After an amazing sleep, it was time for some rice for breakfast! Honestly, I am seriously beginning to wonder how I'm going to cope for the next three months with constant rice, 3 times a day.
Today was the first day of training, and I was prepared for a long day. It was filled with activities, problem solving, learning how to deal with interpreters and so on. It was strange having 4 people at a time, one person doing the teaching, a BSL interpreter, a voice over for the FSL interpreter and finally an FSL interpreter.
I learnt that the interpreters in the Philippines are very poor, with only 20 qualified interpreters compared to the 900 we have in the UK. And qualified in the Philippines, doesn't necessarily mean that they're good. They give brief details, face the wrong way and cannot give the correct details when relaying the information from the signer to the teacher. I decided to ask one of the Filipino volunteers if the FSL interpreter was okay, and of course they said yes. But I knew that that wasn't true - Filipinos tend to have a positive attitude towards everything and would do anything to please someone. With some sort of persuasion and explaining, they finally admitted that the interpreter was 'okay' and have brief details.
After a long day of training, some of us volunteers went to the supermarket. It was the first time catching a jeepney without any supervision or anything, and I felt like it was so dangerous! But I survived! I get so overexcited when you have to tap a coin on the metal bars to inform them when you want to get off. Jeepneys are crowded, sometimes Filipinos sit on each other's laps to make room, even if they don't know each other. It makes me think what a friendly community, people in London just walk past each other because time is a consuming factor. For example, would never sit on a bus and give a stranger money and ask to pass it to the bus driver. We wouldn't trust them. But in the jeepney, Filipinos give me money to pass to the driver and I give them back their change. It's only 8 pesos per jeepney ride and that's equivalent to 1p! I held a pound coin today and thought to myself, this could afford 100 jeepney rides. Just think how many people would search around for 8 pesos for a jeepney ride, and we have that much?! I'm amazed at the moment!
Been really hot here, 30 degrees all day and night, the temperature doesn't change at all!
Goodnight! :)