His rise from the poverty of a southern Mindanao province, growing up to a single mother into one of the most recognizable and beloved boxing figures has transformed this nation. He is a hero for good reason. During each typhoon, Manny is one of the first to reach into his own pocket to provide assistance to his people in food and monetary contribution. He supports numerous charities, including the donation of almost half his winnings to Filipino organizations in an effort to better his country. He is a man who wears his patriotism and the hope of a nation on his sleeve. His rise from sheer poverty to triumph is an inspiration to millions.

The long anticipated Mayweather / Pacquiao bout was nothing short of what you could call a national holiday in the Philippines. The live pay-per-view showing reached almost every bar, restaurant, and hotel across the nation. Taxis stopped to listen, life was put on hold for those few hours. Many barangays even sat up displays in covered courts so thousands of ordinary folk could come and watch their beloved figure take on the fight of the century.

The excitement and anxiety was palpable. With every punch and every shot, cheers and groans rang out. Manny was center stage for that hour and the hopes of the nation rose with each shot of his glove. You could feel the nerves as the fight wore on. And as the final bell drew on, the disappointment of a decision – seeing Mayweather win – could be felt on the millions of Filipino faces watching. Leaving the viewing areas, it could easily be mistaken as a funeral: somber and downtrodden as their hero came up just short. For all the hope and build up, the disappointment was worn on the faces of many.

But soon after, the real Filipino spirit emerged. Through the disappointment and heartbreak emerged small smiles. Manny fought well, many said; he did us proud in that fight, came other sentiments. Although his bout to victory was shortened, the nation rose behind the man they saw as a hero and kept their pride in a man who represented them with dignity, class, and still hope.

Manny may be many things but, and even in loss, he is a national hero. A man symbolizing hope and optimism. That smile and pride of Manny, even in his loss, was one thing I came to know and love about the Filipino people – an optimism in any situation, seeing the best in all. This day was no exception.

Embrace your emotions — The Peace Corps journey is full of emotions, challenges, and successes so harnessing those best and worst of what service has to offer. You will be homesick, miss friends and family over the holidays or celebrations. Peace Corps is a sacrifice. It is a challenge. And to sum it up, it will be an emotional roller coaster of highs and lows. Take the time to embrace those emotions, by processing  and allowing yourself all of those feeling; it will help strengthen your resolve and reinforce your why. When you get through the hard times, take those moments to celebrate the highs and embrace them as well for they are well earned. Through those successes and struggles come the best lessons of life so don’t be afraid to embrace those emotions.

Celebrate the failures — Even the best of volunteers will have failure in their service. It is an inevitable part of service. But instead of allowing those failures to dictate your plans celebrate those challenges. Throughout my service, I learned as much if not more during my failures, both in projects and life. Always remember that those are teaching moments that can give you better insight and understanding into life in the Philippines and Peace Corps. Don’t think of it as a failure but a life lesson.

Patience — Life thousands of miles from home will test your resolve. The lines will be chaotic; the buses don’t run on schedule; projects will be delayed; storms leave you without power… the list goes on but the question that I was once asked remains: “What can you do about it?” It may not be fun, or something you look forward to but the best way to find those successes and even relaxation is to embrace that element of patience in saying, it’s totally out of my control, what comes will come. Bahala na.  

Find your passion — What is that thing in life that you get excited for, that drives you. That passion will be one of the things that can help to sustain your Peace Corps service. It can be reading a book, going for a run, or talking with a neighbor. But those little things that give you the drive and energy each day will be a sustaining part of the work you do and the life you lead while in Peace Corps. So find that passion and take full advantage of the free time you will have here and hone it, embrace it to its fullest. Or find your new passion — this is your chance to try new and exciting things.

Find, remember, and rediscover your why — As I said earlier, life in Peace Corps can challenge you in almost every way. But the most important thing to carry you throughout service is the “why” you joined Peace Corps. Remember that why — but also know that it can and most likely will change throughout service. So take the time not only to remember your why but rediscover it. Peace Corps is a continual learning experience that will change who you are for the better, and deepen your understanding for international development. But those changes can change why you continue to serve, interests may change, children may capture a bit of your heart — but whatever it may be, recognize that throughout your time in Peace Corps, things do change and so take the time to rediscover your why. And keep that close to you.

