28 December 2007
update
children's choir of loboc singing 'o little town of bethlehem' has been posted! see entry on bohol below.
27 December 2007
kalibo (19 december)
something about having over 7000 islands makes the philippines difficult to travel along. your options are generally either to take a boat (and normally these are not “fast craft”, but generally take five plus hours to travel relatively short distances) or to fly (which is expensive). brad really wanted to meet my host family and see long beach / san agustin, but romblon province is quite high on the level of isolation and how difficult it is to get to, so after leaving bohol, we went to cebu (main city outside of manila) and then took a plane to the town of kalibo, on panay island. kalibo is about 60 kms from caticlan, which is where we had to catch our boat to looc on tables. (phew that’s a long explanation). the point is, there is basically nothing in caticlan, so we thought it’d be better to spend the evening in kalibo.
kalibo is the original site of the famous ati-atihan festival, now celebrated throughout the philippines. it commemorates some agreement with a local tribe and has also taken on a more catholic, religious aspect – it’s celebrated by a big festival with street dancing, costumes, masks etc. the festival, sadly, is in mid-january, so we missed it, but the city is already gearing up to prep for it.
kalibo is also a center for pinya weaving in the philippines – a traditional style of weaving from pineapple and banana (called abaca) fibers to make the traditional formal clothing for filipinos. we visited a few craft shops and then came to a place where they actually do the weaving. there, a woman offered to show us through the process and gave us a private tour of the small factory. apparently, this place has over 200 weavers, but most work at home where they can care for their children. there were, however, a few women working while we were there. they weren’t doing any pinya weaving at the time, but were working on abaca products. they separate the different fibers by thickness …
and use looms to weave them together in different patterns.
the above are pillowcases, and they are making them for a contract with calvin klein yes, with calvin klein. the lady giving us the tour joked, “we can’t even afford our own product” … my jaw almost dropped to the floor. both brad and i were absolutely stunned. talk about seeing how the first world country takes advantage of the developing country straight in your face. unbelievable.
and then this woman was sewing patterns of silk into a pinya base.
it was truly amazing to watch these women making these beautiful handicrafts. the shop was full of bags, scarves hats, wallets, pillowcases, and just rolls of the fabrics themselves to be sent off to shops to make the traditional shirts.
what a cool place kalibo turned out to be! it was much less touristy than loboc and cebu and felt much more filipino, even though it still ahd a chowking and jollibee (the big fast food chains here). i was glad we ended up sort-of stumbling upon it – it’s definitely not a common tourist destination, which was refreshing.
kalibo is the original site of the famous ati-atihan festival, now celebrated throughout the philippines. it commemorates some agreement with a local tribe and has also taken on a more catholic, religious aspect – it’s celebrated by a big festival with street dancing, costumes, masks etc. the festival, sadly, is in mid-january, so we missed it, but the city is already gearing up to prep for it.
kalibo is also a center for pinya weaving in the philippines – a traditional style of weaving from pineapple and banana (called abaca) fibers to make the traditional formal clothing for filipinos. we visited a few craft shops and then came to a place where they actually do the weaving. there, a woman offered to show us through the process and gave us a private tour of the small factory. apparently, this place has over 200 weavers, but most work at home where they can care for their children. there were, however, a few women working while we were there. they weren’t doing any pinya weaving at the time, but were working on abaca products. they separate the different fibers by thickness …
and use looms to weave them together in different patterns.
the above are pillowcases, and they are making them for a contract with calvin klein yes, with calvin klein. the lady giving us the tour joked, “we can’t even afford our own product” … my jaw almost dropped to the floor. both brad and i were absolutely stunned. talk about seeing how the first world country takes advantage of the developing country straight in your face. unbelievable.
and then this woman was sewing patterns of silk into a pinya base.
it was truly amazing to watch these women making these beautiful handicrafts. the shop was full of bags, scarves hats, wallets, pillowcases, and just rolls of the fabrics themselves to be sent off to shops to make the traditional shirts.
what a cool place kalibo turned out to be! it was much less touristy than loboc and cebu and felt much more filipino, even though it still ahd a chowking and jollibee (the big fast food chains here). i was glad we ended up sort-of stumbling upon it – it’s definitely not a common tourist destination, which was refreshing.
