New Typhoon pictures have been posted, by popular demand:
CNN article written by a fellow volunteer about a landslide zone near my office.
My Webshots Account
New album of Typhoon pictures
Other articles and pictures pending publishing.
New notes:
As the relief operations in Albay get organized and efficient, I have begun implementing the BioSand water filter project that I have talked about with some of you loyal friends/family/readers. I have recieved word from a number of people who feel morally obligated, or at least excited, to help financially in some way. The BioSand water filter project needs funding as well as some subsidies so that some of the poorer folks here can buy one. In essence, it is a filter that costs about $24 to buy and will provide up to 220 liters of clean drinking water per day for longer than you will live. It is a great project in need of funding. If you feel like you want to help with this, then I encourage you to contact me. Please don't feel obligated to give, but understand that if you do, this money will go to a good project and not to line the pockets of a local opportunist.
Side note: Although some of you may be encouraged to give goods instead of money, understand that the shipping costs and time will make it much more worth it to merely wire money this direction. Before you even think about sending anything, talk to me; I will provide any transparency in project execution that you might require so that you know I am not a lying sack of monkey poo.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Ouch!
Long blog, cliff notes:
-Typhoon happens to city.
-Typhoon happens to Page.
-Page is scared.
-Page is okay.
-All other volunteers are just as okay as Page.
-PICTURES ARE HERE
-.....
-Profit
As many of you now know, through my Mom's emails and the large international news coverage, Legazpi City was just hit by the biggest typhoon in more than 30 years.
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Philippine_typhoon_toll_may_hit_1,000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Pacific_typhoon_season
Wiki's stories cover what anyone who is not a Bikolano saw, I am here to provide the front-line details about this massive disaster.
November 29th:
Went about my daily life; left work a little early after the school shut down the power, knowing that the typhoon was on its way. I didn't think much of this round of bad weather since the last typhoon, Milenyo, was reported to be the worst in 20 years. I figured, stupidly, that there really wasn't that much cause for alarm. Legazpi City had a signal 3 (out of a possible 5) and I was content to go to bed and not to work in the morning. The farthest extremities of the typhoon had begun to reach town and rain intermittently. I went to Julia's (another volunteer who lives in town) to camp out the storm with a friendly face. We cooked dinner and bought a coupla beers to pass the evening away.
November 30th:
7 AM: The last storm warning text message I would recieve arrived and said that this one was gonna be a doozy, specifically a signal 4. In the Philippines, typhoon strength is categorized by area, not by storm. It is said that a storm is of a certain signal in your area depending on the wave height and wind speed where you are specifically. Personally I think this system is decieving, people assume that the storm is going to stay one signal in their area and not get any worse, when that is the opposite of what is likely to happen. Typhoon Durian (appropriately named after the smelly fruit) was a signal 4 which, for a Filipino typhoon, translates to winds between 131 and 155 mph and 13 to 18 foot waves.
But enough science, all that is available on Wiki. Wiki does not go into what happens when you are poor, have a poorly constructed house, and then things are leveled by a giant tropical pain-machine.
8 AM: Still lying in bed. I like bed. Bed is warm. Bed doesn't have rain in it...yet.
9 AM: See 8 AM.
10 AM: The wind is beginning to pick up, but I am still not worried. Again, see 8 AM.
11 AM: It is hard to lay in bed comfortably when loose pieces of metal sheeting are being slapped against the roof by the wind. I get up. There is no more cell signal.
12 PM: The storm has been raging for a while and Julia and I point out the growing stream in the road outside her apartment. We laugh about how lucky we are that it is so small and that we are elevated above the road.
12:30 PM: Things really start to suck.
12:31 PM: The roof is getting louder and louder. The rain is now seeping in through the cracks in the roof and is raining in the dining room. We move all important stuff to the bedroom and hide it in Julia's dresser. The rain is now flying in through every gap or crack in the house. Some buckets are put down to catch the water as it falls.
12:33 PM: The first bucket fills.
12:34-1:34 PM: This hour was scary. Looking out into the street, the floodwaters rise from nothing to 4 feet in the road. 4 feet of water outside translates to 3 feet inside. We are standing on stools inside the apartment and watch as they, and then our feet on top of them, are submerged. A casual glance at the bathroom reveals that the floodwaters have overtopped the toilet. We are now standing in a mix of floodwater and raw sewage. Ew.
We look out the window at the front of Julia's place and see a jeep go floating by and decide that things are maybe a little TOO hectic to stick around here much longer. I contact the neighbors, who live in a 2 story concrete house and happen to be Julia's landlady's cousins, by climbing up to their balcony above the raging torrent that was once a street. In order to get Julia's 80-year-old landlady to that house, we have to wade through waist-deep water. The landlady is old, and waist-deep for me means neck-deep for her. If we had a camera out, this would have made the headlines of some major newspaper; the big, white american carrying the small, frail, old woman to safety over raging floodwaters. Oh well.
1:35 PM: I see that bucket go floating by, rendered useless by floodwaters
Afternoon/Evening: Once the floodwaters had risen to waist deep, adrenaline took over my brain and made the rest of the day a blur. We escaped from the storm to a large concrete house and were lucky enough to be fed and given a bed by the landlady's cousins. I pass out and have dreams about things besides large tropical weather patterns.
December 1st: In the morning, we look at Julia's place and try to do some basic cleanup. Basic turned into shoveling and scrubbing all of the mud from her floor. I return to my house to find broken glass and wet books, but nothing too intense. There is no power, no information, no cell signal and no running water. Julia and I clean all day long, sunup to sundown.
December 2nd: More of the same, but with an exciting twist. Around noon, when I am carrying buckets of water from the pump to the house for laundry, a man darts by me on his bike, almost running me over. At home, I would have just screamed at him, but this was unusual for the Philippines; people are generally courteous here. I look where he came from and see groups of other people running up the hills and, in general, going places in a hurry. When someone finally stopped to answer my inquiries, all he said was "TSUNAMI!!!!!!" and kept running. I looked down the road where everyone was running from and I felt what can only be described as pure terror. My mind froze and my body panicked. I told Julia and, within 30 seconds, we had both grabbed the 2 or 3 items we deemed essential and were on our bikes ready to ride. At that moment, the barangay captain came out and said it was just a hoax.
I found out later that 24 people were hospitalized and 3 killed due to the panic caused by this scare. I was more scared for my life in those 30 seconds than at any point during the previous day's typhoon.
Since then: I have been helping with any relief effort I can find. According to local authorities, 7-10 students at Aquinas University were killed when the floodwaters entered their boarding house. My university looks like it got hit by a giant mud-bomb. The morgues are filled with bodies. Barangay Padang (CNN web story pending) was completely wiped out by a volcanic landslide. Luckily for Peace Corps, myself and all the other volunteers (we are all safe and healthy) have been brought together for our language learning camp. We have been working half days and assisting any local relief efforts available the rest of the time. We play with the kids, we carry sacks of rice, we do whatever we can. This will probably continue for me once the other volunteers leave for their respective sites.
If you finished reading all this, I thank you for caring. If you skipped to this part from the beginning, then you are a bad, bad person.
-Typhoon happens to city.
-Typhoon happens to Page.
-Page is scared.
-Page is okay.
-All other volunteers are just as okay as Page.
-PICTURES ARE HERE
-.....
-Profit
As many of you now know, through my Mom's emails and the large international news coverage, Legazpi City was just hit by the biggest typhoon in more than 30 years.
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Philippine_typhoon_toll_may_hit_1,000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Pacific_typhoon_season
Wiki's stories cover what anyone who is not a Bikolano saw, I am here to provide the front-line details about this massive disaster.
November 29th:
Went about my daily life; left work a little early after the school shut down the power, knowing that the typhoon was on its way. I didn't think much of this round of bad weather since the last typhoon, Milenyo, was reported to be the worst in 20 years. I figured, stupidly, that there really wasn't that much cause for alarm. Legazpi City had a signal 3 (out of a possible 5) and I was content to go to bed and not to work in the morning. The farthest extremities of the typhoon had begun to reach town and rain intermittently. I went to Julia's (another volunteer who lives in town) to camp out the storm with a friendly face. We cooked dinner and bought a coupla beers to pass the evening away.
November 30th:
7 AM: The last storm warning text message I would recieve arrived and said that this one was gonna be a doozy, specifically a signal 4. In the Philippines, typhoon strength is categorized by area, not by storm. It is said that a storm is of a certain signal in your area depending on the wave height and wind speed where you are specifically. Personally I think this system is decieving, people assume that the storm is going to stay one signal in their area and not get any worse, when that is the opposite of what is likely to happen. Typhoon Durian (appropriately named after the smelly fruit) was a signal 4 which, for a Filipino typhoon, translates to winds between 131 and 155 mph and 13 to 18 foot waves.
But enough science, all that is available on Wiki. Wiki does not go into what happens when you are poor, have a poorly constructed house, and then things are leveled by a giant tropical pain-machine.
8 AM: Still lying in bed. I like bed. Bed is warm. Bed doesn't have rain in it...yet.
9 AM: See 8 AM.
10 AM: The wind is beginning to pick up, but I am still not worried. Again, see 8 AM.
11 AM: It is hard to lay in bed comfortably when loose pieces of metal sheeting are being slapped against the roof by the wind. I get up. There is no more cell signal.
12 PM: The storm has been raging for a while and Julia and I point out the growing stream in the road outside her apartment. We laugh about how lucky we are that it is so small and that we are elevated above the road.
12:30 PM: Things really start to suck.
12:31 PM: The roof is getting louder and louder. The rain is now seeping in through the cracks in the roof and is raining in the dining room. We move all important stuff to the bedroom and hide it in Julia's dresser. The rain is now flying in through every gap or crack in the house. Some buckets are put down to catch the water as it falls.
12:33 PM: The first bucket fills.
12:34-1:34 PM: This hour was scary. Looking out into the street, the floodwaters rise from nothing to 4 feet in the road. 4 feet of water outside translates to 3 feet inside. We are standing on stools inside the apartment and watch as they, and then our feet on top of them, are submerged. A casual glance at the bathroom reveals that the floodwaters have overtopped the toilet. We are now standing in a mix of floodwater and raw sewage. Ew.
We look out the window at the front of Julia's place and see a jeep go floating by and decide that things are maybe a little TOO hectic to stick around here much longer. I contact the neighbors, who live in a 2 story concrete house and happen to be Julia's landlady's cousins, by climbing up to their balcony above the raging torrent that was once a street. In order to get Julia's 80-year-old landlady to that house, we have to wade through waist-deep water. The landlady is old, and waist-deep for me means neck-deep for her. If we had a camera out, this would have made the headlines of some major newspaper; the big, white american carrying the small, frail, old woman to safety over raging floodwaters. Oh well.
1:35 PM: I see that bucket go floating by, rendered useless by floodwaters
Afternoon/Evening: Once the floodwaters had risen to waist deep, adrenaline took over my brain and made the rest of the day a blur. We escaped from the storm to a large concrete house and were lucky enough to be fed and given a bed by the landlady's cousins. I pass out and have dreams about things besides large tropical weather patterns.
December 1st: In the morning, we look at Julia's place and try to do some basic cleanup. Basic turned into shoveling and scrubbing all of the mud from her floor. I return to my house to find broken glass and wet books, but nothing too intense. There is no power, no information, no cell signal and no running water. Julia and I clean all day long, sunup to sundown.
December 2nd: More of the same, but with an exciting twist. Around noon, when I am carrying buckets of water from the pump to the house for laundry, a man darts by me on his bike, almost running me over. At home, I would have just screamed at him, but this was unusual for the Philippines; people are generally courteous here. I look where he came from and see groups of other people running up the hills and, in general, going places in a hurry. When someone finally stopped to answer my inquiries, all he said was "TSUNAMI!!!!!!" and kept running. I looked down the road where everyone was running from and I felt what can only be described as pure terror. My mind froze and my body panicked. I told Julia and, within 30 seconds, we had both grabbed the 2 or 3 items we deemed essential and were on our bikes ready to ride. At that moment, the barangay captain came out and said it was just a hoax.
I found out later that 24 people were hospitalized and 3 killed due to the panic caused by this scare. I was more scared for my life in those 30 seconds than at any point during the previous day's typhoon.
Since then: I have been helping with any relief effort I can find. According to local authorities, 7-10 students at Aquinas University were killed when the floodwaters entered their boarding house. My university looks like it got hit by a giant mud-bomb. The morgues are filled with bodies. Barangay Padang (CNN web story pending) was completely wiped out by a volcanic landslide. Luckily for Peace Corps, myself and all the other volunteers (we are all safe and healthy) have been brought together for our language learning camp. We have been working half days and assisting any local relief efforts available the rest of the time. We play with the kids, we carry sacks of rice, we do whatever we can. This will probably continue for me once the other volunteers leave for their respective sites.
