Host Family in Subic

I have moved in with my first host family where I will stay until September. They are really wonderful people. I have  12 yr old brother named Ryan and a 14 yr old sister named Eunice. My host mom doesn't work but her husband works in Saudi Arabia doing something with oil. My host mom wants me to call her Ate Belen. 


The area we live is really beautiful because it is in the foothills of the mountains but it rains almost constantly here so there is a lot of flooding. Luckily the Peace Corps bought us all some rain boots. When we walk around the barungay it feels like we are on parade, everyone peeks out of their houses to see the Americans. My blue eyes are especially of interest.


Myhost house has two rooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom with a toilet that flushes! I am getting used to the bucket shower but we do have two faucets that have running water so that's nice. I put a mosquito net up every night before I go to bed because there are a lot here I am also taking malaria pills every Monday. 


The food has been good lots of rice, fish and chicken and my host mom has been giving me peanut butter ever since I told her that's my favorite food.


The hardest thing to get used to has been the rain. It is so loud on the tin roof that we can hardly hear anything when it rains and it sounds like tidal waves are crashing on the roof. This happens every few hours and I often jump awake at night because the sound scares me. There are roosters making noise at all hours, they especially love 5am-6am.


I am writing from an internet cafe just around the corner from my house. There are many other volunteers living close by and some are living with the sisters or brothers of my host mother. It seems like everyone is related one way or another, which is good because I already know lots of people in the community.