Merry Christmas Everyone for Tuesday! It has seemed to have crept up and it really doesn't feel like Christmas to me...maybe because I'm not with my nearest and dearest. But I'm doing pretty good.
Finally feel like I'm doing some work now... We've got stuck into some gardening and painting, and started our reading with the kids the other night. Was really good to see them excited to read the Christmas stories I brought and to hear them reading pretty well. Except the Poky Puppy became the Fucky Puppy - just from their pronounciation...and it took all my self control not to crack up. :)
Went into Sta Mesa yesterday to buy christmas groceries. What Bahay Tuluyan does is all the kids going home for Christmas are given a bag of groceries as their present, and the kids staying at the centers (around 30) are given t-shirts. So three of us and Girly travelled over 3 hrs to get into town and went to this big supermarket warehouse and bought over 80 000 peso worth of groceries to fill 240 bags. It took most of the day, just hanging around the store, waiting for them to collect it all and then we took it all back to the Sta Mesa center where we bagged all the groceries and rice for the families. Was awesome teamwork and were totally buggered with the work.
While we were waiting to get more done, Girly took me to the local hospital, because I still had the runs. The doctor was really good, and has helped previous volunteers before. He prescribed 3 tablets - one for the cramps, and 2 to kill the parasites, so hopefully now I'll be fixed. You should see the tablets - we went to the pharmacy, and they put a few packets of tablets - loose in a brown paper bag. I have to read the doctors scribble on the scripts for the dosage, cos they don't print them on a box or anything - you don't even get a box. :)
So we didn't leave the center till after 9.30 last night and didn't get back to Victoria till 12.30 - one very uncomfortable jeepney ride with 60 bags of the groceries.
We've also gained another team member because aparently some shit went down in the other group. The new girl Loran is 29, and we're all thinking that she could have been grown up about it and worked it out, but instead she's run over to our group - which just makes things awkward cos now we have 7 in our group, and the other has only 4. We're going to San Antonio (where the other group is) today for 5 nights - so I don't know why she didn't just stay there anyway. So hopefully after Christmas, and our break (31 Dec to 4 Feb) she'll work her shit out and go back to the other group.
So we have our itinery booked out now with christmas parties and other things. We're spending Christmas day in Sta Mesa with the kids who aren't going home and then have the camp for 3 days with about 30 kids. And then our break. We're going to an island - Mindoro I think its called, for some beach and hopefully hot showers. :)
Anyway, thats about it from me at the moment. I probably wont have access to the internet again till break - but I should have phone reception Christmas Day, so hope everyone has an awesome Christmas (even without me), and a great new years!
xoxo
