FROM HOME TO PRISON

Last month I (Emily) took an all too brief trip home to the states to visit my family. I hadn’t been planning on making the trip during our two-ish years here in the Philippines, but for random reasons it just kind of fell into place. I think people were expecting me to be freaked out by things like the 800 different kinds of peanut butter in the huge grocery store or something, but it was all pretty much how I remembered it. Except people seem to drive faster than I remember & the highways are much wider. I did feel the economic changes that have occurred since we left. We read about them in the news & hear about the horrors of job hunting from other recently returned PCVs but seeing all the empty/out-of-business stores was a tangible effect I could grasp. After two weeks of more delicious than I remember dairy products & days filled with snow & games of Settlers of Catan I returned to my other home, rededicated to my work. As I rode home from the airport & felt the tropical sun warm my skin I couldn’t help but grow ecstatic about being back. The trip home was unbelievably positive for my soul in so so many ways. Its so difficult to communicate w/family via technology, and being with them, looking at their faces & talking to them was amazing. I feel like I returned so motivated to be here b/c I felt a stronger connection to everyone at home. I must admit, I really missed rice & fish & fruit while in the states, really though I don’t ever miss American food anymore while im here. Dairy is good, but I don’t crave it. I don’t crave hot showers or anything like that either (although while I was home I spent about half my time enjoying the temperature controlled running water...) but I do like my cold little bucket & lumpy bed. I’m happy to live where I live & I am not ready to leave yet, but spending time with my family really did re-energize my spirits & I am so very grateful for the opportunity to hug them again. As always the first noises i heard upon returning to my house were my little neighborhood girls running towards me.

Pretty soon after I came back jon & I took a trip to prison with some of his coworkers. That’s right, the local prison is a kind of tourist attraction. Its basically just a nice park separated from the highway by lots and lots of rice fields (that the prisoners tend) there were huge acacia trees, a big pavilion (picture above) & a nice cool irrigation chanel/river in which to swim. We played a few games such as “bring me” where the group is split into two teams. There is one facilitator who says things like “bring me an inmate” and the first group to run & find an inmate & bring it back to the facilitator gets a point. It was strange, there were lots of inmates just wandering around w/machetes. So we swam, chased turkeys, ate, and climbed huge trees... it was a glorious day in prison

We have both been keeping pretty busy with work. I thought we would be winding down projects now but new ones keep coming up. There are things I'll stumble upon (like a community where sea turtles nest, but all of the eggs are being eaten) & I just know that if I were to leave without doing some sort of conservation project in that community I will forever regret the missed opportunity. Through the end of the school year in March I will be continuing my environmental science classes at the local grade school. We talk about all sorts of things regarding ecology, conservation, biodiversity, resource management, the atmosphere etc. i love it. We also just established a Community Environmental Resource Center with a grant from the San Diego Peace Corps Association. Below is a photo of Emily with her 5th Grade Science Class

Jon has been working on teacher trainings at the school for kids with disabilities, and developing a manual of operations for CICL kids (children in conflict with the law) as well as keeping up w/his ongoing sessions w/kids at various centers or kids involved in various city programs.