Camp

"Wow, oh my goodness. We are definitely in the provinces now." Anywhere outside of metro Manila is considered the provinces in the Philippines and we got to spend the last two days with a group of city boys at camp in the "provinces" aka our town. One of our fellow volunteers works at a center for boys ages 12-16 who were living on the streets in Manila. In three vans 23 boys, 8 staff, sleeping mats, clothing, toiletries and food (which means LOTS of rice) came down to a seaside park owned in part by the LGU in our town. The guys loved the water and spent every moment they could swimming in the ocean. We also spent time learning about coastal ecosystems from Steve, hiking, watching giant fruit bats, playing games and eating (of course!). The center had brought along their kitchen so every meal included rice, an ulam (main dish), and some vegetables and of course we always had our twice a day meriendas (snacks).

Everybody's a creature for the food web.

Patience Really is a Virtue

As Americans we have many different methods to show are impatience. When we felt like we have waited too long in a line at a grocery store we can start tapping our foot, check our watch repeatedly, letting out long sighs, or if all else fails ask to see the manager. Oh how those days are so long ago. In the Philippines waiting is expected and just a part of life, sort of like breathing. No matter what you do you are going to wait. There was the time when my supervisor told me to meet him at a random guys house at 9 am. Now at this point I knew better than to show up at exactly 9 am so I made a nice late appearance at 9:30 am. The owner of the house invited me in and fed me crackers and soda and we just sat around not saying much. I finally checked my cellphone and it said 10:30 am and my supervisor still wasn't there. I sent him and text and then waited some more. At about 11:30 am he texted back and said he'd be there in a couple of minutes. Okay I thought not too big of a deal. So of course I was invited to eat lunch with the strangers family which I did and after a meal of fish and rice I texted my supervisor again (12:30pm). I waited for a response and got one at about 1 pm. The message said I won't make it but two other guys are coming buy and he asked me to wait for them. So after a day of doing nothing I took a little nap outside and woke up at about 2:30 pm. The guys hadn't shown up yet and at this point I decided it was time to go home. So I told my host thank you and walked home. No one ever showed up, I checked with my host.
Then there was this morning. Rebeka and I run an English club at her school at 8am on Saturday mornings. Rebeka checked with her other faculty members and two of them said they would be there at 8am for graduation practice. Now Rebeka and I made the mistake of being early we were there at about 7:30 am but there were four or five seniors there also. Anyways we sat around and more kids showed up. By 8 am there was half of the senior class there and some of our English club kids. At 8:30 am we just started holding the meeting outside and the seniors were still waiting. However there was no foot tapping or watch checking. They were just sitting around chatting and joking not even aware of the time. At 9:30 am we heard a cheer from the seniors and it was a signal that the gates to the school were unlocked. We finished our meeting outside and went into the school yard at 10 am. The gates were opened but the seniors were in their classroom still waiting. The graduation practice hadn't started yet. I guess an hour and a half late is better than.....
Two last points. One point is showing up for an event an hour and a half late isn't being late at all. It is called Pilipino time. This is by no way a negative term. Then there is American time which means arriving at an event at least ten minutes before it starts. When people are going to an event they sometimes clarify the start time by saying 9 am Pilipino time or 9 am American time. The translation is show up when you want for the former or you need to be there at 9am for the latter.
The last point is less of a point and more of a joke. The background to the joke is this: many Pilipinos think that they have stubby noses and Americans have long, beautiful noses. So the joke goes something like this. God told all the people that he was going to hand out noses at noon. The Americans arrived at 11:30 and were rewarded with the first choice of noses. The Americans choose all the long, beautiful noses. The Pilipinos arrived at around 2pm and all that was left were the smooshed noses from the bottom of the pile. They couldn't choose there noses and had to take the smooshed noses! Joke, joke, joke.

Click

What an odd feeling to be on the other side of the camera, to be the abnormal and fascinating creature who is worthy of sharing with family and friends. Its never someone by himself, and they are almost always younger than 30, but it starts with "Americana, Americana", a hurried search for the cell phone, clearing the camera lens from the numerous cell phone bangles, a discussion with friends about who will take the picture first and then pscchhht, the fake click sound of the cell phone camera. I don't know how many people I have photographed without their consent, but I'm sure it is a fair amount, so I guess it is only just that I am on the receiving end for a change of pace.

