Vacation Already

August 22

VACATION ALREADY?!

That’s right - we are on our first vacation…and school just started!  We have a 5-day weekend honoring Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, an assassinated former senator who was instrumental in the fall of the Marcos regime and whose wife eventually became president.  No complaints here, though it is a little weird that we just got into the groove at school and now have 3 school days off.  Although, I highly recommend a beginning of the year break.  People, teachers included, underestimate how stressful the beginning of the year can be.  You basically spend all summer thinking about and planning the new year, then have a week of meetings when you should be preparing for students, and the students arrive and spend a ton of energy being excited, getting to know their names and who they are as people.  It all takes a lot out of a person and a nice relaxing beach vacation is the perfect remedy.  Although, as I write this a week later, I must admit I did return a bit groggy.  

How is everything going you may ask?  So many thoughts swirling in my head, I’m not sure if I can get it all down.

We are at the beach…at long last!  Not just any beach, a real genuine tropical white-sanded beach!  We went to a small town called Puerta Gallera, about a 3 hour bus/boat trip from Brent.  I guess I only have Oregon, California, North Carolina, Florida and Bahama beaches to compare with but I think that this spot is what we, and probably most folks, originally had in mind when we envisioned the Philippines.  But, I am learning that this country, as most are, is incredibly diverse and varies from dense verdant jungles, agricultural areas  and crazy urban cement sprawl to beaches lined with coral reefs,  and active volcanoes looming on the horizon.

Today we went on a lovely hike down the beach a bit, through a few villages in the hills, up through the dense forest to a gorgeous waterfall, Talipanan falls (Thank you Peter for guiding us).  The water was so clean and clear and refreshingly cold!  It even caused me to gasp every so slightly when dunking under.  As nice as our living situation is, access to wildness is not common, so it is these excursions that will help balance us out.  We are definitely a hiking, walking, wandering, exploring family who needs to get out into nature and be surrounded by trees, butterflies and life.  Swimming in that creek and hiking through the forest certainly fed our souls for a bit.

  Along our hike, we passed through a beautifully reconstructed indigenous Irya Mangyan village, know for the amazing basket weaving skills (we bought 3).  

I realized today that I am getting more used to seeing the shantytowns and villages with half-dressed children, emaciated cats and dogs, barely put together roofs on windowless homes, pieces of trash scattered about and rice bags used for everything imaginable (roofs, curtains, sandbags, tarps, walls), and people out washing laundry in a bucket or cutting branches or cooking over a fire.  At first it was rather shocking and depressing to see how the impoverished live, but the more I walk or drive through such villages, I see their happiness, or maybe it’s just an attitude of “It is what it is”, but the people don’t seem too put out by their situation.  Sure, offers to guide and drive us or attempts to hawk their wares are made left and right, but not overwhelmingly so.  They seem a most resourceful and tenacious people.  Today as we walked down the street to the waterfall turnoff, I was thinking how comfortable I felt, actually just how safe I felt.  Rosemary was in the backpack on Michael the way there and then in the front carrier on me the way back, and at no time did I feel wary or like a target of blaring whiteness.  Last night was the same: I went for a solo (!!!) walk on the beach, something I desperately needed at the time, and found a nice spot to sit and watch the sunset and clouds build.  I had my nice camera with me, and at first felt a little leery, but I think it’s because that was really the first time I had been by myself outside of our neighborhood.  Several people walked by me (one man with a long tree over his shoulder and a machete hooked onto his belt) and it seemed they knew I needed my own space.  I relaxed even more - that is to say I relaxed but stayed smart, I guess, about where I was and who I am.  We are in a resort-y area, so it seems even more safe than other spots, but I still feel it is best to not get too comfortable.

For how much my husband says he’s not that social, I am impressed and slightly envious of how he just tries out Tagalog phrases with the locals.  He doesn’t hold back and seems so comfortable and at ease engaging in conversations (albeit very short) with whomever. Me, on the other hand, I am much more hesitant and unsure and a bit nervous, for whatever reason.  The thing is, Filipino people are so friendly regardless, and once people hear him make an effort, they just light up and let him in a bit more, not that there is ever a huge wall separating ‘us and them’, but in some ways there is.  I really admire this quality in him, one that I’ve not fully seen since all of our travels have been in the U.S.

