Moving Right Along

The time seems to be flying now, and it will be flying even more with family and friends here from today until the day I depart – so since I was still alone in the house this past week, I decided to do the majority of the packing, even though a) I was planning to wait until I got the plane ticket and b) I really didn’t have much more packing to do. Now, all I have to do is put the clothes I’m wearing this coming week into the suitcase and decide which of the things I’m carrying onto the plane go into the rolling bag and which go into the backpack. And tape up the boxes that are remaining behind. That’s it!

Yesterday I called the credit card and ATM banks and told them not to cut me off when they see transactions in the Philippines. I made sure my cell phone will work there (I don’t plan to use it much; I’ll get a cell phone when I get there for in-country use) – I think it’s $1.99 a minute and 50 cents a text back to the States. That doesn’t sound like a lot! But I remember from Morocco that the minutes add up – so after a couple of long phone calls I cut down on my phone use. I called Corps Care (the Peace Corps version of COBRA) and suspended my coverage as of the end of the month. I backed up my computer. I’ll review my to-do list one more time, but I think I have everything covered.

Having finished the writeup of the Southeast Asia portion of my post-COS travels, I moved the Rough Guide to Southeast Asia to my suitcase – and all of a sudden, though not full (this time I know to leave room for Peace Corps manuals and the medical kit!), it seemed heavy. So I decided to send some things on ahead – that book and a couple of others, and some of the toiletries that I can wait for, find substitutes for, or plain old live without if need be. I don’t think I needed to send the package, but it felt good to do it – and it wasn’t too expensive. For those who don’t know about the USPS flat-rate box, let me be the one to tell you – it’s all the rage among PCVs (or, more accurately, their families and friends)!

The postal clerk processing the box, as it turns out, is from the Philippines! She’s from Quezon City, which is also near Manila. I asked her if she was going to visit in the next six months; she just came back from there. She described Makati City as like Manhattan and Taguig City as more rural, but as busy.

So what are my expectations? I’ve been thinking about that. I expect that when I get off the plane I will be hit with a wave of heat and humidity so brutal that I will question my decision to go – but that I will (a common Peace Corps Morocco saying) get used to it. I expect to be so jet-lagged from the longest flight I’ve ever been on and the 12-hour time difference that I won’t be able to process things for days. I expect Manila to look like a big, modern city and at the same time look different from anyplace I have ever been. And that’s as far as I will go with expectations. For everything beyond first impressions, I am keeping an open mind.

Well, that’s not entirely the case. I also expect to learn about another culture by living there, to make some friends (I still can’t believe that before I left for Morocco I thought I might not) and I expect to make a positive contribution to the country, Habitat for Humanity Philippines and to the Peace Corps! Before the two-year assignments, Peace Corps invitees have to write aspiration statements. I’ve wanted to refer back to mine, but it is on my other computer. If I were to write one now, I wonder how different it would be, now that I have been through the experience.

If you look at the comments section you will see that I have an interesting perspective from a former Philippines PCV. Between her comment and my response, it’s as if there were another blog entry!