Bugs, Sore Body, Mysteries. Dated June 5th, 2013.

I am pretty sure that I warned you previously that this blog was going to be a "no strings attached" kind of look into what my life was like last summer. That, obviously, hasn't changed. I will not be editing out specific happenings of my days in the field*. Editing my journal for a blog would take away the authenticity of my experience. Being a girl who has known nothing other than Western comforts, I believe that my words paint an accurate picture of what this culture shock was.  I preemptively apologize if it makes you squeamish, but you're just going to have to deal. Such is life.

*Disclaimer: I will edit coarse language with ****. My Grandma may read this. She doesn't need to see that s**t.

06/05/13
-Early Morning- 6 Am

There are spots on my body that I didn't even know existed that are sore. I'm really excited about getting into the field today. My trench is so fascinating. Like a big mystery my group needs to solve. I guess there is an option to write a paper to present in Cambodia in January- I am really thinking about it. Especially because I could probably use that writing to apply to Grad School. 

The only thing I have issues with is the washing of artifacts. OH MY GOD, SO TEDIOUS. It sucks because it's like you take a shower (you get filthy in the field) and then you get to deal with more f***ing dirt that is all over the artifacts. So you get filthy all over again.

In other news: THE BUGS HERE ARE F***ING MASSIVE. OH.MY.GOD.  So, yesterday I rode on top of the Jeepney- they take us to the site every day and you can ride inside or on top. So, first day into the field, where do you thinkg Jessie Pope rode? ON THE ROOF LIKE AN IDIOT. I can't lie, the views were beautiful. but that's where the fun stops. The catch of riding on the roof is you get to dodge tree branches. Sounds easy, right? Just move the trees out of the way as you go. 

WRONG. Guess what is in those trees? F***ing red ants, bees, millipedes,  AND SPIDERS BIGGER THAN MY HAND. I sh** you not, Joff (a guy with us) warned me about spiders. A second later I turn around and BAM. A spider with a torso as long as a tampon and legs longer than my fingers. Sweet mother of god. It was traumatizing. In that moment I decided that it was perfectly acceptable to be terrified of spiders. And in that moment I was. 

An example of a giant ass spider. She was on our way to the field, roughly 3 ft from our heads. It took a few weeks to notice her.

Then, of course, the beetles. There was a Rhino Beetle on our door two nights ago  and I didn't even scream over it. I think I'm starting to becoming jaded. Alright, time for breakfast and more dirt. Just remember, everything is more fun in the Philippines.

If I could give you an example of how big this guy was: make a hang loose sign with your thumb and pinky. Measure the distance between the two. Yep, that was the length of this guy's antennae. 

<3
Coop

P.s. I finally feel a poop coming on. 
Late at night:
Big, Big P.s.- I will almost always write about my day the next day. Archaeology is exhausting, but at least my ass will be nice :).

Oh, and when I put something in bold: I marked what time of the day I was writing Tucker. It was usually whenever I could squeeze time in.

Being abroad without the person you love is a series of  challenges. The biggest challenge? Communication. And not in the "we just don't talk any more" kind of way. It is more in the "I don't know if there is going to be power or internet access where we are going" kind of way.

While I was in South America communicating was relatively easy. The hotel we stayed in had internet in the main restaurant and although the area was rural a few places had some sort of internet access. Communication in Ifugao is another story. On a daily basis we would lose power for hours at a time. When we lost power we would scramble around to make sure any electronics were unplugged; if they turned the power back on while something was plugged in, it would blow up. This happened twice. Not a good look. At one point a storm came in and knocked out power for almost two days. Or maybe three. I can't even remember. Those days were such a blur.

Facetime dates with my main piece. 

My First Dig Day! Dated June 04, 2013.

This week has been nuts. There is so much to get done and all I care about at this point is just sitting down and reading everything that I haven't finished on my Kindle. Which is exactly what I am doing instead of being productive. Reading is productive though... right?

There are so many ducks to get in a row before I leave. Things like sending all my stuff 6500 miles away in June, packing the rest of my stuff into a bag and taking that stuff out into the middle of no where Philippines for a month. Then moving all of that stuff I drug to the Philippines to China after I get done in the field. Not exactly the greatest, but I don't feel like flying to Asia, flying home and then flying back to Asia two weeks later. No thank you.