If you finished reading all this, I thank you for caring. If you skipped to this part from the beginning, then you are a bad, bad person.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Things that happen where you are not
Greetings, loyal readers!! Hello to anyone who comes occasionally! Goodbye to anyone who is not here.
Over the last few weeks, I have actually had a ton of REAL WORK to do (scary, isn't it) so I haven't been much of a blog updator. There are designs and proposals and meetings, OH MY! Hopefully at least one of these irons will come out of the fire and bear fruit down the right track to the light at the end of the tunnel of love (too many metaphors?).
Honestly, I think I would put you all to sleep if I started talking about the proposals I have been writing. Instead, I thought I would talk about a few things that really give me a warm, squishy feeling inside. First, imagine that you just had a tray of fresh brownies dumped down the front of your pants. Got it? Let us begin:
- Geckos; instead of scary, evil looking spiders that may or may not kill you (USA) we have lizards very similar to the Anoles that I had in a terrarium in elementary school. Those died for lack of food. The ones here eat every gosh darn mosquito in the place. I love it. It is also incredibly cool to watch them run at full tilt along the ceiling. One would think that they would fall or simply forget that they were upside down and fail to plant that foot before lifting the other one, but no. They are probably the best good luck charm I have found here in this crazy tropical pair-o-dice.
Public Transportation; Let's face it, if you live in the good ole US of Oil and are trying to "live a normal life" without a car, you will be met by strong social, economical and temporal barriers. What I mean is that every aspect of American (specifically Sub-Urban and Rural) life is entirely governed by the assumption that everyone there is comfortable buying, owning, using and maintaining a motor vehicle of some sort. Bus schedules and many peoples' varied workdays and need for daily efficiency make public transportation a joke. Added to this is the food procurement process which, in "America," has been totally centralized to the point where mom and pop shops no longer exist and everything is run through freeways and parking lots and efficient, digitally managed lines. Okay, okay, I said these things would be positive; how are those brownies doing?
In the Philippines, what happens when you need to travel somewhere beyond convenient walking distance (and you don't want to use your bike for one reason or another)? You walk to the road, look at the column of jeeps headed your way, flag one down and hop on for the ride. Even public transportation in the US has to be scheduled and managed to remain thus (ever been yelled at by a bus driver who couldn't wait the extra two seconds for you two get on so that he could keep on his second-to-second schedule?. In the Phils, you walk to the road where you know you can find the route you want and within a minute, usually less, you have your reasonably priced ride and most likely some really bad music and mid-80's posters of Tom Cruise to go with it. There are a lot of reasons that something like this would not work in the US; I will not delve into all of those now, suffice to say that people are stupid and demand that any personal injury liability be put on someone else's shoulders insead of their own dumb-ass (McDonald's Coffee).
If you don't want a jeep and need to go a shorter distance, it is likely that a motorcycle-with-sidecar (tricycle) can take you there with a smile and a small shrine to Mr. J. C. saying something to the effect of "you had better pray that we don't crash, I need both my hands on the wheel right now!" It is also a brownie-esqe feeling when I see that, in a land devoid of phonebooth/volkswagen stuffing contests, they have managed to cram 13 Filipinos and all of their market purchases onto a 250cc tricycle. Good times.
- My third and final warm and fuzzy award goes to any person who I have seen on the street and has smiled back with nothing to lose or gain from me. Walk down the street here. Look someone in the eye, smile and raise your eyebrows a bit to say "How YOU doin'?" and they will respond in kind (though sometimes with less teeth). The kids run up to you and want to touch your hands and know your name. The men want you to get drunk with them at 8:30 in the morning. I have resisted most temptations so far. Everyone wants to know who you are, where you are from and "Wont you come meet my daughter? She is 23, just like you! She wants to go to the US when she finishes her degree!"
On the bad days, the constant attention feels more like an icepick to the nostrils than brownies in the pants, but that is the way Peace Corps goes. Due to the long, colorful, shared history of the US and the Phils, Americans are like royalty here. Everyone in my neighborhood knows my name, where I live, what I eat for breakfast on each day of the week, how many times I have gone biking this week and when is the best time to ask me to join them for a cold one or five (answer, after 12:01 PM).
Warm and fuzzies having been completed, you may now eat your tray of brownies.
Over the last few weeks, I have actually had a ton of REAL WORK to do (scary, isn't it) so I haven't been much of a blog updator. There are designs and proposals and meetings, OH MY! Hopefully at least one of these irons will come out of the fire and bear fruit down the right track to the light at the end of the tunnel of love (too many metaphors?).
Honestly, I think I would put you all to sleep if I started talking about the proposals I have been writing. Instead, I thought I would talk about a few things that really give me a warm, squishy feeling inside. First, imagine that you just had a tray of fresh brownies dumped down the front of your pants. Got it? Let us begin:
- Geckos; instead of scary, evil looking spiders that may or may not kill you (USA) we have lizards very similar to the Anoles that I had in a terrarium in elementary school. Those died for lack of food. The ones here eat every gosh darn mosquito in the place. I love it. It is also incredibly cool to watch them run at full tilt along the ceiling. One would think that they would fall or simply forget that they were upside down and fail to plant that foot before lifting the other one, but no. They are probably the best good luck charm I have found here in this crazy tropical pair-o-dice.
Public Transportation; Let's face it, if you live in the good ole US of Oil and are trying to "live a normal life" without a car, you will be met by strong social, economical and temporal barriers. What I mean is that every aspect of American (specifically Sub-Urban and Rural) life is entirely governed by the assumption that everyone there is comfortable buying, owning, using and maintaining a motor vehicle of some sort. Bus schedules and many peoples' varied workdays and need for daily efficiency make public transportation a joke. Added to this is the food procurement process which, in "America," has been totally centralized to the point where mom and pop shops no longer exist and everything is run through freeways and parking lots and efficient, digitally managed lines. Okay, okay, I said these things would be positive; how are those brownies doing?
In the Philippines, what happens when you need to travel somewhere beyond convenient walking distance (and you don't want to use your bike for one reason or another)? You walk to the road, look at the column of jeeps headed your way, flag one down and hop on for the ride. Even public transportation in the US has to be scheduled and managed to remain thus (ever been yelled at by a bus driver who couldn't wait the extra two seconds for you two get on so that he could keep on his second-to-second schedule?. In the Phils, you walk to the road where you know you can find the route you want and within a minute, usually less, you have your reasonably priced ride and most likely some really bad music and mid-80's posters of Tom Cruise to go with it. There are a lot of reasons that something like this would not work in the US; I will not delve into all of those now, suffice to say that people are stupid and demand that any personal injury liability be put on someone else's shoulders insead of their own dumb-ass (McDonald's Coffee).
If you don't want a jeep and need to go a shorter distance, it is likely that a motorcycle-with-sidecar (tricycle) can take you there with a smile and a small shrine to Mr. J. C. saying something to the effect of "you had better pray that we don't crash, I need both my hands on the wheel right now!" It is also a brownie-esqe feeling when I see that, in a land devoid of phonebooth/volkswagen stuffing contests, they have managed to cram 13 Filipinos and all of their market purchases onto a 250cc tricycle. Good times.
- My third and final warm and fuzzy award goes to any person who I have seen on the street and has smiled back with nothing to lose or gain from me. Walk down the street here. Look someone in the eye, smile and raise your eyebrows a bit to say "How YOU doin'?" and they will respond in kind (though sometimes with less teeth). The kids run up to you and want to touch your hands and know your name. The men want you to get drunk with them at 8:30 in the morning. I have resisted most temptations so far. Everyone wants to know who you are, where you are from and "Wont you come meet my daughter? She is 23, just like you! She wants to go to the US when she finishes her degree!"
On the bad days, the constant attention feels more like an icepick to the nostrils than brownies in the pants, but that is the way Peace Corps goes. Due to the long, colorful, shared history of the US and the Phils, Americans are like royalty here. Everyone in my neighborhood knows my name, where I live, what I eat for breakfast on each day of the week, how many times I have gone biking this week and when is the best time to ask me to join them for a cold one or five (answer, after 12:01 PM).
Warm and fuzzies having been completed, you may now eat your tray of brownies.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Skype is cooooooool....
I know I shouldn't be as impressed with technology because I surround myself with it on a regular basis, but SKYPE IS AWESOME!!! I am not only calling my parents, hands-free I might add, from the other side of the world, I am also blogging about it and referencing pictures mid-conversation.
If you are reading this and you have a computer and would like to talk to me, consider getting skype and we can do some free person-to-person calling.
The age of going to the 7-11 (or 6-12, depending on where you live), looking up the international rates on phone cards and then trying to hold a decent conversation through 8 second delay is now at an end. I am talking with both of my parents on two different computers and chatting and blogging and surfing and scratching my ass all at the very same time. If I wanted to, I could have a burrito and make it all really freakin' crazy.
Get Skype. Call me. We will talk about things and stuff.
If you are reading this and you have a computer and would like to talk to me, consider getting skype and we can do some free person-to-person calling.
The age of going to the 7-11 (or 6-12, depending on where you live), looking up the international rates on phone cards and then trying to hold a decent conversation through 8 second delay is now at an end. I am talking with both of my parents on two different computers and chatting and blogging and surfing and scratching my ass all at the very same time. If I wanted to, I could have a burrito and make it all really freakin' crazy.
Get Skype. Call me. We will talk about things and stuff.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
New pictures!!!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
New apartment, new inspirations
When I last left you, my loving audience, I was in the midst of a housing crisis; that crisis has been resolved in winning style. I have officially moved from my ex-host family's house to the campus hotel and from there (finally!!!) to my own awesome apartment. If you will notice in the previous sentence, the word "awesome" is enhanced not only with italics, but also with bold; lets just say that Blogger.com does not give me enough text formatting options to really do this word justice, but I digress.
Whenever my camera gets out of the shop (aka, my bedroom) and into my backpack again, I will post pictures of the rooms and the view. It is a brand new concrete building painted a really bad shade of institution green. I live on the second floor with an unobstructed view of Mt. Mayon and a good vista of the town and the airport. If you walk up one more set of stairs, there is a communal rooftop deck for box socials, suarees or just plain ole' lying down and staring at the stars.
#1 problem with moving into a new place: you have to buy a lot of new crap
I took yesterday off to cruise town and get my kitchen ready for Page's 2006 cooking experiment; more on that as details emerge.
This last weekend I decided that I needed an escape. I was feeling too bogged down by work (hard to imagine in the Peace Corps, but it is true) and in need of a bike race to participate in. As it so happened, luck was with me. This weekend was a two part experiment to determine how much my leg muscles have really atrophied since I have come here and to see how difficult it would be to do some serious travel with a large pack and bike. Another volunteer friend of mine, Katie, lives on the nearby island of Catanduanes . Their fiesta has been going on for the last few weeks or so and Katie had mentioned previously that a bike race was a part of that. Being an avid biker and occasionally liking a challenge, I decided to visit.
There were 2 races available to enter, the 20km "Fun Ride" and the 50km "Open Category Mountain Bike Race." Being totally sensible and not at all swayed by the wussy title of "Fun Ride" I of course chose the Open Category Ultra-Mega-Too-Hardcore-For-People-Who-Know-What-A-Duvet-Is Mountain Bike Race. Since I have done almost no training other than a two or three bikerides a week around the city, I felt that the preparations on the day itself were crucial for success.
I didn't have more than 2 glasses of wine the night before the race. I slept at least 6 hours. I filled my camelback. I sacrificed a collection of small mammals to the gods of the Shimano drive-train. On the morning of the race, I stretched, warmed up and talked with some of the other racers to try and convince them not to kick my ass too hard. Clearly there was a language barrier.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwned
If the above link doesn't really do my moral victory justice, allow me to relate the events of the first 4km of the 50km race. Believe me, nothing really matters after the chase car decides you aren't worth chasing anymore and speeds off to follow someone with some skill....
Here is the image for you: I am sitting near the front of the pack waiting to begin. My gears are shifted for maximum acceleration, my camelback valve is open and ready to dispense and my legs are just itching to start the race. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. The first racer has decided he doesn't care about the count anymore and has started inching forward. 2. The second and third racers have taken the cue of the first racer. 1. GO! Plus 10 seconds into the race. More than half the pack is completely out of sight (not a joke). Plus 6 minutes or so into the race. The fat kid who I was hoping to actually compete with has disappeared from sight. Plus 7 minutes. The leaders of the "Fun Ride" have passed me. Plus 9 minutes. The chase car has stopped caring for my health and well-being and is well out of sight. I saw the chase car a little while later scraping some guy off the road who realized that concrete tasted better than winning and decided to stop for a snack. He was okay afterwards, but his eye was a little ground-beefish.