24 December 2007
18 December 2007
bohol
bohol island is advertised all over the philippines – usually with a picture of the chocolate hills, with a picture of a cute tarsier pasted in front.
[case in point, billboard]
brad and i followed this prescription to the t.
we had met up in cebu at the airport (let me just say … it is good to see brad after six months) and immediately went over to the department of tourism to renew my visa, where lo and behold, you can’t get your visa renewed (even though you can in boracay at the DOT) and so instead we said, oh well, and wandered through downtown cebu (gross, dirty, dingy, loud) to the port where we got on a boat to tagbilaran, bohol. and it was a seriously nice, fast boat and only took an hour and a half to get here!
immediately, i can tell how isolated i have been these past three months. i was completely overwhelmed in cebu by the noise and sheer number of people and things going on; i was amazed by how fast the boat to bohol was; i am amazed by paved roads, by malls, by chain stores. we went into a grocery store in tagbilaran, and i bought yogurt. it makes me laugh at my own amazement by these oh so simple things. who knew a paved road (like, with black tar) could be so exciting? it is also already putting things in romblon into perspective.
but i digress ….
we stayed the night in tagbilaran at a cute little inn (thank god for the LP) and in the morning headed up to loboc, and a place called ‘nuts huts’ (again, thanks LP). the bus dropped us off on the side of the road and we walked 750 m to a set of stairs (called the star way), that led down to the main building.
this place is … unbelievable. it is literally built into the hillside and the native nipa hut rooms are along the bank of the loboc river. on either side, sheer cliffs of jungle raise up, making for beautiful views from the common area/restaurant.
the place is owned by a belgian couple, rita and chris, who are friendly, outgoing, and full of helpful information and suggestions. our first afternoon, we walked down to loboc town along the river and saw the “museum” (i.e. church and a room full of old relics from it). the highlight though is that we also saw the loboc children’s choir rehearsing for mass the next day. the choir is world famous (apparently) and competes around the world and … are really quite good. i was happy we got to hear them.
[video of "o little town of bethlehem"]
we enjoyed a lovely dinner in the common area (so many vegetarian options! and vegetables! and a wonderful drink called the ‘jolly pink panther’!) and went to bed early.
the next day, i had museli with homemade yogurt (i swear, i woke up thinking about it in excitement) for breakfast with real brewed coffee. ohhh how wonderful it is to be in not-so-isolated places! we decided to rent mountain bikes and ride over to the tarsier sanctuary. i was (due to my past experiences with bicycles in this country) a bit hesitant to rent bikes, but chris assured me that these were good quality and that he maintained them himself and that the road was good so we should be fine. we had to carry the bikes up the staircase, but then had a wonderful ride to the sanctuary, about 18 km through rice fields and palm trees.
tarsiers are the world’s smallest primate at only a few inches tall, endangered, and they are really, really weird looking (but in the cute way). in loboc town, people capture them and keep them in cages so that tourists can hold them and take pictures with them – this reduces their lifespan by years. the sanctuary is .. run-down, but really the best way to see them. it is a bit strange – they have a fenced off area, and a guide takes you through, points to where the tarsiers are, and you’re all done within ten minutes.
nuts huts also offers a guided cave hike, so on monday morning, brad and i decided to do that. the caves are on the opposite side of the river, just across from nuts huts, so literally straight up through the jungle. at the top, the guide brought us inside and through two different caves. both had heaps of bats, and the second was an actual living cave, with stalagmites and stalactites.
we also had a wonderful view of nuts huts and the river. if you look closely at the picture, you can see the staircase to the right of the main building.
in the afternoon, we rode a bus up to the chocolate hills. the chocolate hills are famous as a geological site – it’s a series of 1200-ish mounds that all have the same general shape. geologists say that it’s because of coral deposits and erosion, but i prefer to believe the local legend that it’s from the tears of a giant. anyways, it is very much a arrive-walk to the viewpoint-look-take a picture-leave sort of place, but still, the hills were shrouded in mist and quite pretty.
on to cebu and kalibo!
