Our Latest Updates

Hello! It seems it's been a while since we've had some photos to upload. More to come soon!


In the mean time, I (Alana) am spending a week and a half in Manila. I've been struggling with what I thought was a muscle issue and turns out to be a disc issue in my lower back. I'm receiving intensive Physical Therapy for a week to see if that will get me on the right track. All of your positive healing vibes, thoughts, and prayers are welcomed and appreciated.


I'm feeling much like the country mouse in the big city. I've spent a lot of time lost, asking for directions, and sweating. I'm very thankful for many kind-hearted Filipinos that have helped me find my way. Eventhough they speak English, language is still a barrier so pointing or waving in the general direction I should head is our most effective form of communication.

Jacques has included some detail about our next steps as we become true-blue-sworn-in Peace Corps Volunteers (and I couldn't resist adding some comments):

We are entering our last week of training (Whooo Hoooo!).  Our technical training is over and this week is all about brushing up on our Cebuano as much as possible to pass the LPI (Language Proficiency Interview). It is a big deal since we have specific time slots at a local nice hotel and they fly people from Manila who are trained assessors to interview us.

Realistically, Alana & I will probably not pass (Yes we will!) and need to continue with a tutor (we'll still continue with a tutor) that Peace Corps will pay for. There are soooooo many local people that speak English around us that it hasn't been like being immersed in the language. We are happy to get a tutor because we really want to learn more and practice more before being cut loose. Alana's work will require her to speak more Cebuano yet my work is around instructors who teach and are expected to speak English all the time while in the work place. Interesting.

Next weekend we head to Bocolod city again, where we went a month ago for our Supervisor's Conference (back when we were really sick... ieew!), for the week long Counterpart's Conference. There will be many sessions that give us more information on becoming a full fledge volunteer (like how we get bicycles from the Peace Corps), then a few days working with our counterparts (the people we will be working most closely with in our new positions), then we officially trade in our T (trainee) for a V (volunteer) at the formal swear in.

I have read the words that we repeat as we are sworn in and it sounds just like what they have the President Of The United States repeat when they swear her/him in. Sure hope I don't goof it up and accidently become the president (Jacques for President!) !!!
After swear in, all new volunteers go to their new permanent sites, which are spread out all over the central islands of the Philippines. Alana &I will take our 7 hour bus ride back to Dumaguete where our training site was and move about 4km to our new host family. They live inside the city proper, near the downtown city park, the post office, the local market, the mayor's office (and hopefully ice cream) etc., and more importantly nearer to both Alana &I's permanent sites (Yes! Time to get started with our work!) so we won't be walking so far to get to work. (Fear not... Jacques will still have walking time thus developing his "walking-thought-monologue's")
We will be with this new host family for three months as we continue to learn how to live on our own. I still haven't figured out how to buy food from the local market and things we need without going to the mall and the airconditioned supermarket which is too expensive and not even in the price range for what we get paid.

We will tell you more about our new host family once we have spent some time with them and in the meantime we will miss spending time with Lola (Felice) and Lolo (Amador) Omalsa and their family in Bunao. We will miss Charlie the rooster that lived 4 feet from our window and their grandchildren who lived with us, Amelia and PJ. Amelia is one of 8 young ladies running for Miss Dumaguete and we'll let you know how that turns out.
So, that's it. Some big changes coming at us. We are still excited to be here. We have many more questions and things to learn about now that we are getting into the culture here and learning more about what is being expected of us. For the next two years we won't be living under the harsh conditions that is often expected of Peace Corps Volunteers (no mud huts with dirt floors or burning yak dung for warmth) yet I'm thinking we will be dealing with some more intense situations as we are in "the big city."  (Although after the chaos of Manila, Dumaguete may just seem like a sweet little town-- I'll take it!)

Walking Thoughts...

Jacques' thoughts while walking the streets of Dumaguete, collecting change:

The language Alana & I are learning is Cebuano.  At the time Tagolog was chosen to be the national language, 2001, more people spoke Cebuano than Tagolog in the Philippines, yet the president spoke Tagolog, so it won out.  Although Cebuano is a cool language and we are enjoying learning it I have two issues with the language itself.  

First, Cebuano only has 19 letters in it's language.  It does not have Z, X, V, Q, F, J, or C.  How can the first letter in the spelling of a language not be in the alphabet of that language.  "Cebuano" is spelled with a "C" and "c" is not a letter in the "Cebuano" alphabet.  Confusing.

