How we celebrate

Saturday was my host sister’s birthday. Here in the Philippines it is traditional to have friends and family over to the house for a party that is centered all around food. Earlier, I had offered to my host sister to cook her some American dishes. She took me up on the offer and invited all 8 of the education PCTs over for the party and we all cooked. The house smelled like America. Deviled eggs, guacamole, stew, spaghetti, Spanish rice, and flan. Everyone served up a bit of their heritage in our not-so-American food buffet. But it helped us explain that America is in fact a melting pot, and the wide array of food was actually a good representation of the United States.

The Crew with the Bday Girl.

Not be outdone by the Americans, the family of course cooked up some Filipino food. In American, a guest would enter the house with a nicely wrapped gift to add to the pile of presents. Yesterday, the only thing wrapped was a whole roasted suckling pig that  Mich’s boyfriend proudly threw on the table to be cut. The intestines were soaked in blood and served as a side.

Mmmmm...

Then came the Pinikpikan. I had heard about this dish before. My host dad calls it “Killing me softly.” Basically a live chicken is beaten with a stick until dead. Then its throat is cut and they bleed it out. After that, they the burn the whole bird over a flame until all the feathers are charred. They scrape them off and then boil the chicken to make a smoky broth. The meat is cut up and served. We got to witness the entire process, from the bludgeoning to the torch.

Witnessing Pinikpikan

I also experienced my first typhoon on Wednesday. School was cancelled, although it wasn’t nearly as bad here in the mountains as it was in the coastal regions of the Philippines. The greatest fear is the landslides which can wipe away houses and take many lives in a matter of seconds.

Monday we all travel to Manila for the Supervisor’s conference. We will meet our supervisor and finally find out where our permanent site will be. I had a site placement interview yesterday. Although they were careful not to spill the beans, it was obvious Peace Corps had a site picked out for me. From what I could decipher from the questions, it sounds like I will be in a small school, in a very rural location, maybe in the mountains. But after everyone’s interview, it sounded like our group gave them a doozy and they might move some people around. I’ll just have to wait until next week to find out!

My host brother and sisters!
Fatylin, Michelle, and Chars