In two years in Morocco, I had plenty of people stay with me – some of whom I had met before and a couple of whom I hadn’t – it was expected that if PCVs were passing through, you would put them up. But I never stayed with someone I hadn’t met when I was just passing through – I wanted to meet the local PCVs there and get the insider scoop, but I didn’t want to just crash.
Well, this is a new experience in a new country and when Kate gave me Travis’s number and Travis, the Baguio-area PCV, said I was welcome to stay in his extra room, I accepted the invitation. He and Janet, an Australian volunteer (they have a similar program, ten months long, only in Asia-Pacific) met me at the bus station. We walked down Session Road, the main drag, stopping at some ukay-ukay (used clothing) stores, and then went to the market to look at craft items – nothing I had to have, but maybe weavings and wood carvings are in my future. We then went on to their town in the province of Benguet – surrounded by hills decorated with Benguet pines, which grow only there (well, I just fact-checked that, and the current thinking is that it is the same species as another common Asian pine, just with a different name in the Philippines – but maybe current thinking will change again!). We went to their local market. It seems more fun than my local market – a big building with lots of stalls, selling not only food but clothing, crafts, household items, and food specialties of the region – jams, jellies, cookies and brickles – but maybe I should give my local market another look (I started walking outside the market between my bus and my jeepney home, on the fruit-stand side, both because I would then buy more fruit and because the air inside is a little close).
I had brought with me (per request) wine and interesting conversation. Janet did some prep and Travis cooked – delicious vegetable curry. Cooking together and then sitting around and talking was one of my favorite memories from Peace Corps Morocco – and here in the Philippines there was a big contrast with the night before, when, more my usual experience here, on the way home, wet from being caught in the rain, I met some of the other PCRVs at a loud bar…. but Travis has an apartment more conducive to PCV hanging-out than I or any of the other PRCVs do. His extra room was cozy – nice to curl up under covers with cool fresh air.
The next morning it was still pouring so it wasn’t up and out – we cooked a leisurely breakfast of scrambled eggs and garlic rice (sign that he’s assimilated – has to have rice with every meal!) and then read some Walt Whitman poetry (he was recently using it in the classes he teaches) and looked at his pictures of the Ambassador visit. Quite an accomplished volunteer! He extended his COS date from August to October – I caught him just in time! – and he is going on to Peace Corps Response!
Still raining – he wasn’t inclined to leave the house but he recommended that I go to a museum – an indoor option and a worthy destination. The BenCab museum (bencabmuseum.org) had some interesting contemporary paintings and even more interesting authentic Ifugao wood carvings, as well as a garden with a rice terrace, a pond and Ifugao huts, in a dramatic mountain setting and, on a clear day, a view of the South China Sea (I did see that on the way home, from further down the mountain).
I then went on to Burnham Park, laid out around a central lake (which had boats of a shape and a size that you might get if you crossed Boston’s swan boats with Central Park’s rowboats – but, uncharacteristically, I didn’t go for a ride) with paths, grassy areas, seating areas, a sunken playing field – in other words, it felt familiar. I went back to the craft market and again didn’t feel inspired, and then I had a great dinner (if spaghetti bolognese was my dinner out of choice in Morocco, so far it’s been pumpkin soup here – I think I will look for a recipe and make some for myself!). I strategically took a bus that would give me mountain vistas while it was light out but didn’t leave any earlier than that; the ride back was shorter than the ride up (my grandfather used to call that the law of diminishing returns – I never got the joke until I took Economics in college) and I got home at a reasonable hour (i.e. before midnight). For some strange reason, the daytime bus going up had lights over the seats but the one going back in the dark did not – I read using the flashlight on my cellphone. Another great excursion and another dimension of the Philippines!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Baguio. the Summer Capital - Part One
In 1909, Daniel Burnham was asked to design a plan for a summer capital in the Philippines; this was the same year he laid out the Chicago plan. Busy year! Chicago has several celebrations for it this year; I celebrated by visiting Baguio over the weekend (I also learned that Burnham laid out Rizal Park in homage to Washington, D.C. – the Rizal Monument does look a but like the Washington Monument, now that I know that).
I work up at 6:00 – again – to get an early bus, but instead, I waited at the bus terminal until almost nine (which I was told was unusual). How nice to have lived so close to the bus station in Azrou! Here each line has a separate terminal and none are particularly close by – but at least on the way home they have a drop-off near the mall. When I told the PCMO I was going (to check to see whether I needed malaria pills) they said I would be spending more time getting there and back than there. I told them I was used to it from Morocco. And with the ability to travel at night here, I could stay a lot longer than if I went down to Erfoud and back for an overnight!
