my first day

It is funny that not everyone speaks english but they all can sing it. Filipinos sing ALL the time! I hear Colby Colait and Brittany Spears(the old stuff) alot. There are roosters all over the place that are being raised for cock fights. My homestay is raising one right now and said i can go with when he fights him. They told me the rooster would crow to wake me up but it crowed at least two times everyhour last night. But in spite I think i slept well. The bathroom is like half a toilet and they don't use toilet paper here. To flush you just dump more water down and it clears it out. To shower there is a bucket that is filled with water and there is a smaller bucket inside(the same used to "flush" the toilet. I have to use the smaller bucket to distribute the water. It is freezing cold and will take a little bit to get used to. My family does have a shower but it only works one hour out of the day and not for the entire hour. I don't plan on using it ever because the couple i live with get up and shower in the morning. I guess i am lucky cause the other homestays don't even have a shower head to look at. :) Nobody has mirrors around here. Some stores that sell sunglasses may have a small one but it is usually too dirty to see into. I have one outlet in my room and it already has the american outlet. I am not sure why as this family has had 6 volunteers before me and I am the first from america. There are 14 volunteers right now doign other things through this program here and I am the only American. But they come and go pretty regularily. 1 month seems to be the longest stay but there are two other guys that are staying the same amount as me. They are both from the UK. I have also eaten meat at every meal so far and also some type of fruit. The other volunteers say the never get fruit. Last night i even had some carrots and potatoes. The woman I am living with, Tes, doesn't let me help clean up or make the meal. It is hard to get used to. I gave her the pancake mix and syrup this morning and explained it to her. She thinks it is wonderful and can't wait to try it. She did ask me to help her make that. I told her we can use it to prepare fish also. So she was really excited. Nobody here has alarm clocks either. They just get up. The countertops at my homestay are really low... almost to my hips but not quite (you were right Dad).
Today was my first day going to the School and meeting the kids. I was very surprised upon arrival to find out that they speak French Sign Language.. Not ASL. They are pretty simular but they have some MAJOR differences too. Luckily for me there is one Deaf from Australia that knows both pretty good. He can atleast figure out what i am trying to say most of the time. Two letters of the alphabet are signed differently too and that is hard to adapt to. But i will be interpreting during different classes from 8:00 in the morning until 4 or 5 at night. I have two hours for lunch. I Interpreted my first class after two hours of conversing with this other guy who helped me learn the major differences and i tried to adapt them well into my interpretation. In Filipino classrooms it is VERY loud. there is not a door and the windows are open so you have to noise from outside too. The teacher keeps talking even when all of the kids are talking. So ti was a little hard to hear. Also he would say phrases in Waray Waray at times, which I clearly don't know. So it was a challenge. It is going to be really difficult to get it all inline but I know it will be fast. I already learned A LOT to day and have adjusted well. I just hope i remember ASL when i return home. :) I am the first volunteer at this school so they are just trying to feel it out too. Tomorrow is my first day doign everything on my own. So i will see how that goes. The jeepneys are crazy drivers but nobody gets into accidents. I am planning on going to Cebu this weekend with the other Volunteers for a big Festival. So hopefully that will be a good time for me to get into the swing of things. I have been really standoffish so far and everyone calls me the shy one.(i know right!)
hopefully more tomorrow on how things are going.
much love