In the end, I biked about 20km and then grabbed the chase car on its return trip down the course (a there-and-back-again type of race). Embarassed, I finally made it back to downtown in time to catch up with the other volunteers who had just had a similar experience in the improperly named "Fun Ride."
It was a good time, and my first bike race ever.
There are a number of bike clubs from all around Legazpi city. I think I will start biking with them to train so that one day I may actually be able to compete on the wussy level.
I will have pictures from my apartment and site visits to local water supplies (yeah, I do actually do work sometimes) will be posted before too long.
Keep sending your emails, I love it when people do that. For every person that donates one email worth of care in my direction, I will pledge at least 5 extra minutes of hard work this week to help the people of the Philippines (okay that is kinda mean, but keep emailing anyway)
PEACE
Whenever my camera gets out of the shop (aka, my bedroom) and into my backpack again, I will post pictures of the rooms and the view. It is a brand new concrete building painted a really bad shade of institution green. I live on the second floor with an unobstructed view of Mt. Mayon and a good vista of the town and the airport. If you walk up one more set of stairs, there is a communal rooftop deck for box socials, suarees or just plain ole' lying down and staring at the stars.
#1 problem with moving into a new place: you have to buy a lot of new crap
I took yesterday off to cruise town and get my kitchen ready for Page's 2006 cooking experiment; more on that as details emerge.
This last weekend I decided that I needed an escape. I was feeling too bogged down by work (hard to imagine in the Peace Corps, but it is true) and in need of a bike race to participate in. As it so happened, luck was with me. This weekend was a two part experiment to determine how much my leg muscles have really atrophied since I have come here and to see how difficult it would be to do some serious travel with a large pack and bike. Another volunteer friend of mine, Katie, lives on the nearby island of Catanduanes . Their fiesta has been going on for the last few weeks or so and Katie had mentioned previously that a bike race was a part of that. Being an avid biker and occasionally liking a challenge, I decided to visit.
There were 2 races available to enter, the 20km "Fun Ride" and the 50km "Open Category Mountain Bike Race." Being totally sensible and not at all swayed by the wussy title of "Fun Ride" I of course chose the Open Category Ultra-Mega-Too-Hardcore-For-People-Who-Know-What-A-Duvet-Is Mountain Bike Race. Since I have done almost no training other than a two or three bikerides a week around the city, I felt that the preparations on the day itself were crucial for success.
I didn't have more than 2 glasses of wine the night before the race. I slept at least 6 hours. I filled my camelback. I sacrificed a collection of small mammals to the gods of the Shimano drive-train. On the morning of the race, I stretched, warmed up and talked with some of the other racers to try and convince them not to kick my ass too hard. Clearly there was a language barrier.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwned
If the above link doesn't really do my moral victory justice, allow me to relate the events of the first 4km of the 50km race. Believe me, nothing really matters after the chase car decides you aren't worth chasing anymore and speeds off to follow someone with some skill....
Here is the image for you: I am sitting near the front of the pack waiting to begin. My gears are shifted for maximum acceleration, my camelback valve is open and ready to dispense and my legs are just itching to start the race. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. The first racer has decided he doesn't care about the count anymore and has started inching forward. 2. The second and third racers have taken the cue of the first racer. 1. GO! Plus 10 seconds into the race. More than half the pack is completely out of sight (not a joke). Plus 6 minutes or so into the race. The fat kid who I was hoping to actually compete with has disappeared from sight. Plus 7 minutes. The leaders of the "Fun Ride" have passed me. Plus 9 minutes. The chase car has stopped caring for my health and well-being and is well out of sight. I saw the chase car a little while later scraping some guy off the road who realized that concrete tasted better than winning and decided to stop for a snack. He was okay afterwards, but his eye was a little ground-beefish.
In the end, I biked about 20km and then grabbed the chase car on its return trip down the course (a there-and-back-again type of race). Embarassed, I finally made it back to downtown in time to catch up with the other volunteers who had just had a similar experience in the improperly named "Fun Ride."
It was a good time, and my first bike race ever.
There are a number of bike clubs from all around Legazpi city. I think I will start biking with them to train so that one day I may actually be able to compete on the wussy level.
I will have pictures from my apartment and site visits to local water supplies (yeah, I do actually do work sometimes) will be posted before too long.
Keep sending your emails, I love it when people do that. For every person that donates one email worth of care in my direction, I will pledge at least 5 extra minutes of hard work this week to help the people of the Philippines (okay that is kinda mean, but keep emailing anyway)
PEACE
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Greetings after 6 MONTHS IN THE PEACE CORPS
You may remember me as that guy who stopped posting on his blog more than a month ago for no particular reason. You may also remember me as that friend/relative/acquaintance/bitter enemy/personal trainer to whom you loved to talk at one time. Now there is a new way you can think about that guy Page: the guy who survived the biggest typhoon the Philippines has seen in 20 years fast asleep on a bus in the middle of nowhere.
I have not been able to post to this blog or answer any email for the last month due to the severity of the storm and the remote-ness of the training site of Peace Corps. For most of you, don't take it personally; I am not ignoring you. For the remaining few (you know who you are) I am ignoring you because of those nasty comments you made about my weight...bastards....
Last wednesday, the 27th, I was on my way back from Manila. I had just finished my Peace Corps technical training. I decided to take the day bus because I hate spending the night in such an uncomfortable place. The day bus usually takes about 12 hours. At around 5:30 PM, the rain picked up and the bus slowed down. I ate a big meal at the dinner stop because I figured it might be a long ride. Boy was I right.
We came upon a downed tree at around 7:30 PM and the bus driver decided to wait out the night there on the road (this being the only road leading from Manila to Legazpi). The wind was howling. The bus was shaking. A few times during the night, I awoke with a start to the sound of a large tree falling on the roof. I thanked my lucky stars that I was in a shelter designed to be watertight and not made out of tin and bailing wire.
In the morning, the remaining 45 minute trip to Legazpi took 6 hours as we passed tree after tree blocking the road. At every tree there was a team of at least 6 or 8 local residents who had their Bolos (Machetes) out and were wailing away on every branch they could see. I could see a lot of branches that needed wailing. I have pictures that will be published later on that show some of this mayhem.
THE KICKER: When I got back to my site, I knew that I had about a week to find a new place to live because the initial signed agreement between me and my host family was about to expire. Instead of taking into consideration that maybe it would be difficult to find a new apartment, what with all the broken houses and lack of water or electricity, SHE KICKED ME OUT! The worst part is, she couldn't even come out and say it! She had to be a passive-aggressive [CENSORED] and not even actually answer me when I asked if I could maybe extend the housing agreement a little bit longer!! When I mentioned the idea, she shook her head, got up and went to hide in her room! It is as though, because she is a Filipino who is well off, she can ignore any cultural ideas of accommodation and "helping her fellow man." I am moving into a hotel temporarily tomorrow. I could rant on this subject for many an hour, but you guys get the gist.
Training was cool, we learned how to make sand and gravel water filters that cost almost nothing. My project here at Aquinas will probably involve them in some way over the next year. The Bio-Sand filter is a great idea. I will post more on that at another time.
Oh yeah, and if you come visit me, we are going to Boracay island and sitting on a beach for an extended period of time.
Page
I have not been able to post to this blog or answer any email for the last month due to the severity of the storm and the remote-ness of the training site of Peace Corps. For most of you, don't take it personally; I am not ignoring you. For the remaining few (you know who you are) I am ignoring you because of those nasty comments you made about my weight...bastards....
Last wednesday, the 27th, I was on my way back from Manila. I had just finished my Peace Corps technical training. I decided to take the day bus because I hate spending the night in such an uncomfortable place. The day bus usually takes about 12 hours. At around 5:30 PM, the rain picked up and the bus slowed down. I ate a big meal at the dinner stop because I figured it might be a long ride. Boy was I right.
We came upon a downed tree at around 7:30 PM and the bus driver decided to wait out the night there on the road (this being the only road leading from Manila to Legazpi). The wind was howling. The bus was shaking. A few times during the night, I awoke with a start to the sound of a large tree falling on the roof. I thanked my lucky stars that I was in a shelter designed to be watertight and not made out of tin and bailing wire.
In the morning, the remaining 45 minute trip to Legazpi took 6 hours as we passed tree after tree blocking the road. At every tree there was a team of at least 6 or 8 local residents who had their Bolos (Machetes) out and were wailing away on every branch they could see. I could see a lot of branches that needed wailing. I have pictures that will be published later on that show some of this mayhem.
THE KICKER: When I got back to my site, I knew that I had about a week to find a new place to live because the initial signed agreement between me and my host family was about to expire. Instead of taking into consideration that maybe it would be difficult to find a new apartment, what with all the broken houses and lack of water or electricity, SHE KICKED ME OUT! The worst part is, she couldn't even come out and say it! She had to be a passive-aggressive [CENSORED] and not even actually answer me when I asked if I could maybe extend the housing agreement a little bit longer!! When I mentioned the idea, she shook her head, got up and went to hide in her room! It is as though, because she is a Filipino who is well off, she can ignore any cultural ideas of accommodation and "helping her fellow man." I am moving into a hotel temporarily tomorrow. I could rant on this subject for many an hour, but you guys get the gist.
Training was cool, we learned how to make sand and gravel water filters that cost almost nothing. My project here at Aquinas will probably involve them in some way over the next year. The Bio-Sand filter is a great idea. I will post more on that at another time.
Oh yeah, and if you come visit me, we are going to Boracay island and sitting on a beach for an extended period of time.
Page
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Active vacationing at its finest
First, I should point out that there are NEW PICTURES UP!!!!
After weighing my options for the two weeks since my last update, I have decided that it would be better to actually experience something before I write any more.
I have been evacuated due to the erupting volcano, this is not news.
Friday I decided to take a vacation from my vacation and leave the peace and quiet of the Amor Farm Beach Resort in Donsol in search of better entertainment. A fellow volunteer, Richard Higgins, has a site in the town of Daet in Camarines Norte. He told me, earlier this week, that he was having a Solid Waste Management seminar. Given that my sector is Water and Sanitation, I felt obliged to attend.
By a strange coincidence, Daet also has the only good surf beach in the Bikol region. Must have been a lucky choice on my part to go....
SWM Conference Meringue
6 Volunteers
1 Local Official
3 Pieces Broken Audio Equipment
120 Eager Beaver Students
1 Pre-Arranged Conference
1 Not-Really-Pre-Arranged Thunderstorm
Paper
Markers
Sprinkles
Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
Mix in a large concrete bunker of a school.
Fully prepare conference and call local official to ensure community participation.
Slip rainstorm into mix when chef is looking at something else.
Giggle as chef swears in one of the hundreds of Bikol dialects.
Fall asleep after local official decides that it would be a good idea to read the recent government act on SWM to a bunch of high school kids.
Dream of electric sheep.
Awake occasionally to the soothing sounds of feedback through the speakers.
Conduct your portion of SWM seminar in loud booming voice reminiscent of Bill Nye the Science Guy.
...
Profit
After the conference, REAL PIZZA.
I must digress for a moment; when volunteers get together, our conversation drifts through many different topics. There is not one conversation that does not include the discussion of the foods we all miss from home. Don't get me wrong, Filipino food is delicious, but there are just certain nuances of the locals' taste buds that are not agreeable with American sensibilities; the closest facsimilie to cheese here is something called "Kraft Eden," the look/taste/smell of which makes me think of coagulated radiator fluid from the cold war era. Consequently, conversations usually sound like this:
"When I go home, I am just going to sit in in AirCon room and eat a block of cheese."
"I'll raise your block of cheese for two bagels with lox and a Dove bar."
"Oh you bastard, I'll see your bagels and ice cream and raise with a jar of pickles."
...and so on...
Cheese. Pizza. Turkey. Subs. BAGELS! Ice Cream. Real Coffee. Cookies. Pasta. Olive Oil. Spaghetti Sauce that is NOT LADEN WITH SUGAR!
There is a pizza parlor at the beach that had real mozzerella cheese and real pepperoni. That was nice. I ate so much that I got sick.
Afterwards, videoke. See pictures for highlights.
This place, Bagaspas beach, has an easy beach break and a really cool guy named Baker who runs the local waverider's club. Their surfboards were broken, but we got some boogyboards and had a good morning of it. I will return.
Until the volcano is done belching up lava, my address is whatever bus I happen to be on for the day. Who knows when this will end? My work misses me. I miss my work, but not enough to sneak back to Legaspi more than once a week. If things continue this way, I will go straight from my vacation to my second Peace Corps training in Iloilo City (Panay Island, Visayas).
Enjoy your dairy you bastards.
Goodbye for now.
ps - Has anyone recieved a postcard from me yet? I am curious about the world mail system.
After weighing my options for the two weeks since my last update, I have decided that it would be better to actually experience something before I write any more.
