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
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
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
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