Just Another Day

It was 9 pm and I was getting ready for bed when I heard my cell phone beeping. I knew then that it was either my supervisor or a group text since no one else would text that late. The message was from my supervisor and it said to meet him at 430 am at the Municipal Hall to attend Lakbay Aral (field trip) with the Department of Agriculture. I attended the same event last year and it went something like this: the agricultural technicians, my supervisor, a handful of farmers, and myself met at the Municipal Hall in the morning but not as early as 430. There were probably 12 of us total and we rode to the event in two separate vehicles which was about an hour and a half from our town. Upon arriving at the event we went on a tour of an operational vegetable farm, had a question and answer session, ate lunch which was provided to us and were home by mid-afternoon. So as I was walking to the Municipal Hall at 430 am I was expecting the same thing as the previous year. However that perception was quickly altered when I saw a chartered bus next to the Municipal Hall with a banner across the front of it reading LAKBAY ARAL 2008. I looked around and saw many familiar faces the municipal agricultural technicians, the town veterinarian, the Barangay Animal Health Care Workers, socially active community members and farmers. While there were many people there at 430 am it didn't include everyone so we waited until 530 am to leave. The trip was 4 hours long and the bus lacked a good air con system so we had stale, warm air for 3 hours of the trip. Once we arrived at the Municipal Hall in San Roque, Cavite we had a thirty minute briefing on our field trip and we were off to our first tour at an organic vegetable farm. The name of the farm was Harbest and it is run by a father-son team from Taiwan. The father immigrated with his family to Philippines almost 29 years ago and they have a successful operation with some innovative ideas. The father spoke Tagalog with a strong Taiwanese accent and his son spoke Tagalog which I could easily understand. The farm is known for it's dragonfruit but it isn't the season so we missed out on that treat. The next farm we went to was a small farm that mostly ferments vegetables and fruits into beverages but it wasn't that interesting to me. The next stop was for picnic style lunch and people left the bus carrying 5 gallon buckets of food literally. The buckets included drinks, cups, silverware, plates, rice, and an assortment of food from steamed vegetables to fried fish. After unpacking the food everybody started to eat in a buffet style going to other peoples tables to get food they hadn't prepared themselves. After lunch people discussed the different things they had seen and if they were going to try it on their own farms. After our lunch break we went to the last farm on the schedule which was an organic herb farm. The farm seemed to be growing almost every type of herb you find in your cupboard including basil, cilantro, rosemary, and mint. The farm had also grown citronella throughout the farm to keep the insects away. I think the large profit margin of the farm interested a lot of people because people asked a lot of questions and we spent a long time there. We might have been there longer but it started to rain so everyone made a dash for the bus. The last stop we made before going home was at a roadside stand selling fruit so people could buy pineapples for their families. The town we were in is covered in fields of pineapple and they cost half as much so people were buying 2-4 pineapples to bring home. Once the bus was full of pineapples and clippings of citronella, basil, and random tree limbs (for people to plant at home) we made our way back home. When I got off the bus I was immediately greeted by one of my co-workers on his way to get dinner and had a five minute conversation about where I had been and where I was going. Then I made my way down the dimly lit streets towards our apartment. Along my way home I had the random kid yell hi to me from their house followed by another five minute conversation with a Barangay Counselor that lives near us. She asked me where I had been and what I was doing all day. After I answered the questions and she got her kid to say hi to me I was on my way again. As I got closer to our apartment though I heard fireworks and karaoke which could only mean one thing, fiesta. I could see thirty guys sitting in front of a karaoke machine when I arrived on our street and the only way home was through them which was impossible. So once again I found myself having a conversation about where I had been and what I was doing. They gave me a chair and I found myself in the midst of unadulterated noise. The blare of the karaoke singing, the occasional explosion of a firework, and plenty of laughter. The party was for Octoberfest and by the looks of some of the guys it might have been an all day affair. I found myself flooded with questions that I could barely hear about America, when we are going home, are we coming back, how much is our rent, what is the word for pomello (giant grapefruit type thing) in English and so on. The street party also brought about some of the strongest political feelings I have heard with my own ears in the Philippines. I was surprised to hear their willingness to express their frustrations since being respectful is usually more important here than anything else but these are young guys, many of them younger than me and their generation might have a different opinion. After all the storytelling I was ready to call it a day and they were ready to keep partying so we parted ways. I walked into the apartment and closed the door hearing echos of someone karakoeing to the Eagles.

