New Volunteers

Since I got here, all of the volunteers other than Mackenzie and I have changed. Nicki, Gabby, Tanya, and Albert have all gone home, but Naomi, Amber, Don, Jo-Jo, Sophie, Tony, and Roy have arrived. Because I am posting several new stories with new volunteers in them, I thought I should tell you a little about them first.

Naomi is an awesome 19 year old from England who decided to take a year off in between high school and college and travel the world by herself. She is here in Tacloban for 10 weeks volunteering with the orphanage and then is spending 10 days in Hong Kong and then moving on to China. She, Mackenzie, and I all get along very well and have spent many nights just hanging out and talking. We have a date to watch Treasure Planet soon.

Amber is one of my favorite people in the world because she is almost exactly like my friend Melissa who I have grown up with since I was 5. She is very excited about everything she does. She is currently teaching in Korea because she couldn’t get a job teaching in the U.S. She has also taught in Japan and plans on teaching in several more places before she returns to the states. One of the other reasons I love her is that she refuses to take any of Don’s crap. She will just call him out on it and keep going. Unfortunately, she had to leave early because she was informed that she had to move into a new apartment in Korea so she left earlier this week. Her farewell consisted of Mackenzie, Naomi, and I hanging out at her house for 7 hours talking. It was fabulous.

Don is a 31 year old guy who claims to be engaged to a Filipino supermodel and has given all the volunteers different versions of what he does for a career. One version involves him being a Brazilian Jujitsu Master, so that is pretty cool. He is one of those guys that I am just taking with a grain of salt. If he wants to come to group events or talk teacher talk with me, that is fine, he is a nice enough guy, but that is where it ends because I don’t really have any idea who he is or what I have heard about him is true.

Jo-Jo is a 19 year old from the Netherlands, but she is the opposite of Naomi. She loves to party, has boyfriends in at least 3 countries, and wears mini-dresses to the orphanage. We thought she was going to be eaten alive by the children there, but surprisingly she is surviving quite well. I can’t really stand her, so I am just avoiding her.

Tony is the coolest old guy in the world. He is a retired Filipino who lives in California with his wife, 3 kids, and 3 grandkids. He was orphaned as a teenager in Tacloban, managed to get himself through college on scholarships, and eventually moved to the U.S. with his wife because her sister lived in Nebraska. Now that he’s retired he just wants to help kids in foreign countries, so he started in his home and is traveling to Brazil next! Unfortunately his placement is in another city, so we won't get to see him very much.

Roy is a middle aged teacher who I don't know much about except for the fact that he seems really nice and helpful and just happy to be here. I'm afraid he feels a little out of place with all of the younger volunteers, but we are hoping that we can still make him feel included.

Sophie is 18 and just got finished teaching in Kenya for 3 months! She is planning on going back to Kenya in September and even though she is glad to be here, I think she would rather be back in Africa. She is super sweet and just wants to help people and spend time together. She is not quite as cool as Naomi, but not nearly as annoying as Jo-Jo, so I think we will get along very well.