I have been evacuated due to the erupting volcano, this is not news.
Friday I decided to take a vacation from my vacation and leave the peace and quiet of the Amor Farm Beach Resort in Donsol in search of better entertainment. A fellow volunteer, Richard Higgins, has a site in the town of Daet in Camarines Norte. He told me, earlier this week, that he was having a Solid Waste Management seminar. Given that my sector is Water and Sanitation, I felt obliged to attend.
By a strange coincidence, Daet also has the only good surf beach in the Bikol region. Must have been a lucky choice on my part to go....
SWM Conference Meringue
6 Volunteers
1 Local Official
3 Pieces Broken Audio Equipment
120 Eager Beaver Students
1 Pre-Arranged Conference
1 Not-Really-Pre-Arranged Thunderstorm
Paper
Markers
Sprinkles
Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
Mix in a large concrete bunker of a school.
Fully prepare conference and call local official to ensure community participation.
Slip rainstorm into mix when chef is looking at something else.
Giggle as chef swears in one of the hundreds of Bikol dialects.
Fall asleep after local official decides that it would be a good idea to read the recent government act on SWM to a bunch of high school kids.
Dream of electric sheep.
Awake occasionally to the soothing sounds of feedback through the speakers.
Conduct your portion of SWM seminar in loud booming voice reminiscent of Bill Nye the Science Guy.
...
Profit
After the conference, REAL PIZZA.
I must digress for a moment; when volunteers get together, our conversation drifts through many different topics. There is not one conversation that does not include the discussion of the foods we all miss from home. Don't get me wrong, Filipino food is delicious, but there are just certain nuances of the locals' taste buds that are not agreeable with American sensibilities; the closest facsimilie to cheese here is something called "Kraft Eden," the look/taste/smell of which makes me think of coagulated radiator fluid from the cold war era. Consequently, conversations usually sound like this:
"When I go home, I am just going to sit in in AirCon room and eat a block of cheese."
"I'll raise your block of cheese for two bagels with lox and a Dove bar."
"Oh you bastard, I'll see your bagels and ice cream and raise with a jar of pickles."
...and so on...
Cheese. Pizza. Turkey. Subs. BAGELS! Ice Cream. Real Coffee. Cookies. Pasta. Olive Oil. Spaghetti Sauce that is NOT LADEN WITH SUGAR!
There is a pizza parlor at the beach that had real mozzerella cheese and real pepperoni. That was nice. I ate so much that I got sick.
Afterwards, videoke. See pictures for highlights.
This place, Bagaspas beach, has an easy beach break and a really cool guy named Baker who runs the local waverider's club. Their surfboards were broken, but we got some boogyboards and had a good morning of it. I will return.
Until the volcano is done belching up lava, my address is whatever bus I happen to be on for the day. Who knows when this will end? My work misses me. I miss my work, but not enough to sneak back to Legaspi more than once a week. If things continue this way, I will go straight from my vacation to my second Peace Corps training in Iloilo City (Panay Island, Visayas).
Enjoy your dairy you bastards.
Goodbye for now.
ps - Has anyone recieved a postcard from me yet? I am curious about the world mail system.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Evacu-cation!
As no doubt many of you have heard, the "World's Largest Pimple" (aka. Mt. Mayon) has reached alert level 4. Whenever a Philippine volcano reaches level 5, we say it is "pulling a 'tubo," as in Pinatubo. That is local street slang for losing your cool. No one wants to be caught in public pulling a 'tubo; imagine your girlfriend finding out you have skid-marks on the night you planned to propose. But I digress.
The mountain has started doing its thing and as a result, Peace Corps started doing their's: I have been evacuated from lovely, sunny, pollution-and-tricycle-free Legazpi City to Donsol. Donsol, as you may know, is the Whale-Shark capitol of the Philippines. It is also home to many quiet, peaceful beach resorts far from earshot of anything but the gentle lull of the "Inside Sea," for lack of a better name. As a result of this much more desirable locale, I have been spending most of my days sitting in a hammock, reading or doing some design work on one of my many proverbial "irons in the fire."
The official line is that, while the volcano itself may not pose any immediate danger to my place of residence, the hordes of panicky people in the event of a serious catastrophe would pose a grave danger considering how poorly I blend in here.
Although I am not doing real, honest, sit-down-and-wrack-your-brain-until-it-hurts kinda work, I have been learning about cultural quirks while sitting on the beach. During the calmer weather of the summer months, the ocean water surrounding the Philippines appear as large sheets of glass, occasionally disturbed by a passing Butanding (read: Whale Shark). The smooth seas make smooth sailing and easy fishing a regular part of life. When the winds pick up, at least in Sorsogon, the locals call it "Habagat" (I think that is how it is spelled). Habagat, while I don't know the origins, could easily serve as a worthy synonym for hunger and/or poverty.
When the water is choppy the fish hide and the fisherman follow suit. When the fish are no longer plentiful, the fish markets have little to sell. When the fish markets try to raise their prices to counteract the increased demand, the stubborn local consumer refuses to buy fish that are even 10 pesos more expensive and so the market cannot sell. There are no fish, the local commerce is screwed, and the words "poor" and "hungry" become rather prevalent all over town.
Now, to sound like an asshole tourist, I should point out that while the locals are having issues with the bare necessities, the weather is actually rather pleasant. There is a constant on-shore breeze, the skies are cloudy and, honestly, it is the perfect temperature for sitting in a hammock reading a book. I empathize, and I am actually trying to get some work done to help people out instead of sitting around like a bump on a log, but that doesn't change the fact that this is probably the perfect time to have been evacuated.
Oh well, back to the hammock for me.
Page
The mountain has started doing its thing and as a result, Peace Corps started doing their's: I have been evacuated from lovely, sunny, pollution-and-tricycle-free Legazpi City to Donsol. Donsol, as you may know, is the Whale-Shark capitol of the Philippines. It is also home to many quiet, peaceful beach resorts far from earshot of anything but the gentle lull of the "Inside Sea," for lack of a better name. As a result of this much more desirable locale, I have been spending most of my days sitting in a hammock, reading or doing some design work on one of my many proverbial "irons in the fire."
The official line is that, while the volcano itself may not pose any immediate danger to my place of residence, the hordes of panicky people in the event of a serious catastrophe would pose a grave danger considering how poorly I blend in here.
Although I am not doing real, honest, sit-down-and-wrack-your-brain-until-it-hurts kinda work, I have been learning about cultural quirks while sitting on the beach. During the calmer weather of the summer months, the ocean water surrounding the Philippines appear as large sheets of glass, occasionally disturbed by a passing Butanding (read: Whale Shark). The smooth seas make smooth sailing and easy fishing a regular part of life. When the winds pick up, at least in Sorsogon, the locals call it "Habagat" (I think that is how it is spelled). Habagat, while I don't know the origins, could easily serve as a worthy synonym for hunger and/or poverty.
When the water is choppy the fish hide and the fisherman follow suit. When the fish are no longer plentiful, the fish markets have little to sell. When the fish markets try to raise their prices to counteract the increased demand, the stubborn local consumer refuses to buy fish that are even 10 pesos more expensive and so the market cannot sell. There are no fish, the local commerce is screwed, and the words "poor" and "hungry" become rather prevalent all over town.
Now, to sound like an asshole tourist, I should point out that while the locals are having issues with the bare necessities, the weather is actually rather pleasant. There is a constant on-shore breeze, the skies are cloudy and, honestly, it is the perfect temperature for sitting in a hammock reading a book. I empathize, and I am actually trying to get some work done to help people out instead of sitting around like a bump on a log, but that doesn't change the fact that this is probably the perfect time to have been evacuated.
Oh well, back to the hammock for me.
Page
Friday, August 04, 2006
Recent happenings in and around Legazpi, Albay
It is funny when people request me to update this thing, not realizing that time's meaning is very different in this cross-cultural setting. The days are over before they begin and the weekends feel as long as the weeks. In the timeframe I usually update this thing (around a week) I am supposed to be having experiences to write about, but time's slow pace makes this week deadline almost seem too rushed. Whatever, I will keep writing so that I can have two journals to look back on when my grandkids ask me what the hell I was thinking running off to a place with no cheese and chocolate flavored toothpaste (not kidding).
Although time seems slow and if feels like I could be getting a lot more done than I actually do, I still LOVE sitting on my ass reading yet another good book. Recent projects include Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer, Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress by Debra Ginsberg, Emma by Jane Austen (Yes Dad, I am reading books by women too), The Tao of Physics by Franz Capra, and On the Road by That guy who spent a lot of time on the road.
This week the perception I had been nurturing of the Philippines as this gentle, slow place, full of friendly faces and slow change was suddenly thrown in my face:
There was a boy. Like most boys his age, he had a 21st birthday. Most boys his age get to see the age of 21 + 1/365 years. This boy did not. He was shot 4 times and killed. Considering the content and circumstances surrounding his death, I am going to cover my own pale, pasty ass by not putting them all here and making it convenient to find. If you would like my version of this story, comment on this post and I will send out a mass email to all interested parties; this way, you will only get the dirt if I know I can trust you (no offense to my anonymous readers, I just like following rule #1 to the letter and staying alive).
On a slightly less horrible note:
The volcano is getting pretty close to blowing its top like a middle schooler at his first dance with a "girl." Although the constant cloud cover makes it difficult to see the lava, the flow has now reached below the cloud layer; that is a relief in its own weird way.
"Yay, I can see the lava!"
"Oh shit, the lava is getting really close!"
"..."
"Yay, I can see the lava!"
I have also begun looking for my first apartment by myself. I never thought it would be on the other side of the world, but I have to start looking because all the rules and regulations of living in someone else's household are beginning to wear on me. I understand the right of a homeowner to be picky with their guests, but that does not mean I like living with that hanging over my head. Soon, Legazpi City party shack, complete with bowling alley and hot tub (aka, beer bottles, roundish rock and stove.)!! Come visit and I will show you at least 75% of a good time.
16823 people still have no idea what this refers to
Although time seems slow and if feels like I could be getting a lot more done than I actually do, I still LOVE sitting on my ass reading yet another good book. Recent projects include Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer, Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress by Debra Ginsberg, Emma by Jane Austen (Yes Dad, I am reading books by women too), The Tao of Physics by Franz Capra, and On the Road by That guy who spent a lot of time on the road.
This week the perception I had been nurturing of the Philippines as this gentle, slow place, full of friendly faces and slow change was suddenly thrown in my face:
There was a boy. Like most boys his age, he had a 21st birthday. Most boys his age get to see the age of 21 + 1/365 years. This boy did not. He was shot 4 times and killed. Considering the content and circumstances surrounding his death, I am going to cover my own pale, pasty ass by not putting them all here and making it convenient to find. If you would like my version of this story, comment on this post and I will send out a mass email to all interested parties; this way, you will only get the dirt if I know I can trust you (no offense to my anonymous readers, I just like following rule #1 to the letter and staying alive).
On a slightly less horrible note:
The volcano is getting pretty close to blowing its top like a middle schooler at his first dance with a "girl." Although the constant cloud cover makes it difficult to see the lava, the flow has now reached below the cloud layer; that is a relief in its own weird way.
"Yay, I can see the lava!"
"Oh shit, the lava is getting really close!"
"..."
"Yay, I can see the lava!"
I have also begun looking for my first apartment by myself. I never thought it would be on the other side of the world, but I have to start looking because all the rules and regulations of living in someone else's household are beginning to wear on me. I understand the right of a homeowner to be picky with their guests, but that does not mean I like living with that hanging over my head. Soon, Legazpi City party shack, complete with bowling alley and hot tub (aka, beer bottles, roundish rock and stove.)!! Come visit and I will show you at least 75% of a good time.
16823 people still have no idea what this refers to
Monday, July 17, 2006
Will update for 500 Pesos and a bag of mangoes...
So I haven't updated in a while...sue me.
As the time passes, the days seem to get shorter and the weeks are beginning to fly by. Lots of meetings and lots of work to do has been keeping me busy enough to not really think about the time...although at times I really could spend less time "working" on the computer here. The weekends have been nothing but good times, everything from hikes and parties to scuba diving; this "Peace Corps" thing is a pretty sweet deal both at work and play.
I gave my first real "seminar" last week, though it had little to do with water, sanitation, solid waste or any of my official titles. After spending a good 6 hours removing a "Click this button for a chance to win a million dollars" piece of spyware, I decided that people here needed to not do that again. The seminar was a bit of a success in that, people showed up, not all of them fell asleep, and most of them asked me for a copy of the presentation afterwards. It seems that wherever you go, teaching sessions for computer basics are better than any sort of lullaby for knocking people out in record time....oh well...