Introductions

When two people meet for the first time in the states the conversation might go something like this:

Joe: Hi, my name is Joe and you are?
Jill: I'm Jill and I work with your wife, Rachel.
Joe: Oh really so are you a lawyer also ?
Jill: No, no I'm a paralegal but I'm currently taking night classes and hope to take the bar exam in a couple years. I've been so busy lately with school, work, and my cycling classes. So what do you do for work Joe?
Joe: I'm an engineer with McDermott and Smith. We have an office uptown near the park. I have a great office with a view over the park.
Jill: So what kind of work do you do exactly?
Joe: Talks about his occupation for next 5-10 minutes
Jill: Wow that sounds amazing.
Joe: Yeah it's not too bad, so you said you take cycling classes?
Jill: Talks about cycling class, goals etc.
Joe: Well Jill it was good to meet you.
Jill: Yeah you too Joe, hope to see you around sometime, maybe you should sign up for cycling.

In the Philippines a first conversation would probably go something like this (translated version):

Lito: Hey where are you going?
Rommel: I'm heading just over there.
Lito: Where are you from?
Rommel: Barangay Putingbuhangin
Lito: Oh really I have two cousins and a nephew in Putingbuhangin. Do you know Mary Lou Gallop, Mary Chrisa Lasat, or June Hernandez.
Rommel: Yeah June is my neighbor. Are you married?
Lito: Yes
Rommel: How may kids do you have?
Lito: Four, two girls and two boys. Are you married?
Rommel: Yes
Lito: Do you have any kids?
Rommel: No not yet.
Lito: Why?
Rommel: My wife hasn't been able to get pregnant yet.
Lito: How long have you been married for?
Rommel: About five months now.
Lito: Don't worry about it, hey I'm having a party won't to come over and have a couple shots.
Rommel. Of course.

After reading this you might think that there not that different and you have similar conversation in the states. But remember that your conversing with a complete stranger. The first 50 times a complete stranger asks you where your going, where you live, if your married, have kids, and a bunch of other personnel questions it really throws you for a loop. However we have definitely grown to appreciate the straight forward ask any question you want approach. Your able to learn so much more about a person. The biggest problem is when we meet the random American here and start asking those questions. They usually look at us like are you serious. No big deal though right?

Thou Shalt Not Wash Thy Neighbor's Dog

Our neighbors got a puppy a couple months ago and we have become it's adopted family. It might have something to do with the fact that we spoil it a little bit. At every moment we're tossing it scraps of fish or bread. It has become quite accustomed to running through our house and using our clothes as chew toys. The one big problem that we have with it is how dirty and flea ridden it is. So one afternoon when we were washing clothes we noticed that the dog could use a little scrub a dub dub. We waited until our neighbors left and grabbed the puppy. I was posted as look out and Rebeka went to work scrubbing the puppy until it was as good as new. The puppy was not particularly happy about the turn of events but it was the best thing for everyone. I had just finished drying the puppy when our neighbors arrived home. They walked into their house without a second glance towards us and we figured that we had gotten away with our endeavor. It wasn't until later in the afternoon when Rebeka was at the water pump and our neighbors kid walked up to her with doe eyes and innocently asked "did you wash my dog?". This caught the attention of the kids mom and she was waiting for Rebeka's response. Rebeka smiled and said "yes I did take a bath this morning". Then she scurried for the protection of our house and we had a good laugh about it. However, our neighbor, Jim Boy was still left wondering why his dog smelled like Herbal Essence.

Monkeys

This is a short video of a couple of monkeys we saw on a hike.