[case in point, billboard]
brad and i followed this prescription to the t.
we had met up in cebu at the airport (let me just say … it is good to see brad after six months) and immediately went over to the department of tourism to renew my visa, where lo and behold, you can’t get your visa renewed (even though you can in boracay at the DOT) and so instead we said, oh well, and wandered through downtown cebu (gross, dirty, dingy, loud) to the port where we got on a boat to tagbilaran, bohol. and it was a seriously nice, fast boat and only took an hour and a half to get here!
immediately, i can tell how isolated i have been these past three months. i was completely overwhelmed in cebu by the noise and sheer number of people and things going on; i was amazed by how fast the boat to bohol was; i am amazed by paved roads, by malls, by chain stores. we went into a grocery store in tagbilaran, and i bought yogurt. it makes me laugh at my own amazement by these oh so simple things. who knew a paved road (like, with black tar) could be so exciting? it is also already putting things in romblon into perspective.
but i digress ….
we stayed the night in tagbilaran at a cute little inn (thank god for the LP) and in the morning headed up to loboc, and a place called ‘nuts huts’ (again, thanks LP). the bus dropped us off on the side of the road and we walked 750 m to a set of stairs (called the star way), that led down to the main building.
this place is … unbelievable. it is literally built into the hillside and the native nipa hut rooms are along the bank of the loboc river. on either side, sheer cliffs of jungle raise up, making for beautiful views from the common area/restaurant.
the place is owned by a belgian couple, rita and chris, who are friendly, outgoing, and full of helpful information and suggestions. our first afternoon, we walked down to loboc town along the river and saw the “museum” (i.e. church and a room full of old relics from it). the highlight though is that we also saw the loboc children’s choir rehearsing for mass the next day. the choir is world famous (apparently) and competes around the world and … are really quite good. i was happy we got to hear them.
[video of "o little town of bethlehem"]
we enjoyed a lovely dinner in the common area (so many vegetarian options! and vegetables! and a wonderful drink called the ‘jolly pink panther’!) and went to bed early.
the next day, i had museli with homemade yogurt (i swear, i woke up thinking about it in excitement) for breakfast with real brewed coffee. ohhh how wonderful it is to be in not-so-isolated places! we decided to rent mountain bikes and ride over to the tarsier sanctuary. i was (due to my past experiences with bicycles in this country) a bit hesitant to rent bikes, but chris assured me that these were good quality and that he maintained them himself and that the road was good so we should be fine. we had to carry the bikes up the staircase, but then had a wonderful ride to the sanctuary, about 18 km through rice fields and palm trees.
tarsiers are the world’s smallest primate at only a few inches tall, endangered, and they are really, really weird looking (but in the cute way). in loboc town, people capture them and keep them in cages so that tourists can hold them and take pictures with them – this reduces their lifespan by years. the sanctuary is .. run-down, but really the best way to see them. it is a bit strange – they have a fenced off area, and a guide takes you through, points to where the tarsiers are, and you’re all done within ten minutes.
nuts huts also offers a guided cave hike, so on monday morning, brad and i decided to do that. the caves are on the opposite side of the river, just across from nuts huts, so literally straight up through the jungle. at the top, the guide brought us inside and through two different caves. both had heaps of bats, and the second was an actual living cave, with stalagmites and stalactites.
we also had a wonderful view of nuts huts and the river. if you look closely at the picture, you can see the staircase to the right of the main building.
in the afternoon, we rode a bus up to the chocolate hills. the chocolate hills are famous as a geological site – it’s a series of 1200-ish mounds that all have the same general shape. geologists say that it’s because of coral deposits and erosion, but i prefer to believe the local legend that it’s from the tears of a giant. anyways, it is very much a arrive-walk to the viewpoint-look-take a picture-leave sort of place, but still, the hills were shrouded in mist and quite pretty.
on to cebu and kalibo!
13 December 2007
it's beginning to look a lot like christmas (sort-of)
nothing here so far has felt like christmas. we have no decorations or tree up at my house. there are only two houses in long beach that have christmas lights up. i rarely hear christmas carols. the kids are excited and counting down, but ... it doesn't feel like christmas is so soon.
two things, though, are worth mentioning.
before jeremy and ben left, they mentioned that i had to go over to robert and ning's to see their christmas tree. so i brought carly over there one afternoon to check it out ... and it's really quite amazing.
that's bamboo that she's cut into those branches and then painted green! isn't it awesome?
and then last saturday, mycel invited carly and i to go christmas carolling with her youth group from church. they are going each weekend in a different barangay to raise money in order to give meals to poor families on christmas day. which is just ... a wonderful cause. so of course we agreed to go with them here in long beach.
we walked up the length of the main area (about a km or so), stopping at most of the houses and singing. there were a few songs in english (jingle bell rock, joy to the world, hark! the herald angels sing (some i didn't know: give love on christmas day, whispering hope)) and a few in tagalog as well (they were pretty!). it just felt like such a good thing to do and was so much fun! i think we even raised a fair amount of money. we sang for three hours, so my voice was hurting by the end, but it was completely worth it. it just ... felt so christmas-y. and such a good thing to participate in.
merry christmas and happy holidays!
