hey everyone....
So i've been getting a few "are you alive" or "are you okay" e-mails lately, which means I am overdue for an update and I must be hiding in the Philippines or something hahah.
(flat rocks- waterfall on mount makiling behind forestry buildings)Things are going really well here and I am adjusting surprisingly good. It is is of course a developing nation, and is nothing like anything we can relate to back home. I'm happy to report it is quite the culture shock but in a pleasant way because the people are very friendly. Although many people speak English, the majority of people speak Tagalog to each other and will only speak English if you speak to them. I was picked up from the airport by a lady from the University and then we picked up Marni who is also on exchange from UBC Forestry.
We got to the UPLB (University of the Philippines Los Banos) after picking up some Korean students from a different airport and then made the 2 hour trip to Los Banos. Manila traffic is very overwhelming and there is no way I could drive here !!! We left the city and then arrived in a more rural setting. The University campus is very beautiful with lots of trees and green spaces. The buildings are extremely old, falling apart, dirty and the bathrooms are slightly scary. I think most people would have a hard time adjusting to toilets that you can't flush toilet paper in, that have no toilet seats, and you have to scoop water from a big garbage bin in order to flush. Even at our dorm it is the same, and the water shuts off at 8:30 PM. My previous experiences living with nothing make me very well prepared mentally for this, but if I had not done a lot of the things that I have done I would be very overwhelmed and turned off by the living standards. This is not a convenient and sterile first world country.
(my room and bed)Regardless of that, I love my dorm and it is where the exchange students live. It is called the Food and Nutrition Dormitory and is located amongst the agricultural buildings on campus and there are cows, water buffalo, horses, goats along the road to get to our dorm. A 10 minute walk from the dorm I can go to the Dairy building where they sell fresh cows and water buffalo milk, yogurt made from water buffalo, cheese, ice cream etc. which is all made from the animals that live near us.There are many Korean, Japanese and three Canadians staying here. Last semester there were a few Americans but they have left. I share a room with a girl from Japan named Nana who is very very nice and lovely. Our rooms are basic i.e. a bed, desk and shared bathroom, and closet space, one fridge and sink- no air conditioning but a big ceiling fan. Nana is a great cook and she often will cook dinner for the entire dorm because she enjoys it. I like that she respects my space and gives me lots of time alone to read when I want. Our is a toilet and a shower head over a faucet (very simple but it works) and the water is luke warm (which is nice because of the heat). I usually rinse off twice a day because of sweating so much in the day plus the vehicles all use diesel which causes a lot of nasty air pollution. Although many people I know would have a hard time perhaps with this living situation, especially because there is no air con (only a big ceiling fan), I enjoy the dorm and the people in it a lot. We have to buy purified water which gets delivered because all tap water is undrinkable.
(all of the exchange students: three japanese girls, five koreans and three canadians)The people in my dorm are really great, even though there are some language barriers, we laugh though it. We often go out for dinner together in town as a big international group. When I first got here I thought that I would want to move out right away into an apartment off campus, but on second thoughts I want to stay at the dorm the entire semester if I can. When Lou comes hopefully we can just rent one room to ourselves which would be convenient. What i like most is that it is really quiet here because the only noise you get is animal noises rather than a million honking jeepneys plus street noise.
(Jeepney)The town nearby is very crowded and a bit overwhelming. You can take a jeepney (a small bus) which is about 12 cents to go anywhere in town and you just tell them whenever you want to get off. Since being here we have taken care of our health check up where we got a physical, dental check, eye check and chest x ray for about 5 dollars ( good thing I didn't do it back home, or in the states). Classes started two weeks ago but things are very slow going and disorganized, with a very painful registration process. You have to get every professor to sign a piece of paper before you can take their class (which is daunting when they are not often in their offices). So instead of doing this, I just showed up at the classes that I want to taked and then asked them to sign me up. This semester I am taking Forest Biodiversity, Conservation Biology in the Tropics, Social Ethics and Equality in forestry, Chemistry and Swimming. I wanted to take Yoga for PE but all the PE classes fill up really fast. In my swimming class I am the only one who knows how to swim so I'm going to try to convince the lady to let me just swim laps. Its at 8 AM tues/Thurs and is a good way to wake up.
(near forestry buildings)The forestry buildings are beautiful and in a great secluded part of campus. But you have to take a jeepney to get up there or else you will walk just under an hour to get there up a big hill. So far one of my courses is planning a big field trip which will be 3 or 4 days to either the North or to the South to Palawan. I'm looking forward to it.
Two weekends ago Marni (other Canadian girl), Adam (other Canadian guy) and me did our Open water scuba diving certification at Sabang Beach in Puerto Galera. We both have Mondays off and there was no class on Tuesday, we we left Sat at 5 Am and did 5 dives total! It was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever done. Our Dive Master was a local guy and although i wouldn't recommend the course for older people, it was great for us. He moved through things fairly quickly because we were smart and on top of it and focused more on skills and comfort in the water rather than memorizing the text. My camera worked really well under the water after I put a defogging lotion on the lens because at first the camera was hot and the water cold causing it to fog. I am so happy I bought that camera... taking pictures under water is the combination of my two favourite things. I am glad we finished it early so that we can travel on weekends and do scuba diving wherever. It is about 30 dollars for one boat dive inclusive of equipment, so although that adds up, i'm sure it will be some of the cheapest diving and the most beautiful out there.
Although many people stare at me in classes or as I walk down the street or buy groceries, I am coming to terms with the fact that they have not seen many white people in their lives. many people live very poorly here and I know I am very privileged. I wish I could stay longer in the Philippines because there are so many interesting courses to take, but I also am happy that I have most of my classes out of the way so that i can just enjoy this country and attempt to pass Chemistry. We have been busy but also I go to bed early and get up early here too. I'm excited to be here and I really am enjoying it very much so far. Although people are poor here, they are very wealthy in things that some Canadians are poor in i.e. very good health, active lives, lots of good food to eat with people, lots of socializing/ time spent with family and just a more positive outlook on life. It is nice to see that.
(me at a wreck and angel fish)Last weekend we went to Manila and stayed at a hostel. I'm not a huge fan of Manila because it is a huge, dirty, crowded developing city. I felt weary of getting ripped off and I will probably not travel to Manila that much. It was nice to meet people at the hostel (free wine and cheese all night) that were also traveling because other than Marni and Adam, it is difficult to have a very deep conversation with people here. Most of the dorm mates have so-so English, and many of the Philippino classmates are a lot younger like 18 and it is hard to relate with them. Anyways, we had a good night and saw Harry Potter the next day!!!!