Second, the word for "walk," "leave," and "go" are all the same.  The word is "lakaw" and means all three.  So when I say that I'm "walking to class"" (which is 3.5 km away) the local people hear that I'm "going to class" and probably assume I'm talking a trik ride.  My problem is that I really want the credit for walking since I walk about 10.5 km a day.  I don't want them to think I'm "going" 10.5 km and taking trik rides! (whine)

I feel like I'm needing an adjustment in my "walking attitude."  When I got to Dumaguete, I originally made an adjustment because of the heat to walking very slow in order not to be a sweaty mess when I arrived wherever it was that I was going.  It was also helping to depart very early because Peace Corps has high (unculture like) expectations of us about being on time.  So I'd give myself plenty enough time to stroll on in as dry as possible (not achieved often).

Today, I didn't have class until 10am.  I piddled around and didn't get going until 9:30am.  When I really take my time it takes about 45 minutes to walk to class.  Since the temperature was at least 5 degrees cooler, there was cloud cover, and I thought I was late, I was passing Filipinos walking the same direction as me like they had blown a gasket and I had hit the nitro button.  It will be nice, and I will more confidently know I have "arrived" in the Philippines when I'm late, the temperature is cool, and I'm still able, especially unconsciously, to stroll instead of speedwalk.  Can one truly leave their "type A" behind?

I pick up change that people have left on the road.  When I say change, I'm talking sentabos.  They come in 25, 10, 5, and 1 sentabos coins.  25 sentabos is 1/4th of a peso and worth half an American cent.  A 5 sentabos coin is worth 1/10th of an American cent.  I can't even compute what 1 sentabos coin is worth in American terms.  Anyway, it's fun to be walking everywhere and in a big city like Dumaguete it is fun to be picking up change off the street that people obviously don't want.  Sometimes I have to pry the coins out of the tar on the road with my leatherman because people have dropped them, getting payments out of purses and pockets for trik rides no doubt, and the vehicles have ground them into the road.  I can make 45-60 sentabos of tar coins on 2 kilometers of Rivera any given day.

After other Peace Corps Trainees found out I was saving my pesos by walking many of them started walking also.  When a few of them found out I was picking up change off the street, they started picking up change and giving it to me.  Mostly it has been Alana, Trish, Blake, and Evelyn.  Seems like they love celebrating with me that they've found money on the street and we are willing to bend down to pick up such small coins when it is not even worth the time or effort for others.

The big scores;

Alana and I were walking to the mall many weeks ago and she made the first big score when she found a 10 peso (20 cents) coin on National (the big main road through Dumaguete).  A few kilometers later she found a one peso coin also.

A couple of weeks ago we were snorkeling for the day at Apo Island, a beautiful 1/4 square mile island with amazing protected reefs right off the coast of Negros, and as I was waiting for Alana to get in the water I decided to dive down and touch the bottom.  We were in about 8 meters of water.  I took a few deep breaths, held the last one, and headed for the bottom.  While clearing my ears about every 5 feet and about half way down I noticed I was headed for a little round shell on the bottom.  I stayed my course and barely made it to the 5 peso (10 cents) coin, grabbed it in disbelief like it was sunken treasure, and pushed off for the surface eager to show Alana, Trish, and Evelyn my find.

Last week I thought I saw an old 25 sentabos coin and when I picked it up I was amazed to discover it was a good old 1985 American penny.  Wow, I'd love to know her story, her adventures for the last 25 years, and how she made it to the streets of Dumaguete.

My language instructor, WenWen, asked me today, in Cebuano (the local language), how much I had picked up so far and I estimated about 25 pesos (50 cents).  

Then . . . on my way home today I had just gotten on Rivera in front of the day care center where Lucy, Melda, Edna, and Maria work and I looked down and almost stepped on a 20 peso bill.  I picked it up and looked up and down the street to make sure someone wasn't looking for it yet I was all alone.  Unbelievable!!!  The biggest find yet!!!  That almost doubled my total findings!