I had a book from the Peace Corps library with me – “Table of Contents” by John McPhee, a compilation of New Yorker articles from the early ‘80s (those magazines are now in an old age home…). There was a nice synergy when, in an article about Bill Bradley, someone asked the then-Senator about the situation in the Philippines. The bus was over-air-conditioned, but I had been told to bring a sweater and blanket, so I was prepared. The ride was nice – through flat country with rice fields and criss-crossing rivers, and then winding up into the mountains – I thought of the ride to Erfoud and how different it was, there all rock and sun and here all green and fog.
And rain! Tropical Storm Nando went through and hit Northern Luzon particularly hard. I was glad I didn’t let the rain stop me last weekend but it was an issue this weekend. There’s a lot to do in Baguio, much of it outdoors – perhaps I will make it back there sometime when it isn’t raining. There’s a village made up of relocated Ifugao (mountain people) houses that is too muddy to visit when it’s wet. There’s Camp John Hay, originally built for American R&R and still a lovely park with great views. There’s a botanical garden. And there are some hilly hikes. I have a couple of other trips to the north in mind, so it’s possible that I will get back to Baguio for a day – but if I don’t, that’s all right.
I was prepared for the cold on the bus but not for the chilliness when I arrived. Chilly! I knew that the mountain destination where I’m headed for Thanksgiving would have sweatshirt temperatures, but I didn’t anticipate that for Baguio. My lightweight sweater would have been enough had it not been raining, but cold and wet meant being cold and wet, especially when in the course of walking around, everything in my bag (including the John McPhee book!) got soaked.
Rain or no, I had a wonderful time and it was just the getaway I was looking for after the long hours of the Housing Forum, the road trip and the Leadership Conference. To be continued!
I work up at 6:00 – again – to get an early bus, but instead, I waited at the bus terminal until almost nine (which I was told was unusual). How nice to have lived so close to the bus station in Azrou! Here each line has a separate terminal and none are particularly close by – but at least on the way home they have a drop-off near the mall. When I told the PCMO I was going (to check to see whether I needed malaria pills) they said I would be spending more time getting there and back than there. I told them I was used to it from Morocco. And with the ability to travel at night here, I could stay a lot longer than if I went down to Erfoud and back for an overnight!
I had a book from the Peace Corps library with me – “Table of Contents” by John McPhee, a compilation of New Yorker articles from the early ‘80s (those magazines are now in an old age home…). There was a nice synergy when, in an article about Bill Bradley, someone asked the then-Senator about the situation in the Philippines. The bus was over-air-conditioned, but I had been told to bring a sweater and blanket, so I was prepared. The ride was nice – through flat country with rice fields and criss-crossing rivers, and then winding up into the mountains – I thought of the ride to Erfoud and how different it was, there all rock and sun and here all green and fog.
And rain! Tropical Storm Nando went through and hit Northern Luzon particularly hard. I was glad I didn’t let the rain stop me last weekend but it was an issue this weekend. There’s a lot to do in Baguio, much of it outdoors – perhaps I will make it back there sometime when it isn’t raining. There’s a village made up of relocated Ifugao (mountain people) houses that is too muddy to visit when it’s wet. There’s Camp John Hay, originally built for American R&R and still a lovely park with great views. There’s a botanical garden. And there are some hilly hikes. I have a couple of other trips to the north in mind, so it’s possible that I will get back to Baguio for a day – but if I don’t, that’s all right.
I was prepared for the cold on the bus but not for the chilliness when I arrived. Chilly! I knew that the mountain destination where I’m headed for Thanksgiving would have sweatshirt temperatures, but I didn’t anticipate that for Baguio. My lightweight sweater would have been enough had it not been raining, but cold and wet meant being cold and wet, especially when in the course of walking around, everything in my bag (including the John McPhee book!) got soaked.
Rain or no, I had a wonderful time and it was just the getaway I was looking for after the long hours of the Housing Forum, the road trip and the Leadership Conference. To be continued!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Some Pictures from Week Seven
The 2nd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum:
A blend of cultures in the audience:
Behind the scenes:
NBA Legends were also at the hotel:
I met Kareem Abdul-Jabbar! He's 7'2"...
Welcoming the new PCRVs:
A blend of cultures in the audience:
Behind the scenes:
NBA Legends were also at the hotel:
I met Kareem Abdul-Jabbar! He's 7'2"...
