This post will be covering some of the things I got to do for my orientation week in the Philippines! I got to experience a lot of cool things and spend those experiences with a lot of awesome people. I’ll be showing some pictures along with a little description of what’s going on in each. Here we go!
The full YAV group for the Philippines (minus Rev. Jonathan Pia in the center). The names will go left to right, top to bottom: Rey Mark, Joyce, Jessica, Russell, Kannya, myself (duh), Rapha Victor (Raprap), Ma’am Dobert, Makoy, Heewon, our lovely site coordinator Dessa Palm, and finally her husband Kabbi. This photo was taken in the Silliman University church sanctuary in Dumaguete after the Sunday service. Some foreshadowing; this will not be the only group photo of us.
Selfie in front of what’s known as the Dumaguete Belfry or Campanario de Dumaguete, a historic bell tower next to the Saint Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral. Shoutout to Dessa as well for taking the time to tour Kannya, Heewon and my annoying butt all around Dumaguete (she loves my sense of humor, and no I am not lying).
And this is the inside of said cathedral. This cathedral was completed in 1776 and is considered the oldest stone church on Negros Island where Dumaguete is located.
An important note regarding Silliman University is that during the orientation week, it was celebrating its 125th anniversary. They threw a huge parade that went through downtown Dumaguete, and Dessa so kindly let us join one of the groups walking in it and we were suddenly a part of the parade!
Oh and of course I couldn’t forget about my photograph with Succy the Mascot. I wish I could remember who specifically Succy is a mascot for, but I think it’s best left ambiguous.
This little structure and its accompanying cabins (not in the photo) is known as Camp Lookout, and its located in the mountains of Valencia. While used as a retreat site now, it is most known for being a hideout that American soldiers used to avoid detection from the Japanese during WWII. Local Filipinos also assisted by redirecting Japanese soldiers away from the direction of the camp so the Americans couldn’t be located.
Not much to say here, just a smiling Rey Mark and a smiling dog. What more could one ask for? Rey Mark also encourages my sense of humor, so I had to give him his flowers.
One night we were treated to a blood moon high up in the sky. Shout out to Heewon for this photo so I didn’t have to use one of my crumby phone screen quality ones🥴.
We also got to visit two very amazing waterfalls during our orientation week. The first photo up above is Casaroro Falls or House of Roro, and you can’t swim in the falls area of that one. In the second photo is Pulangbato Falls, with “Pulangbato” translating to “Red Stone” because of the amount of red stones that surround the falls. That one you can swim in.
We also briefly stopped to look at a hot spring that was near the Pulangbato Falls. You get that good ‘ol strong whiff of the rotten egg smell that every hot spring seems to have. It reminded of me of my family trips to the hot springs in Thermopolis, Wyoming during my younger days (shoutout to family).
And finally, the last night before we all went to our respective sites in the Philippines, we all signed a covenant that we made together and promised to stick to in the time that we are YAVs.
It was a very special first week in the Philippines and I already got to know so many amazing and insightful people so far and. I’ve gotten so engrained in the Filipino culture already, especially its culture of rice (seriously you would not believe the amount of rice I’ve had already, it’s like breakfast, lunch, and dinner for me every day). I cannot wait to experience the culture even more and see what else this journey has in store for me as I venture off to Dansalan College in Iligan City for my site work. I’m even more excited to share it all with you.
-pattyboiniceboi
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