Happy Birthday

We were trying to keep a low profile about birthdays and things of that nature to avoid any awkward situations. However are plan failed on February 3rd when we were enjoying a lazy afternoon and our host brother asked when our birthdays were. Now I had the option to lie but just couldn't do it so I answered with "today is my birthday". Then there was a discussion among our neighbors and host sister about why no one cooked pancit and how pitiful I was. Finally it was decided that Rebeka and I would go to our host grandparents house later that night. So seven pm rolled around and we walked over with our neighbor. The women were inside the house watching t.v. and the men were outside drinking gin. So we smiled at each other and Rebeka went inside the house and I sat down outside. The drinking circle had been in full swing for a while so they were a little buzzed and firing questions at me. Where did Rebeka go by herself this afternoon?, why do you sing the Pilipino national anthem?, what are you doing here?, how tall are you? and so on. Then the question of the night was asked. It was a simple question, which was: what did you guys do for work in the states? Rebeka gave a beautifully eloquent response in Tagalog about how she helps people with disabilities and so on. Then it was my turn so I thought for a second. In the states I would tell people I worked at a hazardous waste facility and handled noxious chemicals all day that were dropped of by various entities such as general consumers and small private businesses. However my lack of Tagalog prevented this worthy response so I settled on"nagtipon ako ng basura". The exact translation is: I collected garbage. Everyone in the barkada (drinking circle) stopped drinking and looked at me. For a second I thought I might have misspoke and said some awful Tagalog curse word or something. Then I heard a snicker from one of the guys and the rest of them burst out laughing. They repeated my response to make sure they heard me correctly and I said "oo, nagtipon ako ng basura saAmerika". Exact translation: yes, I collected trash in America. They all had a good laugh again and told me I should stay in the Pilipines because I could be a model here. I smiled and said maybe I would. Rebeka and I headed home later that night and I told her about how funny they found my previous occupation. It wasn't until a couple of days later when I realized the full impact of what I said. Up until that night they had known that we were from America and working as volunteers for the U.S. government, we have tons of material possessions, we buy a lot of expensive food, and we travel a lot. Then I dropped the bombshell that I was simply a garbage man in America. In their eyes a garbage man can have tons of material possessions, buy many things, travel a lot, and be selected by the U.S. government to serve as a volunteer at the expense of the government. I hear the phrase "land of opportunity" ringing in my ear.

Final Frontier of the Philippines: Palawan

Well our trip to Palawan started off a little bit hectic. We arrived at the airport on time but weren't allowed on the plane because it was already full. So we ended up standing in the airport for an hour with three other people as the airline decided what to do. We were put on the 4pm flight which was six hours later than our initial departure time and given two food vouchers that could only be redeemed at a sad looking little snack shack. I'm glad to say that was the low point of the trip. We landed in Palawan around 5 pm on a little runway and went directly to the open air baggage area to collect our things. The immigration officer was sitting outside, behind a desk with a notebook and hand wrote all our information. Things really are that relaxed there. We met our friends just outside the airport and made our way to their house. The city is unlike anything I have seen in the Philippines. The streets are wide and tree lined, there are garbage cans every couple hundred feet, and there are cafes and restaurants tucked away in corners. Palawan in known in the Philippines for being the final frontier. It has a reputation for pristine beaches, intact forests, and a progressive way of thinking. We first had the chance to witness this when we went to Sabang which is a national park. Sabang has a rugged coast with a beautiful beach and healthy forest. We were able to hike down the beach and into the forest. The forest was full of sounds and we spotted two large monkeys in the trees above us. It was an amazing experience. I spent the night sleeping in a hammock while the girls slept in the tent that we had brought. It was a postcard perfect. On Valentines Day we participated in a mangrove tree planting. The municipality planted 7000 mangrove trees and had a mass wedding as a celebration for nature. There were plenty of people there and a lot of activities. We went to an art showing later on that was part of the celebration. We finished the day with a buffet dinner at KaLui. The restaurant was having a seafood buffet for Valentines Day and we got to eat sashimi, eel, sting ray, crab, shrimp, and I'm not sure if there is any life left in the ocean after that meal. I spent a couple days working with Emma at the municipalities fishery's division on socio-economic data and Rebeka went with Jon to some of the children centers. On Friday afternoon we walked to an organic farm to pick up a box of vegetables and found out that the organic farm also doubles as an orphanage. Rebeka spoke to the owner trying to find loopholes in Pilipino adoption laws, which she did find. We spent our last weekend there hiking along a river to a waterfall and swimming hole. The water was nice and cold and a great reward after a short hike and a long bus ride. Our trip to Palawan was simply amazing. It was refreshing to eat organic vegetables, hike in pristine forests, and walk along undeveloped beaches. I had forgotten about how much I enjoy certain things since I've been without them for a while now. I hope that we have a chance to return. PS WE UPDATED JAPAN PICTURES SO TAKE A PEAK!