Data. This is what I did all last week; analyzed data. Some people might comment on how removed that sort of thing is from a genuine "cultural experience." Others may say that I spend too much time hiding in front of a computer. I would say that they are right and wrong in several ways. If there is one thing they teach in Peace Corps, it is how to cope with frustrations. There is nothing more frustrating than finding out that more than 60% of the data that you just analyzed is not only inaccurate, but most of the people who gathered the data didn't take the time to get any of the information they were supposed to.
My main project, the Provincial Water Resource Management Plan for Albay, is currently in an analysis phase. Data has been collected on all the Barangays in the province and now it is time to go through and prioritize the data for who needs help and who gets it first. Unfortunately, we have so little accurate data that we might as well put a map of Albay on the official PWRMP dartboard and throw blindfolded. For the sake of bureaucracy and "doing things the right way," we are going to run with the data if there is more than 30% for any municipality and start helping people ASAP.
Okay, I know that you are at least a little bored/sleepy after reading about my work...now for a little comic relief:
Walking to catch a jeep, I passed a tricycle stand:
"Hey, you want Tricycle?!"
"No thanks, I am okay."
"Oh, then you must be Johnny Walker"
giggles
As I mentioned above, my recent weekends have been packed with chocolatey goodness and cream filling. This week's official "good time" was scuba diving. I have been learning scuba with a number of other volunteers (Vanessa, Noah, Mariah and Alvin). and we are almost done with the class now. Our instructor, [Scuba] Steve, has showed us all the mechanics of diving and equipment maintenance but I feel like he could have done more with the dive tables than just said "here are what dive tables look like, now buy a dive computer and you wont have to worry about calculations."
Honestly, if there is one thing that they teach you in school in the US, it is to NEVER TRUST YOUR COMPUTER! Computers can fail; computers cannot be held responsible for their own actions, humans can. I have done my own dive calculations for any dives of serious depth (beyond 40 ft.) which is to say, I haven't actually had to do any calculations because I have not been below 40 ft yet. The thing about scuba is that it is very easy to go too deep, it is very easy to ascend too fast, and it is very easy to not know that you are doing either. A diver has to pay strict attention to his/her depth gauge so as to not get into a bad situation requiring a decompression chamber. So when a dive instructor is telling you that you don't need to know something, that a computer can figure it out, alarm bells start going off in your head.
Regardless, I am being careful....I am doing my own calculations and dive planning with the assistance of my fellow volunteers who are already certified and experienced. For all you crazy kids tuning in state-side, I am taking precautions to ensure that I don't break rule #1 (Don't die)...you can count on me.
Now that you have read most of my blog, I have the real news of the day (its like desert after a nice dinner). Mt. Mayon, the perfect cone volcano, is ERUPTING!!! It would be less exciting if I wasn't within 12km of the place where molten hot magma is leaving the earth's crust like rats deserting a ship. A few weeks ago, Mt. Bulusan erupted about 100 km from me and all my blog readers sent messages with bated breath while I laughed and told them that there was no danger whatsoever....this is slightly different.
There is a guy here who is a vulcanologist who is also a former Peace Corps volunteer who (as it happens) worked at Aquinas University in the 1970's as a geology professor. His name is Chris Newhall. He has been studying Mt. Mayon since before I was born and, consequently, has a pretty good picture of what is going on in there. Right now, it is an amazing show; the lava flow has reached about 1km down the side of the mountain and the eruption scale is escalating quickly. It is very possible that either I will have to be evacuated or I will get some great pictures of lava spouting off of the top.
On friday night, before our weekend scuba lesson, all of the volunteers visiting Legazpi went with Chris to the PHILVOLCS observatory and watched the seismometers and scientists do their thing as the earth bled before our very eyes. I have some pictures that will be posted as the eruption continues, but for now I think that I will plan an escape route in case this thing gets hectic.
Have a good day, and don't worry about me. I don't plan on drowning in water or lava anytime soon...
As the time passes, the days seem to get shorter and the weeks are beginning to fly by. Lots of meetings and lots of work to do has been keeping me busy enough to not really think about the time...although at times I really could spend less time "working" on the computer here. The weekends have been nothing but good times, everything from hikes and parties to scuba diving; this "Peace Corps" thing is a pretty sweet deal both at work and play.
I gave my first real "seminar" last week, though it had little to do with water, sanitation, solid waste or any of my official titles. After spending a good 6 hours removing a "Click this button for a chance to win a million dollars" piece of spyware, I decided that people here needed to not do that again. The seminar was a bit of a success in that, people showed up, not all of them fell asleep, and most of them asked me for a copy of the presentation afterwards. It seems that wherever you go, teaching sessions for computer basics are better than any sort of lullaby for knocking people out in record time....oh well...
Data. This is what I did all last week; analyzed data. Some people might comment on how removed that sort of thing is from a genuine "cultural experience." Others may say that I spend too much time hiding in front of a computer. I would say that they are right and wrong in several ways. If there is one thing they teach in Peace Corps, it is how to cope with frustrations. There is nothing more frustrating than finding out that more than 60% of the data that you just analyzed is not only inaccurate, but most of the people who gathered the data didn't take the time to get any of the information they were supposed to.
My main project, the Provincial Water Resource Management Plan for Albay, is currently in an analysis phase. Data has been collected on all the Barangays in the province and now it is time to go through and prioritize the data for who needs help and who gets it first. Unfortunately, we have so little accurate data that we might as well put a map of Albay on the official PWRMP dartboard and throw blindfolded. For the sake of bureaucracy and "doing things the right way," we are going to run with the data if there is more than 30% for any municipality and start helping people ASAP.
Okay, I know that you are at least a little bored/sleepy after reading about my work...now for a little comic relief:
Walking to catch a jeep, I passed a tricycle stand:
"Hey, you want Tricycle?!"
"No thanks, I am okay."
"Oh, then you must be Johnny Walker"
giggles
As I mentioned above, my recent weekends have been packed with chocolatey goodness and cream filling. This week's official "good time" was scuba diving. I have been learning scuba with a number of other volunteers (Vanessa, Noah, Mariah and Alvin). and we are almost done with the class now. Our instructor, [Scuba] Steve, has showed us all the mechanics of diving and equipment maintenance but I feel like he could have done more with the dive tables than just said "here are what dive tables look like, now buy a dive computer and you wont have to worry about calculations."
Honestly, if there is one thing that they teach you in school in the US, it is to NEVER TRUST YOUR COMPUTER! Computers can fail; computers cannot be held responsible for their own actions, humans can. I have done my own dive calculations for any dives of serious depth (beyond 40 ft.) which is to say, I haven't actually had to do any calculations because I have not been below 40 ft yet. The thing about scuba is that it is very easy to go too deep, it is very easy to ascend too fast, and it is very easy to not know that you are doing either. A diver has to pay strict attention to his/her depth gauge so as to not get into a bad situation requiring a decompression chamber. So when a dive instructor is telling you that you don't need to know something, that a computer can figure it out, alarm bells start going off in your head.
Regardless, I am being careful....I am doing my own calculations and dive planning with the assistance of my fellow volunteers who are already certified and experienced. For all you crazy kids tuning in state-side, I am taking precautions to ensure that I don't break rule #1 (Don't die)...you can count on me.
Now that you have read most of my blog, I have the real news of the day (its like desert after a nice dinner). Mt. Mayon, the perfect cone volcano, is ERUPTING!!! It would be less exciting if I wasn't within 12km of the place where molten hot magma is leaving the earth's crust like rats deserting a ship. A few weeks ago, Mt. Bulusan erupted about 100 km from me and all my blog readers sent messages with bated breath while I laughed and told them that there was no danger whatsoever....this is slightly different.
There is a guy here who is a vulcanologist who is also a former Peace Corps volunteer who (as it happens) worked at Aquinas University in the 1970's as a geology professor. His name is Chris Newhall. He has been studying Mt. Mayon since before I was born and, consequently, has a pretty good picture of what is going on in there. Right now, it is an amazing show; the lava flow has reached about 1km down the side of the mountain and the eruption scale is escalating quickly. It is very possible that either I will have to be evacuated or I will get some great pictures of lava spouting off of the top.
On friday night, before our weekend scuba lesson, all of the volunteers visiting Legazpi went with Chris to the PHILVOLCS observatory and watched the seismometers and scientists do their thing as the earth bled before our very eyes. I have some pictures that will be posted as the eruption continues, but for now I think that I will plan an escape route in case this thing gets hectic.
Have a good day, and don't worry about me. I don't plan on drowning in water or lava anytime soon...
Monday, July 03, 2006
Long weekend, project developments
Isn't it great how politicians can own companies that they can then make laws to protect? I think that there is no better way to do things; I mean, who knows better what a company needs to be successful and at the same time socially conscious than a democratically elected politician or spouse? Oh wait...
Since I am not really supposed to be too inflamatory towards the country that is letting me stay here on its own good will, I will leave a few links sitting here. If you read them and make your own conclusions, then I can't control that.
GreenPeace report on Lafeyette Mining
Lafayette hires former head of DENR
"Sonny — the Aussies believe — can make their troubles with the government regulatory agencies go away"
WTF!??!?!?
On the more positive side of things, I was almost struck by lightning on the way back from this weekend's not-quite-the-fourth of july party. Almost all of the volunteers from the Bikol region came to party in Donsol (the place known for the Butanding...whale sharks). On the way to prepare for the party, Julia, the volunteer who lives in Donsol, told me that the Filcab driver asked her about her party. Imagine heading back home to get ready for some big event and the cab-driver knows about it and has probably invited his buddies; only in the Philippines.
We rented a videoke machine, we drank lots of beer, we cooked and ate lots of chicken and fish, we danced, we sang, we made merry, we told ghost stories, we made smores, we bought fireworks and got too drunk to set them off (so we didn't). Lightning, oh yeah... On the way back from the party, we all rented a van and were going over a hill when a lightning bolt blew up a tree about 100 feet from the car. By 'blew up,' I mean tree, flash of light, no tree, loud noise, obcenities, soiled undergarments, laughter.
More to come later when I can get away from the internet long enough to actually have some more experiences...
That Guy
Since I am not really supposed to be too inflamatory towards the country that is letting me stay here on its own good will, I will leave a few links sitting here. If you read them and make your own conclusions, then I can't control that.
GreenPeace report on Lafeyette Mining
Lafayette hires former head of DENR
"Sonny — the Aussies believe — can make their troubles with the government regulatory agencies go away"
WTF!??!?!?
On the more positive side of things, I was almost struck by lightning on the way back from this weekend's not-quite-the-fourth of july party. Almost all of the volunteers from the Bikol region came to party in Donsol (the place known for the Butanding...whale sharks). On the way to prepare for the party, Julia, the volunteer who lives in Donsol, told me that the Filcab driver asked her about her party. Imagine heading back home to get ready for some big event and the cab-driver knows about it and has probably invited his buddies; only in the Philippines.
We rented a videoke machine, we drank lots of beer, we cooked and ate lots of chicken and fish, we danced, we sang, we made merry, we told ghost stories, we made smores, we bought fireworks and got too drunk to set them off (so we didn't). Lightning, oh yeah... On the way back from the party, we all rented a van and were going over a hill when a lightning bolt blew up a tree about 100 feet from the car. By 'blew up,' I mean tree, flash of light, no tree, loud noise, obcenities, soiled undergarments, laughter.
More to come later when I can get away from the internet long enough to actually have some more experiences...
That Guy
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
This post is blatant plagarism
I was reading another volunteer's blog page (V is for Vanessa) and thought that she made quite a few good points about care packages. Seeing how I haven't put any sort of standards, it is hard for all of you guys to decide to send me something; no, even though there is none in the country, I don't need toilet paper.
Here is a direct quote of her website and her comments (I edited some things out that I wont use, such as women's underwear. If you really want to send it I have a good spot for a bonfire in my backyard...):
"
Mailing address for packages:
*EDIT - I realized, after posting this, that it is a really bad idea to post my real mailing address anywhere public. If you want the address to mail things to me, just post a comment or email me.
Alrighty, enough of that for now.
Here is a direct quote of her website and her comments (I edited some things out that I wont use, such as women's underwear. If you really want to send it I have a good spot for a bonfire in my backyard...):
"
- Books!!! – Second hand books are fantastic & we all trade, so they’ll get lots of mileage.
- specific requests (book of basic yoga techniques, book of card tricks)
- Pictures - Of yourself, of family, of friends. Basically anything that I might want to look at...no porn...
- Music – CDs, mix CDs, MP3 CDs…
- Movies – VCDs (new, used or copied) or burned CDs of avi files (particularly good for television shows), NOT DVD's, I don't have a player.
- Candy – Individually wrapped, non-meltable candy, ie starburst, werther’s, jolly ranchers, Mike and Ikes....
- USB Flash Drive – I am without such an item and am in desparate need.
