An AFS Experience: Camille Prudent of Troyes, France

From July of 2013 until May 2014, we hosted a French girl named Camille Prudent.  She is a native of Troyes, France.

We were able to host her through a Non-Government Organization based in the United States of America.  This NGO is called an American Field Service (AFS) wherein students and volunteers around the globe are sent to foreign lands for the purpose of learning culture, ways of living and a total immersion therein.

A Balut Affair to Remember

A Balut image grabbed from bing images.

A balut or balot is a developing duck embryo that is boiled alive and eaten in the shell. It is commonly sold as streetfood in the Philippines. They are common food in countries in Southeast Asia, such as Laos (khai look ໄຂ່ລູກ in Lao, Cambodia (pong tia koon ពងទាកូន in Cambodian)^[1] and Vietnam (trứng vịt lộn or hột vịt lộn in Vietnamese). They are often served with beer says http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_%28egg%29.

An AFS Escapade at Tuka Beach

Gwen and her Ate Camille do the awkward pose.

It is located at the relatively untouched coastline of Kiamba, Sarangani Province.  It is just a two-hour  drive from the bustling city of General Santos City.  There are available vans for hire at Bulaong Terminal of the city to transport any tourist willing to exploit the verdant scenery of Tuka.  It would only cost 200 pesos for a back and forth fare.  Upon reaching the municipality of Kiamba, you may tour around its simple and yet semi antiquated municipality.  Why I call this semi-antiquated?  It is because of its old houses that were built as early as during Japanese occupation.

Halo-Halo Festival

Halo-halo (from Tagalog word halò, "mix") is a popular Filipino dessert that is a mixture of shaved ice and evaporated milk to which are added various boiled sweet beans and fruits, and served in a tall glass or bowl.

Halo Halo Dessert picture grabbed from the Wikipedia.

Ingredients include boiled kidney beans, garbanzos, sugar palm fruit (kaong), coconut sport (macapuno), and plantains caramelized in sugar, jackfruit (langkâ), gulaman, tapioca, nata de coco, sweet potato (kamote), cheese, pounded crushed young rice (pinipig). In terms of arrangement, most of the ingredients (fruits, beans, and other sweets) are first placed inside the tall glass, followed by the shaved ice. This is then sprinkled with sugar, and topped with either (or a combination of) leche flan, purple yam (ubeng pula), or ice cream. Evaporated milk is poured into the mixture upon serving, says the Wikipedia.

An AFS Experience 2

This is a continuation of my post with regards to our experiences in hosting an AFS scholar.

I have posted herein some photos where our foster daughter Camille Prudent did the first in her lifetime I guess.  This would be her memories that she would never forget here in the Philippines.

It is her first time to wash her dirty clothes, the Filipino style.  Although we have a washing machine here, but my wife taught her how to wash her clothes using her hands.  At first, my wife would rewash what Camille had washed because she felt not contended the way the latter did it.  But now, Camille has already learned the art of handwashing.

Our foster daughter French girl Camille Prudent doing the laundry.

An AFS Experience

The American Field Services or AFS provides intercultural learning experiences that brings global cultures together by helping people connect, transforming the lives of thousands of students, families, and individuals every year. With exchange programs in more than 50 countries and a large network of volunteers, educators, and staff, AFS is committed to helping participants understand their immersion experiences in a foreign culture, says the website www.afs.org.

In the Philippines, particularly here in General Santos City, the AFS is headed by the energetic social worker Ma'am Jang Odoya.  She is the one who is in-charged when it comes to hosting AFS student or volunteer.  Also when a Filipino student wishes to travel, stay and study abroad via AFS, she is one of the persons who would sit in the selection process.

Fortunately, Ma'am Jang is one of the social workers in my court of assignment.  She asked me if I would be interested to host a foreign student.  The idea was suddenly approved by my wife considering that it would be our first time to host any foreign blood individual.  The idea of speaking to a foreigner excites us already, the more so if he or she is living with us for a period of 10 months.

But to be a foster family, is not that easy as eating the icing of the cake.  Your application shall be evaluated after considering into the welfare of the exchange student.  Anyway, our application was approved.

Last May 2013, we were informed already that our foster daughter is Camille Prudent, an 18-year old student of Troyes, France.  Days after we got her contact information, we then added her in our Facebook account and started to exchange some thoughts.  One of her concerns was something to a peace and order here in General Santos City because there were negative things her parents have read and heard about our place. After giving her an assurance that while it is true that there are some isolated security problems in some part of the country especially in Mindanao, but General Santos is relatively a safe place to stay.

Exactly on July 23, 2013, this year's batch of AFS scholars touched down in the airport of General Santos City.  There are 13 AFS scholars who are from Sweden, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Thailand and Dominican Republic.  See, it seems these scholars are candidates in a Miss Universe pageant.  They are of different races, colors and cultures.

The AFS scholars stroke a pose at the arrival area of the airport of General Santos City.