See the monkey flying from tree to tree?

SCHOOL’S BACK IN SESSION

August 7

SCHOOL’S BACK IN SESSION

***I need a machine that transcribes my thoughts so I can actually get everything down that runs through my head when I’m laying with Rosemary***

Day one of school went really well!  Granted, it was my “easy” day with only 2 classes and 2 preps.  I had 8th graders all day, and they did not freak me out or intimidate me (yet!).  I had fun and did basically what I do with the 5th graders, just abbreviated.  Things that stood out to me today:

*70 minutes is a long period (regular days are 80!!)

*The diversity in class is astounding - out of 42 kids today, about 5 were white, and even then not American.

View form the school!

*Chemistry still scares me and that’s first up on the teaching docket…it will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

*The chicken curry from the cafeteria is so delicious…and costs less that $2 US.

After school, Rosemary and I went to the pool.  It was the most packed I’ve seen it yet, and we met some new folks.  At one point, I looked over and Rosemary was sitting on the pool step with 3 kids around her - a high schooler from India, a little girl from England and a boy with ties to Korea.  Pretty cool to see her surrounded by kids, but especially by such diverse kids.  Michael and I feel really good about our decision to come here and we feel that she’s a very lucky girl to get this experience.  (We feel the same for us, but it’s just more something (meaningful? special?) to watch her interact and learn from everything she’s experiencing.  

DIARRHEA, PUKE AND A FIRST BIRTHDAY

August 5

DIARRHEA, PUKE AND A FIRST BIRTHDAY

I started the day with a rather explosive situation, and then progressively began feeling not so great throughout the day.  By the time I came home, I was done for, with full-body aches and a fever.  Michael and I had decided not to go all out for Rosemary’s first birthday, but then felt bad as the day arrived, so he went to the store to get pizza and some sweet treat for her.  While he was gone (for an hour or so) we laid on the bed and she climbed around on me, we watched cat and dog videos on Youtube, and I just generally did minimalist parenting.  Despite my exhaustion and achiness, I came down for dinner.  The pizza was from Pizza Hut.  Rosemary was eating a chip when she got choked and then proceeded to throw up on me.  Then she got fussy and wanted to walk around, and threw a tantrum when she couldn’t.  Michael took her up for a bath and I shed some tears at the table by myself.  I think I cried because a) I was feeling like absolute crap, b) I was emotional about my little girl’s day of birth, c) I felt bad because Michael went through a lot of trouble to get dinner and a treat, and d) I was exhausted.  Or maybe I just needed to cry.  Regardless, the “celebration” was over and off to bed we went.  No happy birthday song, no treat smeared across her face, no photos taken of the event.  And I’m actually fine with it.  The first birthday seems a rather personal and intimate event to me anyway, for adults.  I know if we were in Oregon still we would have had a gathering, but the timing and working and non-ease of shopping all made the case for not.  

A week already

August 2

ONE SOLID WEEK UNDER OUR BELTS

One week has passed, yet in some ways it feels like a month and in others it seems we just arrived yesterday.  We are feeling very settled with our place, and getting so with our classrooms.  It will be like Christmas when our shipment arrives in a few weeks (hopefully a few weeks!).  I finally started to feel “ fully normal” yesterday, so I guess I did have some jet lag, despite feeling pretty good and sleeping well still.  We have been getting up earlier (6, 6:30), which is quite nice - except today we could have slept in since it’s Saturday, but Rosemary didn’t get that message…oh well.

Last night we had an all-staff (3 Brent campuses) party at the big clubhouse, complete with ample food and drink (wine and San Miguel beer), a karaoke machine and an instant photo machine.  It was a lovely time and we feel more comfortable with everyone now, and just being ourselves.  It truly is a great staff we have, the new folks included, and everyone is so friendly and helpful.  On our walk home we were discussing how lucky we feel being here.  It was so nice out, with a wonderful breeze, that we couldn’t go in the house, thus we continued walking around the loop.  We saw our Japanese friend, Sugiyama, who we learned just turned 70.  He is a cute, squat man with a bald head and always wears a green long sleeve windbreaker when doing his laps.  He told us about his name: Sugi means cedar and yama means mountain.  What a beautiful name for this wonderful person!