- Games, Toys & Timewasters – Good for entertaining kids and keeping volunteers from going crazy. (Frisbee, hackysack, juggling balls, sudoku puzzles, etc...)
- Dried goods - Dried beans (kidney, red, black, chickpeas), lentils and popping corn, etc.
- ensure that everything arrives as smoothly as possible:
- Use secure packing materials & more tape than you think necessary.
- Print addresses VERY clearly.
- Pack tightly, don’t leave a lot of room for items to shift about.
- Try to distribute weight evenly.
- Put a packing slip inside with an inventory of the package & my address…just in case it gets opened along the way, they know where to send it and I know what’s missing.
- Apparently people are fairly superstitious and religious here, addressing mail to Father Page Weil or putting bible excerpts or phrases such as “God bless this package on its journey and all who handle it” help to ensure that it won’t get “lost” on the way.
- Don’t put real value on the customs form- they paste it on the package and if someone sees a high (by local standards) value, it’s more likely to get pilfered. Best not to say more than 5 or 10 dollars.
- Send mail directly to my site, the address is written below. Peace Corps won’t take my stuff, but it will take longer to arrive and I will have to pay to have it forwarded to me from Manila.
- Airmail is fast, boat mail is slow. It will take approximately 2 weeks for airmail from the US. Boat mail takes 2-3 months
Mailing address for packages:
*EDIT - I realized, after posting this, that it is a really bad idea to post my real mailing address anywhere public. If you want the address to mail things to me, just post a comment or email me.
Alrighty, enough of that for now.
More pictures
LAAAADIES AND GENTLEMENNNNN!!!!! In the red corner, weighing in at 187 lbs and wearing the pink boxers with green polka dots is the reigning champion, Billy Blanks! And in the blue corner, we have the new guy! He's big! He's bad! He is Page's most recent updated webshots album! Now with less MSG than ever before! Don't waste your money on Billy, folks. I think we all know how this fight is going to end and, from the looks of things, so does Billy.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Week three of Page's Crazy Funhouse!
What is there to say at the beginning of week three...?
I am booked. In much the same way as I was booked in the Summer of Lost Dreams, every weekday I have work to fill my time and every weekend I have fun, crazy things planned! Here is the breakdown so far of my weekends here:
June 3-4: Went snorkeling in clear, beautiful water. Ordered my prescription snorkeling goggles. Got sunburnt.
June 10-11: Went on a site visit to Barangay Misibis in the Municipality of Tiwi. It was a crazy bushwhacking adventure hike through the wild jungle, complete with leeches, almost falling off of cliffs and fresh coconut milk from frshly cut coconuts (no diarrhea...yet).
June 17-18: Visited some volunteer buddies on the nearby island of Catanduanes. They have what we refer to as the "Peace Corps Mansion"; they have Air Conditioning, Cable, Internet, a beautiful kitchen and they live literally 100 yards from the beer distribution center for the island. Needless to say, our cross-cultural experiences this last weekend were limited to lying around drunk in their room watching most of the second season of Lost from Anthony's computer. There is not much to do on Catanduanes but believe me, we did less.
June 24-25: Going back to the snorkeling site with more people, more food, more booze and more sunscreen.
July 1-2: There is a big party at the house of a volunteer who has been here for a year already. She has a cute little nipa hut on the beach where we are going to eat and drink a ton and probably shoot off some fireworks. The first thing she said when we mentioned the idea of fireworks was that we should ask the local police chief...if he wants to join us...
July 8-9: 2 days of SCUBA training!
July 15-16: 2 MORE days of SCUBA training!
July 22-23: 1 more DAY OF scuba TRAINING! Then one day of coral reef investigation...aww shucks, that almost sounds like work...
July 29-30: Climb a nearby volcano (Mt. Isarog) with the local outdoor shop. It is a heavily forested volcano that has people living on its slopes, totally cut off from the outside world. I have met some villages like that already and they seem to get along fine, their kids just wear less clothing.
In general, projects are coming along. Aquinas University Foundation has me sizing pipes and designing bridges for the water project in Tiwi that I visited. I think they are going to have me manage the construction of that once the design is finished...this project really is a trial-by-fire for my engineering skills. "We need this, do it." "But, but, but, okay i'll do it (translation: I really don't know how, but I think I can find it out if you have the internet here...)"
As far as cultural experiences go, I think I stuck my foot really deep in my mouth for the first time since I have been here. My boss, Felix, took me out with his Barkada (buddies, aka. drinking circle) and we got to talking. The first subject any Filipino will seriously broach with you is the subject of marriage. I am not married. I am currently a single male (soltero in Bikol). Of course, that is an unacceptable status for someone my age, so they ask me if I thought any girls who work at Aquinas University Foundation are cute... I made the mistake of giving them a name. Now, due to the third party system of telling everyone else ALL OF YOUR BUSINESS, I think both she and I are going to be getting pushes from those around us to marry (because you don't date here, you marry).
Whatever. I am not marrying anyone anytime soon.
Ta ta for now, I have to leave this office of wonderfully free internet before they lock my ass in here and I am unable to makaon nin sakuyang pamanggi (eat my dinner).
Peace and Peace Corps
5742 people have no idea what this sentence references
I am booked. In much the same way as I was booked in the Summer of Lost Dreams, every weekday I have work to fill my time and every weekend I have fun, crazy things planned! Here is the breakdown so far of my weekends here:
June 3-4: Went snorkeling in clear, beautiful water. Ordered my prescription snorkeling goggles. Got sunburnt.
June 10-11: Went on a site visit to Barangay Misibis in the Municipality of Tiwi. It was a crazy bushwhacking adventure hike through the wild jungle, complete with leeches, almost falling off of cliffs and fresh coconut milk from frshly cut coconuts (no diarrhea...yet).
June 17-18: Visited some volunteer buddies on the nearby island of Catanduanes. They have what we refer to as the "Peace Corps Mansion"; they have Air Conditioning, Cable, Internet, a beautiful kitchen and they live literally 100 yards from the beer distribution center for the island. Needless to say, our cross-cultural experiences this last weekend were limited to lying around drunk in their room watching most of the second season of Lost from Anthony's computer. There is not much to do on Catanduanes but believe me, we did less.
June 24-25: Going back to the snorkeling site with more people, more food, more booze and more sunscreen.
July 1-2: There is a big party at the house of a volunteer who has been here for a year already. She has a cute little nipa hut on the beach where we are going to eat and drink a ton and probably shoot off some fireworks. The first thing she said when we mentioned the idea of fireworks was that we should ask the local police chief...if he wants to join us...
July 8-9: 2 days of SCUBA training!
July 15-16: 2 MORE days of SCUBA training!
July 22-23: 1 more DAY OF scuba TRAINING! Then one day of coral reef investigation...aww shucks, that almost sounds like work...
July 29-30: Climb a nearby volcano (Mt. Isarog) with the local outdoor shop. It is a heavily forested volcano that has people living on its slopes, totally cut off from the outside world. I have met some villages like that already and they seem to get along fine, their kids just wear less clothing.
In general, projects are coming along. Aquinas University Foundation has me sizing pipes and designing bridges for the water project in Tiwi that I visited. I think they are going to have me manage the construction of that once the design is finished...this project really is a trial-by-fire for my engineering skills. "We need this, do it." "But, but, but, okay i'll do it (translation: I really don't know how, but I think I can find it out if you have the internet here...)"
As far as cultural experiences go, I think I stuck my foot really deep in my mouth for the first time since I have been here. My boss, Felix, took me out with his Barkada (buddies, aka. drinking circle) and we got to talking. The first subject any Filipino will seriously broach with you is the subject of marriage. I am not married. I am currently a single male (soltero in Bikol). Of course, that is an unacceptable status for someone my age, so they ask me if I thought any girls who work at Aquinas University Foundation are cute... I made the mistake of giving them a name. Now, due to the third party system of telling everyone else ALL OF YOUR BUSINESS, I think both she and I are going to be getting pushes from those around us to marry (because you don't date here, you marry).
Whatever. I am not marrying anyone anytime soon.
Ta ta for now, I have to leave this office of wonderfully free internet before they lock my ass in here and I am unable to makaon nin sakuyang pamanggi (eat my dinner).
Peace and Peace Corps
5742 people have no idea what this sentence references
Saturday, June 10, 2006
The end of my first week at site!
I know that many people read this post regularly and want to hear what I have to say, but I am only one person and can only get to the internet so often (this week it was 5 times...giggle).
Now that I have been sworn-in officially as a volunteer, I have moved in with a new host family. Peace Corps requires that I live with them for the first 3 months of service, although "living with" is a bit of a relative term in this case. The family I am living with is a college professor, her mid 60's father and the house help. The time I spend with them has sofar been limited to meals because she works a ton and so do I; there is little family time, unlike the Francias (my host family from training).
Many people have been quoted as saying that the kids are the best part of Peace Corps. Wherever you are in the world, children are happy and unaware. My project is not particularly grassroots development and such, I will not get to work with that many kids. I really feel as though I am working at a US office, but living here in the Philippines. It is nice, but I think it will be more of a challenge to make friends when my times is mostly spent at a job not near my community.
My job. It is awesome. I feel like some kind of superhero out of a movie. A character Tom Cruise might play (or that Julia Roberts did play). During the first week, I was thrown into the mix of things and told what my project is and given very important work.
[Names have been changed to prevent detection of my exact location by potentially interested parties]
There is a mine owned by Bill's Mining Company. Bill's Mining Company has a contract with the local government to operate their mine while maintaining locally required environmental standards. Recently, a whole lot of fish died on the island of Punga-Punga where the mine is located. Local reactions say it is due to the mercury and cyanide being leeched into the groundwater through improper environmental controls.
A commission at my university is organized and recommends, through its findings, that the mine have its environmental license revoked and it be shut down. Bill's Mining Company says "Billshit! We don't even use mercury for our mining (even though it is the preferred reactant for the extraction of precious metals in the mining industry)! We have been an upstanding young mine who is just looking to make a dollar in this harsh world of ours!" The commission's recommendation is passed to our beloved president Georgiana Madeline Areyousleeping who, by the way, has not had a hint of corruption on her record except that pesky tape that accused her of vote buying surfaced this year. GMA says "Nope. I think it is in the best interests of the Philippines [Read Philippine Businesses not people] that the mine stay open. Sorry local fisherman, you guys are SOL!"
Meanwhile, no one will buy any of the fish from Punga-Punga because all the local sellers and consumers are afraid of that big scary "M" word contaminating the breakfasts, lunches and dinners of their children. And we know that when push comes to shove, it is all about the children anyway. So, the fisherman are out of business and another study done by my university has shown that the water sources on the end of the island near the mine have tested positive for Mercury and Cyanide (don't forget, Bill's Mining Company denied any sort of mercury use on the island)
Enter Page. The superhero. Or at least the newbie environmental engineer who has a degree, a pocket full of dreams and a set of sandals that smell oddly like corn chips that have been in someone's armpit for a couple of months.
Page says "I can't go faster than a speeding bullet, but I can help you test, scientifically, all the wells on the island. We can show that the bastards at the bastard mining company are lying through their bastard teeth about local contamination. We can make a study that could potentially be used in court (depending on how we design it)."
Page's university says "Yay! Now can you get my kitten out of that tree?"
Page says "No. The nature of sustainable development is that you are helping people help themselves (Translation: I am afraid of heights, get your own damn kitty)."
The long and the short of things are that I need to help them design and implement a study that could potentially be used in court against the mine, or at the very least be good information for the citizenry of Punga-Punga and the surrounding province.
This is the first project. I have been here a week. God this job is gonna be awesome.
Now that I have been sworn-in officially as a volunteer, I have moved in with a new host family. Peace Corps requires that I live with them for the first 3 months of service, although "living with" is a bit of a relative term in this case. The family I am living with is a college professor, her mid 60's father and the house help. The time I spend with them has sofar been limited to meals because she works a ton and so do I; there is little family time, unlike the Francias (my host family from training).
Many people have been quoted as saying that the kids are the best part of Peace Corps. Wherever you are in the world, children are happy and unaware. My project is not particularly grassroots development and such, I will not get to work with that many kids. I really feel as though I am working at a US office, but living here in the Philippines. It is nice, but I think it will be more of a challenge to make friends when my times is mostly spent at a job not near my community.
My job. It is awesome. I feel like some kind of superhero out of a movie. A character Tom Cruise might play (or that Julia Roberts did play). During the first week, I was thrown into the mix of things and told what my project is and given very important work.
[Names have been changed to prevent detection of my exact location by potentially interested parties]
There is a mine owned by Bill's Mining Company. Bill's Mining Company has a contract with the local government to operate their mine while maintaining locally required environmental standards. Recently, a whole lot of fish died on the island of Punga-Punga where the mine is located. Local reactions say it is due to the mercury and cyanide being leeched into the groundwater through improper environmental controls.