I was so excited I stopped at the corner store where Ralph (the dog) lives to buy load for my phone.  How do I explain load?  You see, our cell phones work differently than American cell phones.  The phone only cost say $10 and we get to keep it . . . it is ours, and almost everyone has one here.  Then we buy pesos worth of load to make calls and texts.  We receive calls and text for free.  To send one text cost one peso.  To send one text to the US cost 15 pesos.  To make a call costs 7 pesos a minute.  No clue what it would cost to call the US.  I knew Alana and I were both low on load and had less that 5 pesos left on each of our phones and once one of us has load we can transfer it to the other's phone.

So, to celebrate finding the 20 peso bill I stopped to get load.  I thought I'd send it to Alana's phone as a surprise then I could tell her the story about how I found the 20 pesos.  When I got home she hadn't gotten the load on her phone and of course I was suspicious that they hadn't sent the load after I paid them.  Then I realized I sent the load to the wrong area code!  Life seems to be a series of circles; things come and things go.  I did text the wrong number I sent the load to and asked for the load back.  Maybe there are very nice Filipinos who can have compassion for confused a foreigner like me . . . magkita kita (we'll see).

Who Let the Dogs Out?

After much observation and a few experiments, I believe I'm finally figuring out the dog scene here in the Philippines.  Stats:  Of the few hundreds of dogs I've come across, about 60% run free in public yet seem to belong to someone or at least some family.  Of those 60%, I only notice about 15% having collars on.  Many of those look like they have think plastic fishing line around their necks attached to a tag.  Since I've arrived I've probably seen 6-8 dogs on a leash and most of those had a non-Filipino person on the other end.  Who dogs get their food from, if they get food at all, seems to be their mental leash and the reason they hang around a store, house, or neighborhood. Some dogs, around 15%, seem to be living their lives inside gated yards, a fence that surrounds many people's houses and property.  These are the locals with a little bit of money.  These dogs are usually the best looking as far as the conditions of their coats and if they have weight on their bones.  I've seen very few well fed dogs outside of fenced property.  Most of the dogs I see on the street are usually sleeping.  At first I thought that was because of the heat and malnutrition until we were walking home from a movie at Jufer's, Alana's Tech instructor, last Saturday evening around 11pm and the air was cool and crisp and the streets were alive with dog activity.  They seem to be a bit nocturnal because of this hot environment. An overwhelming majority of the dogs I see are skinny, have skin and coat conditions, and are injured in some way.  They are also small.  I haven't seen many dogs over about 30 pounds.  Must be a tough living for bigger dogs on Filipino street, not even enough to eat for small dogs.  Business seems to be painfully slow for veterinarians in the Philippines. Our neighbors told Leah, a fellow Peace Corps Trainee, that they had a dog once that got a bone stuck in his throat and would make this horrible coughing sound.  When Leah asked what happened to him they matter of factly said, "He died."  I seriously hesitate to pet over 95% of the dogs I see for fear of lice or catching some other condition I don't even know about. Yet Filipino dogs seem to live happily with their lacking conditions . . . just like their owners . . . or Filipino overseers. Dog food companies are also not making a living out here.  Dogs seem to be the last ones to eat after humans, chickens, and pigs.  The cattle and goats have more than enough grass to eat in this hot & humid climate and the cats are forced into their hunting jobs to keep their areas rodent free if they want to eat.  So I see dogs that are skin and bones, eating out of trash piles, begging for food, even saw one eating a frog that had been run over in the road . . . luod (gross)!  Filipino dogs have no toys, no comfy beds, no chew sticks, no doggie doors, and no dog bowls to eat out of (I haven't seen a dog bowl yet).  There are no dog parks (ha!) nor have I seen hide nor hair of a dog sitter service, pet store, or dog grooming salon.  The ones that are surviving are tough and independent. One interesting difference I notice between Filipino and American dogs is that Filipino dogs pay little attention to humans.  Of the hundreds of dogs I've encountered loose on the streets, most collarless, I haven't had any dog bark at me and only 2 have even sniffed me in interest.  Now, about 30% of the dogs behind the gated fences will bark at me . . . fatties!  Most dogs just ignore me and as I mentioned before many of them are laying down resting or asleep.  I saw a nice looking black lab puppy laying in the main street road today about 2 feet from where tons of traffic was with not a care in the world, just enjoying the shade and the cool cement.  The night Alana and I returned from our 5-day Bocolod Peace Corps Supervisor's Conference we treated ourselves to a nice 320 peso ($6.40) meal at a nice restaurant on the Boulevard downtown.  We were eating outside when Alana got up to go to the comfort room.  