We're Really doing it!!

July 26

WE’RE REALLY DOING IT

Despite our exhaustion, we were all up around 6ish.  We got up and went for a walk with our instant coffee.  The heat and humidity already present, sweat was escaping our pores instantly.  We took a short jaunt around our neighborhood and then over to the school, which is literally a 5-minute walk.  Everyone in our community is so friendly and we are pleased that many local Filipino families occupy the houses around us.  I thought this “International community” would be mostly white, and with only school employees.  But, it seems quite the opposite - our direct neighbors are all Filipino, and the school employees are spread throughout the development.  Thus, on this and subsequent walks, we see more locals than foreigners, who greet us with smiles and “hello” or “hi”.  We, or should I say Michael, have been testing out our Tagalog and seem to be doing rather well.

Other highlights of our first full day in the Philippines:

Michael caught and released a rather large spider that had been hanging out for a while, freaking us out.

Juliette, our YaYa, came over to meet us and spend a little time with Rosemary. They get along very well, Rosemary seeming comfortable with her and vice versa.

Michael rode the trike with Juliette to get some groceries.

We took another walk to the neighboring development, Prominence 2 (we are in Prominence 1) and found a cool area where the development meets the vast expanse of grass and nature.  Here is where the birds are!!  We saw our first kingfishers and other birds we were unsure of.

Several thunderstorms rolled through during the day.

In the early evening we went for a swim in the pool while it was raining.

We were in bed at 7:30 and asleep shortly after.

It still seems a little surreal that we’re here, in this house, in this country, in this different life.  With that said, though, things do feel natural and “homey” in a way, too.  It almost seems like no big deal that we leave our house and walk around in this foreign place with foreign faces, or that we see unusual trees, plants and birds, or that we hear Tagalog everywhere, or that we swim in the community pool in the middle of the development.  On the other hand, we keep saying, “I can’t believe we’re really here and really doing this” and finding everything exciting.  Perhaps due to the anticipation and month of waiting for the departure day to arrive, it doesn’t seem so unusual and odd that we are here.  We had plenty of time to adjust to not having our home, or cars, or material things that it makes sense that we’re here; it was our next step and we had ample time to digest the reality of it all.  

Do you have a harmonica in there?

July 24-25

DO YOU HAVE A HARMONICA IN THERE?

We were so proud of ourselves this morning for being packed, cleaned up and ready to go when our shuttle service came at 3am.  We were prouder still for arriving at the Redmond airport an hour and 20 minutes before our flight - a first for us (last time we missed our flight).  Being the first ones in the checkin line made us prouder yet.  Turns out it was so lucky that we had all that time because Rosemary’s last name on her ticket was Bajorek and her last name on her passport is Waugh.  So it took the better part of that hour or so for the representative to get it worked out.  Because of that delay, we were going through security as they were boarding our plane, so were feeling a bit stressed.  The x-ray technician scanned our carry-on several times and then said he needed to examine the contents.  He did so, rescanned and, looking rather perplexed with his coworker, asked if we happened to have a harmonica in the bag.  Well, of course we did as part of the toy collection.  He asked where it was, got it out and, sensing my confusion, explained that it looked like a gun magazine.  Oh!  I never would have thought of that in a million years, but seeing it laying there in the plastic bin, I saw the reason for their concern.  He scanned it once again and we were clear…just in time to catch our first leg to San Francisco.

Now we’re over halfway through our longest let to Tokyo and things are going splendidly well (I hope I don’t jinx myself!).  Rosemary was awake most of our layover in SF and then played a good bit for the first part of this leg, then we all slept for a good bit.  Now she’s playing with her new toys and has eaten some of the new snacks we got for her.  The third movie is playing, of which I’ve watched none.  Rosemary is quite the star on the plane, and anywhere we go honestly.  Everyone wants to say hi and smile at her.  One of the flight attendants became very fond of her, and he brought her all kinds of things, like toiletries, yogurt and fruit.  