A commission at my university is organized and recommends, through its findings, that the mine have its environmental license revoked and it be shut down. Bill's Mining Company says "Billshit! We don't even use mercury for our mining (even though it is the preferred reactant for the extraction of precious metals in the mining industry)! We have been an upstanding young mine who is just looking to make a dollar in this harsh world of ours!" The commission's recommendation is passed to our beloved president Georgiana Madeline Areyousleeping who, by the way, has not had a hint of corruption on her record except that pesky tape that accused her of vote buying surfaced this year. GMA says "Nope. I think it is in the best interests of the Philippines [Read Philippine Businesses not people] that the mine stay open. Sorry local fisherman, you guys are SOL!"
Meanwhile, no one will buy any of the fish from Punga-Punga because all the local sellers and consumers are afraid of that big scary "M" word contaminating the breakfasts, lunches and dinners of their children. And we know that when push comes to shove, it is all about the children anyway. So, the fisherman are out of business and another study done by my university has shown that the water sources on the end of the island near the mine have tested positive for Mercury and Cyanide (don't forget, Bill's Mining Company denied any sort of mercury use on the island)
Enter Page. The superhero. Or at least the newbie environmental engineer who has a degree, a pocket full of dreams and a set of sandals that smell oddly like corn chips that have been in someone's armpit for a couple of months.
Page says "I can't go faster than a speeding bullet, but I can help you test, scientifically, all the wells on the island. We can show that the bastards at the bastard mining company are lying through their bastard teeth about local contamination. We can make a study that could potentially be used in court (depending on how we design it)."
Page's university says "Yay! Now can you get my kitten out of that tree?"
Page says "No. The nature of sustainable development is that you are helping people help themselves (Translation: I am afraid of heights, get your own damn kitty)."
The long and the short of things are that I need to help them design and implement a study that could potentially be used in court against the mine, or at the very least be good information for the citizenry of Punga-Punga and the surrounding province.
This is the first project. I have been here a week. God this job is gonna be awesome.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Lots and lots of SWEARING........-in, that is.
If you can read this or if someone is reading this to you or if you have some special telepsychic link with the internet so you just absorb information, then you will know that I am now a 100% official US Peace Corps volunteer. The official swearing-in ceremony was earlier this week and the last training session has been given.
Our final set of training sessions were held in Los Banos, Laguna Province at a hot springs resort called Lake View. Go figure that a popular destination in a REALLY HOT COUNTRY would be a REALLY HOT SPRING!! The pool felt like someone had made one giant warm spot through their pants and filled the pool with it. All of the volunteers from Bikol, Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Mindoro and Palawan were at this training event; I got to see a lot of people who I might never have seen otherwise and some I may never see again.
The night after swearing was a crazy party of videoke and alcohol at a GRO bar with 30 of the volunteers from the day's events. Although the term GRO refers to "Guest Relations Officer," aka whore, I have no reason to think that any volunteers have partaken in such activities.
Last week, during the last sessions at Penafrancia resort near Naga city (my training site) we decided to take a day to go to the brand new wakeboarding complex that was built by the governor in this last year. You know there is a serious corruption problem when the Governor builds a wakeboarding ring for 100 million pesos and many people still die from the lack of decent health care/clean water every day. Now that I have stated my opinions on its immorality, I should tell you that the wakeboarding was freakin' sweet. That was quite a good time.
http://www.camsurwatersportscomplex.com/cwc/pages/index.htm
I spoke with my supervisor in the last week about the actual work I will be doing and the rate at which it needs to get done. Basically, he is giving me a month of settling-in time, after which I will be thrown into the mix and have a large report to finish by mid-september. Basically, in the next 3 months I have to choose, rationally, the dividing lines for all of the water districts in the province; they have yet to be looked at. I will relate more information as far as my project goes when it comes time to begin work.
For now, I am sitting in the Peace Corps office in Manila, nursing a hangover from last night's sendoff for the RVC (current volunteer who helped us coordinate our training and is now a good friend) Corey. Manila is large, dirty, full of prostitutes, cheap by US standards and generally chaotic. In general, I am excited to be leaving tomorrow, but not before I buy some things like snorkeling gear. I will be getting SCUBA certified in the near future, so that is kinda awesome.
For now, keep the comments coming, they keep me sane. I miss each and every one of you guys and can't wait to share more experiences with you.
CYA LATA
Our final set of training sessions were held in Los Banos, Laguna Province at a hot springs resort called Lake View. Go figure that a popular destination in a REALLY HOT COUNTRY would be a REALLY HOT SPRING!! The pool felt like someone had made one giant warm spot through their pants and filled the pool with it. All of the volunteers from Bikol, Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Mindoro and Palawan were at this training event; I got to see a lot of people who I might never have seen otherwise and some I may never see again.
The night after swearing was a crazy party of videoke and alcohol at a GRO bar with 30 of the volunteers from the day's events. Although the term GRO refers to "Guest Relations Officer," aka whore, I have no reason to think that any volunteers have partaken in such activities.
Last week, during the last sessions at Penafrancia resort near Naga city (my training site) we decided to take a day to go to the brand new wakeboarding complex that was built by the governor in this last year. You know there is a serious corruption problem when the Governor builds a wakeboarding ring for 100 million pesos and many people still die from the lack of decent health care/clean water every day. Now that I have stated my opinions on its immorality, I should tell you that the wakeboarding was freakin' sweet. That was quite a good time.
http://www.camsurwatersportscomplex.com/cwc/pages/index.htm
I spoke with my supervisor in the last week about the actual work I will be doing and the rate at which it needs to get done. Basically, he is giving me a month of settling-in time, after which I will be thrown into the mix and have a large report to finish by mid-september. Basically, in the next 3 months I have to choose, rationally, the dividing lines for all of the water districts in the province; they have yet to be looked at. I will relate more information as far as my project goes when it comes time to begin work.
For now, I am sitting in the Peace Corps office in Manila, nursing a hangover from last night's sendoff for the RVC (current volunteer who helped us coordinate our training and is now a good friend) Corey. Manila is large, dirty, full of prostitutes, cheap by US standards and generally chaotic. In general, I am excited to be leaving tomorrow, but not before I buy some things like snorkeling gear. I will be getting SCUBA certified in the near future, so that is kinda awesome.
For now, keep the comments coming, they keep me sane. I miss each and every one of you guys and can't wait to share more experiences with you.
CYA LATA
Saturday, May 20, 2006
http://community.webshots.com/user/gigamosh57
Know it. Love it. Go to it and look at the lovely pictures that Page decides that your eyes are worthy enough to see.
Know it. Love it. Go to it and look at the lovely pictures that Page decides that your eyes are worthy enough to see.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Site Announcements!!!
Wow. There are too many good things and ideas to list. Things are beginning to happen.
We found out our sites today and I will be in Legaspi, Albay, Philippines. I don't know where within the city I will be, nor do I think I will be able to post that information on here once I do know (security and all that).
I will be working with a university in the area on the planning and design team for a water resource development and management strategy for the ENTIRE PROVINCE OF ALBAY! Imagine I was an engineer designing the water system to be put into Delaware; have some scale. The budget for the design portion of the project (what I will be doing) is 1.5 million Pesos (about 30,000 USD) which may not seem like a lot, but 30 grand goes a long way when the cost of living is so much lower.
My official Peace Corps assignment is great. I could not be happier unless they gave me a giant pile of dead bunnies to play with as well. What is funny is that at the same time they told me all the good stuff, I recalled a conference I heard about at CU. There is a type of ceramic filtration system that can be made by local potters from local materials for local purchase/consumption that WORKS!!!! Although it is not my original idea, it is the kind of thing that, with time and effort, could be turned into a holy grail for the third world.
Research has been done on its production and chemistry:
http://www.ideassonline.org/bros_testi_eng.asp?rec=122
http://www.potpaz.org/
http://www.edc-cu.org/filtron.htm
If my primary project does not pan out as planned, I am thinking of holding a seminar within Peace Corps (after learning the nuances of this particular idea) to teach other volunteers how to make/train others to make this filter.
This project has so many facets and so much potential that it simply CANNOT be ignored. Hard work will push it through.
I have to go eat delicious Filipino food now, Ta-ta.
ps - If you are reading this, you are likely my friend or relative. That having been said, JOIN THE PEACE CORPS!!! This is the most incredible thing I have ever done and I think all of my friends/family could potentially provide immense support to the third world. At least consider it...THEN DO IT!!!
We found out our sites today and I will be in Legaspi, Albay, Philippines. I don't know where within the city I will be, nor do I think I will be able to post that information on here once I do know (security and all that).
I will be working with a university in the area on the planning and design team for a water resource development and management strategy for the ENTIRE PROVINCE OF ALBAY! Imagine I was an engineer designing the water system to be put into Delaware; have some scale. The budget for the design portion of the project (what I will be doing) is 1.5 million Pesos (about 30,000 USD) which may not seem like a lot, but 30 grand goes a long way when the cost of living is so much lower.
My official Peace Corps assignment is great. I could not be happier unless they gave me a giant pile of dead bunnies to play with as well. What is funny is that at the same time they told me all the good stuff, I recalled a conference I heard about at CU. There is a type of ceramic filtration system that can be made by local potters from local materials for local purchase/consumption that WORKS!!!! Although it is not my original idea, it is the kind of thing that, with time and effort, could be turned into a holy grail for the third world.
Research has been done on its production and chemistry:
http://www.ideassonline.org
http://www.potpaz.org/
http://www.edc-cu.org/filtron
If my primary project does not pan out as planned, I am thinking of holding a seminar within Peace Corps (after learning the nuances of this particular idea) to teach other volunteers how to make/train others to make this filter.
This project has so many facets and so much potential that it simply CANNOT be ignored. Hard work will push it through.
I have to go eat delicious Filipino food now, Ta-ta.
ps - If you are reading this, you are likely my friend or relative. That having been said, JOIN THE PEACE CORPS!!! This is the most incredible thing I have ever done and I think all of my friends/family could potentially provide immense support to the third world. At least consider it...THEN DO IT!!!
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Greetings from Naga City, Bikol, Philippines
Peace Corps has taken the next step and moved batch 265 (that includes yours truly) from the cushy Manilla resort to a less cushy resort in Naga City, Bikol (Luzon Island). The food is delicious, although 5 meals per day can add up to a serious belly. The day goes something like this:
Wake up at 5:30
Shower
Breakfast at 6:30
Morning classes at 8:00
Second breakfast (Merienda) at 10:00
Mid-Morning class at 10:30
Lunch at 12:00
Afternoon Class at 1:00
Second Lunch (Afternoon Merienda) at 3:00
Late Class at 3:30
Dinner at 6:00
Free time after that
When we were still in Manilla, I realized that the sandals I have (Keens) are absolutely perfect for hacky-sack and found that I have developed some body awareness from all of that rock-climbing. Unfortunately for me, the guy who owned the sack I was using went to a different hub site. In order to remedy the situation, I used the free day we had when first arriving in Naga City to stitch one from fabric I removed from pants and sheets. +1 of hacky-sack making for Page!!!
But Page, what is this magical hub site you are talking about? Well, strange third person voice, I will explain the structure of my training program. Thanks Page!!
Arrival in Detroit - 76 volunteers
Arrival in Manilla - Still 76 volunteers
Training classes for a week - 76 divided by one training site still equals 76
Last friday, wake up at 3:45 to get on a plane to respective hub sites. These hub sites are divided according to geographic region, since there are 100 or so recognized languages in the Philippines. I will be learning Bikol-Naga (Bikol is the region and Naga is the local city dialect).
Arrival at hub site in Naga City - 13 volunteers; others are in Northern Luzon, Palawan Island, The Western Visayas and the Eastern Visayas.
Next week, split into cluster sites - 4 PCTs (Peace Corps Trainee), 4 different host families and 1 LCF (Language Cultural Facilitator; goddam acronyms)
9 weeks from now, finish training and go to my ACTUAL site. Unfortunately, the Peace Corps will not allow me to divulge the exact location of my site for security reasons, but I will be able to tell you in what province it resides...when I know.
Although I wont post my number on this website, I have sent it to everyone in my addressbook. If, for some reason, you did not recieve that email, yell at me for being a worthless pile of pig turds and I will send it to you. The best time to reach me is before 8:00 AM or after 5:00 PM here (that translates to 7:00 PM and 4:00 AM respectively for Washington DC, and 5:00 PM and 2:00 AM for Denver).
Side note - first vacation of PC (although it seems like a vacation the whole time)
WHALE SHARKS!!! http://www.camperspoint.com/article.php3?id_article=30
I get to swim with the world's largest fish tomorrow morning. This animal was my favorite as a kid, so I can't wait. I hear they can grow to be the size of a School bus; that's right, a fish the size of a bus and Page swimming along side with a big ass grin on his face.
