Lately life has been a bit hectic. I’m on day 3 in the Philippines and all of them have been in Manila, the crazy capital city. But really, we haven’t been in Manila…mostly the hotel/resort/place they’re putting us up for the next few days. We’ve been there exclusively, except for trips to the SM Bacoor, a huge shopping mall about 15 minutes away. It’s been here that I got my cell phone (I’ll update my number in the “contact” section), an adaptor for my laptop plug and, most importantly, internet!
The ride here is pretty colorful- you cross a bridge over some rather stinky water out of the resort-place and cross the street, get on a jeepney and wait until you see the mall to push the stop button. For those who’ve never heard of jeepneys, they’re a really popular form of public transit- a sort of mini bus. I think Loreto described it best, “Picture a jeep. Now stretch it out and put a bunch of seats in it. Now pimp it out.” That’s pretty much it. Except, you usually get some blaring loud music that is quite often bad american pop music. It’s quite an experience and anyone who comes to visit will be forced to go on a couple of rides.
As far as peace corps related stuff is going, everything’s been pretty enjoyable. We started out slowly and there wasn’t much programmed for us in the AM until today. Despite my normal schedule at home, I’m getting into the habit of going to bed early and waking on my own around 6. Sometimes it’s just me, sometimes it’s the kids shrieking in the courtyard pool that does it. The food’s been pretty fantastic and merienda (snack time) comes twice a day. So far I’ve gotten 3 shots and I’ve still got a few more to go. So far it’s been Hep A, Japanese B encephilitis and my first pre-exposure rabies. Tomorrow is typhoid. Yesterday was also my first day of malaria prophylaxis, we’re taking Chloroquine and so far it hasn’t yielded any strange dreams.
Yesterday we found out our hub sites which denote the region in which our site placement will be. I’m going to Bicol (say BEE-cole) or the Bicol Peninsula which is the southernmost part of Luzon (the big island). There are pros and cons (as with everywhere) but I’m really excited about it. It seems like we’ll be right in the middle of everything, between the rest of Luzon and the Visayas. Also, the region is malaria free (but I still have to take the meds) and almost 100% dengue free (I think that there was one incidence of breakout).
There’s not much more to say about everything right now except that I’m very happy with the warm. My fellow region-mates seem pretty cool and a few of us are already planning on getting a group together to get scuba certified.
I updated some pictures, included is a lovely shot of our very first filipino sunset over Manila Bay.