Countdown

The adventure begins to wind down. I leave my site on December 6 then spend about 9 days in Manila - I leave the Philippines and am off to Hawaii on Dec 15 to spend time with my son and a dear friend. I start the new year at home .... What a long strange trip it's been.

One of my greatest joys has been the opportunity daily to view Mayon Volcano

Mayon Volcano, also known as Mount Mayon, is an active volcano in the province of Albay, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Renowned as the "perfect cone" because of its almost symmetric conical shape, Mayon forms the northern boundary of Legazpi City, the largest city in terms of population in the Bicol Region. The mountain is a national park and a protected landscape in the country proclaimed as Mayon Volcano Natural Park in the year 2000.

Mayon is the most active volcano in the Philippines having erupted over 48 times in the past 400 years. Its 48th eruption was a quiet effusion of lava on July 14, 2006. The small summit explosion which occurred on August 10, 2008 is considered as part of the ongoing activity since 2006. Starting in January 2011, the volcano is weakly erupting and may be building up to a larger hazardous eruption. It is one of the most beautiful volcanic cones anywhere in the world and is visible for miles around in the otherwise flat landscape of the region.

The name Mayon is derived from the Bicolano word Magayon, which means ‘beautiful”

And beautiful she is… (and the pictures hardly do it justice)
I will miss her.

Vacation surviving…

So I start my little vacation in the Philippines with my adventure setting off from Naga (which is actually about 2 + hours from my site). So Sunday I am up early to get a van to Sabang Pier –a good 2 hour van ride. I arrive and wait at what is apparently the ‘terminal’ for a commercial boat (Bangka) bound to Guijalo Port. I catch the last boat of the day at 11 am.

Most interesting though as I am waiting at the ‘pier’ I am looking out a the boat about 100 or more feet off shore thinking ok how are we getting from point A. on shore to point B on the boat? – with small waves and surf between us and the boat and no pier or bulkhead or anything resembling anything we have in the states that gets us on boats. I’m thinking ok if I don’t want to do this I don’t have to –I can just get back on a van and head back to Naga. I am a bit scared to say the least, thinking here goes my laptop, my clothes and me into the water. The whole scene is kind of rickety and precarious and as I have learned over the past 5 + months in the Philippines there are few regulations, no safety standards, or anything resembling anyone monitoring the safety of anything – you are on your own here. (I guess they have not figured out the whole suing people thing yet) Anyway soon enough the answer to the dilemma is presented - low and behold a floating dock - of course. When it is time we all line up on the beach and are escorted in batches onto this floating thing and a bunch of guys pull it out into the water across the waves up to the side of the boat and no kidding – we get escorted up a kind of gang plank as the boat bobs in the water. They then drag the dock back and get the next batch of folks. Who says fear isn’t exhilarating. This is another 2 + hours coasting along the shoreline. A little choppy water but it’s a beautiful ride. I am on my way to Caramoan – as described in the guide books:

“Caramoan, a peninsular town, is a group of islands and islets scattered in the Pacific Ocean, endowed with nature’s beauty and preserved by its seclusion. Made famous by the hit global reality show franchise”, “Survivor” the group of islands is blessed with numerous islands with fine white sand, lagoons, caves, limestone cliffs and rocks, and rich marine life that give new definition to an island experience”

So not only is it the site of survivor USA - apparently the show’s French edition was the first to film on location in 2008. Israel, Bulgaria and Serbia followed in 2009. Sweden came next the following year, with Israel and Serbia returning to shoot again. Just last year, the islands played host to Denmark, Norway, Belgium and India.

So I am now smack in the middle of a lot of surviving… good thing no shows are being taped right now – so hopefully I can just get to enjoy a little of the natural beauty

Early Reflections

I'm in the home stretch - it’s a matter of weeks now with December 14 being my last official day as a volunteer. I expect I'll be leaving my site around December 6 for some travel and then closing stuff in Manila. It has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. How I will describe and integrate this experience still remains a mystery to me, as it has been so filled with emotions and challenges. I am glad I stuck with it and on good days I am grateful for this once in a lifetime experience – living and working immersed in another culture for 6 months. I continue to struggle with quantifying my contributions and expect mostly I will summarize them as elusive and much less than I had hoped – but maybe not – we’ll see.

So as I reflect I know for sure - what I have loved is the tropical weather, waking up every day to see Mayon Volcano in her many splendid forms, the incredibly hospitable and kind Filipinos, living simpler than I might have imagined I could live- on less money than you might believe, having time to read and write a lot, fresh pineapple, mangos and avocados, the way Filipinos love to dance and sing and have a good time, the voices and smiles of children wishing me well and asking my name as I pass, a sense of being part of a community of people that emphasize the collective good vs. individuality, family as the central organizing construct of daily life, the way Filipinos respect their elders, realizing privacy may be a little over-rated (ok just a little) and that relationships matter, learning how many ways you can make something out of rice or coconut including things purple and mysterious looking, and how often people can eat and still remain small and maybe just maybe that our tendency as Americans to use achievements and accomplishments as a measure of a person’s worth isn't such a great idea and joy is in the little things, it’s just waiting for me to discover it. And I have loved being part of this quirky thing called Peace Corps – even with all my ups and downs, I feel proud to be associated with its history and its intention of building world peace and friendship by connecting people worldwide as we share our daily lives and learn to understand and appreciate each others culture. So I now figure maybe the cultural exchange part is a good and noble thing.