The next three months are going to be insane. From moving myself to the dig to Tucker to visas it is all going to be nuts. Craziness aside, I am excited. This feels right. I am not nervous at all, nor have I even remotely regretted my decision. This feels like a decision I should of committed to years ago. Like a step in the right direction.

06/04/13
Lunch: 
  I am out on my first dig! I am really enjoying it so far. The site is beautiful. The terraces are breath taking. I was put on the team that may be excavating the reported graves for Old Kiyyangan Village. I almost shit my pants when they told me. I have already found lots of pot sherds and some type of bone! I am so excited!!!

Day 1 went well. Minus my back. It's going to need to be looked at whenever I get home. It is like 11pm now. Today has been exhaustive, but digging was amazing. I found so many cool things. I am so happy I am here. For breakfast we had these f***ing delicious friend bananas and salty fish. 

The only thing I don't know about it cleaning and pot sherds. I am so tired I have to bullet point the rest of the day:

• I haven't pooped in almost 3 days.
• My beloved burial site was washed away by the river apparently :(.
• There are tape worms in our trench.

Love you,

Cooper

In my defense: pooping in the field was a struggle. I just embrace it now for what it was. We did not have running water in our bathrooms. Nor were there toilet seats on any of the toilets in the girl's dorm bathroom. I mastered the art of the squat that summer and I am still proud of it. 

You're 24??! You're MARRIED? YOU'RE MOVING ABROAD!?! (Part 1 of many, I am sure).

A week ago, at this exact moment, I finished up my interview with the company I wanted to teach for in China. I was trying to figure out how to get to Tucker, who was across town, and the struggle was real. His team  having their annual team dinner at what looked like a delicious Greek restaurant. I am not big on cabs, too expensive, so I just opted to stay in our hotel until they returned.

When Tucker came back to our little hotel nest he was definitely a little tipsy. And Tipsy Tucker is the best Tucker. A waiter had confused "iced tea" for "long island iced tea" and Tucker was handed the mistakes. Yes, plural. At the game the following morning the parents fawned over the persistence of Hubs at the restaurant. Apparently Tucker was going to stop at nothing to make sure I got to experience the fabulous Greek food like he did. In reality, he knows how hangry I get and did not want to feel the wrath of hangry Jessie come down upon him that night.

He is seriously the absolute greatest.

Four hours later, from this moment a week ago,  I was offered a position teaching in China. And I took it. Immediately. Lord knows that if I gave myself more than thirty-seconds to think about it I would've rejected the offer. I mean, I took it immediately after I realized the email was sent directly to my junk mail folder. Gmail freaked out and didn't recognize the address of the HR woman that sent me the position. This caused minor confusions when the recruiter congratulated me in an obligatory 'welcome aboard' email that was answered with minor confusion (and a lot of happiness) on my end.

My week since accepting the position has been full of, "Oh my gosh! China is SO far!" and "That's amazing! Do it while you're young!" and a little, " I could never do that" which I call total B.S. on. You can do it, you just don't want to do it.

Among all of these questions, and my personal favorite, "What about your husband?" What about my husband? He has a name, you know. It's Tucker. What about Tucker?

Well guess what?
We will still be married.
We will be completely in love.
We will obsess over each other.
We will talk at every chance, just like we do right now.
We will tell each other the mundane play-by-play of our day.
We will grow in our marriage. Probably more than we ever have previously.
We will always have each other to lean on when times get rough.
We will still be together.
I will just live really, really far away for roughly fourteen months.

We chose to share our lives at a young age and we get that. We got that a long time ago... Like nearly three years ago when we tied the knot. What we didn't choose to do was to quit our dreams simply because we got married. Newsflash: we don't live in 1950 any more. You can still be married and live your life. Even if that life takes you in a direction you never thought you'd go, you can still be married!  No longer is it about being adhering to the societal norm of "marriage" to Tucker or I. To us, it is about being happy. It's about looking at our life 60 years from now and being proud of our accomplishments both as a couple and as individuals. We are still individual people. We still have individual aspirations. We both still have places we want to go and people we want to see. None of that disappeared when we paid $66 to the state of Oregon and signed a piece of paper that legally (and symbolically) glued our lives together. None of it.

We get one shot at this life thing. We plan on making our shot the best it can be. Even if that shot means having to spend time a world away to follow our dreams.