Well, off for now, keep the emails and comments coming. You readers are my support base, and don't worry, I will send real letters soon.
Wake up at 5:30
Shower
Breakfast at 6:30
Morning classes at 8:00
Second breakfast (Merienda) at 10:00
Mid-Morning class at 10:30
Lunch at 12:00
Afternoon Class at 1:00
Second Lunch (Afternoon Merienda) at 3:00
Late Class at 3:30
Dinner at 6:00
Free time after that
When we were still in Manilla, I realized that the sandals I have (Keens) are absolutely perfect for hacky-sack and found that I have developed some body awareness from all of that rock-climbing. Unfortunately for me, the guy who owned the sack I was using went to a different hub site. In order to remedy the situation, I used the free day we had when first arriving in Naga City to stitch one from fabric I removed from pants and sheets. +1 of hacky-sack making for Page!!!
But Page, what is this magical hub site you are talking about? Well, strange third person voice, I will explain the structure of my training program. Thanks Page!!
Arrival in Detroit - 76 volunteers
Arrival in Manilla - Still 76 volunteers
Training classes for a week - 76 divided by one training site still equals 76
Last friday, wake up at 3:45 to get on a plane to respective hub sites. These hub sites are divided according to geographic region, since there are 100 or so recognized languages in the Philippines. I will be learning Bikol-Naga (Bikol is the region and Naga is the local city dialect).
Arrival at hub site in Naga City - 13 volunteers; others are in Northern Luzon, Palawan Island, The Western Visayas and the Eastern Visayas.
Next week, split into cluster sites - 4 PCTs (Peace Corps Trainee), 4 different host families and 1 LCF (Language Cultural Facilitator; goddam acronyms)
9 weeks from now, finish training and go to my ACTUAL site. Unfortunately, the Peace Corps will not allow me to divulge the exact location of my site for security reasons, but I will be able to tell you in what province it resides...when I know.
Although I wont post my number on this website, I have sent it to everyone in my addressbook. If, for some reason, you did not recieve that email, yell at me for being a worthless pile of pig turds and I will send it to you. The best time to reach me is before 8:00 AM or after 5:00 PM here (that translates to 7:00 PM and 4:00 AM respectively for Washington DC, and 5:00 PM and 2:00 AM for Denver).
Side note - first vacation of PC (although it seems like a vacation the whole time)
WHALE SHARKS!!! http://www.camperspoint.com/article.php3?id_article=30
I get to swim with the world's largest fish tomorrow morning. This animal was my favorite as a kid, so I can't wait. I hear they can grow to be the size of a School bus; that's right, a fish the size of a bus and Page swimming along side with a big ass grin on his face.
Well, off for now, keep the emails and comments coming. You readers are my support base, and don't worry, I will send real letters soon.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Some notes from Pre-Service Training
Yesterday and today have been very long, tiring and full of useful information. I learned yesterday that I am one of maybe 6 or 7 Water/Sanitation workers. This is out of 76 total volunteers in my training group.
There are groups of primary and secondary school teachers, lots of computer technician people, health volunteers and business volunteers. Currently there are between 7000 and 8000 volunteers serving worldwide.
PC has an annual budget of $317 million dollars, compare that to the estimated $800 mil - $2.2 bil for a B-2 bomber and do the math of value of your dollar.
Peace Corps was started almost exactly 45 years ago on March 1st, 1961. Ghana was the first country to recieve volunteers with the Philippines being the second. Since its beginnings, PC has seen nearly 180,000 volunteers.
Madness.
There are groups of primary and secondary school teachers, lots of computer technician people, health volunteers and business volunteers. Currently there are between 7000 and 8000 volunteers serving worldwide.
PC has an annual budget of $317 million dollars, compare that to the estimated $800 mil - $2.2 bil for a B-2 bomber and do the math of value of your dollar.
Peace Corps was started almost exactly 45 years ago on March 1st, 1961. Ghana was the first country to recieve volunteers with the Philippines being the second. Since its beginnings, PC has seen nearly 180,000 volunteers.
Madness.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Packing for a multi-day jaunt to the other side of the world
Today I went crazy-nutso on the packing. Clothing, electronics, duct-tape, socks, multiple pairs of sandals, all into 4 bags and weighing in at under 80 lbs. I used the Peace Corps packing list with little variation.
A big challenge was finding what is known in the local language as pasalubong; gifts for my host family(s). I brought a bunch of Moe's Bagels stickers and a giant bag of Sharpie markers. I hear that small gifts are good and that lots of little things are better than one big thing; this way everyone can participate.
My state of mind is one of chaos right now. It wasn't until 30 hours before my plane flight leaves for Detroit for staging that I really got on the ball and started thinking about all the other business that I have to take care of before I leave. Fortunately, I planned well and have only small things to cover so that I can go the Philippines completely free of financial responsibility.
Looking around my room where I am sitting, I can see all sorts of mementos from my grade school days. There are so many familiar items with long, intricate stories behind them. I am mere hours from leaving all this that I take for granted as familiar and am going to generate two years of thoughts and stories. Every item in my four pieces of luggage will have something new and unexpected associated with it by the end of my adventure.
It is really scary when I put my mind to work on the magnitude of what I have gotten myself into:
A trip.
To the other side of the world.
To a country the culture and language of which I have only a cursory understanding.
To live.
For 2 years.
To have limited contact with anything I could potentially call familiar, be it persons, places, things or customs.
Will my body only notice climatic changes or is moving halfway around this small blue sphere in the vast empitness of our universe enough to alter the energies that keep me alive and interested? I have always known myself to be exceptionally sensitive to chemical and physical changes in the world around me. Living in the tropics is going to be a trip.
Who knows? Oh well, the countdown begins...
A big challenge was finding what is known in the local language as pasalubong; gifts for my host family(s). I brought a bunch of Moe's Bagels stickers and a giant bag of Sharpie markers. I hear that small gifts are good and that lots of little things are better than one big thing; this way everyone can participate.
My state of mind is one of chaos right now. It wasn't until 30 hours before my plane flight leaves for Detroit for staging that I really got on the ball and started thinking about all the other business that I have to take care of before I leave. Fortunately, I planned well and have only small things to cover so that I can go the Philippines completely free of financial responsibility.
Looking around my room where I am sitting, I can see all sorts of mementos from my grade school days. There are so many familiar items with long, intricate stories behind them. I am mere hours from leaving all this that I take for granted as familiar and am going to generate two years of thoughts and stories. Every item in my four pieces of luggage will have something new and unexpected associated with it by the end of my adventure.
It is really scary when I put my mind to work on the magnitude of what I have gotten myself into:
A trip.
To the other side of the world.
To a country the culture and language of which I have only a cursory understanding.
To live.
For 2 years.
To have limited contact with anything I could potentially call familiar, be it persons, places, things or customs.
Will my body only notice climatic changes or is moving halfway around this small blue sphere in the vast empitness of our universe enough to alter the energies that keep me alive and interested? I have always known myself to be exceptionally sensitive to chemical and physical changes in the world around me. Living in the tropics is going to be a trip.
Who knows? Oh well, the countdown begins...
Friday, March 10, 2006
The cosmic game
A few rather magical and cosmic things have happened to me regarding this upcoming experience (for those of you counting at home, I leave on March 21st, 12 days) .
The Onion newspaper has always served, along with Zippy the Pinhead, as a sort of cosmic predictor of things to come. This article came out in the Boulder onion right before I left. While the content of the article is not what I am expecting out of my journey, the simple mention of the Peace Corps is enough to give me some indication that something/someone is aware of me.
The second, more significant happening came in a random email not addressed to me. As I have been corresponding with PC and all the future volunteers currently stateside, a lot of emails have been thrown around that are not properly addressed (they go out to everyone). One of these was headed by my childhood friend Allen Rathbone. I emailed this mystery individual to confirm that yes, he and I were both going to Peace Corps simultaneously and that yes, he was going to the Philippines as well. Of all the random happenings associated with this journey, this one is a bit much.
For now, back to cleaning up the giant pile of stuff that I brought back from Colorado so that my parents wont throw it away.
The Onion newspaper has always served, along with Zippy the Pinhead, as a sort of cosmic predictor of things to come. This article came out in the Boulder onion right before I left. While the content of the article is not what I am expecting out of my journey, the simple mention of the Peace Corps is enough to give me some indication that something/someone is aware of me.
The second, more significant happening came in a random email not addressed to me. As I have been corresponding with PC and all the future volunteers currently stateside, a lot of emails have been thrown around that are not properly addressed (they go out to everyone). One of these was headed by my childhood friend Allen Rathbone. I emailed this mystery individual to confirm that yes, he and I were both going to Peace Corps simultaneously and that yes, he was going to the Philippines as well. Of all the random happenings associated with this journey, this one is a bit much.
For now, back to cleaning up the giant pile of stuff that I brought back from Colorado so that my parents wont throw it away.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Thinking....again...
Watching the Superbowl last night and talking to Pierre gave me some insight into how I will actually be spending my time. I commented on the water resource side of my assignment and he basically said not to worry, that I will be backpacking around the Philippines for 2 years. After mulling over the assigment for a bit, I realized he is probably right; all of the volunteers I talk to mention no more than one major project in that vast expanse of time (where does the rest of it go?). Basically, I feel like PC is going to be a life exchange program where I volunteer my time and effort in order to gain the perspective of the third world.
Current timeline:
Feb 12th - Quit Moe's Bagel
Feb 25th - Going away party
March 3rd or 4th - Leave Boulder with Ian
March 21st - Leave DC for PC staging in Detroit
March 23rd - Leave Detroit for (Bum-Bum-BUM) MANILLA
When I was a kid, I remember reading in a science book that if you drilled a hole straight down from the continental US, you would end up not in China but in the Indian Ocean. The Philippines are nearly adjacent to the Indian Ocean. To quote Jim Carey in The Truman Show, "you can't get any farther away before you start coming back."
Current timeline:
Feb 12th - Quit Moe's Bagel
Feb 25th - Going away party
March 3rd or 4th - Leave Boulder with Ian
March 21st - Leave DC for PC staging in Detroit
March 23rd - Leave Detroit for (Bum-Bum-BUM) MANILLA
When I was a kid, I remember reading in a science book that if you drilled a hole straight down from the continental US, you would end up not in China but in the Indian Ocean. The Philippines are nearly adjacent to the Indian Ocean. To quote Jim Carey in The Truman Show, "you can't get any farther away before you start coming back."
Monday, January 30, 2006
Testes, Testes, One, Two....Three?
This is the first post of what will soon become my Peace Corps Blog. My name is Page Weil and I have been fully invited/accepted to attend Peace Corps Philippines Introductory Training in March '06. If all goes well in learning the required language (Tagalog?) I should be doing water sanitation work on the other side of the globe for the next coupla years.
For now, I am scared poopless. Uncertainty creates a headspace of trying to overplan the situations I may or not be getting myself into. I have been doing a log of reading and preparing, but recently I got some really good advice from a guy on the PC Philippines Google Group:
"...log off the internet,
and go outside and play. Hang out with your friends
and family, and consume dairy products while you still
can. Play in the snow, drink in the winter air and
just be there- wherever you are, fully present. You
will all be absolutely fine when you arrive, with
whatever you have. All questions will be answered, all
secrets revealed, and most anything you need can be
purchased here. And it's kinda fun to just poof! one
day find yourself on an airplane for the Philippines
and know that until that moment you were fully present
to those around you. They and you will appreciate it."
Yeah, yeah, TL;DR, I know. Basically it says that I should have as much fun as I can now and worry about PC when I get there. Although everyone I know has been telling me that I will be totally fine, I am Page the worrier and will try to plan everything until the day I die (or come to some sort of life-changing epiphany).
For now, I am scared poopless. Uncertainty creates a headspace of trying to overplan the situations I may or not be getting myself into. I have been doing a log of reading and preparing, but recently I got some really good advice from a guy on the PC Philippines Google Group:
"...log off the internet,
and go outside and play. Hang out with your friends
and family, and consume dairy products while you still
can. Play in the snow, drink in the winter air and
just be there- wherever you are, fully present. You
will all be absolutely fine when you arrive, with
whatever you have. All questions will be answered, all
secrets revealed, and most anything you need can be
purchased here. And it's kinda fun to just poof! one
day find yourself on an airplane for the Philippines
and know that until that moment you were fully present
to those around you. They and you will appreciate it."
Yeah, yeah, TL;DR, I know. Basically it says that I should have as much fun as I can now and worry about PC when I get there. Although everyone I know has been telling me that I will be totally fine, I am Page the worrier and will try to plan everything until the day I die (or come to some sort of life-changing epiphany).
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