We have 3 hours in Tokyo and are very out of it and exhausted.  We found a play room, where Rosemary crawled around with some other kids and played with the toys.  All of the Asian kids took their shoes off and left them by the mat of the play area.  We are so impressed with the professionalism and friendliness of the airport staff who have helped us change our seats and figure out how to print something.  While waiting for our flight to board, we just watched the staff literally run around to get things ready.  They began the boarding process at exactly the time they said they would and were so friendly.  They asked if we were taking the carseat on with us, and consequently had to check it to make sure it was okay.  Then we had our own personal escort to assist us with it, which meant we cut in front of folks in the long line.  

The ride was uneventful, other than some hilarious interactions with the flight attendants.  We felt as if we were in first class with the service and ample leg room.  Shortly after announcing the meal options (fish and rice or tofu and rice), a flight attendant came around dispersing wet napkins.  Michael thought she asked what he would like to eat and he simply said, “Vegetables.”  She was very confused by this, and being in our sleep-deprived state made things even funnier.  Eventually the misunderstanding was cleared up when another attendant talked with him.  The food was quite tasty and shortly after, the attendant came around with little bottles of wine.  We checked to see if it was free (it was!) and got one each.  Free wine on a flight?!  Living like royalty.  She then came around every 15 minutes it seemed offering a different beverage: green tea?, brown tea?, coffee?.  To top all of this amazing treatment off, another attendant came and offered a choice of three souvenir items for Rosemary.  I chose the postcards, which have Japanese writing on them.

Rosemary was beyond exhausted on this part of our journey, as were we.  I was dozing before takeoff and felt like my eyes were burning.  Rosemary couldn’t seem to fall asleep on her own, and screamed when we put her in the carseat which was in the seat between us.  So I stuck her on the boob where she happily passed out and proceeded to sweat profusely.  Anytime she awoke, she sat up, rubbed her eyes sleepily and cried.  I just switched feeding sides and she was out again.

Once we landed, we got our luggage without trouble and went through Customs with a breeze and got our Philippines stamp on our passports.  The principal of the middle school was picking us up and we found him right away.  Once outside a Brent van picked us up, the driver loading our luggage on.  Then we were whisked away through the Manila nightlife traffic - bright lights, numerous cars with horns honking, repetitive billboards, shacks to the right and huge malls to the left.  There was only a slight traffic jam and we were in our new community of Brentville in no time.  On the way, we were given our house keys as well as keys to our car and envelopes containing $20,000 in Philippine pesos (roughly equivalent to $450US).  Pretty crazy to arrive in this country and already have a life set up…

Our hang out time in our new home was brief since we were delirious and exhausted. We took a quick tour, rinsed off with cold water and crawled into bed (which was thankfully made).  Slumber came quick and deep.

The end is near!

July 23

THE FINAL BITS

Once we returned from California we took care of the final bits of minutia: met with our financial advisor, threw more stuff into the storage unit, did our best at eating our goods, packed and weighed and repacked and reweighed our bags, and the best of all spent some quality time with our friends.

We had hoped to sell the Camry in California, and had posted it on Craigslist down there, but no luck.  And it turned out for the best that we didn’t sell it because we used it until the very end.  Someone called around 4 who was interested in looking at it.  They came to check it out around 6pm and ended up buying it.  We were stunned (and frankly, are still a bit)…talk about selling it at the last minute!!

Ready already!

July 14

READY

Now in California with the other side of the family, I am feeling ready.  Ready to just be on that plane, exhaling with relief that we made it.  Ready to not be worrying about all the little things we still need to do and deal with.  Ready to be done with moving to and fro.  Ready to be somewhere for an extended period of time.  Ready to be with my husband and daughter in our new home.  Ready to get our rhythms and routines in place.  Ready to meet the folks in our community.  Ready for this next chapter of our lives.

Selfish?

July 7, 2014

SELFISH??

Two hours into our 4.5 hour flight from Charlotte to Portland, OR, I’m looking at my baby girl suckling on my breast thinking we’re crazy - crazy for moving to the Philippines, crazy for dumping our perfectly good life for a new one, crazy for traveling across the country then to California right before the big move, crazy for putting us, and especially Rosemary, through all of this. She’s been so off routine and constantly overstimulated, sleeping like crap and getting so overtired and cracked out.  It becomes a vicious cycle - she doesn’t sleep because we’re with family so it’s not convenient, then becomes crazy fussy girl and takes forever to settle, meanwhile I become frustrated and aggravated trying to balance it all.  

