Well I made it back to New Zealand in one piece. After a short stop in Singapore to see friends and eat lots of yummy food I arrived back in Wellington on the 11th Dec.
Reverse culture shock? Where are all the people?
Apart from that it was pretty easy to come home and great to catch up with lots of friends before Christmas. A summer BBQ on the weekend was a great way to get back into the swing of things - even if I did have to assemble the BBQ myself.
Wellington may not have as many exciting stories for me to write about but I'll do my best. The politcal situation seems rather tame compared to Manila (thank goodness), Helen (PM) is down in the polls and Tau has been named bad boy of the year. The local newspaper is supporting a campaign to ban whale fishing by Japan. No typhoons yet but a lot of rain - good for the farmers.
Hello to my friends in Manila - I miss you. Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Storms and Political Storms
Well we survived the typhoons (there were two of them in the end) but there were casualties in some parts of the Philippines due to severe flooding. I think about 26 people may have died over the last few weeks due to typhoon weather. In Manila we had a day of gusty wind and several days of heavy rain. We also had a 'brown out' (as opposed to a 'black out' - not entirely sure why the distinction actually) for about an hour one night. We did have some emergency lighting in the stairwells - I'm guessing that's why it was a 'brown out' not 'black out'.
Anyway just when I thought things were getting back to 'normal' here in Manila, the action started heating up on the political front. Apparently some senator/general guy was in court for some reason and walked out with his supporters. They proceeded to storm into a nearby 5 star hotel and occupy it with the intent of starting a popular uprising against the current president. They hoped the army and civilians would join them but unfortunately they drastically misread the mood of the population and the government succeeded in evicting them from the hotel and arresting them all.
We first learnt of this on Thursday evening when we tried to go to a 9.30pm movie and were told it was not showing due to a 12pm curfew imposed on Metro Manila. Actually everyone was going about their business in our part of the city and things remained calm.
My favourite headline in recent days is 'What were they thinking?'.
A storm in a teacup it seems.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Take the pressure down
Does anyone else remember that song from the 80s/90s? (See blog title). That just about sums up the weather patterns here in the last week. We are having some typhoons sweep across the area (so far not a direct hit) and as the weather changes the barometric pressure changes suddenly. This can have range of strange effects on how we all feel. When the pressure drops you can feel tired, grumpy, lethargic, even a bit sick. Headaches and dizziness have also been reported. So far not many of the Filipinos I have met admit to feeling any of these symptoms so I may have to conclude it's a foreign visitor phenomenon.
Typhoon Mina was supposed to have hit a part of the Philippines badly over the weekend but thankfully changed course and we only had a bit of wind and scattered rain. I'm secretly disappointed because I wanted to see what a typhoon looks like but I suspect the millions of people who still have their houses intact are quite pleased.
Typhoon Mina was supposed to have hit a part of the Philippines badly over the weekend but thankfully changed course and we only had a bit of wind and scattered rain. I'm secretly disappointed because I wanted to see what a typhoon looks like but I suspect the millions of people who still have their houses intact are quite pleased.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Octoberfest on the hill
Well I never thought I would get to experience Octoberfest in the Philippines but it seems I brought a little bit of Germany with me when I came.
It all happened at a big Catholic retreat centre in Antipolo on the outskirts of Manila. We (the ICPE community plus about 20 others) were there for a course on Pastoral Care (PCS). Half way through our course one of the resident priests who happened to be German organised his annual Octoberfest. Somehow we managed to get invited - free beer and food with singing and drinking games! The highlight was when they took the empty keg out in funeral procession style and then we had to pray to San Miguel (type of beer and saint) for a new 'resurrected' keg. All in good fun. The PCS course was also very good.
Now I have less than one month left in the Philippines. I head back to NZ via Singapore so hope to see some of you on the way or in NZ.
It all happened at a big Catholic retreat centre in Antipolo on the outskirts of Manila. We (the ICPE community plus about 20 others) were there for a course on Pastoral Care (PCS). Half way through our course one of the resident priests who happened to be German organised his annual Octoberfest. Somehow we managed to get invited - free beer and food with singing and drinking games! The highlight was when they took the empty keg out in funeral procession style and then we had to pray to San Miguel (type of beer and saint) for a new 'resurrected' keg. All in good fun. The PCS course was also very good.
Now I have less than one month left in the Philippines. I head back to NZ via Singapore so hope to see some of you on the way or in NZ.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Miracle in Montalban
Just a wee note about our children's ministry. It has been great to be part of the team here in the Philippines working with children in Montalban. Week by week I am slowly learning names and getting to know some of children. It's hard because they don't really speak English and I don't speak Tagalog (although I am learning).
