Transitions

 Reeze...my awesome 5 year old friend

 From island to city…to city to island...

It’s always a jolt to go from a quiet island to a big city. And Bohol to Manila is no exception. My last week on Bohol was chock full of both fun socializing and work. I decided to work overtime (for the first time since I’ve been here) and so Mon, Tue and Wed worked until late in the night to finish up some projects and organize my computer files as I’d be transferring them at the end of the week. In hindsight, I’m both glad I decided to put in the extra hours last week and that I decided not to do that the other 2 ½ months as I think I did find a good balance of work and play. The last month with Josh & Scotti have been fun, lots of card playing at home, outings, laughter and tears, as well as get-togethers with other NGO folks and IDEA staff. 

Our last Saturday teaching at BDA was a really fun day. The students spent half their day doing trust building activities with Scotti and I, and the other half making puppet shows with some other volunteer teachers. It’s too bad that both Scotti and I were so exhausted by Saturday mornings that we didn’t have our full energy to give to the students, but we made the best of our 3 Saturdays, I think. The day before I left, Brian and Rhonda took us all out to Tarsier Botanika, a beautiful resort on the island of Panglao, for a little going away celebration with Dennis, Reeze, Josh, and Scotti, and another couple. And on Valentine’s Day – my last day in the office - we met some fun INGO workers for dinner at a restaurant overlooking the ocean. So it was a bittersweet week as I ran on nothing but adrenaline for 7 days and finally flew from Tagbilaran to Manila on Sunday afternoon. 

A "Trust Sit" with 70 deaf students at the Bohol Deaf Academy

The BDA students...I'll miss these kids!

 

Brian, me, Reeze and Dennis at our farewell dinner

 The fabulous Rhonda Hillabush

It’s my last day in Manila and this evening I fly to Bangkok where I will meet Circus. I’ve committed to being in Koh Phangan for the next 3 months to both teach and be a student at Agama Yoga. It’s been 3 years since I’ve studied with my teacher and the shining Agama teachers (really, they radiate light) and I hope that I will be able to soak up the teachings and community as I immerse in the Agama lifestyle again. But first, a vacation! After a few days in Bangkok, - don't worry, we'll be safe -  Circus and I will spend a quiet week together in Koh Samui catching up after a month apart. How wonderful it’s been to miss each other, and to have time to integrate all that we’ve learned about ourselves and our relationship in the last intense 6 months of travel and volunteering. I’ve taken the time alone to integrate our many varied experiences, my reactions and triggers, and journal what’s come up for me. Rhonda also gave me a book that helps me to look at some subconscious motivations I have in relationship, especially to see the shadows I still overlook in myself and my patterning (samskaras). The work is not pretty or easy or fun. It is messy, exhausting, and exposing. And often I feel “emotionally hungover” after unearthing some particularly nasty pieces of myself and bringing them to the light. So while my time reuniting with Circus will be fun and refreshing, it will also be full of sharing for me and the not pretty parts of myself that I want to grow from. The last 4 days in Manila have been pretty stress-free, though, and have given me ample time to clean out my inbox, work on the last Bohol project – to be posted in a few weeks, stay tuned! – and do lots of yoga. Unfortunately, my sleep habits have not returned to normal, but I am nurturing myself with good food, practice and rest.

Something that I’ve learned during my time at IDEA is a little bit about how the international NGO community and the UN disaster relief organizations work. They are all different, but as a whole I can begin to understand why they are organized how they are, why they take so much time and money to run, and why the process is full of red tape, liability measures, insurance, and local government cooperation. I was really blessed to be part of the Bohol Earthquake recovery efforts, as they were kind of a model for how the organizations are supposed to work together in “clusters” run by UN branches, all in collaboration with local government units. There is corruption in the Philippine government, everyone knows, but on the whole the government worked well with the clusters, the clusters did their best to support the government and the NGO Partners are working together to identify and meet the needs of disaster victims, both from the earthquake and typhoon on Bohol. From what I hear, it worked better than many disasters, partly because of the unique situation of the earthquake, and the laid back nature of Boholanos. So now I understand (a little) as to how to get an NGO job if I want to continue doing this work professionally, and also that most disaster workers are employed by some NGO or UN organization year round and do contracts for disaster relief work. I don’t think at this point that I’d like a full time job with an NGO or UN org, but maybe someday.

 

 Grand Central Station....my desk at IDEA with Josh and Keith getting morning assignments

So I will be on a small, beautiful tropical island doing tons of yoga for the next 3 months! In case you get the bug, check out KohPhangan and Agama Yoga and think about taking a vacation yourself. You deserve it and I’d love to see you!

 

The 3 Musketeers...with Josh & Scotti