Welcoming the new PCRVs:
Monday, September 14, 2009
Language Primer
Our Peace Corps Response orientation included about 45 minutes on language – not enough, but in the time allotted, we did cover enough basics to get started – pronunciation of vowels and consonants and common phrases. This was key, because Filipinos greet each other not with, “how are you?” but with, “where are you going?” You don’t really answer with where you are going (as in the U.S., where you don’t answer with how you really are) but with, “just there.” They also ask if you have eaten or what you are planning to eat – if I hadn’t been prepared for this I might find these questions a bit intrusive.
They also gave us a language book, and I’m slowly making my way through that – there are several ways to say the same thing (and depending on where in the sentence you put the nouns or adjectives there are different pronouns, and there are different pronouns for people vs. things). I’m trying to absorb these rules and then hoping that the book quickly gets into verb conjugation and then more vocabulary, but most of what I have learned and used so far I have learned from the handout of common phrases, Grace the homepartner, Hanna, or people at work, who give me words and phrases at the devotions and at lunch.
Here are some interesting Tagalog basics. I’ll talk more about language in other entries as warranted:
- Vowels (a, e, i, o, u) are pronounced as in Spanish, always – so some words in English will sound different in the Filipino accent. It actually makes things easier though, if you think about it – pronunciation is consistent!
- Consonants are always pronounced the same way as well. Given that and the English alphabet, it’s theoretically not as difficult to learn as many languages.
- Filipinos pronounce every syllable; as they pointed out to us, we really do slur and mumble our words! Words are pronounced as they are written. So if there are two vowels together, they will both be pronounced, separately.
- There is no letter “f” in Filipino – so sometimes they will pronounce “f” as “p” – for example, “Pilipino.” There are also no c, v and x. “K” is used for “c,” “b” for “v,” and “ks” for “x.”
- the “ng” sound is a unique one in Filipino, and it is pronounced differently at the beginning, middle and end of the word. It is also a word in itself, pronounced “nung,” meaning “of.” Otherwise it’s nasal with a slight tilde touch to it. I’m still working on it.
- Accents make different words out of words that are spelled the same, and sometimes make for glottal stops.
- It is not a tonal language, as many Southeast Asian languages are, but in general it is proper to speak softly.
- There are two words for “we” – one that includes the person being spoken to and one that doesn’t (interesting!).
- But there aren’t equivalents of “he” and “she” or “him” and “her” – all four of those are covered by the word “siya.” When people talk to me in English, they will often use “she” for a man and “he” for a woman; to them it’s the same.
- Perhaps my favorite word so far is yes, “Oo,” – that is, oh (short, with glottal stop) oh. To be polite, you would say, “Opo” (“po” is the equivalent of sir or ma’am). “Thank you,” the first phrase I try to learn wherever I go, is “salamat (po).”
“Taglish” is very common – it is usual to mix words from both languages in both casual and formal conversation. I don’t know if people realize they are doing it!
They also gave us a language book, and I’m slowly making my way through that – there are several ways to say the same thing (and depending on where in the sentence you put the nouns or adjectives there are different pronouns, and there are different pronouns for people vs. things). I’m trying to absorb these rules and then hoping that the book quickly gets into verb conjugation and then more vocabulary, but most of what I have learned and used so far I have learned from the handout of common phrases, Grace the homepartner, Hanna, or people at work, who give me words and phrases at the devotions and at lunch.
Here are some interesting Tagalog basics. I’ll talk more about language in other entries as warranted:
- Vowels (a, e, i, o, u) are pronounced as in Spanish, always – so some words in English will sound different in the Filipino accent. It actually makes things easier though, if you think about it – pronunciation is consistent!
- Consonants are always pronounced the same way as well. Given that and the English alphabet, it’s theoretically not as difficult to learn as many languages.
- Filipinos pronounce every syllable; as they pointed out to us, we really do slur and mumble our words! Words are pronounced as they are written. So if there are two vowels together, they will both be pronounced, separately.
- There is no letter “f” in Filipino – so sometimes they will pronounce “f” as “p” – for example, “Pilipino.” There are also no c, v and x. “K” is used for “c,” “b” for “v,” and “ks” for “x.”
- the “ng” sound is a unique one in Filipino, and it is pronounced differently at the beginning, middle and end of the word. It is also a word in itself, pronounced “nung,” meaning “of.” Otherwise it’s nasal with a slight tilde touch to it. I’m still working on it.
- Accents make different words out of words that are spelled the same, and sometimes make for glottal stops.
- It is not a tonal language, as many Southeast Asian languages are, but in general it is proper to speak softly.
- There are two words for “we” – one that includes the person being spoken to and one that doesn’t (interesting!).
- But there aren’t equivalents of “he” and “she” or “him” and “her” – all four of those are covered by the word “siya.” When people talk to me in English, they will often use “she” for a man and “he” for a woman; to them it’s the same.