Working with the community means joining in their ups and downs. A few weeks ago a 3 year old boy died of (I think) infected tonsils. The parents either did not have the money to go to the doctor or did not realise how serious the illness was. The funeral cost around 15000 Pesos ($300 NZ) which was a huge amount for family to pay. We ended up helping them with some of the money but it was so difficult because we can not afford to help with it all and it is not our position to give out money. Some people here think we are a foundation with money to spare, they do not realise we are voluntary missionaries living on providence and fund raising. To many of them we are rich foreigners.
A long running problem for us is a place to hold our Saturday ministry. We were originally in a school building but this is currently being renovated and we cannot use it. Then we tried using a half-built chapel before being given a smallish room used by another community group. However when it rained we had a waterfall running down one wall and a third of the room became unusable. A few weeks ago it rained heavily and we decided not to go but to spend the time praying about the ministry and for another venue to hold it in.
We also needed to find somewhere to hold our Christmas party.
As we prayed we felt inspired to pray for the parish priest who until this time has not for whatever reason been very interested in our work. We also felt God wanted to involve the children in a mass (pretty hard if you have no priest!). Many of the children may never have been to mass or have any connection with the church, they simply like to come along to our session on Saturday. Our director had been in contact with the priest about a new place and he told her we should talk to someone else. The situation seemed impossible and I began to wonder what God was up to.
So last Saturday we went early to Montalban to look around the community for a new building. We found a temporary place after talking to various people and then decided to pay the priest a social call - just to introduce ourselves and say hello.
I also held out some hope that somehow he might be able to help us.
Intially he was reserved but as we talked (about 5 of us) he warmed up and after we told him about our christmas party he, out of the blue, offered to say mass for the children before the party and agreed we could use the church gardens for the party! We were stunned - we had not even mentioned mass and the gardens are very nice.
Thank you God!
We are still hoping for a permanent home for our children's ministry. Please pray for us if you are the praying sort.
Working with the community means joining in their ups and downs. A few weeks ago a 3 year old boy died of (I think) infected tonsils. The parents either did not have the money to go to the doctor or did not realise how serious the illness was. The funeral cost around 15000 Pesos ($300 NZ) which was a huge amount for family to pay. We ended up helping them with some of the money but it was so difficult because we can not afford to help with it all and it is not our position to give out money. Some people here think we are a foundation with money to spare, they do not realise we are voluntary missionaries living on providence and fund raising. To many of them we are rich foreigners.
A long running problem for us is a place to hold our Saturday ministry. We were originally in a school building but this is currently being renovated and we cannot use it. Then we tried using a half-built chapel before being given a smallish room used by another community group. However when it rained we had a waterfall running down one wall and a third of the room became unusable. A few weeks ago it rained heavily and we decided not to go but to spend the time praying about the ministry and for another venue to hold it in.
We also needed to find somewhere to hold our Christmas party.
As we prayed we felt inspired to pray for the parish priest who until this time has not for whatever reason been very interested in our work. We also felt God wanted to involve the children in a mass (pretty hard if you have no priest!). Many of the children may never have been to mass or have any connection with the church, they simply like to come along to our session on Saturday. Our director had been in contact with the priest about a new place and he told her we should talk to someone else. The situation seemed impossible and I began to wonder what God was up to.
So last Saturday we went early to Montalban to look around the community for a new building. We found a temporary place after talking to various people and then decided to pay the priest a social call - just to introduce ourselves and say hello.
I also held out some hope that somehow he might be able to help us.
Intially he was reserved but as we talked (about 5 of us) he warmed up and after we told him about our christmas party he, out of the blue, offered to say mass for the children before the party and agreed we could use the church gardens for the party! We were stunned - we had not even mentioned mass and the gardens are very nice.
Thank you God!
We are still hoping for a permanent home for our children's ministry. Please pray for us if you are the praying sort.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Culture Shock Top Ten
I have been in Manila for over a month now and have been mentally compiling a list of the many things in the Philippines that took some (or a lot of) getting used too when I arrived. I hope I can find ten 'cause that sounds better than Top 7. Somehow I don't think I will have a problem.
10. Jolibee - The Philippine answer to McDonalds. It's just everywhere and has a big plastic bee outside looking very - jolly. You can buy hamburgers, fried chicken or Philippine traditional food served fast-food style.
9. So many malls - just down the road are the following - Robinsons Mall, Mega Mall, Shangri-La Mall, St Francis Square - the list goes on. Everyone hangs out in the malls, you can even....
8. ....go to church in a mall. Yes if you wanted to combine a spot of shopping and a mass you can in Manila. I have heard of at least four malls which have daily mass - sometimes just between the shops they will set up chairs and an altar.
