I get to class a little before 8 and meet up with my fellow Peace Corps trainees. The first couple minutes of class, we each discuss our own respective families and the funny things that have happened to us the night before. I tell the others about the group of children at my house yesterday who told me I had a big nose. And they did not just stop there; they then informed me that all of their noses would make one of my nose. Then they asked to touch my hair because it is blond. The next thing I know, I have seven children petting me. Another volunteer talks about how her host family is trying to get her married and how a 16-year-old boy came over and serenaded her by singing Jason Mraz and Taylor Swift songs. Her host mother's favorite saying is "make a collection, then a selection," talking about her choice of men. We all have stories like these.
A Day in the Life of Peace Corps Trainee Cassie Pardee in the Philippines
A day in the life of a Peace Corps trainee
By Cassie Pardee
Published/Last Modified on Sunday, Sep 13, 2009 - 02:17:40 am MST
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Editor's note: After graduating from the University of Redlands in California, Buena High School alumna Cassie Pardee has entered the Peace Corps. After a stateside orientation, she was recently sent to the Philippines.
I wake up in the morning between 5:30 and 7 with my alarm clock of roosters crowing, and the dog outside my window barking. I pretend to sleep a little bit longer, but sooner or later, I get too antsy and get up to face the day. My next task is to go to the bathroom. In America, this task does not take a lot of thought or effort. Here in the Philippines, it is a process. First I turn on the spigot, filling up a bucket with water. The toilet itself is like a toilet in America except for the fact that there is no toilet seat or flusher. To "flush," I take the bucket of water I filled up and pour it into the toilet.
Next it is time to eat breakfast. For the first couple of days, my host family had this idea that because I was American, I needed to eat eggs every morning. So every morning, I would wake up to two fried eggs on my plate. I have now convinced them that bread with peanut butter and a banana is fine.
At 7:45, it is time to walk to my language class. I walk past a group of men always waiting for a bus but never getting on it. I say, "Maupay nga aga" (good morning) and they say, "Good morning, beautiful," in English.
I get to class a little before 8 and meet up with my fellow Peace Corps trainees. The first couple minutes of class, we each discuss our own respective families and the funny things that have happened to us the night before. I tell the others about the group of children at my house yesterday who told me I had a big nose. And they did not just stop there; they then informed me that all of their noses would make one of my nose. Then they asked to touch my hair because it is blond. The next thing I know, I have seven children petting me. Another volunteer talks about how her host family is trying to get her married and how a 16-year-old boy came over and serenaded her by singing Jason Mraz and Taylor Swift songs. Her host mother's favorite saying is "make a collection, then a selection," talking about her choice of men. We all have stories like these.
Waray-Waray language class is four hours of vocabulary, grammar and conversation. But, of course, we have to take a break half way through and have a snack. Filipinos love to eat. At noon, I walk back home. We get out of class around the same time all the children in elementary school get out for lunch, so I usually have a gaggle of giggling children following behind me. I get home and eat lunch with my sister Richel, and my apoy (grandmother).
Around 1:05, I walk down the road to meet another trainee and together we try to catch a ride into town for technical training. If we are lucky, we can find a tricycle. It is actually a motorcycle with a sidecar/cab attached. The cab has two benches in the back and a front seat. Tricycles fit seven people, not including the driver: four squished in the back, two crammed in the front, and one riding side saddle on the back of the motorcycle. However, if we are not lucky enough to find a tricycle, we have to wave down a jeepney. Jeepneys are a Filipino version of a bus. They are large trucks, usually brightly painted with cartoon characters and some sort of religious saying like "God loves us." In the main area of the jeepney, there are long benches. Once the benches are full of people, they pull out wooden stools that are in the aisle and can theoretically hold two people. The problem with jeepneys is they go very fast, you can't really see where you are, and when you do finally want to stop, the driver can barely hear you yell "PARA" (STOP). One way or another, we always make it to our second class, where we get trained on the technical part of our job. After class, we can go to the Internet cafe or a store, but we can't stay too long or our nanays (mothers) will worry.
Home again, I get a few hours of quiet before my little brothers come home from school. Then it is homework time and the whole household is more than happy to assist in my Waray-Waray training. Dinner comes next, my favorite time. The whole family meets up and we talk and eat, and laugh, and eat some more. Usually, the laughing is prompted by me not knowing what is being said, or by me saying something with my accent. But dinner is always a fun time of learning, laughing and loving.
I usually take a shower after dinner. My shower consists of a removable shower head and a bucket with a ladle. The water is cold, but that is good because it is always hot here.
After washing, I either go back to homework or play some sort of card game with my brothers. Around 9, we are all exhausted so I go back to my room under the stairs, turn on the fan and go to sleep with a smile on my face because it was such a fun day with so many exciting adventures, learning opportunities and stories.
