Starting My Homestay - RD

So we started our homestays yesterday, and I felt like I had the most foreign experience of my life. My house was on the top of the hill that the village descended upon, and while everyone was lugging their belongings down it I just watched from a plastic chair. I sat in there for around fifteen minutes while a small boy was petting my shoes and laughing. I was confused about the living situation but it turned out that they were preparing my room and installing a bug screen. The most awkward part about it is that they ended up putting me in another room that was already there. The bed is just a wood frame without a mattress so the sleeping bag with me comes in handy. In terms of my family here, there’s an uncle, a mother, two grandparents, and four children there. The children have helped me get around the place, because only a few of them speak some English. Life here is a lot slower than back home, since I feel like I’ve been experiencing every individual minute here. The kids watch TV and just stare at the hills in their free time when they aren’t watching me or playing with the globe I have with me. My family is nice as a whole and I’m looking forward to spending more time with them over the next ten to twelve days. That doesn’t mean that I don’t miss my family back home, since I miss you guys a lot. I’m looking forward to spending another 4^th of July Filipino Reunion BBQ when I get home.

Today we traveled around the area and saw several villages and Grass Roots project sites. There were natural bio-gas collectors that powered homes and the use of ducks as manure generators at a fish farm. I would say that I enjoyed holding a bunch of baby goats during the journey a lot too. I’m still trying to think about what I’m going to do for my project, but I just hope that I’ll be able to help the community through research and/or development.

Until next time,

RD