7.Jeepneys, FX and tricycle transport. Getting around in Manila has it's own whole culture. It's easy-ish if you know a few things. Tricyles (usually motorised with a side cab) are quick and are for short distances. In the heavy traffic they can be a hazard to your lungs and general safety. Who needs bungy jumpy when you can risk your life travelling down the street. Jeepneys and FX are extended Jeeps or FWDs - you call them over and jump in. FX have the advantage of airconditioning and cost slightly more. Usually they are packed and you pass your money up the row of people to the driver who will then pass your change back. It works amazingly well as far as I can see - the driver often has a helper to gather passengers and keep an eye on who gets on and off.
6. Food - I haven't tried the 'ballot' yet - a unhatched chick cooked in it's shell or the 'day old chick' fried in batter. Yum! Where I live we eat a lot of rice, meat and fruit. Fish is often served with head and tail on so you can eat the eye if you really want to!! Take out food varies a lot but tends to be a bit plasticy - although Chow King (restaurant chain like McDonalds) does OK Chinese take out and there's always Jolibee. You can eat a lot of Western food here but not always tasting like I'm used to.
5. Traffic - "How will I get across the road??" was one of my first thoughts in Manila. The traffic is a bit crazy and wont stop for you at pedestrian crossings. If they stop at the lights - Thank God and quickly crossly the street. Otherwise step out and hope for the best.
4. Having your bag searched by armed security guards when entering a shopping mall or a metro train station. They also sometimes give you a quick search or 'free massage' as you enter - fortunately there is usually a separate womens and mens entrance.
3. As you walk down the street you may hear 'Hello Ma'am',or 'Good morning Ma'am' from some Philippine men. This is because you're white and a woman. White men sometimes get called 'Joe' after GI Joe.
2. You can't flush your toilet paper down the toilet here, even in your own house - you just put it in the rubbish bin provided. It's a bit yukky but somehow you do get used to it. Also don't expect public toilets (even in shopping malls) to have toilet paper - you must provide your own.
1. Poverty - ah yes the big one. It shocked me when I first arrived and I still find it shocking. The imbalance of wealth is incredible - there are people living in big houses with huge walls and tight security and then there are possibly millions of people living in little more that shacks. There is a middle class I guess - people who look pretty ordinary with normal jobs - the malls (particularly the cheaper ones) are full of people shopping. Manila is a strange place - I'm beginning to think it has more layers than an onion.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
4 hours in Jolibee
Ok so most of you are probably wondering what the heck is Jolibee. Jolibee is a Philippine version of McDonalds. It is more popular than McDs here - and you can find a Jolibee resturant just about everywhere. Very handy when you have to apply for an extension on your visa in Manila.
I had hear many horror stories about the immigration department here: the queues, the wait, the heat; so I didn't expect to much when I went down on Thursday to extend my visa.
Even getting to the immigration department involves two metro trains (for which you must pay for separately) and walk to the older part of town in the heat. I managed to find it OK and prepared myself for the worst: queues of 50 people, being sent to 4 separate queues for each part of the proceedure e.t.c. e.t.c. but actually it was not so bad - I was out of there in about 15 minutes (thanks to a few prayers). However that was just the first part of the experience as they keep your passport to put the required stamp in and ask you to come back in the afternoon.
So I had about 4 1/2 hours to waste. It was too hot to walk anywhere and I had done sightseeing in that area last time I was in Manila. Jolibee was the best option.
I had a great time seeing how slowly I could drink an iced tea (about 1 hour at least) and then ordered lunch. All up I was there for about 4 hours! I read and prayed and thoroughly enjoyed my enforced quiet time (sort of quiet as Jolibee is a pretty busy place).
I went back for my visa at 3pm (no problems, not much queue - Praise God!) and headed home.
Well Manila is a crazy place but there are things I am beginning to like about it - sort of. You can eat anytime you want and anything you want really, movies cost about NZ $3-4, the malls are big, air-conditioned and the shopping can be very reasonably priced, the people are very friendly and sometimes there are days where the air is not so poluted!
They do do a few crazy things here though - this week they have been digging the road outside our base and dug a ditch right in front of the our driveway. It was left like that for about 5 days - no planks to cover it, just a ditch. We could not get the van out and eventually when they finally did fill the ditch in (after much asking from us) it was at about 10.30 at night and right below my window. Interesting!
I had hear many horror stories about the immigration department here: the queues, the wait, the heat; so I didn't expect to much when I went down on Thursday to extend my visa.
Even getting to the immigration department involves two metro trains (for which you must pay for separately) and walk to the older part of town in the heat. I managed to find it OK and prepared myself for the worst: queues of 50 people, being sent to 4 separate queues for each part of the proceedure e.t.c. e.t.c. but actually it was not so bad - I was out of there in about 15 minutes (thanks to a few prayers). However that was just the first part of the experience as they keep your passport to put the required stamp in and ask you to come back in the afternoon.