Grilling tuna and parrotfish

Wow Jon that is quite the banana leaf you found

Beach at Sabang

Rugged coast of Sabang

Rugged coast of Sabang

Sunset

Spooky little cave

Standing next to huge tree in jungle

Nipa hut hotel room

The girls sleeping area: conventional tent

My bed and a great view

Mangrove Tree planting event

Paintings from art galery

KaLui Restaurant

Seafood Buffet- Delicious

Our hosts Emma and Jon

Rebeka and Emma hiding behind the waterfall

Waterfalls and a swimming hole

Emma and Rebeka leading the way through the jungle.

A long way down

We're Loaded

Peace Corps is usually associated with people living in the bush, without running water or electricity. They are believed to travel great distances by meager means just to reach a glimpse of what many of us refer to as civilization. However that is far from Peace Corps Philippines. Peace Corps Philippines has been tagged as the Club Med of Peace Corps and I think it is a properly fitting title. When we started our application process we imagined being whisked away to a land where transportation was by horse, we lived in a tent, and the only other foreigners we would see would be Peace Corps volunteers but even that would be a rare occasion. The reality is far from that. Our house sits in a small coastal fishing village, which is quaint and offers a little rougher feel than many places we've been in the Philippines but let me put this in perspective. We have electricity, we could have a television if we chose to, we could have air conditioning, we could have a refrigerator, and we could have any electronic device that we pleased. We cook over a charcoal stove but could easily have propane stove. The house we live in is built from concrete and coconut lumber. Then there is our town, which is small by Pilipino standards. Our town has an open air market, three or four small grocery stores (not like Price Chopper/Hannaford’s but more like a large convenience store), our town also has a Dunkin Donuts, Mister Donut, pizza place, coffee shop, a couple restaurants, five gas stations, a city park, two private schools, etc. Then there are the bigger cities in our province which are about 1-2 hours away from us and they offer malls with McDonalds, KFC, pizza places, electronic stores, clothing stores, grocery stores, etc. They are identical to malls in America. The cities also have universities, bus stations, and almost any other city-orientated thing you could imagine. Then there is the big city. Manila, the capitol city is estimated to have a population of 12-15 million people. Manila has anything and everything. Manila has some of the largest malls in Asia, it has museums, night clubs, a range of restaurants from Italian food to Middle Eastern food, there are even parts of the city that are reminiscent of upscale areas in Los Angeles with manicured lawns, large new buildings, and palm trees. The point of all this is simply that it isn't any where near as tough as we expected. If we want hummus we travel 3 hours to Manila, if we want pizza then we travel an hour to a provincial city, if we want cheap fresh seafood then we walk out of our house. There are things that we can't get here but that is fine because where in the United States can you get fresh mangos, bananas, pineapple, coconut, tuna, tomatoes, eggplant......... EVERYDAY?

Pictures from Japan

Bikan Historical Area

Transportation by bike?

Bikan Canal

Buildings from a historic area called Bikan

Okayama near one of Katy and Trent's schools

Most restaurants have plastic food on display outside so you know exactly what your getting. Makes it easy to order too.

Complicated oragami

Supposedly if you can get a rock on top of the gate you get a wish. My height might be an unfair advantage though

Okayama Skyline

Off season tea

Japanese Garden

Japanese Garden

Off season rice field

Beautiful Japanese rug

Trying to master oragami

The fruit of hard labor

Hanging out in the arcade

Beautiful castle

Streets of Okayama

Across the river from Okayama

A night out

Cabbage pancakes with shrimp

Just finished eating Katy's delicious sushi

Riding in a small car

Japanese Housing Complex