Leaving my family brought up all kinds of emotions, but the biggest one was guilt.  I was feeling guilty for taking their granddaughter/great-granddaughter/niece to the other side of the world.  This was the conversation that I had with Michael shortly after Rosemary fell asleep:

Are we crazy?

Yes

Are we dumb?

No

Are we bad for leaving our families?

No.  The only thing I can think is we may be a little selfish.

This plane trip has been the worst thus far - screaming and flailing about out of sheer exhaustion.  But as frustrated as I get, when she does sleep I gaze at her and see an angel.  It is only then that I feel like an awful person for putting her through this.  Will it be worth it?  Will she continue this pattern until we are settled in the islands?  Will it ultimately make her tougher and more flexible or just make us crazy in the meantime?  I’m now extremely nervous for the 16+ hour plane ride to Manila.  As Michael said, “We just need to get there.”  I still feel like an awful mom.  And now a little selfish, too.

What's everyone staring at?

Not too long ago I made a little jaunt to our local grocery store.  In general, I loathe going to this store, Pure Gold.  There's nothing gold about it, really.  After getting through the security guards to enter the building, and the security guards to go through the turnstile, you are thrust into an oasis of low quality junk food, most of which is individually wrapped for resale.  When I say junk food, I mean you'd be hard pressed to find something that doesn't have MSG or High Fructose Corn Syrup or both.  Anyway, I frequent this store once a week or so to pick up a necessity or two.  Honestly, the worst part is the awful music that they blare over the loudspeakers.  It's usually a mix of techno meets boy band, and it's played so loudly that it rattles your bones.  I don't know if I've had a 'good' experience there yet.

So, I decided to go one evening to pick up an essential that Anna and I could not live without for the night...beer.  Alcohol prices are pretty golden at Pure Gold (.70 beers, $5 bottles of gin, $3 bottles of wine).  I decided to get a weeks worth of booze, I hoped, so I didn't have to return to the Gold any time soon.  I picked up about 14 beers, 1 rum and coke in a bottle, and 2 bottles of wine.  I did also grab a head of cabbage and some carrots for slaw, as well.

Well, I knew exactly where all of my necessities were located, and I thought I could get in and out in no time.  I'm usually wandering around for at least an hour trying to find a can of tomato paste that's not in a bag labeled "sweet sauce."  I grabbed my beer, put it in my cart, a two wheeled basket, and I head towards the check-out line.  I'm feeling really good about myself.  It's been 10 minutes max and I'm on my way to check-out.  That is, until I hit the "crack."  You know those signs in England that say "Mind the Gap" well they should be plastered at this Pure Gold.  I thought that I was crossing your normal seam in the concrete floor, however this one was a apparently a little wider than most, and before I knew it, my little pull cart was stuck in the crack and sliding out of my hands.  I couldn't recover my grip, and low and behold, my basket of booze was rolling across the  Pure Gold floor.  I didn't so much see as feel every Filipino eye in the place look to see what happened.  There I am looking like the alcoholic foreigner with a basket full of beers.  Before I could even bend down to pick up my mess, 4, that's right four, workers were hunched over shoving the beer and wine back in my basket.  I don't know if they were being kind, or if they were embarrassed for me.  There was one stray bottle that was spewing from the top like old faithful, and the nice gentlemen worker held it up, looked at me, and began to put it back in my basket.  I tried to say "no", but he wouldn't have it, so I walked away with 13 shaken and one leaky beer.

Once all of my beers were back on board, I headed to the check-out line where I proceeded to wait for a good half an hour with every other person staring at me.  As I looked at other people's buggies, I realized that I was the only one that had any alcoholic drink in their cart...and not just one, but a whole cart full.

Nothing is easy, not even getting some beer, at Pure Gold.

