Meetings - and the End of the Tuna Sandwich

Highlight of the week – there’s somewhere to go for lunch! I had been told there wasn’t, but I guess I asked the wrong person. There’s a shuttle from the corner to a nearby mall (Rockwell, listed by Lonely Planet as one of the poshest in town) that has multiple food options! Someone asked me to go out to lunch there the other day. I was so happy! The people at work don’t go out due to time and/or money; eating there will cost me plenty of both and go against the corporate culture, but it’s worth it. The tuna sandwich (or occasional sampling of Filipino food) in the canteen was one of the most depressing parts of my life here – now I feel I have a new lease on life! It made my week!

Lowlight of the week – I rode the MRT during evening rush hour. I was in the women’s car, but even so, the crush of sweaty humanity – and the people sardine-ing into an already-over-capacity car – was so unpleasant that it might win the award for worst moment of 2009! I shall not ride the MRT in rush hour again. In other news – one of the things I bought for the Philippines that I didn’t have in Morocco was computer cleaner. I decided that it was long past time to clean my computer – and can’t find the computer cleaner! Did it not get packed? Fall out? Get lost? Not make it here in the mail? My search for it made for an opportunity to straighten all of my things. I did see some in a Mac store in Makati, so I can just get some more, but now I’m wondering what else I don’t have that I thought I had (other than the boxes that never made it to Morocco…okay, let it go).

That said, this was a busy and other-highlight-filled week! Monday was a holiday, National Heroes Day – I’m still writing up that trip. Tuesday we went into the Peace Corps Office to be brought to the Bureau of Immigration to get fingerprinted. I had a chance to talk to the Program Coordinator, picked up maps to use as wall décor, took books out of the library. The Bureau of Immigration is in Intramuros, the old historic area – I hope to explore that soon! I had some computer time in the Volunteer Lounge, and met a PCV who was just getting over dengue fever. It does happen here…. Not only that, but we received a volcano warning and a typhoon warning from the Safety and Security Coordinator this week, along with a mention of the PCV robbed at gunpoint and some other robberies that PCVs have experienced lately – per his note, the Philippines is one of the Asian countries hardest hit by the economic situation, and when unemployment is high, people get desperate. I guess I should be happy for the security checks everywhere I go – the trains, the malls, even the fast-food places – but I’m still not used to them.

In the afternoon, my counterpart and I went to a meeting with USAID that I had set up. They don’t usually fund housing but there are other possible ways to work together – they were very helpful and it was a good meeting and now I have some follow-up work. The next day, we went to a meeting at the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines; I had set that up too. As with USAID, not a lot of hope for direct support, but a lot of constructive leads and ideas and another good meeting – I think of both as coups.

I also attended an organizational meeting for the Asia-Pacific Housing Forum. The second of its kind, it will take place in Manila next week. Over 400 attendees from 30 countries will discuss many aspects of housing for the poor. I was already set to attend; with a week to go, several people in the office were drafted to help out. At first I was given a minor role but then the chair looked at me and all of a sudden I was in charge of summarizing every presentation – about 80 in all! Including, each day, five sets of simultaneous breakout sessions! I have to write a Power Point slide per session with the main strategic recommendations and cutting-edge thoughts by 7:00 pm each day so that it can be presented early the following day. I spent the rest of the week doing what I could do in advance, setting up templates and familiarizing myself with the agenda. I will certainly get immersed in the issues of housing for the poor! And potentially meet some movers and shakers in the field. I couldn’t tell how my supervisor felt about my taking this on (he later told me I didn’t have to – but the president seemed happy, and I think it’ll be good, though a lot of work!). After the Housing Forum, the rest of next week there’ll be a Habitat for Humanity Asia-Pacific Leadership Conference; I don’t have a role there at this point other than taking it all in. And late next week, the other Peace Corps Response Volunteer partnering with Habitat will start! We’ve been emailing this week and I am looking forward to meeting her.

One more really good meeting this week – tea with the Programming and Training Officer, the second-in-command at Peace Corps Philippines. She worked with Marilee, who was Acting Country Director when she started here; we both think of her as a role model. I wanted to network about Peace Corps jobs and non-profit work; in addition to getting some great job-hunting tips, we also had a fun talk! She’ll be leaving (her 2 ½ years will be up) before I do, but I’m planning to meet with her again before she goes (perhaps next time – at her suggestion - for dinner or massages!).