First Day in the Philippines

I made it to the Philippines in one piece. What a long plane ride...16 hours! When we got into Manila Airport, there were several PC staff and volunteers waiting for us. They gave each of us a leigh; pink for girls and blue for boys. We went through immigration and on to baggage claim. After all of us got our luggage, we were guided out of the airport and moving trucks met us to transport our bags. All trainees went on a bus that took us to where we are staying. On the way, we got a small glimpse of Manila. It was very dark and kind of hard to see. It was funny to see 7-Eleven and KFC!

We are staying on this awesome resort island...it has a mini zoo, butterfly sanctuary, water park, putt-putt golf, and a ton of other stuff. This Peace Corps business is really difficult I tell you! Just kidding...it's going to get a lot different in about 5 days. Tomorrow I have an interview with my regional manager. I'm not exactly sure what that means yet, but he/she is the one who places me in post.

I continue to meet a ton of different volunteers everyday. Everyone has such interesting stories and backgrounds. Tonight we went to a "fishing village" that overlooked the bay. It was incredible. We waited until the sun set and then went to another really cool location on the resort for dinner. I had my first experience with Filipino food...I asked for a piece of fish and when I looked on my plate, there was an eye staring up at me! I at least tried it, but that was all.

There is air conditioning in all of our rooms so we are being spoiled. Jet lag has started to take its toll and I'm about ready to crash for the night. It's only 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 1. They're keeping us pretty busy in the mornings with informational meetings. Hopefully soon, I'll be able to get to Manila and see what the city is like. I'm off to bed!