Mayon - Mr. MTRC - StoneHouse View

Activia Yogurt & BM in Manila

So I'm back in Manila for a few days before PC Mid Service Training. I arrive at Pension (the hostel in Malate) Wow I forgot how intense it is to be in a big city. Anyway I decide to walk over to Robinson's Mall to get something for dinner. I head to the supermarket and low and behold samples of yogurt. OK I think this is good - a different variety than I can get in Tabaco City, maybe it's good, I'm gonna try it. The woman looks right at me and says "try it- the yogurt is good for bowel movements" I'm thinking did she really say that? - she then repeats it to several people passing by offering them a taste of yogurt to regulate their bowel movements. OMG - can you just see this in the local supermarket in the States. Too funny - I am still getting a chuckle out of it a few hours later. I did buy some - hey everyone needs regulated BM's.

Being a Celebrity in the Philippines

A few days of vacation time had me spending time outside of Naga City. I took a jeepney to Stone house Resort – which was a lovely private home converted into a resort with 360 views of tropical rain forests and San Miguel Bay. I got to relax and enjoy amazing gardens with bursts of colorful flowers and herbs, fresh papaya and jackfruit, and glasses of cold passion fruit juice, and a lovely retired couple serving as hosts. I spent time in this large outdoor cabana enjoying the views and the cool breezes. On Monday I decided to hike up the trail nearby to get to the entrance to Mt Isarog National Park – an overgrown trail only accessible by foot – I arrive at a small entrance staffed by one guy – the fee is 10 pesos. I then wind my way down a rough almost treacherousness trail to Malabsay Falls. The trail is washed out and rocky in many places but I arrive at a lovely falls area to find dozens of young kids out for a field trip. It was suggested they were learning about natural resources – I kind of think they were mostly having fun.

The interesting part was yet again an exchange with local Filipinos that has been common in my months of experience thus far. Everyone was very friendly, the teacher came up to me and said welcome to Naga - 'the land of smiles' and they offered for me to ‘take my lunch’ with them when it was time to eat. The funny part was how many of these teenagers wanted to come over and talk to me and take a picture with me. One even videotaped me on his cell phone after asking questions of where I am from and what I was doing there. It felt like I was a celebrity.

Nice afternoon of exploring, hiking through tropical rain forests and a chance to interact with a bunch of lovely Filipinos. Nice weekend away relaxing at a lovely resort. Even got to go to Panicuasian Hot Springs for a soak on Monday evening.

My photo on PC website

OMG - they've got my photo on the Peace Corps website. The photos rotate - one of them is with me and some of the staff at my site at MTRC - we were discussing some forms I had developed - this was from the August visit with the PC film crew Eddy & Lee. www.peacecorps.gov

Manila and back

I was back through Manila this past week for almost 3 days in an area about 35 miles away called Tagaytay, near Mount Taal volcano, one of the smallest active volcanoes in the world. (Taal formation, is a crater within an island within a lake) Unfortunately it was so rainy and foggy I never got to see hardly even a glimpse of the lake and volcano a block away. I may just have to return. Manila is actually only a one hour flight from Legazpi – but of course transportation here means at least a ½ day of travel to get from site to there.

On short notice PC ended up asking me to participate in a close of service conference for the group # 269 that is finishing up their 2 years. I sat on a panel to talk to them about career paths and opportunities post PC. Partly the new training director was finding me a way to get a break from my site, which I was most grateful for. Nevertheless, I did get to talk to a number of volunteers interested in both the Response program and in being social workers. It was heartwarming to hear their enthusiasm for translating what they have learned to having careers as social workers. It also gave me opportunity to reflect on my 30 year career and the path I chose. I actually felt kind of proud to be part of this quirky group of people that have served in the PC – (even if I’m not done yet and haven’t done near the time these folks did in serving for two years) It was also great to be a witness to the batch as they wrap up their service – I was really inspired by them (102 made it – out of the 140 that started).

Of course folks got a laugh out of my naiveté – I got to my room and it had no electricity – I’m like what’s up with this? – called the front desk and they had to show me where you put your room key in a slot to have the power activated - what I hick I am, we don’t have this fancy stuff in Malinao. But it was great to get away –refreshing to be in a really nice hotel, hot showers, internet, and good veggie food options… it was heaven. – A chance to recharge and get some new perspective.

This photo is what I might have seen if it wasn't so foggy:

Thrift Stores Philippines Style

So I have to confess after 3 months of wearing the same clothes over and over – it is getting ugly, so I went to a local ‘thrift store’ the other day. Clothes all over the place hanging on bamboo poles – dirt floors and hard to even get a handle on what they had it was so packed with stuff. But of course I had another of those interesting Filipino experiences. It was a particularly hot and humid day, having rained most of the morning. I found a couple shirts but I wanted to try them on to be sure they fit ok. The first woman found me a mirror and turned the fan on to face me so I could try it on. The second store – connected to this one - I walked over and found a shirt and also asked for a mirror which they produced and as I am trying the shirt on - on top of my shirt – the young woman brings a bamboo hand fan and stands in front of me to fan me to make sure I’m am not so hot as I try on the shirt. It was so cute. They are asking a bunch of questions – the older woman doesn’t speak English so thru the young girl she is asking where I am from and why I am here etc, you know the typical thing here. The young girls says “oh you are so kind” – not sure what I did to deserve that but it was lovely. She was the kind one – standing there fanning me while she is in the sweltering heat. I bought the shirt mostly because they were so nice and I thought what the heck its 50 pesos about ($1.17). Another one of those moments that makes this all an amazing experience in the Philippine