Racing around

I tried to go to sleep tonight, that was an epic failure. Since I made the decision to move a million thoughts are constantly racing through my mind. What is it going to be like abroad? Am I going to get fat? Should I find another gym membership? Am I going to completely regret leaving Tucker behind for almost 14 months?

Seriously, this barely skims the tip of the iceberg. I've already created a beautiful spreadsheet to figure out my finances. I've already started packing and throwing stuff I didn't need out. I don't even leave for another 68 days. Seems like a long time, but I know how quickly the time flies. Particularly when something you simultaneously can't wait for/ are absolutely terrified of is going to happen. The trigger has been pulled.

Before I leave I have a bunch of stuff I want to do. Granted, I am only going to be gone for about 14 months, but I still have stuff that I find really important. Stuff like watching all the Pixar movies in chronological order or watching the sunset with hubs on the beach. So many things....

"This is going to be much more difficult than I ever imagined" Dated:June 2nd, 2013

So many things happening in the Laurence household of late. Life is about to get insane. Pardon me for the radio silence the last few days: Tucker's baseball team played in a tournament in San Diego for a week and I went with. I left the journal at home just to spend some time with Tucker.

The first line of the post that I am sharing today is fitting for how life is going to get in the next year. I accepted a position teaching English in China for next year. This means I leave. I leave for a long ass time. I'll take off in June, go back to the field in the Philippines this July, and start work in Beijing on August first.

All the things. All the feels. Everything. So many things happening in my mind as of late.

Since as long as I could remember I have wanted to live abroad for an extended amount of time. How long that time may be? Who knows, but I knew I always wanted to do it. That I needed to do it. Living abroad is important to me; thrusting headlong into another culture for an extended amount of time is a life lesson that I think everyone should learn. There is a certain unknown about it that makes my heart beat just a little faster. My mind wander a little bit deeper into recesses unknown. I could hate it, but at this point I am willing to take that risk because it is a risk I need to take. And it means so many things to me.

Sunshine,
This is going to be much more difficult than I ever imagined! Thank you for letting me do this! 42 days baby! 

Today was really low key. Sara and I sat in the restaurant and drank beer and got charged far less than we were supposed to. Oops. Oh well. Men have been yelling, "you're beautiful!" at us from cars.  It's hysterical. I miss you so much! We're Ifugao bound in 45 minutes. I don't know what to expect.

Early morning (like 5 am) June 2nd (most of this was done in the semi-darkness):
We made it to Kiangan and I've already had the "FUCK, WHAT HAVE I DONE?!" moment. 

To start- our bus ride was exactly like the buses in South America with a little worse of a bus. We got off at our hostel around 3 am. And then it began:
THERE ARE FUCKING GIANT ASS ROACHES ERRYWHERE. One I spotted was, oh, you know, 12FT ABOVE MY FUCKING HEAD ON THE FUCKING ROOF JUST CHILLING WITH A GECKO. NEXT, we got to our room and the girl's dorm had two bunks- luckily one of the other girls from the U.S. (Maddie) bought Sara and I mosquito nets. Since there were only two bunks, Sara and I moved to the boy's dorm so we could make mosquito net forts. I actually feel really safe; ain't no cockroaches cuddling with me. Ain't nobody got time for that. 

This is the mosquito net fort that I lived in.

So- my other two cockroach moments: When we first get to the girl's dorm I set my shit down for 2 second and a roach fucking magically appeared. Luckily a boy smashed it fast.

The sun is rising right and our door blew open in the night. So beyond the gorgeous greens I can see hues of pink and blue. They are so soft. I didn't know colors like that existed. I'm the only one awake. Can't sleep, sweaty, smelly, going through photos of you on my phone. 

Not exactly a sunrise from Kiangan, but you get the point. Philippines sunrises are gorgeous.

The ladies here are so nice- they made us these delicious rolls and served the with easy cheese. So unhealthy and delicious. I'm really excited for what the next month has in store (I forgot to tell you the first thing I saw was a HUGE Praying Mantis), especially because this place reminds me of San Pedro!

I've heard some animal noises I hope to never hear again. EVER!

<3 Always,
Cooper


I have no idea where life is supposed to take me, but this adventure is about to be one of the greatest.

"Manila: Day 1" Dated 06-01-13

Before I actually get to what the letter to Tuck Tuck said, I have to let you know that I was emailed explicit directions to walk off of the plane in Manila waving a paper with my last initial on it. My last initial is L, I didn't read the email until I'd already arrived in Manila and I hastily drew an L on the second page of the Turtle journal. So now, almost a year later, the L is faded and got wet (the Philippines are wet). I wrote the journal entry over the big, blue, highlighter L.

