Another post brought to you by Ricky!

 Melissa's internet situation is still spotty, so she asked me to publish this for her. Enjoy!

I think I’m going to like it here! On Saturday, Hunter and I were taken by 2 of my co-workers to a little shop were teacher uniforms can be ordered. We had to try on a selection of polo shirts to get our size right so we could have the District uniform ordered for us (our schools are in the same district). They handed me a stack of folded polo shirts and I found a size large and held it up. I think I literally laughed out loud and had to ask if she handed me the pile of child sizes instead. Nope, they were “women’s” sizes. I tried up to a 4XL and it was still very tight and short on me! I ended up having to get a men’s large, I think, and even it was tight around my arms! Ridiculous. After making me feel like a humongous giant, we walked around Naga City for a while to scope out points of interest. We passed by maraming (many) ukay-ukays; these are basically thrift stores that sell clothes for really cheap. Most of their stock is extra product from America and other countries, so we—Americans—have been encouraged to check them out when we can’t find our sizes in Filipino stores. From what we passed by, it looks like most of the shirts are less than 100 PhP (about $2) and pants and shoes are just as cheap.

The main market in Naga is 3 floors of tons of different shops. The second floor was more ukay-ukays that also carry all sorts of linens and things for the house and the second floor was full of fruit stands (where we met a vendor who gave us free rambutans—the best I’ve had so far!). I also talked to a couple of street kids who were selling lemons. They didn’t speak much English (or they were just shy) but my Principal translated for me: she said they would sell lemons for their parents for 10 pesos each and for every lemon sold they would get back 1 peso for themselves. There was also a fresh fish market and a meat market but we didn’t walk through them—not really somewhere I need to casually stroll through.
After we left the market we took a trike to SM Naga City (the mall) where Hunter and I had lunch with my co-workers, my principal and Hunter’s principal at a diner called Bigg’s. After lunch, we parted ways and Hunter and I roamed around the mall checking out the available amenities. Although they look similar at a glance, I’ve noticed that Asian malls are very different from American malls regarding the services offered. For instance, there are TONS of salons and any kind of salon treatment you could ever want: including a “face vacuum” where you can have all your pores sucked out with a laser or something (it was recommended by another PCV so maybe I’ll give it a try at some point). There was an Ace Hardware (which is actually really convenient), multiple internet cafes completely full of kids playing RPGs, and even a post office. I kid you not, there was even a place that offered circumcisions.

Afterwards, the 5 of us piled into/all over a trike (2 behind the driver of the motorcycle, 3 of us in the sidecar) and made our way back to my school. We sat in the teacher’s lounge and had merienda while we waited for Hunter’s family to come pick her up.

It was a really nice day and I’m really thankful to have people who are so willing to help us get to know our new home. It’s so unbelievably helpful and I’m looking forward to more outings! My principal’s husband wants all of us to go on a trip to the Wakeboarding Complex (supposedly the biggest and best in the world!) which is here in CamSur.

On Sunday I went with my Lola ((host) grandmother) and her sister, Doris, to church. It was gigantic and gorgeous and completely packed full of people. All the pews were full and people crowded into the open doors along the sides of the nave to be part of the service. We came after the service began so we snaked our way in through the side so we could stand inside the church. With all those people and the weather being as warm as it is, sweat was dripping down my back the whole time as I was simultaneously being whacked by people’s hand fans from both sides. I can’t remember what the church is called (maybe something like Viva la Virgen?) but my lola told me it was built by Emelda Marcos. Afterwards we went to Shakey’s for lunch (chain restaurant that offers pizza, pasta, salads, & sandwiches) and made a quick stop at a grocery store. Lola bought me a box of sweet tamarind because she had given me a tamarind candy the night before and I told her it was ‘masarap!’ She also got me some breakfast… hotdogs.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty chill. I watched the first half of “Born into Brothel” (really good documentary!) then I was summoned to the living room because we had visitors. This was my second visit, since being in the Philippines, with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We chatted for a bit because the one kid was from Hawaii and Lola was really excited to have another American in her house, then they gave us their spiel and they were on their way.

Monday is my first official day at Magarao Central Elementary School and I’m so excited to meet my new students and my new co-workers! Can’t wait to see what’s in store for my next 2 years!