Its amazing what you can get used to in a week!

So now that I've been here a week, I feel like I can accurately describe my life here. So here is a typical day. . .

5:30 a.m. Mackenzie's and my alarm clock goes off at 5:30 (and the next sound I usually hear is a roosters crowing) so that we have enough time to get out of bed, eat breakfast with Nanay Pipay (breakfast is always ready when we wake up, no matter what time it is), get our school stuff ready to go (and probably finish planning our lessons for the day), layer on the sunscreen and bug spray so that we feel delightfully sticky, and go back to the house once or twice for things we forgot.

7:00 a.m. Mackenzie and I leave our house and Mama (the grandmother) hugs us and tells us to be careful and that she loves us and good luck (because we need it!) Then Mackenzie and I get on a Jeepney going to Palo (the next town). A Jeepney is not really like any creation in the US. It is a vehicle that has a long bed that has benches on either side and an opening in the back where you can jump in and out. You hail them like cabs and you tap on the roof if you want off. They are also decorated in crazy colors and have a platform on the back where people can hold on and ride on the back. A Jeepney holds probably 15-20 people comfortably, but I have been on one with about 30 people on it. Filipinos don't have much of a personal bubble when on a Jeepney. We pay our 6 pisos each (about 12 cents) and get off in the Palo market. From there we go to our school which is a 4 room schoolhouse with 75 students from grades 1-3 and 2 teachers.

8:00 a.m. Mackenzie and I are teaching second grade all by ourselves. We had one day where we observed Mum Maricar (their teacher) and after that we have been on our own. We teach English from 8:15 to 10:00 and math from 10:30 to 11:30. English is really hard because the students have only been learning English for about a year and a half. They can read anything, but their vocabulary is very limited so our day consists mostly of charades and pictionary while we're trying to get them to understand the stories they are reading. However, things have gotten a whole lot better in the 3 days we have been teaching. I think we are learning a lot about what they know and they are picking up on some basic English (like directions) that make things a lot easier. Math is easier because their numbers are the same. In fact, I am rather proud of Mackenzie and I because our first day teaching we were supposed to introduce division. While the students haven't quite grasped what division really is yet, they have 3 ways to solve division problems, and I think that is pretty good. In-between English and math the students have recess, but instead of running around a playground for half an hour, they go down to the Baranguy office (a baranguy is the smallest organizational unit of the government, somewhat like a parish or neighborhood system of government) where they are fed a mixture of rice, carrots, and meat. For some of our students that is probably the most substantial meal they get all day.

11:30 a.m. Mackenzie and I leave our school with about 5 kids on each arm where they walk us to get picked up and taken back to Tacloban. We have to say goodbye to them about 20 times each and give them just as many hi-fives before they will let us go. On our way home we often stop downtown or at Robinsons (the mall) to go shopping or go to an internet cafe. If we just go home we usually have lunch and read or lesson plan or nap until it is time to go to tutorial.

4:30 p.m. Mackenzie and I head down to the Volunteer for the Visayans center where the staff and some local volunteers hold a tutorial for 1st-4th grade students. Usually Mackenzie and I do math with 5 or 6 first and second graders for an hour. Sometimes we read or do spelling or, for the really young ones, just drawing for part of it. On Friday I was working with a first grader one-on-one and at the end she drew a picture of me as a princess and titled it "My friend" It is amazing how open and loving these kids are. You can be there one day and they will all learn your name and give you hugs even if you didn't work with them. Every day when I'm just walking around at least 1 kid I don't know says "hello Ate Stephanie!" (Ate is a term that you use for older girls you respect like an older sister or cousin).

5:30 p.m. Mackenzie and I go home and have dinner with Nanay Pipay. Again, it is always ready when we get home. Usually dinner consists of one fish dish, one chicken or pork dish, and something made from vegetables. I usually try to eat a little of everything because whatever is left over is what Nanay Lucy and Mama eat. Usually Nanay Pipay spends most of dinner laughing at Mackenzie and I while we try to eat our fish. I am also rather proud of myself for eating so many kinds of fish, including shrimp (with its head and antennas still attached) and fish that was looking at me.

6:00 p.m. After dinner, Mackenzie and I usually hang out with our family. Sometimes we play Uno or Jenga, sometimes some of Chabel's cousins come over and try to teach us how to dance or we sit and sing on the porch while Nanay Pipay plays the guitar, and sometimes we fall asleep right after dinner because we are so tired. On Friday nights the volunteers usually go to the astrodome for dinner or drinks, but other than that, we usually stay with our family.

9:00 p.m. By 9, Mackenzie and I have usually fallen asleep in the livingroom, so we get up, take quick showers to wash off the sunscreen, bugspray, and sweat from the day, pray together, crawl into our mosquito netting, and go to bed. I know it doesn't sound like that exhausting of a day, but for some reason, by the end of it I am ridiculously tired and sleep so soundly that I don't even wake up to the roosters the next morning.