[i will be travelling until 10 january, but will do my best to post pictures and stories about the rest of the philippines during that time]
two things, though, are worth mentioning.
before jeremy and ben left, they mentioned that i had to go over to robert and ning's to see their christmas tree. so i brought carly over there one afternoon to check it out ... and it's really quite amazing.
that's bamboo that she's cut into those branches and then painted green! isn't it awesome?
and then last saturday, mycel invited carly and i to go christmas carolling with her youth group from church. they are going each weekend in a different barangay to raise money in order to give meals to poor families on christmas day. which is just ... a wonderful cause. so of course we agreed to go with them here in long beach.
we walked up the length of the main area (about a km or so), stopping at most of the houses and singing. there were a few songs in english (jingle bell rock, joy to the world, hark! the herald angels sing (some i didn't know: give love on christmas day, whispering hope)) and a few in tagalog as well (they were pretty!). it just felt like such a good thing to do and was so much fun! i think we even raised a fair amount of money. we sang for three hours, so my voice was hurting by the end, but it was completely worth it. it just ... felt so christmas-y. and such a good thing to participate in.
merry christmas and happy holidays!
[i will be travelling until 10 january, but will do my best to post pictures and stories about the rest of the philippines during that time]
my world's full of people
after two months of being alone, there are now heaps of people here! in addition to those i mentioned last time, we've also got carly, 28 from aussie who's living in my house here in long beach, and ray and jean who are in their 60s from canada and living down the road. it is, to be quite honest, a bit overstimulating. carly is quite nice and i really enjoy chatting with her, but it's so strange to go from it being very quiet here at my house with plenty of time to myself to always having her here and chatting.
last weekend, all of us volunteers (seven total) and mycel went over to romblon on friday to spend the night and go out to dinner. we took the boat from san agustin (which is bigger than even the big boat from long beach, although by no means a big boat), and scott and i sat outside and got completely soaked because there were some decent sized waves.
we had a great time out at dinner at a place that serves more "european" food, which is just a good break from rice. some carollers were going around and they sang for us, which was great. after dinner, we were craving something sweet, so went by a bakery and these two filipino guys took us to a videoke bar where we all sang. it was quite hilarious. videoke is MASSIVE here (it's basically karaoke, except that behind the words it shows viedos – usually of some girl from the 80s staring wistfully out at the sea or something equally gag-worthy). and all of the favorite songs are BAD sappy slow love songs that didn't make it in the late 80s or 90s for a reason, but for some reason everyone loves here. ??? i don't get it. it's absolutely everywhere and they paly it at top volume, even in restaurants, making it impossible to have a conversation. but we did have a good time and got into it. i sang 'sweet caroline' which made me laugh because i always hated playing that song at BC, but somehow it reminds me of home here.
[carly]
it was great to go out with all of them and relax and have a good time. plus scott bought some awesome board shorts:
[yes those are women in bikinis and yes the pockets are made out of different fabric than the rest of the shorts]
i'm glad that there are other volunteers here with scott (who i am liking quite a bit and think we'll work well together for the last three months i'm here / first three months he's here) while i'm off running around the country with brad. just in this week we've gotten some mangroves planted, worked on a new fence at the sanctuary (to keep all the dogs and chickens out), made some signs, and built up a nursery at the sanctuary. it's all things you just need manpower for and it's awesome to have so many environmental volunteers at once. they'll get a lot done while i'm gone.
last weekend, all of us volunteers (seven total) and mycel went over to romblon on friday to spend the night and go out to dinner. we took the boat from san agustin (which is bigger than even the big boat from long beach, although by no means a big boat), and scott and i sat outside and got completely soaked because there were some decent sized waves.
