Week 7

So I am in the Philippines! My first area is the Tabaco zone and I am in the Tobaco district as well. Just wow. This is soooo not what I expected. It is hott but not as bad as I thought it would be. And the people here are always complaining about the weather- you'd think they'd be used to it by now?! It's actually the rainy season so its not as hott as it will be later. But today like right now is the first time it has rained and its not even too bad. We carry around wash cloths to wipe sweat off us throughout the day- such as gross concept but you have to do it! Like yeah it is hot but I expected worse. I don't use any blankets when I sleep though and have to have the fan RIGHT on me. I heard there is a chance there will be a city wide black out for the next week (please pray it doesn't last a week) and I am wondering how I am going to sleep without a fan... The power outage is because the city isn't paying it's bills. Like what?! So yeah, all the other Americans in my district are always REALLY sweaty and I don't think I'm as bad. Maybe because I'm a little bit more used to humidity from New York? So the food here is okish. A lot of rice. I kind of just eat whatever is given to me- I haven't been a huge fan of anything yet but nothing has been like gross. I had Jollibee (it's their big fast food chain) and it was gross. They all loved it (the Filipinos). I really want like steak and potatoes and cord on the cob with chocolate cake from the moa. That is my dream food right now. Oh well. in 16 months. Oh and I miss like breakfast food- we just usually eat like left overs which is gross and like I just want like cereal! My companion is a native, her name is Sister Andrada. She speaks really good English which probably isn't a good thing because I am always just wanting her to explain to me in English what is going on- I need to learn Tagalog. Yeah basically I know NOTHING. And everyone laughs at me when I speak. But oh well. I had to talk in church yesterday and I'm like pretty sure the people couldn't understand a word I was saying. Because I speak terrible Tagalog and speak it with an American accent. Oh and yeah they speak Bicol here- I did not learn Bicol. That is a problem. But at this point I don't know Tagalog or Bicol so I don't know when they are talking what.  It is annoying because some phrases like good morning/evening are different. Basically I sit around most the day lost because I have no clue what is being spoken. And I can def tell that this is an Asian language. The bugs here are ehh. I haven't seen anything HUGE but we have an ant problem in our apartment which freaks me out. They are tiny though so I just flick them away. Oh the lizards! There are lizards just chilling. And they CREEP me out. A LOT. So yeah I get a bucket shower... The first pour of ice cold water is always a shock but since it is the only way to get clean I do it. I sweat and get gross so I need to wash myself. We have a toilet in our apartment-but not toilet paper. There are 4 of us in our apartment and I'm the only non-filipino. So yeah. It's different. Not a good different. Oh I rode on the pudjuk and tricey (idk if i spelled those right) but they are like  bike or motercycle things. They are really dangerous in my opinion but yeah. We ride pudjuks all over. They are so small and cramped. I rode on the back part of a motorcycle for the first time yesterday-scary. People drive crazy here. So I did laundry by hand for the first time earlier today- it made my arms REALLY tired. I am really desiring American life. The people are nice here. I always notice them staring at me because I am white which is funny. And when I speak like even a little Tagalog like "My name is" they are amazed. The little kids (and some adults!) have come up to me and called me pretty- its weird but sweet. So me and Sister Andrada are opening a new area in the district and so we don't really have any investigators or know anyone. So we have been doing a lot of street contacting and trying to find less actives. I really just want to start teaching people! But yeah it's really different here- I can't even explain it. I am amazed at how differently they live. We were in a jungle-y part the other day and like the houses were literally made out of straw. I could tip it over if I wasn't careful. It is sad to see. But also it that part like the views were so pretty. Yeah I don't really know what else to tell you all. It is just so different here and I am just constantly amazed. I can tell I am going to be a very different person at the end of this. And while even though this is hard I will keep working. I know once we start teaching people I'll be so much happier here. I can't wait to help these people!