Sunday, August 2, 2009

Some Pictures from Week One

Our little group:

View from the Peace Corps Office:


Swearing-In:

Found at the mall:


Pension Patio:

Memorandum of Understanding Signing:


The place where I live:

My room, pre-personal touches:


Makati City, from the Habitat office:


Jeepney:

Line for Corazon Aquino viewing:

3 comments:

  1. I've certainly seen Manila envelopes, but never Manila paper. Can you give us some historical information on Manila envelopes/paper? (I could Google it, but I thought it would be nice to have in your blog).

    Also, why were you warned against taking Jeepnies? They look like buses.

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  2. From wikipedia:
    The manila component of the name comes from manila hemp or abaca, from which manila folders were originally made. Manila hemp is native to the Philippines and is named after its capital city.

    Lonely Planet says that the name Manila is from the pre-Hispanic name of Maynilad, presumed to be from may, "there is" and nilad, a mangrove plant that grew in abundance on the banks of the Pasig River.

    We were warned against taking the jeepneys because in general foreigners don't take them (they have drivers or take taxis - and for those, we were warned not to get in a taxi that already had passengers, to lock the doors and to make sure they use the meter - just safety and security) - as foreigners we are targets for pickpockets or bag-slitters. It is hard to pay attention to where to get off and to be vigilant about my bag, I have noticed! But I would rather be taking public transportation, like the locals - I think that's an advantage of the Peace Corps. You really get to know a place as the people who live there do.

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  3. By the way, the jeepneys are MUCH shorter than buses. Even the shortest people have to crouch to get in and out.

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