Never stop learning — All in all, Peace Corps is a journey. It’s a life that no matter how long you will spend here, there will always be questions or things you simply do not understand. Do not get to a point where you think you’ve learned all there is of the land, people, or the work. Throughout your service, you will continue to learn and grow in service and as a person. So take the advantage of every opportunity and know that there will always be a great learning experience ahead that will shape more of your service and make it all worth the while. It will pay off over time. But never stop learning. The challenges of service are hard, the sacrifices real, but the rewards can be great.

My bags are packed, and my apartment nearly cleared out. I’ve begun my farewells to the friends and colleagues I’ve spent the past two years working with. It’s the bittersweet ending of a fantastic two years with amazing people, but looking forward to the future. Baguio has been the best city I could ever hope for; the cool weather and fresh vegetables coupled with the smiling and friendly faces with warm hospitality. These are the experiences that I will look back on fondly and give a gentle smile each time I reflect on my time in Baguio. My organization has been an amazing group of people with an incredible and inspiring mission to transform lives into a brighter and more hopeful world. And they do the best job at it, with such grace and passion. I have learned far more from each of these people than I ever expected. As I pack and prepare my departure, the bittersweet feeling creeps in. But I look back at my time in Baguio and think that this inspired me to say, isa pa.

Many days I wonder where the future will lead me. By saying isa pa I know I have taken on a challenge that will transform who I am and my place in the world. It will strengthen my resolve and give me the drive to be the change I wish to be in the world. I will take the challenge of being a leader to others, a source of advice and comfort for other volunteers. I accept the challenge by saying isa pa.

Isa pa is a Tagalog term that translates to “one more.” So I have made the decision that by accepting the offer for isa pa, I will be extending my Peace Corps service for one more year. However, I will have a new beginning and a different challenge. For the upcoming year, I will be transferring to Manila to work with an NGO that focuses on work with street children, children’s rights, and child protection. In particular there is a new program working to combat sex trafficking and protecting children from abuse that I will be focusing on. This is an exciting new chapter, although bittersweet.

As I say goodbye to my dearest Peace Corps friends who have walked this journey with me, I hold a sense of optimism. In addition to my new NGO, I accepted Peace Corps offer to become the co-Peace Corps Volunteer Leader (PCVL). Here I will be able to continue building and supporting the Peace Corps family through being a volunteer advocate with staff and site concerns, train and work with volunteers to develop and hone skills for successful service, and be a mentor to current and future serving volunteers. This is an immense honor I am humbled to take on, and as I look forward to the challenge, I look at the Peace Corps community and the amazing work volunteers do here and say this is an incredible place to be with inspiring individuals who have a service driven passion of life that I cannot wait to work with and to be a part of. Here’s to one more, and why I said isa pa.

Like I said, like here is exciting; it’s new and every day is an adventure. I have the opportunity to see and do amazing things and discover new things about myself in the process. I have a fantastic community I have integrated into, made new friends, gained an extra family, learned a new language, grew into a cultural appreciation. But at the same time you can’t help to shake the feeling that no matter how much you love the Philippines, life here for us is still temporary. We work in phases or cycles: Pre-service Training our aim is to make it to swearing in; from Swearing-in we aim to make it to our mid-service training; from there it’s the home stretch of the final year looking down the road to our close-of-service. Enjoying every day, every journey, each step is vital because we see the finite lapse of time we have here. It makes you appreciate the fullness of each day, but also a challenge of knowing that one day this life will continue to go on as we look back and only wonder about the world we left behind and how it is progressing.

It is the paradox of life: leaving and moving on. It’s a great thing to progress and grow in life; a necessity. But it is hard because every new chapter, you realize that another one is being written simultaneously without you– that you can only read about and observe from afar. But I’ve come to learn, embracing the day you have in the life you are given, you see the good and amazing in every phase of life and it is what makes you who you are. Sure life will continue to go on as the world continues to turn, but the experiences had and the friends made are what will make you a more versatile and well-rounded individual. It’s the paradox of life, but makes it more interesting and fun.

The paradox of life makes me think of this image, taken at the  Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine in Kyoto. These gates have stood for hundreds of years, withstanding the tests of time and outside elements; including war. When you look closely, each individual gate has it’s own meaning (or in the human sense — experience) combining to make a beautiful picture. But more, it is the path we walk, seemingly with no end, we do not know the ultimate destination or place we will depart. So it is in that walk, looking at each gate that makes up the whole image, knowing that once you walk past, it too is then in the past but still remains as a critical part of making the whole picture, This is like the paradox of life… we don’t know where the path will lead us. But can only appreciate the beauty of each step and trust that each experience will continue to add to the beauty and fullness of our on personal journey and as we look back we can see the glimmers of sun peering though each gate knowing we arrived at the destination we were destined to be at and that experience will add to our enrichment.

