Typing Up Old Blog Posts: Aeta Community

I'm home! And finally have a keyboard to type up some of my written journaling! This entry should follow the post from July 20, Best Day Yet. So if you want it to seem in order you can refresh yourself with that post before reading this. Or just read this. :)

July 22

I've had two more lovely days in the Aeta community. I'm actually writing this next to the river watching Nicole swim. (I would go swimming but for once it's actually cold here).

Yesterday was a much later start than Sunday. Once the students from St Paul's College arrived we joined them for another presentation about the Aetas.  They were also here for an exposure trip, but just for the day.  After lunch, we went to several different houses to meet some of the people.  One woman shared some delicious cookie things that are also at our house.  They are made with some root plant and are a local treat.  At the last house we visited, there was videoke, or video karaoke.  One of the girls sang and I thought it was Beyoncé herself singing! She was so good! Hopefully we will get to go again this week with some of our friends.  The afternoon was pretty chill.  We went swimming again (after I took a nap).  Overall, a pretty great day.

Today was homestay day.  I spent the day with Teacher Juliet.  She teaches daycare, the 3 and 4 year olds.  Unfortunately, it has been raining pretty much nonstop since 3am this morning thanks to typhoon Henry being in the region.  When there are heavy rains, children don't go to school.  We had a total of  students out of 24 in the morning.  I cannot imagine how she handles a full class of 24 3 year olds by herself.  It's a mix of play and focus.  She would guide them through simple coloring exercises for basic English using red and yellow crayons to distinguish between big and small or men's and women's clothing.  But the others ran around the building playing with each other.  There were lots of loud voices and running around and banging.  This one little kid, James, kept jumping up on the table and causing other trouble.  All I could do was sit in awe at what this woman accomplished everyday in that classroom.  I would've helped, but none of them have learned English yet. 

After the first batch went home, I went to Teacher Juliet's mother-in-law's house for lunch.  Juliet's roof is thatched and was currently being replaced. (They last about 5 years).  After sitting on a bench watching Filipino soap operas and talk shows for what seemed like forever, we ate lunch.  She made a dish with heart of banana which was really delicious.  I ate that with rice.  She also made sardines in tomato sauce from a can, but I decided to forgo that. (Probably a good move).  At her mother-in-law's house there were lots of animals roaming free throughout the house including chickens, a dog, an two puppies.  The puppies were adorable, but also troublesome, trying to bother us while we ate.  The home was small, but cozy and the lunch was great. 

We returned to the school for the afternoon 4 year old class.   We had one kid come to class and I'm pretty sure he spoke only two words the entire time.  So it was a bit dull, but I was glad to be there.  Juliet let the boy go home early and I decided to accompany her to pick up her daughter from the elementary school.  She is only 6 so the 1km walk is a bit far for her to do by herself.  We waited in the rain for about half an hour before Christine, the daughter, and her friend came out after their quiz.  They took their uniform skirts off and walked back in just their gym shorts that were underneath.  They were so cute but very shy.

On the walk back, we stopped for soda and snacks.  Juliet bought a bottle of soda and then distributed it to us each in plastic bags (which is totally normal here).  The lady who sold us the snacks was fascinated by my appearance.  Paleness seems to be idealized in Filipino culture.  Also, no one here has blue eyes like me.  She was also pregnant.  There are lots of superstitions around pregnancy.  Only look at pretty things.  No horror movies.  And apparently, rub the white girl's arms so that your kid will look like her.  It was a little odd (okay a lot odd), but we all have our weird traditions so who am I to judge.

And to wrap up the day, I'm sitting by the river.  A good day.