we had a great time out at dinner at a place that serves more "european" food, which is just a good break from rice. some carollers were going around and they sang for us, which was great. after dinner, we were craving something sweet, so went by a bakery and these two filipino guys took us to a videoke bar where we all sang. it was quite hilarious. videoke is MASSIVE here (it's basically karaoke, except that behind the words it shows viedos – usually of some girl from the 80s staring wistfully out at the sea or something equally gag-worthy). and all of the favorite songs are BAD sappy slow love songs that didn't make it in the late 80s or 90s for a reason, but for some reason everyone loves here. ??? i don't get it. it's absolutely everywhere and they paly it at top volume, even in restaurants, making it impossible to have a conversation. but we did have a good time and got into it. i sang 'sweet caroline' which made me laugh because i always hated playing that song at BC, but somehow it reminds me of home here.
[carly]
it was great to go out with all of them and relax and have a good time. plus scott bought some awesome board shorts:
[yes those are women in bikinis and yes the pockets are made out of different fabric than the rest of the shorts]
i'm glad that there are other volunteers here with scott (who i am liking quite a bit and think we'll work well together for the last three months i'm here / first three months he's here) while i'm off running around the country with brad. just in this week we've gotten some mangroves planted, worked on a new fence at the sanctuary (to keep all the dogs and chickens out), made some signs, and built up a nursery at the sanctuary. it's all things you just need manpower for and it's awesome to have so many environmental volunteers at once. they'll get a lot done while i'm gone.
01 December 2007
future happenings
being away from internet for two weeks means there are tons of updates below – i decided it's easier to write separate entries by actual event than to write one huge massive one that inevitably will just drag on. this is just a general update ....
three more volunteers arrived this week. they were supposed to come on the 23, but because of the bad weather these past two weeks (near-continuous rain and typhoon warnings), they were stuck in manila until the 27. kelly, american, is a doctor, here for just a month, so until the 15 of december; colette, canadian, is here to help with school building for six weeks; scott, australian, is an environmental volunteer here for six months, living in san agustin (so 14 kms from my house – at least we can meet halfway at the sanctuary). there are three more environmental volunteers arriving on the 4 december, all staying for just a month. apparently one of them is a girl my age who will be staying at my house and the other two are an older couple. with five (!!) environmental volunteers, eden hopes we can do some rebuilding at the sanctuary, so that will be awesome.
i am leaving romblon on the 13 december to meet bradley in cebu. he is coming here for christmas and the new year and we will be travelling all around during that time – bohol, island hopping in cebu/negros/panay, palawan for christmas, vigan, batanue – until the 9 january when he leaves. i'm really excited to get to see some other areas of the philippines and to travel for a while. i think i'll feel ... very refreshed when i come back. then i'll do my last seven-ish weeks of volunteering and leave. i won't try to write about my excitement that brad is coming. suffice it to say that i last saw him on the 13 june, when he left tucson. i am heartbroken to not be spending christmas with my family at the cabin, and it was a ridiculously difficult decision to make, but having brad here will make it seem a bit like home, even if christmas will be spent diving in coron on palawan. when i get back to the states, my family has promised that we'll go to the cabin for a weekend.
speaking of returning to the states ... brad is flying from here to uruguay to do a sea turtle study there until the end of march. i really want to visit him, and also need to take a spanish intensive course, so i am planning on leaving here at the end of february and flying to montevideo to see him, take the course, and then return to the states by the end of march. then ... who knows. i am aching to go to boston to see friends and to wander those familiar streets; i miss people scattered throughout the country and really need to sit down and have coffee with friends and catch up on our lives (e-mail and blogs are no exchange for face-to-face conversation); i need to go to california to see my great-grandma and to visit monterey; i need a job and to make money after being outcome only for six months; i need a plan and someplace to live ...
next weekend the other volunteers and i are going to sibuyan island, to the east (tablas island (where i live), then romblon island, then sibuyan island), which is called by the lonely planet (what jeremy, ben, and i have started referring to as "the bible") the "galapagos of the philippines" so i'm really excited about that. and then! the next weekend i get to see brad!
