Host Families

Len Len (host sister), Roger, Faye, Evelyn and myself

Roger (host father) and Evelyn (host mother)

Pepi (host sister) and her niece, Faye

My home was on Diwa Street.

Evelyn and Roger going to the palenke

Ryan (back), my host brother, and Barda (right), my host brother/sister

When the Peace Corps sends a volunteer to the Philippines, they place them with a "host family".  This is a household that has been carefully selected so that the volunteer will benefit from exposure to a Philippine family experience. The families that the volunteers live with vary greatly.  I was placed with Evelyn and Roger.  They have lived their whole lives in Dinalupihan and are the hub of their family.  Roger has a good job driving a provincial bus.  Evelyn stays at home. Ryan lives in the home, Pepi, boards at her college during the week and Len Len has been living with her fiancé's family until her marriage on the 31st of August.  Barda has a home of his/her own. On any one day, I will visit with ten to twenty relatives and neighbors.  This gives me an opportunity to practice my Tagalog and to view the day to day life here.  Bingo is a weekly "sugal" experience.  There is also cooking, laundry (mostly done by hand) and gossiping.  Having the PC in town has been a positive experience for the town and has given everyone a glimpse of the American culture.  I feel that I have gotten so much more then I have received from the experience.