- Perhaps my favorite word so far is yes, “Oo,” – that is, oh (short, with glottal stop) oh. To be polite, you would say, “Opo” (“po” is the equivalent of sir or ma’am). “Thank you,” the first phrase I try to learn wherever I go, is “salamat (po).”
“Taglish” is very common – it is usual to mix words from both languages in both casual and formal conversation. I don’t know if people realize they are doing it!
Friday, September 11, 2009
The Asia-Pacific Housing Forum and The Asia-Pacific Leadership Conference
This has been a long week, but a very interesting one – 6:00 alarm clock and twelve-hour workdays, listening to and documenting presentations and then integrating the documentation of others, meeting and networking with people from Habitat for Humanity International and Habitat national chapters from several countries (and I think I have finally learned all the names of the people in the Philippines national office!), sitting in over-air-conditioned rooms without going outside all day (monsoon rains anyway, followed by rains from Tropical Storm Maring), too many sweet snacks (but great lunches, with salads and fruits!), filling my mind with the issues of temporary housing after disasters and permanent housing for the poor.
Monday through Wednesday the event was the 2nd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum. The first one, two years ago, was held in Singapore, and the next one, in two years, will be held in Bangkok. It was fortunate that this one was in Manila and that I could attend. There were over 400 people from over 35 countries – from NGOs, government, academe, the private sector and more. The room contained an interesting mix of faces, colors, ages, genders, national clothing, and perspectives.
Some of the statistics are amazing – one-fifth of the world’s people live in slums. The Asia-Pacific region has a disproportionate number due to the nature of its cities – large conglomerations with not enough infrastructure, long commutes from the outskirts to the centers, and constant building ever farther out as more and more people arrive in search of a better life. 550 million people in Asia-Pacific live in slums, 60 percent of those in urban areas, and that number will grow to 1.3 billion. Several people showed slides of the dramatic increase in the number of natural disasters in recent years – and pointed out that the Philippines was “disaster central,” with typhoons, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, mudslides and more (though there were people from Indonesia and Bangladesh that could give them a run for their money).
The forum focused not on the problems though but on the solutions – policy changes, financing innovations, involving the community in rebuilding and more. My job was to document the disaster relief breakout track (Habitat doesn’t work on Day One disaster relief but on disaster mitigation and on building permanent housing for the displaced – so it wasn’t that relevant to what I am here to do but it was very interesting to learn about and possibly focus on in the future). My main job, though, was to integrate the documentation of all of the sessions into one daily recap of the key recommendations and cutting-edge solutions; this involved waiting for the summaries of others. And waiting, and waiting. I know how to distill a presentation as I hear it; not everyone has this skill, so I was there late. That said, it was a good job for me. I did some networking, too – met several people to potentially send resumes to. On Thursday it was back to Calauan with some leadership gifts fund-raisers from the U.S. – I’ll be keeping in touch with them. We also went to the part of Pasig River from which the families are being resettled. I have never seen such squalor. Amazing. And then the seasoned Metro Manila Volunteers went out with the new ones, Julie and Bill. They seem nice! Today it was back to the hotel for Habitat’s Asia-Pacific Leadership Conference – about 120 people from the various national chapters. I attended a session about the campaign (all of my Annual Giving volunteering makes me familiar with how a campaign gets done), branding, and partnerships – good to see the strategic overview of the organization.
Other highlights – I met the head of Friends of Habitat, the organization that handles much of the local fundraising. She’s a former Miss Universe (one of two Miss Universes from the Philippines and still full of grace, poise and beauty). I picked up a brochure from the hotel spa – the conference was held in a Thai hotel, and the offerings (and prices) are similar to those of the spa in Chiang Mai. I may come back for some pampering! It gets better though – there was an NBA Legends event in the same hotel at the same time. I almost crashed into Dominique Wilkins in the hallway, made eye contact with Robert Horry, and best of all, had a picture taken with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I thought briefly about going to the game tonight – NBA Legends vs. Philippine All-Stars – but for one thing, it’s been a long week. For another. I’ve seen lots of NBA Legends, so it seemed only right to give Filipinos the chance. Julie just started and I wanted to shop with her and otherwise help her get oriented. But the real reason is that I am going away for the weekend – and as long as the alarm has been ringing at 6:00 every morning, I’m getting up at 6:00 again to get an early start.
Monday through Wednesday the event was the 2nd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum. The first one, two years ago, was held in Singapore, and the next one, in two years, will be held in Bangkok. It was fortunate that this one was in Manila and that I could attend. There were over 400 people from over 35 countries – from NGOs, government, academe, the private sector and more. The room contained an interesting mix of faces, colors, ages, genders, national clothing, and perspectives.