three more volunteers arrived this week. they were supposed to come on the 23, but because of the bad weather these past two weeks (near-continuous rain and typhoon warnings), they were stuck in manila until the 27. kelly, american, is a doctor, here for just a month, so until the 15 of december; colette, canadian, is here to help with school building for six weeks; scott, australian, is an environmental volunteer here for six months, living in san agustin (so 14 kms from my house – at least we can meet halfway at the sanctuary). there are three more environmental volunteers arriving on the 4 december, all staying for just a month. apparently one of them is a girl my age who will be staying at my house and the other two are an older couple. with five (!!) environmental volunteers, eden hopes we can do some rebuilding at the sanctuary, so that will be awesome.
i am leaving romblon on the 13 december to meet bradley in cebu. he is coming here for christmas and the new year and we will be travelling all around during that time – bohol, island hopping in cebu/negros/panay, palawan for christmas, vigan, batanue – until the 9 january when he leaves. i'm really excited to get to see some other areas of the philippines and to travel for a while. i think i'll feel ... very refreshed when i come back. then i'll do my last seven-ish weeks of volunteering and leave. i won't try to write about my excitement that brad is coming. suffice it to say that i last saw him on the 13 june, when he left tucson. i am heartbroken to not be spending christmas with my family at the cabin, and it was a ridiculously difficult decision to make, but having brad here will make it seem a bit like home, even if christmas will be spent diving in coron on palawan. when i get back to the states, my family has promised that we'll go to the cabin for a weekend.
speaking of returning to the states ... brad is flying from here to uruguay to do a sea turtle study there until the end of march. i really want to visit him, and also need to take a spanish intensive course, so i am planning on leaving here at the end of february and flying to montevideo to see him, take the course, and then return to the states by the end of march. then ... who knows. i am aching to go to boston to see friends and to wander those familiar streets; i miss people scattered throughout the country and really need to sit down and have coffee with friends and catch up on our lives (e-mail and blogs are no exchange for face-to-face conversation); i need to go to california to see my great-grandma and to visit monterey; i need a job and to make money after being outcome only for six months; i need a plan and someplace to live ...
next weekend the other volunteers and i are going to sibuyan island, to the east (tablas island (where i live), then romblon island, then sibuyan island), which is called by the lonely planet (what jeremy, ben, and i have started referring to as "the bible") the "galapagos of the philippines" so i'm really excited about that. and then! the next weekend i get to see brad!
i get by with a little help from my friends
jeremy and ben left today.
i cannot really express how much i am going to miss them – their friendship, companionship, help, support, assistance, comfort.
it is really amazing how close you become with people in a foreign country in a mere six weeks. we have spent practically every day together since they arrived (with the except of the three where they were in boracay) and been exchanging thoughts and ideas and information about our lives in that very short time.
they saved me in coming here. my first two months were so difficult and i felt so ... unaccomplished. and even though we didn't get everything done that we'd hoped to while they were here (welcome to the philippines, ay?), i feel more accomplished since they arrived. when i first came to the philippines, i filled out a survey for CERV that asked how my time here could be a "success" and i wrote that i wanted to be able to see some difference at the end of my time, to actually do something, to feel fulfilled. and because of jeremy and ben, at least part of that has been realized. yes, things, even with them here, is challenging and our work is never easy, but ... there is something different about struggling with them rather than by myself.
and more than all the work, it is the conversations we have had that stand out in my mind. nothing can compare to those talks and throwing things around, working things out together.
i will miss them so much.
i cannot really express how much i am going to miss them – their friendship, companionship, help, support, assistance, comfort.
it is really amazing how close you become with people in a foreign country in a mere six weeks. we have spent practically every day together since they arrived (with the except of the three where they were in boracay) and been exchanging thoughts and ideas and information about our lives in that very short time.
they saved me in coming here. my first two months were so difficult and i felt so ... unaccomplished. and even though we didn't get everything done that we'd hoped to while they were here (welcome to the philippines, ay?), i feel more accomplished since they arrived. when i first came to the philippines, i filled out a survey for CERV that asked how my time here could be a "success" and i wrote that i wanted to be able to see some difference at the end of my time, to actually do something, to feel fulfilled. and because of jeremy and ben, at least part of that has been realized. yes, things, even with them here, is challenging and our work is never easy, but ... there is something different about struggling with them rather than by myself.
and more than all the work, it is the conversations we have had that stand out in my mind. nothing can compare to those talks and throwing things around, working things out together.
i will miss them so much.
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