Upon arrival to Pambujan, I was invited by all the male teachers to attend the Regional Boy Scout Jamboree that week. I’ve seen some other scouting events in the past here, and wasn’t too impressed. Then again, I was only there for a short time. I’m happy to stand corrected. Although it took some time to convince me of their Boy Scout ways.

It’s part of Filipino culture to start something at 9 and then really start at 10ish. This applies to everything except scheduled means of traveling. This is totally up to the discretion of the driver, and they usually leave 30 minutes to an hour early. I was on a plane that left 1 hour early two weeks ago, and my supervisor missed the plane because she showed up on time. So when you come to visit, show up early, and then have no expectations or plans for that day. Just show up when you do, eat, drink and rest. Travel days are actually pretty good for just that. You are expected to sleep for the rest of the day.

So the first day of Boy Scouts, I was to meet the group of men at 7:30, they showed up at. . .? 8:30. Then they left me because they were all on motorcycles, and I can’t ride those because of Peace Corps policy. So I walked a half mile to the bus terminal, and sat in a van for 40 minutes while we waited for the van to fill up. In a 9-person van, they will fit 15. Always room for one more!

I showed up to Scout City and mamasayada (walked around, favorite Filipino word). Some how this group of men left an hour before I did on motorcycles, and still managed to show up an hour after I did. I really didn’t mind. I got to walk around and enjoy the beautiful venue. I also met some other young men that were helping to organize the event. They were Eagle Scouts too, and we had lots to talk about.

Eventually when the other men showed up they began hauling wood and other materials up a steep hill made of slippery clay. Then we began to construct a stick framed structure that we would drape several tarps over to keep the rain out. This structure reminded me of something that I really wanted to build in my backyard when I was 11. Building our fort took up the main portion of that day.

The following day, boys showed up and acclimated themselves to the camp ground for the first part of the morning. In the afternoon the boys got together to practice songs, hip-hop dances, and some instrumental pieces to be performed later that evening. I was very impressed. I know some Filipino boys would be happy to come to the states, and give hip-hop dance lessons to our kids. I have complete confidence in their ability to teach and dance. I’m blown away by the synchronized Ga-Ga slides, and fluid Justin Beaver arm-bops.

The next day the boys moved around camp and went to different activities such as a zip-line (using a rope-harness technique taught to us in Search and Rescue classes), A hike that leads scouts down steep slippery trails, dodging spiders, wasp nests, who knows what else and a rope spanning the width of a pond to be used to cross the pond (Filipinos can’t swim, fortunately it wasn’t that deep), next comes a mud crawl, followed by another mud crawl. Those guys are troopers. We had so much fun. I stayed out of the mud, but enjoyed everything else. There were also some team-building activities, and a community project that involved cleaning up trash on the beach.

I spent the night at Scout city that night. I went for another mamasayada sa bukid (mountain) at night, and at one point found myself completely surrounded by fireflies. It was so cool! There were so many, I was actually a little intimidated. That night as the boys slept, the other men and I drank and shared stories. I got a lot of language practice that night. Visayan tends to flow so smoothly when I’m drinking. During the night, strange noises filled the air, the moon lit up the ground and surrounding foliage, and nothing that I know of crawled into bed with me.

It was a great experience and a good way to get to know some of the other teachers at my school, and some of the students that I will be working with. Kudos to the Boy Scouts of the Philippines for having a good time, giving the boys some great experiences and being so involved with the school.

Siget, Makadi ako sa dagat, para maglalakat ngan magbibiling la. Sanglit, mayada kamo malipayon ka kulop, ngan magsurat san-o magbibiling sin pagtrabajo! (Okay, I’m going to go to the beach for a walk and look around. So, you all have a great afternoon, and write when you find work!)

xoxo

Litson! Litson! Litson!

I used to be a good person before I came to the Philippines. They've turned me into a murderer. In the spirit of Halloween, All Saints day and Dia del Muerte. I decided to take part in a Filipino food dish called litson. It's a pig roasted on a spit. Feeling inspired by my grandfather who was a butcher, my friend Adam who bit the head off of a lizard and spit it at me, another friend Joel who hacked at a chickens throat 6 times to try and kill it, and Jerimiah for breeding pigs, I wanted the experience of slaughtering a pig.

I was able to find a host friend that does this for other people on the side. Lando is a handyman that finds work where ever he can. When it's raining on our house, Lando is the man on the roof trying to stop the leaks, when septic issues arrive, Lando. If there is a big party coming up and the family needs help cooking all the food, Lando's wife (BeeBee).

I gave Lando the p4,000 to buy a pig and other supplies down at the market. A Filipino can get a better deal on a pig than a lanky white dude, so I didn't go. I can't even buy a mango without having to beg for the same price that everyone else pays (I won't get into this). He went down to the market at 3 in the morning, because that's when all the good pigs are still there.

Around 1 in the afternoon, some friends came by and we went over to the slaughter site, Lando's backyard. The little guy was only 3 months old. I guess that's all it takes to taste good.

I think the hardest part of the whole process was holding the pig down and tying up his legs, and then driving the knife into his throat. The phrase screaming like a stuck pig has some validity. It took about 5 minutes for the pig to finally die. We collected the pigs blood in a bowl while a knife was in it's throat for soup, and kept all the other internal organs for other various dishes. I didn't use any of them, but apparently they are worth decent money Maybe next time I will learn what to do with the rest of the pig.

The rest of the cleaning was interesting. We poured boiling water over the pig in order to separate the top layer of skin from the pig and some of it's hair. After that, we spent a bit of time shaving the pig, and cleaning the outside of the pig before we dove inside. Gutting the pig went swimmingly. I'm not going to get into too much detail. Lando did a great job of showing me around, and making sure I didn't get into anything that would cause a stink.

After the pig was cleaned, we shoved a bamboo pole through it's body in a way that could only be done if all it's insides were missing. Then, I got to show off my sutchering skills (Brodie you would be proud). I zipped the little guy up, covered him in coka-cola (to make his skin crispy and sweet) and then put him on the litson, and turned the pig for about 2 hours.

It tasted great, and I had a good time doing it (Shannon, if you're still reading at this point I'm proud of you!). And the whole process took about 5-6 hours. It was a little slow because I didn't know what I was doing, but I'll get faster.

On another note, I'm going to Manila in a couple of days to attend my swearing in ceremony. This is when I will go from being a trainee to a full on volunteer. Who knew it took so much work to just become a volunteer. After the conference, I will move to Pambujan, Samar where I will live for the next two years. I'm enjoying my last few days here with my host family. I have really come to love them. They are such great people. The Nicolaraios have really made me feel at home. It's hard to leave another home and another family again. It was hard enough the first time.

I'll keep you posted on my where abouts as the time goes by. Thanks for all your comments, and for taking the time to read my blog. It's a highlight in my day when I hear from people back home.

Love ya all!

Kelly