Picking Up Speed

Our 3 month "practicum" period is almost over & in an eye blink month 4 is going to follow. The idea of the Practicum is for us to get acquainted with our communities and to start to make contacts and friends. Or, in their words, a chance to get to learn our surroundings by being a "keen observer" while using our "community entry strategies and tools" to form an "initial snapshot." Except they used a whole two pages to get across the point and don't forget the incessant reminders to not start projects. All in all the main idea of not diving straight into the first potential project you find is good advice, but like most things here, I find it a bit overdone.
For me I think the first three months have gone fairly well. I could have a better grasp on the language, as it took me awhile to find and start with a tutor. I could also probably could have more concrete data via community surveys and such things as some of the other Volunteers have done, but in general I feel pretty good about how I've used my time so far. I'm getting to know my co-workers and community members better. I'm slowing starting to piece together how work gets done at the LGU (which is not the simple task one might expect) and I'm still working towards figuring out how I'm going to fit into that vague scheme. I've visited several water systems and 12 out of the 27 barangays. I've even manage to find the Ultimate community here which is always a plus! Probably most importantly, I've got a good start to setting up and feeling at home here. Not a bad start at all.
As our first three months end we are getting ready for Pre Service Training, round II. This is officially the technical component of our training, though we only get 11 days worth of it, compared to the two months spend on language and community entry. For WATSAN the quick slide into the middle of September and full freedom as a Volunteer has already started. Another Volunteer who has been here a year was building a ferro-cement water tank in Besao, Mountain Province and so all of us were allowed to trek up there for the week and to help/learn about the construction. I just got home from that on Saturday. Nothing like a week of learning construction, hanging out and sleeping on the floor. I even managed to work in a game of Go with Dan, the education volunteer just down the road in Sagada.
The next two weeks until I leave for PSTII in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental are going to be really busy as well. On Wednesday Sheila Chan, the Northern Luzon Regional Manager, is coming out to see my site and hopefully approve my next abode; a native house up on the hill overlooking the main plaza. After her visit the MPDO, including me, will be working on taking a round of photos for the tourism council. Combine that with getting ready for my trip and planning our post-PSTII-first-chance-to-use-vacation-time-we-want-to-go-diving expedition, I'll be fairly busy! We figure since PC will be paying for our flight down to the Visayas and back (read to the beach!) its a great time to get our dive certifications taken care of. I think the group I am joining up with will be heading over to Bohol for the four day course. Then its already the Sept. 22nd and its back to site to begin the moving in and setting up home process. The only down side to my dwelling of choice is that I need to scrounge up and provide all the furnishings. Its pretty much just an empty pyramid shaped structure on stilts. Still, the thought of setting up my own digs is really exciting. I’m sure the joys of cooking for myself will wear off eventually, but right now it sounds like one of the best things on earth. The next month is really going to fly by and from what I hear the rest of service just keeps on trucking along after that. Here we go!