i'm ziwei

- get over jet lag and re-adjust to a normal sleep pattern

- re-learn how to drive

- re-learn how to cook

- visit chicago! :D 

- relax and rest (it’s kind of sad that i have to remind myself to do that) 

- process and reflect on past 18 months in the philippines. 

- figure out apple care so i can make use of the 3 year warranty i paid for almost 3 years ago and fix this dying laptop

- the irresistible revolution, shane claiborne

- the brothers karamazov, fyodor dostoeyevsky

- the problem of pain, cs lewis

- half the sky, nicholas kristof & sheryl wudunn

- white teeth, zadie smith

- culture making, andy crouch 

- the omnivore’s dilemma, michael pollan 

…i leave for the airport! 

it’s really coming to an end. paalam, pilipinas! i’m sure i’ll be back someday. 

is fast approaching. that means i have less than 1 month…just about 26 days left in the philippines before i fly back to california. 

everyday i’ve learned something new. each day i’m getting busier and busier as samaritana’s livelihood project continue to pick up its pace. i’m still homesick every now and then, and often think about going home, but also trying to be fully present in the present. i have less than a month with the people who i’ve grown to love, and part of me still doesn’t know how to handle that. i’ll figure it out eventually. 

this weekend, samaritana is celebrating its 18th anniversary! the women will perform a dance, share their stories, and it’s going to be awesome. i think they’re all really excited because they’ll get to wear evening gowns that jane (one of samaritana’s extremely dedicated and hardworking staff) managed to procure for them. these dresses remind me of prom dresses from the 90’s, but the women look and feel fabulous in them — and that is what counts. 

i’m going to wear the dress i wore to my brother’s wedding. i brought it to the philippines to be tailored, because tailoring is super cheap here- it was only 100 pesos! after wearing t-shirts and capris 95% of the time, it’ll be nice to dress up. 

pauline was the nicest bride and let us pick our own dresses, so i chose something that i knew i’d be able to wear again. and this saturday, i will =) 

- i went to california for one week to attend berkeley law’s admitted students events, obtain a visa for the philippines (something i should have done last december), and spend time with my family and friends. berkeley law helped subsidize the airfare…but soon, i will owe them thousands upon thousands of dollars. 

- my future classmates are amazing =) 

- in california, i ate of the following cuisines: afghani, pakistani, japanese, vietnamese, chinese, and italian/mediterranean.

- i arrived in the philippines at about 1:30 AM this morning. while waiting in line to get my passport stamped, i helped some chinese ladies with their arrival documents because they didn’t know english. they were very grateful and said “praise the Lord!” 

-i was praying for an honest and safe taxi driver to take me from the airport at 2 in the morning to the Loos’ house, because i was carrying $1000 in cash for the livelihood project and an expensive camera. he got me to the Loo’s house safely, but pretended that he didn’t have change for my 1000 peso bill (a little over $20…the meter had read 370 pesos…about $8). i was too tired to negotiate.  

- for the last three weeks, i haven’t slept in the same bed for more than two nights in a row. 

- i realized i haven’t updated this since february…

- i’m really tired.

when i first arrived here in the philippines last january, one of my goals was to avoid eating balut, one of the street foods. balut has been hyped up a lot by foreigners and filipinos alike. i thought it was completely disgusting, and i was determined complete my year and a half here without eating it.

but a lot has changed since last january, including my aversion to balut. under the influence of a wonderful individual named michelle soriano, whom i had the pleasure of getting to know for two weeks in january, i decided that a fertilized duck egg was not actually a big deal, and that i was going to try it after all.

of course the ladies at samaritana were thrilled that i was finally going to try it. 

one day, we decided that all of us were going to eat it together. we stopped by the local market to buy one for each of us.

they don’t look so scary in that picture there, but they actually are quite frightening when you hold them up close.  as i held that fertilized duck egg in my hands, i started having doubts. i began peeling off the shell, and noticed the veins, the insides, the fetus…

“oh my gosh…why am i doing this again?” i asked, as i stared at the egg.

“because you LOVE us”, michelle replied with a smile.

“you’re right, i guess i do…”

that was my first attempt at eating it. it was a centimeter from my mouth, but at the last second, i just couldn’t do it. i just kept staring at it and thinking thoughts about ducks- happy ducks running around a pond, with cute feathers and cute beaks, and i couldn’t stop thinking about happy ducks…

“ZIWEI! OOOHHHH MY GOODNESS!! STOP LOOKING AT IT! JUST SHOVE IT IN YOUR MOUTH!!!!!”

i took a deep breath, and did as she told me:

it took every ounce of willpower i had to not spit it all out. and that night, i learned that i actually have a lot of willpower. 

PANALO! :D