We rang in the New Year in style… like dodgeball. It all started with a small Christmas celebration in Olongapo with four of us Peace Corps volunteers. It was a very low key, relaxed holiday that we spent together with a small gift exchange, a trip to the mall, then a nice Christmas Dinner. It was like home away from home. Lesson from Peace Corps 1.0: We are a family, we may be thousands of miles away from home and blood relatives, but Peace Corps makes us a family. We share the same joys, struggles, and though we each have our own adventures it is a greater, more common adventure we all share together and that binds us in a way “normal” life never would.

Three of us then took our adventure on the road, where we started our travels to 100 Islands. The plan was to take a small banka (boat) into the China Sea to visit 6 of the most popular of the 100 Islands. But as we prepared; the winds picked up, the seas became choppy, and our boat operator, while standing on the dock, decided that it was best not to go forward that day for safety. We happily complied. So we set out and found a quaint little place to stay for the night. The next morning, we founds the same story. The winds had increased again and the Coast Guard issued a craft advisory so once again, we were stuck on shore looking at the islands from a distance. Alas, we took a picture at the 100 Islands sign, said we were there and set out to find a bus.

Our destination was Vigan, a quaint Spanish town in Northern Luzon. We learned that we had to transfer buses about an hour north of 100 Islands. We made it to Agoo, our transfer point uneventfully. Unfurling off the bus, we made good time in just under an hour. Then the wait began. Bus after bus passed by, few saying Vigan but all were full. So we ventured into the larger town of San Fernando where we thought we may have better luck in catching a bus since the terminal was there. So crawling through post-Christmas traffic in a trip that should have been less than an hour became 3. Finally we made it. And our instructions became to wait on the side of the road till another Vigan bus came. So we waited and waited and about 2 hours later a bus that had room finally came. The remainder of the trip was uneventful, but what should have been a 6 hour journey soon turned into about 12. Once we arrived in Vigan, we realized that it is a popular tourist destination around Christmas. Hotel after hotel was booked, feeling like Mary and Joseph…fitting it was Christmas… there was no room in the inn. So we headed to the bus station and contemplated what to do. Lo and behold, our wise man appeared. Out of nowhere, a man on a motorcycle asked where we were headed and we told him our dilemma. He told us to wait at the bus station, as a native of Vigan he would go around and ask who had room. About an hour and a half later, he reappeared. Nothing in Vigan was vacant, but the adjoining town had a 2 rooms available. So we opted to take him up on the offer. In a trike we went. Looking at the place, we decided that for a night it would work. I may have needed a tetanus shot the next morning but my door would lock and it beat sleeping on the bus station bench. We awoke the next morning safe and sound…possibly realizing that our standards of safety have diminished since being in country, but safe nonetheless. We spent the next day exploring all of the old town in Vigan, seeing the pottery studios, even attempting to throw a pot, albeit making a mess. The day was great, and a quaint town to explore. The cobblestone streets built up the charm of the city and a slower paced life seemed to leave us relaxed and at ease. Over coffee we plotted our next course of adventure and reminisced about our Peace Corps life. Lesson from Peace Corps 1.0: It’s not about the destination, but the journey. You never know where you will end up but will always come out with a great story to tell. It’s a reminder that in our entire Peace Corps service, we are not in total control, we are always at the mercy of greater forces, be it Peace Corps site placement, our organization’s vision of their future direction, culture, transportation, and the bahala na (God will provide) attitude. But it gives us appreciation for the journey, the challenges, and the joys we face; and above all, a flexibility to do what is needed, when it’s needed, and adapt to changing forces.