Plastic For All

Paper or plastic? A simple question that every consumer and cashier in America knows by heart. It's a question of personal preference that reflects a little about each consumer. That simple little question waiting at the end of a line doesn't exist here though. There is one choice and only one choice and that is plastic. It seems at times that maybe the plastic industry is paying the bagboy/girl additional money for each bag they use. For some unknown reason plastic is the answer to everything and the more the better. If there is any attempt to just say no to the plastic bag you are bombarded with awkward smiles and a look of pity. The bagboy/girl gives you a "oh, if you only knew look" and tries to sneak your single item into a plethora of plastic bags as if it's for your own good. While we have painstakingly broken the plastic cycle through repeated explanations, confused looks, and an investment in reusable bags many others are losing the fight. The typical story goes like this: A woman goes to the market and buys tomatoes and eggplants from vendor # 1 so the tomatoes are placed in 2 plastic bags and the eggplants are placed into 2 separate plastic bags. This seems excessive but probably reasonable to many of us. The same women then goes to buy a single piece of ginger from vendor # 2 so this means 1 more plastic bag. The rule is every item must have a plastic bag. This is probably a little funny but not necessary to many of us. The women then decides to purchase rice at vendor # 3 so this requires 3 plastic bags. Once again excessive but not unreasonable, right? Our woman of purchasing then goes to vendor # 4 to buy some fish which means 4 plastic bags since fish is wet and smelly. The women then goes to purchase chicken broth bullion cubes from vendor # 5 and this means another plastic bag (maybe at this point it could be added to another plastic bag but the bags are free). The final stop for the day is to purchase shampoo and toothpaste from vendor # 6. ASIDE: Thanks to a brilliant marketing genius somewhere people can purchase shampoo and toothpaste in single use sachets which means more profit for the company, a higher cost per unit of product for the consumer, and more trash per unit of product. The best part is this marketing strategy was developed for developing countries where people can't afford to spend a lot at once but this also means there spending more over time and they have no infrastructure to deal with solid waste. Anyways the women purchases her shampoo and toothpaste that creates more plastic per unit of product and gets 2 more plastic bags (these could be added to other plastic bag but it's not the way things are done). After a day of shopping and purchasing enough food for maybe two days she accumulates 15 plastic bags plus associated trash from the single use sachets. The worst part of all this is unlike in America where we can hide our trash through sanitary landfills and an expensive solid waste management scheme the people here have no option so the trash is either burned, buried or just tossed aside and it finds its way into the rivers and oceans. This is a problem believe me I've swam through it and walked through it. However, I have saved my favorite plastic bag story for last just to prove how much plastic bags are loved here. A couple of weeks ago we were at the market on a Sunday. Now Sunday is the biggest market day of the week and we usually avoid it at all costs but we were looking for fiddleheads for dinner and somebody told us to go on Sunday because everything is for sale. Well we didn't find any fiddleheads but we did meet a guy that was selling ducklings. Somehow Rebeka and I got into a discussion concerning if we could raise one in our apartment. As we discussed the proposition before us I watched the vendor shake the box of ducklings every time they fell asleep. After a good shaking the ducks would start chirping again and a whole lot of new customers would come over to take a look. We made the decision not to buy one but another customer decided to buy six ducklings and guess what? It takes 2 plastic bags to hold six live ducklings. Yes, for some reason plastic is the preferred packaging material of live animals. (Reasonable? not really. Ethical? um, no. Excessive? yes. Good way to treat an investment? once again no. Necessary? no. Funny? Somehow yes in a I can't do anything but laugh sense.) After seeing somebody drop six ducklings into two plastic bags and tie them shut I have a real curiosity to purchase a puppy here. What if?

No situation is too difficult to handle when you have Vermont maple syrup, pancakes, and fresh bananas

Protect Your Baby 101

Oftentimes things in the Philippines seem so modern, and lets be honest they are. Our country director came to visit last week and over a lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, iced tea and sun chips she told us about her own Peace Corps experience. She served twenty years ago in Mauritania. Her experience included an hour walk every day to water, living with a host family in a small hut with no front door, traveling with camels, and storing water in a goat's skin.

I guess we were expecting two years in a traditional culture with deep customs. So sometimes it feels a little discouraging to walk around and see corner stores filled with candy, chips and coke, hear the latest American top-20 songs and ride around in nice cars and buses. Of course these conveniences make things easier in many ways. They can also make it feel that what remained of the local culture has been swept away with technology, convenience and the disease of consumerism.
That's why I love talking with the teachers at my school. Really talking with them. Recently there was discussion of giving birth and becoming a mom. I asked the teachers what kind of things they do here when children are born and the initial response was nothing special. But then people started sharing their stories. The one woman who works in our canteen gave birth to two of her children by herself in her house. Another (young 20-something teacher) told about a problem she had because she tried bathing a few days after giving birth, rather than the traditional 8 days. All the teachers agreed that the baby's umbilical cord should be kept and hidden somewhere safe; usually it is put in the roof, but one young teacher said her son's is in the kitchen cupboard. They also said they keep the baby's first nail clippings (possibly in an envelope in their purse) and hair from his/her first hair cut (yup we do that in the State's too).

Another "must" for babies is the contra-bati. This is usually a bracelet worn on the wrist or a small red pillow pinned to the baby's shirt. It is to deflect compliments lest someone/something evil hears and tries to harm the baby. A lot of families will not cut their child's hair until his first birthday. No one seemed to know why this is done, except that it is bad luck if one does cut it.Mira, one of my co-teachers with her son. He is wearing a contra-bati on his wrist. Most of the ones in our area have orange and black beads. You can buy them at the market from old women who come from the mountains. They also sell an assortment of herbal medicines. Another teacher's daughter. She has the contra-bati on her wrist and also in the form of the red pillow.Ten month old Gian with his long long hair. His family said it looked like a chicken's comb because his mom craved chicken heads during her pregnancy.A little guy and his mom at a mangrove planting. Some kids have the sting earrings in their ears. Haven't asked yet what they are for, but I will soon.