In-Country Friends

Kaiti and I

At the end of Pre-Service Training (PST) I had to say goodbye to my newly made friends as we all left for our sites. My batch of trainees was broken up pretty well and the friends who I'd made in Initial Orientation in different sectors or regions were also spread far and wide.

I had met my closest neighbor PCV, Emily, right after I knew I was going to Cab-City. Thankfully we've made fast friends already and that's a great thing. Near Emily is another PCV Caitlyn who I've not spent all that much time with but thankfully what time I have spent has been pleasant.

Natalie, me, and Lucy back in training

Another PCV is a little further off, Natalie, in Tarlac City and she's great. She's the closest PCV that trained in Olongapo like I did, so we've got a shared experience. We didn't know each other well before we got to our sites but we've hung out several times and are even trying to pull together forces for a xmas vacation up North. I'm lucky to have PCVs nearby and I don't ignore the fact.

To stay in contact with my friends who aren't so close I have to text. Texting here is done almost strictly on a pre-paid system and I can usually expect to burn through 100 pesos of load, load being the name of the money on the phone. Their all worth it though

All these people come together as a support group for each other and myself. It's a great thing to have some bros.

My group when we did immersion in Manila

Speaking of which, I'll be seeing a big bundle of the far flung PCVs at this Friday's Peace Corps 50^th Anniversary Celebration. I'll write more on this after the event, I might even get to meet the Peace Corps Director!