Some of the statistics are amazing – one-fifth of the world’s people live in slums. The Asia-Pacific region has a disproportionate number due to the nature of its cities – large conglomerations with not enough infrastructure, long commutes from the outskirts to the centers, and constant building ever farther out as more and more people arrive in search of a better life. 550 million people in Asia-Pacific live in slums, 60 percent of those in urban areas, and that number will grow to 1.3 billion. Several people showed slides of the dramatic increase in the number of natural disasters in recent years – and pointed out that the Philippines was “disaster central,” with typhoons, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, mudslides and more (though there were people from Indonesia and Bangladesh that could give them a run for their money).
The forum focused not on the problems though but on the solutions – policy changes, financing innovations, involving the community in rebuilding and more. My job was to document the disaster relief breakout track (Habitat doesn’t work on Day One disaster relief but on disaster mitigation and on building permanent housing for the displaced – so it wasn’t that relevant to what I am here to do but it was very interesting to learn about and possibly focus on in the future). My main job, though, was to integrate the documentation of all of the sessions into one daily recap of the key recommendations and cutting-edge solutions; this involved waiting for the summaries of others. And waiting, and waiting. I know how to distill a presentation as I hear it; not everyone has this skill, so I was there late. That said, it was a good job for me. I did some networking, too – met several people to potentially send resumes to. On Thursday it was back to Calauan with some leadership gifts fund-raisers from the U.S. – I’ll be keeping in touch with them. We also went to the part of Pasig River from which the families are being resettled. I have never seen such squalor. Amazing. And then the seasoned Metro Manila Volunteers went out with the new ones, Julie and Bill. They seem nice! Today it was back to the hotel for Habitat’s Asia-Pacific Leadership Conference – about 120 people from the various national chapters. I attended a session about the campaign (all of my Annual Giving volunteering makes me familiar with how a campaign gets done), branding, and partnerships – good to see the strategic overview of the organization.
Other highlights – I met the head of Friends of Habitat, the organization that handles much of the local fundraising. She’s a former Miss Universe (one of two Miss Universes from the Philippines and still full of grace, poise and beauty). I picked up a brochure from the hotel spa – the conference was held in a Thai hotel, and the offerings (and prices) are similar to those of the spa in Chiang Mai. I may come back for some pampering! It gets better though – there was an NBA Legends event in the same hotel at the same time. I almost crashed into Dominique Wilkins in the hallway, made eye contact with Robert Horry, and best of all, had a picture taken with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I thought briefly about going to the game tonight – NBA Legends vs. Philippine All-Stars – but for one thing, it’s been a long week. For another. I’ve seen lots of NBA Legends, so it seemed only right to give Filipinos the chance. Julie just started and I wanted to shop with her and otherwise help her get oriented. But the real reason is that I am going away for the weekend – and as long as the alarm has been ringing at 6:00 every morning, I’m getting up at 6:00 again to get an early start.
Some (other) Pictures from Week Six
Cultural Center of the Philippines (Imelda project - with architecture to match):
A reminder that it's Ramadan:
Makati business district:
Makati scene:
Fifth-Avenue-type names in Makati:
Araneta Coliseum - site of the 1975 Thrilla in Manila (Ali-Frazier Fight)
Shangri-La mall:
I learned in Manila that we invaded Morocco!
Map of the Philippines from the American Cemetery:
A peaceful place to rest:
A reminder that it's Ramadan:
Makati business district:
Makati scene:
Fifth-Avenue-type names in Makati:
Araneta Coliseum - site of the 1975 Thrilla in Manila (Ali-Frazier Fight)
Shangri-La mall:
I learned in Manila that we invaded Morocco!
Map of the Philippines from the American Cemetery:
A peaceful place to rest:
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Corregidor Pictures
Barracks:
Gun dented by bomb:
Big gun:
Bomb damage:
View from the high ground:
Memorial flame sculpture:
Sunlight strikes this only one day a year, May 6:
Tadpole shape:
Spanish lighthouse:
The spot from which MacArthur departed:
Japanese caves:
Japanese Peace Garden:
Monument to the Filipino fighter:
Inside the tunnel - desks and typewriters from WWII:
Gun dented by bomb:
Big gun:
Bomb damage:
View from the high ground:
Memorial flame sculpture:
Sunlight strikes this only one day a year, May 6:
Tadpole shape:
Spanish lighthouse:
The spot from which MacArthur departed:
Japanese caves:
Japanese Peace Garden:
Monument to the Filipino fighter:
Inside the tunnel - desks and typewriters from WWII:
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