July 3, 2014

SHIP, STORE, CARRY

We left our house for good two weeks ago and flew to North Carolina for family and wedding fun.  I hardly thought about the reality of it all while packing, moving and cleaning, and it wasn’t until my final walk-through of our empty house that it really hit me: “This is the last time I’ll be in our house.”  I got teary in the closet and had a little cry when thanking the house for our nearly six years.  Now, while driving back from Carolina Beach, NC, I think about returning home.  But, our home is not longer.  Our stuff is either shoved into our 5x10x9 storage unit or sailing across the seas to the Philippines.  We are staying at our friends’ house who just happen to be on vacation for a month.  While it’s so nice to have a place to stay for a bit, it’s not our home.  I found myself last night saying, “When we get back to Oregon” instead of when we get back home.  I realized that our routines, schedules and daily rhythms will be pretty much nonexistent until a few weeks after we arrive in the islands.  We are, and will continue to be, going with flow, being flexible and taking each day as it comes – even more so than before.  Michael and I were discussing things we’d like to do when back in Oregon and I mentioned canoe camping.  He was quick to remind me that we have no tent, sleeping pads or any camping items at all as we shipped them.  So… canoe camping is out…

Our life and all of our possessions have been sorted and separated into three categories: store, ship, carry.  This was, of course, after eliminating and giving away as much as possible.  This sorting task was much tougher than originally thought; ensuring that we have enough clothing when we get there in case our shipped goods are later than expected, trying to decipher what photos and artwork to ship to decorate our new abode, hoping we haven’t packed our suitcases too heavy for the plane, storing nearly all of our winter wear despite still needing it for summer nights in Central Oregon, trying to stay within our allotted shipping amount, and ultimately realizing that we have a lot more stuff than we thought.  Now I have random moments of “Where is the blanket?”, “What did we do with the huge plant?”, and “Wait, did we empty the freezer out?”.  These seem to come mostly in the middle of the night and keep me preoccupied for a bit. 

   

   

   

The Adventure Begins

April 21, 2014

Three months from now we will be flying to the Philippines  

on our fourth anniversary

to live and teach for two years

with our daughter, who will be one week shy of a year old.

Two months ago, my husband, Michael, and I were in San Francisco at a job fair for international teaching.  I bought my first true pair of pumps for this event, if that tells you anything. 

The night before we left for the job fair, we Skyped with the director of Brent Int’l School in the Philippines.  It wasn’t an interview per se, more of him telling us of the school and essentially recruiting us.  The whole time, he only asked one question: “Michael I see you played baseball, will you tell me about that?”  At the end of our time he said, “Just to be clear, this is a formal job offer.”  The positions were for middle school math (Michael) and middle school science (me).  We were stunned at how it ended, especially since I have never taught middle school and never taught strictly science and not one typical interview question was spoken.  But talk about having a positive mindset for the job fair – we were set!  We were given until the end of the fair to make our decision.

Prior to all this, we had been sending off cover letter after cover letter to international schools across the world, totaling approximately fifty in all.

We had several other interviews via Skype (the first of which was undeniably awful – sorry to waste your time, Singapore) and several face-to-face at the job fair (Morocco, Ecuador, Colombia).  Most of these were as a couple, which was extremely awkward the first time (Singapore) but eventually became comforting and reassuring.  

Our house is very spartan as material goods have been sorted, packed, given away and discarded.  Furniture has been sold.  I counted today and we are down to seven items of furniture (couch, beds, dining room table, desk, bookshelves).

We are selling our house we have lived in for almost six years and have, in fact, signed paperwork.  We have a bit of seller’s remorse.  Actually more like price remorse, wondering if we could have gotten more.

Our cars are next up on the market.  

Friends are adopting various items as well - bikes, plants, odds and ends.

This was not a decision made lightly and is something we’ve wanted to do for years.  We began the process last year but found out we were pregnant (!!!!) and our daughter was due in August, when schools start.  Thus we postponed until this year. 

It is quite the roller coaster of emotions: one minute feeling pride for taking this leap, the next questioning everything; getting excited for new adventures and growth, scared of leaving our comfortable life here; thinking we are amazing parents for giving our daughter this experience of a lifetime, wondering what the hell we’re doing traveling across the world to live for two years…