls and suffering no shame, but it just doesn’t translate.


[Leyte trainees]

CRM Field Work Begins

Last week we had our first practicum for Coastal Resource Management – mangrove assessment. Our training group traveled to a mangrove site by boat (about a 45 minute trip). The boats here can seat 8-10 people sitting on the sides of the boat with a small motor inside. We rode along the coast and then up a river to the mangrove site.

Working in groups of four, we studied 100 sq. meter plots in mid-calf-deep, super slippery mud. The trees were very thick (think of a swamp and briar patch combined). We identified several species, took measurements and samples, and made observations about the health of the area. We emerged from the mangrove stand with lots of scratches and eagerly climbed back into the boats, covered in muck, vowing never to do a mangrove assessment again, if we can help it!

[Boat trip to mangrove site]

The technical side of CRM (studying mangroves, seagrass, corals, etc) is very foreign to us both but we’re glad to be learning all sorts of new things. The community side of things (asset mapping, resource planning, environmental education, and organizing) is much more familiar terrain!

[Fishing village in our barangay]

This weekend we took our first trip to the nearest city, Tacloban. Whether our permanent site is on Leyte or Samar, it is likely that Tacloban will be our hub for purchasing items we can’t find in rural areas, the occasional American meal, and meeting up with other volunteers. The small city boasts a large seaside market, many thrift stores (known as ukay-ukay) containing American cast-off treasures, and the beloved Filipino shopping mall, “Robinson’s.”

We’ve made some good progress with the Waray-Waray language – we can now put together simple sentences, ask questions, and generally survive at the market with basic haggling skills. Our favorite Waray word of the week: kikilat (lightening).

[Language class]

One last quick story about cross-cultural miscommunication: We were eating breakfast the other day when a family member turns the TV to the show “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.” (The one where the bald guy travels the world eating the nastiest stuff he can find). The family is very excited because, look, it’s American TV!

They’ve been wondering what to cook for the Americans, so our Nanay calls her helpers into the living room to watch and learn what to make. We try to explain that Andrew is in Russia, not America, and that bear burgers, borscht, and boiled lamprey are NOT typical American dishes in broken English/Waray. The one time the Travel Channel has failed us!

From Leyte Province

Written 9.4.09

All is well one week into training. Last Friday we boarded a plane for Leyte province (Eastern Visayas region), and it started to hit us that we were really in the Peace Corps. The plane taxied to a tiny, rural airport and we exited via stair truck (a la Arrested Development!) Standing on the tarmac, all we could see was lush, green hills and bright blue sea. It was a surreal moment and one we think we’ll always remember.

We took our first jeepney ride to our training site, a municipality on the coast, to meet our host family at the municipal building. Fellow trainees were met by several talkative family members, but we were met by one small, quiet woman dressed in sequins, who we now know as Nanay (mother).

Nanay is seventy years old (and she reminds us of this daily). Her favorite response to any question is “I do not do that. I am old. I am scared.” Nanay has welcomed us into the home she shares with her granddaughter’s family and her house helper, Biya. She shows great concern for us and enjoys introducing us to her many children and grandchildren (31 in all), most of whom live in the same barangay (village/neighborhood).




The municipality we’re living in has about 50,000 residents, although we rarely leave our compact neighborhood, making it feel smaller. Our house is a 10-minute walk from the beach and we’ve spent several afternoons there with our fellow Peace Corps trainees.

Other highlights from our first week include: attending a Catholic mass, held entirely in Waray-Waray; sampling lechon (roasted pig) – the local specialty; struggling through Waray-Waray class every day for four hours; eating both water buffalo and eel; scratching lots of mosquito and cockroach bites; and signing videoke at a 21st birthday party.

Training Outside Manila

Originally written 8/27/09:

We’ve now finished our first week of training, known as initial orientation, at a resort outside metro Manila. It’s been a great week – we’ve met lots of cool people (there are 69 in our training batch, including 6 couples!) and learned a bit about Peace Corps Philippines in general and Coastal Resource Management (CRM) work in particular.


We spent the first few days adjusting to the jet lag with day-long sessions at the resort. Then we had two days off-site, with a trip to the PC office in Manila and a day of water safety training in Cavite. Not much to say about Manila – there was a stop at the Mall of Asia to buy cell phones and the worst traffic on earth.


They’ve been spoiling us here at the hotel – our room has airconditioning, a shower, and toilet with paper – luxury! The PC Philippines staff is great, and we are very impressed with the orientation program. It’s clear they’ve done this many times before and know exactly how much information and activity we can process at one time.


Today we finally learned our training site location: we’ll be living and training in Leyte for the next three months! The language we’ll be learning is Waray-Waray, translated in English as “nothing-nothing.” The jokes about this are endless.


Tomorrow we fly out for Leyte with 10 other CRM workers and a group of education volunteers. This time tomorrow, we’ll be staying with our host family and preparing for our first night in the mosquito net without toilet paper. We’re looking forward to it all and just feel so lucky to be here.