We had a movie night "Metro Manila," which I would recommend if you'd like to take in some pathos and woe, and, as I was laying on the community room tile floor flicking the occasional ant off my arm, my tongue realized a corner chunk of my left molar had disappeared! I expect from a tasty pork bone. The next morning I was driven to a Manila alley dentist with a fellow trainer who was looking for lost luggage. He didn't find it and we mourned his dive knife on the way back. My lady dentist repaired my tooth handily and, a nice technique I'd like to see adopted in the states, showed me my before and after with a small hand mirror, telling me what she would be doing. So exciting to catch a glimpse of the world's news! We talked CNN on my way out the door: the Iran deal! the Greek debt shenanigans deal! the upcoming national and local elections here which here are a big, big deal. She thought the swing votes won't show up this year because it's the first of only online voting and they're requiring extensive paperwork. Jobs and livelihoods very much can depend on who won what--especially locally I understand.
I've been to the SM mall (3 floors of shiny) in Cavite four times in the last 12 days to fix my iPhone. I lovehate technology. And just plain hate the internet here. Along with all malls everywhere. Resourcefully hunched over a carpet counter with a saudering gun and tiny screwdrivers they've fixed the stuck power button, changed the battery, sold me a SIM card, a hotspot, a data load and I'm still not sure how and if any of it works. Grandma it's past your bedtime.
Group work I'm going to just place this right here and back away.
Not that anyone is so unbearable. It's just that my soul has a max load of 1 a day. Five a day will not stand. I will survive. But...at...what...cost?
There are at least 5 kinds of ants (and 3 kinds of bananas) around. Microscopic ones that run the tables in language class, type USA black ants that run on road curbs and clotheslines in infinite trails, big, slow loners on the bathroom floor or up a wall, spindly ginger ants grooming their antennae. Everywhere. So used to it already.
What else is slowly becoming understood? Bucket laundry and the joy of a line in the sun; bone skinny dogs with momma tits rolling in the dirt; the smell of burning trash; three kinds of meat for every meal and it isn't a meal without rice; curly hair, fast growing fingernails, dirty feet, the daily exhilaration of finding the fleeting internet and seeing my man's face or hearing his voice.
I've been without spinach salads for a week and am pooping like a champ, without an elliptical and I have new muscles sore from jogging and calisthenics, without any control over my day and forcing the realization that it's ok, take a deep breath, enjoy the happening.
Tomorrow we finish Initial Orientation and bus to the baranguay of Atilano Ricardo in the municipality of Bagac province of Bataan where we meet the families who will host us and give us our first hint of authentic Filipino life. Tabo. Tabo? Tabo. Peace Corps camp is over.
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