I started watching this small pack of dogs (4-5) as they were plaing next to the busy street and then decided to cross it.  This is what I had been waiting for.  I wanted to see how these dogs crossed busy streets, especially at night. Mind you, I've seen plenty of dogs here with injuries, limping, even open and closed wounds not being attended to by anyone, so I was prepared to see an accident.  Anyway, when it became obvious that they were going to cross this semi-busy street, one of the dogs took the lead in hesitating, looking, and waiting for an opening in traffic and seemed to consciously chose when it was safest to cross.  The rest were on her heels with no hesitation and they didn't dilly dally around or stop to sniff the frog . . . they scooted. On the other end, the traffic, reacting  just like with any other vehicle pulling out into the road or pedestrian crossing the street, yielded to let the dogs cross.  No one was going more than 20mph anyway and no one ever seems to be in a frantic rush.  There was no horn beeping or yelling or speeding up to "teach those dogs a lesson."  Just a normal pause in traffic that drivers experience thousands of times each day as they maneuver through a city with no signs or lights. There is a dog, let's call him Ralph, that seems to live on a fairly busy corner of National and Rivera.  I walk around this corner about 15-20 times a week and he is there 95% of the time.  He is not just there, he is laying on the shaded sidewalk right in front of the corner store door.  It's a tight corner and probably hundreds of people step over or around him each day, I know I do, and he never budges.  A couple of days ago I looked for him and he was sleeping under a scooter leaning against the wall of the store. He is a fairly long dog and weighs maybe 50 pounds and has a decent looking coat so I can only imagine he belongs to the store owners, although he wears no collar nor have I seen him interact with anyone who works at the store.  Although the 14 year old boy who works in the store came out one day and Ralph was immediately up from sleeping and on the boys heels.  Ralph followed the boy up to the street, looked like he might cross the street with him, then sat on the edge of the sidewalk, ignoring all of the people stepping around him, and kept his eye on the boy until the boy disappeared from his sight. Another time I turned the corner and he was sitting military style at attention next to a young woman buying something at the bakery next door.  I thought it odd that he wasn't sleeping in front of the store.  When the young woman stepped away from the outdoor counter he was excitedly jumping up at every step.  Of the many customers the bakery had each day, I thought it was very rude and extremely unusual for Ralph to be harassing this one.  Then I turned around just in time to see her asking him to sit and then rewarding him with the single 2 peso (4 cents) roll she had bought.  It was apparently a ritual as Ralph waited patiently and respectfully for his pet on the head, gingerly took the roll offered, then they departed friends until tomorrow. There is another dog, let's call him Billy, who lives at the house where I have Tech class.  Billy has a little dog house in his yard under the shade of a big tree and has always been chained to that tree when I see him.  During the day there are 15-20 different people that come through the gate and into his yard for classes and such.  I rarely hear him bark yet every now and then when I'm in class he hits the end of his chain and barks profusely.   Last Sunday I went with Alana to the house to retrieve a book I had left behind and noticed he paid us no mind.  Billy rarely sleeps and usually just watches as people enter the gate and proceed to the house.  A few minutes later a stranger came through the gate and Billy went nuts on him.  Since then I've noticed that he knows exactly who belongs and who is a questionable suspect.  How he knows I have no clue, he had never seen Alana before.  He must think it's his job or something . . . what else is there for him to do? My last dog story is about puppies.  With lots of dogs running loose and no vets fixing any of them there are plenty of puppies around.  Some children on our street got a cute one, let's call him Timmy, with a red ribbon around his neck.  I was hoping he would be one of those "behind the fence" dogs yet the very next day he was out playing with the children next to the road.  I saw him run out into the road in order to get to the children and didn't even flinch as a humungous truck came screaming by at about 45mph.  This truck could have easily flattened this dog and no one around even held their breath or for that matter noticed that the dog might be in danger.  Life just went on. We have a fairly busy road as it leads to another town.  I asked Alana about this and someone told her that puppies look to their mothers or older dogs to learn how to survive.  It's what they need to do to survive because Filipino people are not overprotective (or even protective) nor interested in keeping them out of harms way.  Brilliant!!!  It is amazing how things work and the dog culture learns how to preserve itself.  You know though, I haven't seen that puppy in quite a few days . . . let's not name him Timmy. Please don't send dog food. w/Gratitude, InHarmony, Lve&Pce, - Jaco