Goodbyes & Beginnings & Other Cliches

Day 3 of Hub II

I knew there would be a lot of these with this trip, but I definitely did not think they would start this quickly. Jen leaves today for a week of vacation & diving in Palawan & then she heads home to eventually end up with what appears to be a very cool job on Catalina Island with Cal State University. I will definitely miss her, though not all bad in her leaving. Its nice to be set free from those who are helping you “grow up” into a new life. Still we have become fairly good friends while she’s been here. Its awesome to be allowed into someone else’s world like that. Sharing her concerns and thoughts about going back to the states. An advanced glimpse of the roller coaster ride of leaving this place. Still not sure how I became a part of her support structure on this one, but I’m glad I could be. She’s helped me out a lot through this first bit as well. A person to talk to and to get a look at what life will be like as a Volunteer and a person to bounce all those petty concerns off of as they come up. And of course the added bonus of knowing a staff person is always helpful for getting a closer look at how things are run. All in all I’m glad to see her leave. She ahs an awesome life ahead of her and its time for her to get moving again. Meantime, I’m back to trying to learn another language and enjoy life here.

It also does wonders for the mind to know exactly where you will be spending the next two years. Everything has become is so much sharper focus now that I know I’ll be heading to Mayoyao, Ifugao!! According to Tom one of the top three sought after volunteer posts along with Palawan and Segada. Regardless I’ll be up in the Mountains literally living among the rice terraces! The LGU (Local Government Unit) specifically request a male volunteer in part because of all the anticipated hiking the post will require and also because of concerns with suitors, but I’ll not have to worry about that. There is also a water project already started that I will be able to assist with and the tourist pamphlet mentions native houses made with no metal, probably the first of its kind. Doesn’t get much better than all of this in my book!! Still not a whole lot of info though, working off of that pamphlet and the Volunteer request form. But as it goes, now everything can finally begin to feel real. I can start to conceptualize my life for these two years and really be able to use that to dig into this language. Here we go!