Hoop Haul

People say June is the hottest month here, let me tell they are not kidding. Without the rain things have really heated up. Not that is was ever cold mind you. On top of the heat I have been super busy finishing up projects and preparing to move back home to the States. Since my time in the Philippines is coming to an end, I wanted to utilize all my left over hoop supplies. I don't know how but I managed to create 12 more hula hoops for my center over the past few days. Now off to  cram all the hoops on a crowded Jeepney (public transportation) and deliver the goods.

Butterflies

I am so proud of all the girls I have been working with. When I first arrived at SDC the girls were focused on perfection, and would only traced drawings in books when given a blank piece of paper, despite the assignment given to them. They had never used paint or pastels, most girls had not used colored pencils and some had not used markers. Now they can use all the new materials,  follow any directions I throw at them, and create beautiful pieces of original art. When given free sheets of paper they now create their own drawings, or write an uplifting billet-doux (in English) to me or one another (which are very cute).  

Lanyards

The girls have been waiting with great anticipation for this lanyard workshop for some time. Thanks to Crystal and Shawn's donation of craft supplies, over 20 girls learned how to make their own boondoggle. The super best part is Crystal and Shawn included glow in the dark plastic lacing! I can only imagine how much laughter and squealing must have gone down before bed that night.

Staff Team Building

The City Social Welfare Department invited me to join in their annual staff team building event. We went to an amazing local hotel, I never knew existed, to swim, luxuriate in the hot tub, eat a buffet dinner, and sing videoke. For the first time in almost a year I felt like I was a person hanging out and having fun, instead of always being a 24/7 volunteer. It was truly an amazing retreat, and I loved spending time with the wonderful city staff who work so hard to make the city a better place for all. Thank you for including me.

Optical Design

The girls have loved all the coloring activities lately. So I found an activity to challenge them to create their own unique works of art, while at the same time learning about shading and how to use colored pencils.

The terrific art tutorial website where I found this activity: 

http://juliannakunstler.com/art1_opt_des.html

Durian

After years of waiting I finally got to try a fresh durian!!! It tasted like almond custard with a hint of sulfur, and had the consistency of an avocado. The skin is tough and painfully spiky. It tore up my hand cutting in to it. Definitely not my favorite food, but I am still so excited to finally get to try it.

Shortcake

A blast from my past hits the Philippines. In a resent care package, my family sent me some activity books for the girls including a Strawberry Shortcake coloring book. The center had 26 girls which was making my Saturday workshops really expensive to keep novel and interesting. So I took box cutters and cut out all the pages in the coloring book to make a unique activity packet for each girl. They colored frantically for 2.5 hours straight until every single page was colored and proudly displayed.

Gordon College Graduation

I went to Olongapo City's college graduation today. The Filipino class schedule is different then the US. Their school year ends in April (hence the graduation), and their summer break is during the hottest part of the year (April-June). And let me tell you it is definitely heating up here. The age range of students also differs slightly from the US. The Filipino department of education is currently making changes to the school system, lengthening the time children spend in school. However, for now there is no junior high, so students can graduate high school by age 16. Thus college students range from 16 to 20+ years old.

Collage

The girls got to transform some of their destructive energy into self expression. The girls created a visual representation of their ideal world through collage. Even though the center had a few old magazines lying around, it was the first time they had ever had a collage workshop. It is always really special to be a part of introducing something new to the girls and staff. Thank you again to all my family who sent box after box of old magazines halfway across the work to make this day possible.

School Award Ceremony

Two of the younger girls at SDC received class awards for ingenuity and best interpersonal skills. I attended the graduation/award ceremony to show my support. The Mayor and his wife even showed up to the event and handed out some of the awards to the children. It wasn't until this moment that I realized that I've lived in Asia a long time... Looking at the picture I can tell there are a lot of people for a school courtyard. However, while at the event it didn't seem crawdad at all. I was even surprised how ample the seating was, even though I has to stand for most of the event.

Hemp Bracelets

Thanks to a donation of art supplies from my friends Crystal and Shawn, from Eureka CA, the girls at SDC got to make hemp bracelets! The girls chose a bead to represent themselves, as well as a bead for their past, present, and future. I was worried that they wouldn't like the hemp rope, because they generally only value synthetic materials. However, the girls loved it! The staff even liked the bracelets so much they thought about taking them away from the girls, to put on display, so the girls couldn't loose them. After explaining the temporary nature of hemp jewelry, and the reassurance we could do the activity again the girls got to keep their creations.

Golden Eggs

Today I told the girls the Aesop fable about the goose and the golden eggs. The girls then came up with the morals in the story, and got to say what they would buy if they had a golden egg. The overall consensus was that they would buy a house or food. The only deviation was the youngest girl at the center who said she would buy a beautiful car. After reflecting on the story the girls got to decorate their own golden eggs with crayons, pastels and for the first time in the center, watercolor paint! Their eggy masterpieces are now the fist thing anyone sees when entering the center.

SBMA

I have been spending all my time at home or work, so I decided to shake things up with a walk by the bay.

St Patrick's Day

St Patrick's day, the magical time of year when paper plates transform into shamrocks. Despite the Philippines being an intensely Catholic country, no one at my center had heard of the holiday. I had an interesting time explaining St. Patrick, leprechauns, four leaf clovers, and pots of gold at the end of rainbows. The girls had a great time painting and decorating their shamrocks (Thanks to the paper plates and glitter glue donated by my grandmother and great aunt). I also printed themed coloring pages for them, painted their nails with green glitter, and taught them Irish slang. Look out Philippines you just might have a new holiday on your hands.

Death of a Potato

Before leaving for a training a potato found it's way to the floor. By the time I found it, the critters in my apartment had hollowed it out. Makes me rethink my whole sleeping on a foam pad on the floor situation :/

Teamwork Through Health & Fitness

Steve an education PCV in my area, come to visit my center and lead a sports and fitness training to finish our month long focus on relationships.

Ima's Gulay Bar

I found the most amazing vegetarian restaurant in Palawan. It is seriously the best restaurant I have ever been to. I ordered a tempeh sandwich and the house carob smoothie. 

Snorkeling

I am not a fan of fish, so this is a big deal for me. I went snorkeling for the first time ever in Palawan. I got to see coral reefs, tropical fish, and a giant clam.

Haagen Daze Sorbet

It is seriously hot in the Philippines, and yet there is no vegan ice-cream. At least not yet. So finding mango sorbet in Manila seriously made my day. Yum!

Bull Riding in Manila

When celebrating a fellow PCV's 25th birthday, the night when horribly right after we discovered a mechanical bull outside of our restaurant. Surprisingly harder then it looks.