Hey Sunshine!

 Sorry about the big L. The directions left for me at the airport explicitly stated that I was supposed to be waiting with the first letter of my last name. 

Today was surreal. First- Manila is humid as f*ck. Even the girl from Florida is losing it in this humidity. I constantly have frizzy hair. Other than that- this is such a beautiful place! The atmosphere, the landscape, and most importantly the people.  Everyone said hello to us this morning. People, (old women even!) tried to give up their seat on the bus for us!

Storm: Today I experienced my first Manila rain storm. It was beautiful to say the least. We were riding in a Jeepney, which is basically a campus taxi that is a jeep with a long bed and no windows. It was POURING. I've never heard such loud rain in my life. It flooded in three minutes and it was an insta-traffic jam. The thunder was SO loud too.  (I was completely wrong about Jeepneys, I found this out later when we rode Jeepneys everywhere in Ifugao.) 

At this point I fell asleep mid-letter. I just spent nearly 24 hours traveling across the world. Give me a break. 

"Sunshine" Dated: 5-30-13

I wrote my husband a bunch of letters while I was in the Philippines last summer. I will continue the tradition this summer after I jet off again. Writing was my equivalent to talking to him since I stay in an area without consistent internet access and I didn't really have another choice.

 I truly do love to write, even though my grammar may not be the greatest. I also abuse commas with little shame. Nothing that I am blind to, but anyway, I wrote my husband these letters in a faded turtle journal that traveled around Luzon with me. Since they are what I lived through while I was abroad, I felt like I needed to share them. Mostly because I want a double record of what I lived through, but mainly because I want to share the joy of being abroad with the world and let others read the types of experiences you probably with have in the middle of no where Philippines.

So here goes:

Post #1
Date: 5-30-2013

Sunshine,

I didn't tell you, but a week before I left I bought a journal just to write you letters and tell you about my time away, even when I can't physically tell you. Let me give you a forewarning-
-This will be all my intimate feelings, thoughts and experiences while I am away.

To start off, I am on my flight to Beijing right now. I am watching Wreck It Ralph and I am crying. It all just hit me at once when I started the movie. You are actually my entire life. I don't know what I did to deserve you, but whatever it was, it was the best decision I ever made in my life. You are the absolute most incredible human beint I have ever met. I love yo uto the moon, Turtles. This is going to be a hard month and half for us, but I have so much faith and absolute love in our relationship that I know we are going to be fine. You make me so happy and I am so so so so so glad you came to Cassie's that one September.

Love Always,
Coop

Ps- I can't understand anyone on this plane. FML.

So this was post #1, of many. Obviously if you are reading this you know exactly what you are getting yourself in to. A lot of this is mushy, a lot of this will be about my life in Kiangan. Prepare yourself.

Exhaustion, Excitement.... Mainly the former, some of the latter.

This week has been rough on me. I am just coming off of Spring Break (without going away for the first time in 4 years) and I am not readjusting well.

For starters: I leave again soon... Really soon.  And I probably (hopefully **fingers crossed**) will be going away for a long time. A really long time. How long? To be determined. How far? Also, to be determined. Keep me in your thoughts, preferably along side the positive images and rainbows and kittens.

My brain turned off on Tuesday afternoon and I have not been able to keep it on long enough to function like a proper human being. To make matters even worse, it seems like everyone around me hasn't readjusted either. Granted, I work in education (which I truly love, I might add) and granted that I am probably taking everything too personally at the moment, I still would like the last sixish weeks of school to be relatively peaceful. I also know this is not going to happen BECAUSE I work in education and six weeks of peace is laughable by teacher standards.*

*(note: if you are a teacher who has experienced six weeks of peace during the term of your employment, please promptly contact me so that I may quit my current place of employment and throw my skills at yours. Quite literally. If you have six weeks of peace in a class room I am going to assume A. You're delusional , B. You've become best friends with a Unicorn and C. You live in Colorado, because, you know, that's legal there)

For seconders: I leave for San Diego on Saturday after noon and that is also adding to the zero level of functions going on in my noggins right now. Pretty sure my brain has already tricked me into smelling ocean breezes and sipping a sex on the beach.... maybe on the beach.

Saturday.... Just hurry up.

Please?