*Rice is now our dietary staple which we eat 2-3 times a day and when we go a whole day without it we become irritable, we develop headaches, and we feel dizzy. Joke, Joke, Joke! Well the last part we really do eat it 2-3 times a day.
*We have witnessed first hand that dogs are dual purpose: man's best friend and man's most delicious friend.
*We might have signed up for Peace Corps to save the world but it seems at times we are nothing more than the punchline of a joke.
*We have learned of fruits like rombutan, langka, and durian.
*We have eaten for the first and probably last times in our lives coagulated pigs blood with pig innards as a meal.
*I have hit my head 427 different times on 103 different things. The most common objects are the ceiling of jeeps and trikes. The best one was a ceiling fan that I knocked of the ceiling by standing up. That is zero points for the ceiling fans and one point for me.
*Sitting on the bottom of the ocean and looking upwards through 68 feet of water.
*Having complete strangers give you food and refusing to take no.
*Being called Joe every place you go.
*Seeing mangroves for the first time.
*Living with two different families, that speak a different language for a total of six months.
*Watching all the different ways people use me as a measuring stick. There are the jumpers that walk close to me and see how high the can jump compared to me. Then there are the stalkers that kind of nonchalantly walk next to me and put their hand on top of their head and move it next to my body to see where the top of their head is. They aren't any where as sneaky as they think. Then there are the back to backers that just walk up to me and without warning stand back to back with me and have their friend mark off their height on my back.
*Watching all the different expressions that people make at us. Now I like to create a carnival nickname based on how shocked they looked. If it is a long stare something benign like "the tall white guy" or if I get a mouth on the floor look without a broken stare then I give myself a name like "the mega-giant, long footed, lumbering amerikano from the other side of the globe" sometimes I even inject the ooh-aah. I just realized I might have already been here too long. Oh well.
Favorite Pics from the last year in the Philippines
Our Filipino family
Emma loves Peace Corps
Mangrove - amazing!
beautiful Palawan jungle
We love handwashing!
The teachers of Sico 1.0 National High School
3 comments:
I love your hair!
and steve you are a very funny writer
Guys Im just reading through these and catching up. Sounds like some interesting and fun adventures! You are both in my thoughts and prayers!
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