I then decided to part with my friends who I had been traveling with and head down to San Juan. This is the weekend getaway for us Baguio folks who want to go to the beach. It is known as the surf capitol of the north. Here I met up with 7 other volunteers with the plan to ring in the New Year. We found a chic hostel, comprised of three bamboo huts with room for about 70. In the center was a common room with electricity to charge all of our electronics and just hang out. It never failed that someone was playing the resident ukulele or just chatting. We had the opportunity the first night to get to know many of our fellow residents, some on holiday from Europe and others from Manila just coming for a surf weekend. A super friendly staff encouraged us all to be social and enjoy each other’s company. And so we did, an eclectic mix of personalities that meshed by the common interest of shared stories. The following day, we spent at the beach, some swimming while others did surf lessons. It was a nice and much needed relaxing escape on the beach…sans sunburn. The next day was another beach fest, spending it together hanging out, catching up, and enjoying the beauty of the beach. This was New Years Eve. So the evening wore on and our plans became finalized for ringing in 2014. The hostel had a dinner planned for us, so the beginning of the night was spent with our new friends. We then decided later on to walk onto the beach and watch the fireworks that would ring in the new year. We sat on the dark beach for about an hour until the hour of midnight, when the skies lit up in celebration of the new year. Together as the volunteer family we greeted each other the start of a new 2014 and made our way to bed. Lesson of Peace Corps 1.0: The people you meet will help shape your experience. You never know who will come into your life during your Peace Corps experience; from counterparts and organization staff to fellow volunteers and local friends, the Peace Corps journey is about the people. Two-thirds of the Peace Corps goal is to share American culture and bring Filipino culture back to America, this cannot be done without the relationship we make and the shared experiences we have. Our projects may last or can wane once we are gone, but we will always be remembered as the volunteer who came and spent time in the community. Years on, people still remember the volunteer from their community. That is our legacy…about the people rather than the project. We are the human side of peace, building hope and promise in individuals. 

In the week post-New Year, I had the privilege of having the US Ambassador come to visit my host organization, then attend a Christmas/New Year’s reception at his Baguio residence. There was an immense pride among my organization that the hard work they put in to their Youth Empowerment project would be showcased in front of the US Embassy, headed by

the Ambassador. At the evening reception, we had the chance to meet many of the northern Luzon VIPs, but our service became a topic of discussion, with many thanking us for taking the time to come to the Philippines and serve. Lesson of Peace Corps 1.0: The work we do is something to take great pride in. Also, the opportunity to be a representative of the United States in its best form, of hope and optimism, is a great honor and privilege. The name Peace Corps has such resonance in the Philippines because of the hard work, dedication, and perseverance of all the volunteers who have served; both past, present, and future. It is an unique bond between America and the Philippines that is irreplaceable.

 This is a new year; new resolutions, ambitions and adventures. I look forward for what is to come but I know that building on the lessons of the first half of my service, Peace Corps 2.0 will be bigger, better, and more prosperous. Because after all, it takes time to understand who you are, where you are going, and how you will get there. Peace Corps 2.0 is the realization of that journey and translating it into the apex of service. Here’s to hoping for a fun and productive next chapter.

When you read the news today, there is so much that tears America apart. Especially within our political discourse. But when we have the chance to celebrate the freedom and independence that makes America, and you can see the hope that people look to our land with, it is a great reminder of the power and honor that it is to be American. It boasts a sense of pride in being able to be a representative of America, and what is right with America. 

That evening I then proceeded to have dinner with all of my volunteer friends. We went to this snazzy outdoor restaurant with amazing food. I decided I would get a steak, but alas t

hey were out of stock. (More on that later). But the 8 of us had an awesome celebration, and a cake to top it off. It was awesome to have the community of work and volunteers all in the same day making it an awesome birthday!

OK, so let’s go back to the steak. I had a huge hankering for that prime rib for days and was disappointed that it couldn’t be my birthday dinner. So the following weekend, my neighbor and fellow volunteer went to the beach outside of Baguio where we found an awesome restaurant on the beach to sit and chill. Alas, on their menu and in stock was the prime rib I had been hankering for. So I made the executive decision, my birthday celebration was continuing and the day at the beach and prime rib was part of my present…thanks mom and dad

Finally, all but a few of our staff had been away at a conference during my birthday celebration. So, they decided the following Tuesday to throw me a huge birthday lunch. It was full of my favorites, including pancit and another cake. It was awesome to get the chance

to spend  with my coworkers as well. These are the moments you see the Peace Corps goal and vision of integrating with your community. It was definitely a birthday to remember

!

Peace Corps in Video

After reading this post I can say that the following definitely hold true for me now:

1. What a perfectly normal breakfast looks like

3. When all else fails…there’s sweet bread

4. I only know how to make rice in a flowery rice cooker

12. I immediately turn my head when I hear the words “hoy” or “psst”

13. This is normal pointing now

15. Nothing makes your mouth water faster than the sight of pan de sal

18. I could really go for a halo-halo right now.

21. You call this an air con

28. Half the time, you don’t eat with silverware

30. Everything ends with videoke

31. Represent the Philippine Flag (Yes, I own numerous shirts now that have either the Philippine Islands or Philippine flag)

This blog definitely gives me a good insight to how I am becoming integrated and thought it would be worth sharing….. but this is only the tip of the iceberg of my integration.