So I had about 4 1/2 hours to waste. It was too hot to walk anywhere and I had done sightseeing in that area last time I was in Manila. Jolibee was the best option.
I had a great time seeing how slowly I could drink an iced tea (about 1 hour at least) and then ordered lunch. All up I was there for about 4 hours! I read and prayed and thoroughly enjoyed my enforced quiet time (sort of quiet as Jolibee is a pretty busy place).
I went back for my visa at 3pm (no problems, not much queue - Praise God!) and headed home.
Well Manila is a crazy place but there are things I am beginning to like about it - sort of. You can eat anytime you want and anything you want really, movies cost about NZ $3-4, the malls are big, air-conditioned and the shopping can be very reasonably priced, the people are very friendly and sometimes there are days where the air is not so poluted!
They do do a few crazy things here though - this week they have been digging the road outside our base and dug a ditch right in front of the our driveway. It was left like that for about 5 days - no planks to cover it, just a ditch. We could not get the van out and eventually when they finally did fill the ditch in (after much asking from us) it was at about 10.30 at night and right below my window. Interesting!
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Montalban
For those who don't know I am currently staying with a Catholic missionary community called ICPE (International Catholic Programme for Evangelisation) in Manila.
This community is currently working with adults and children in an area of Manila called Montalban. The people they are working with were once squatters alongside the Pasig river in Manila. The government has re-located them to a semi-rural area and built basic housing for them. Their housing situation is therefore improved however now they further out of Manila, far away from most employment and so without good ways to earn money. Some of them work on the nearby rubbish dump collecting things they can sell. There are schools in this area which are free but the uniform and books e.t.c. are not. Many of the poorer people cannot afford to send their children to school.
ICPE has two ministries here. there is a children's ministry which is like a Sunday School. Sometimes this attracts up to 120 children of various ages on a Saturday afternoon. Today I was there helping.
We sang some action songs, said a prayer and introduced our topic which was 'Saying thank you'. I was amazed at how these children who on the face of it did not have much at all could articulate the many things they were thankful for. Parents, houses, friends, animals, brothers, sisters e.t.c. We finished the session with a 'march' around the small community singing, chanting and making a lot of noise about Jesus and his love for us. It was fun but also a declaration: "God loves you" to the community.
Some of these children are being sponsored to attend the local school. Friends and supporters of ICPE contribute around 4000 pesos (about NZ$120) for each sponsored child. This money covers the uniform, books and extra costs for the child.
The other ministry in Montalban is for the parents of the children who are sponsored and any other adult who would like to come. There are two sessions on Saturday and the aim is to empower them to make good choices for themselves and their families.
Last week I attended these session and it was so great to meet some of the women and men who come along. They really do not have a lot, and life can be very tough but they are just like you and me.
This community is currently working with adults and children in an area of Manila called Montalban. The people they are working with were once squatters alongside the Pasig river in Manila. The government has re-located them to a semi-rural area and built basic housing for them. Their housing situation is therefore improved however now they further out of Manila, far away from most employment and so without good ways to earn money. Some of them work on the nearby rubbish dump collecting things they can sell. There are schools in this area which are free but the uniform and books e.t.c. are not. Many of the poorer people cannot afford to send their children to school.
ICPE has two ministries here. there is a children's ministry which is like a Sunday School. Sometimes this attracts up to 120 children of various ages on a Saturday afternoon. Today I was there helping.
We sang some action songs, said a prayer and introduced our topic which was 'Saying thank you'. I was amazed at how these children who on the face of it did not have much at all could articulate the many things they were thankful for. Parents, houses, friends, animals, brothers, sisters e.t.c. We finished the session with a 'march' around the small community singing, chanting and making a lot of noise about Jesus and his love for us. It was fun but also a declaration: "God loves you" to the community.
Some of these children are being sponsored to attend the local school. Friends and supporters of ICPE contribute around 4000 pesos (about NZ$120) for each sponsored child. This money covers the uniform, books and extra costs for the child.
The other ministry in Montalban is for the parents of the children who are sponsored and any other adult who would like to come. There are two sessions on Saturday and the aim is to empower them to make good choices for themselves and their families.
Last week I attended these session and it was so great to meet some of the women and men who come along. They really do not have a lot, and life can be very tough but they are just like you and me.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Hungry Rats
Welcome to my blog. I have been in the Philippines for nearly 2 weeks now and already have a few stories to tell. We had a public holiday here on Monday and Tuesday so friends Jikta, Xiao Wai and I headed out of Manila to stay at a retreat house near some mountains (hills really) in the Batangas area. Depending on the weather we planned to do some walking in the hills or just relax in away from the smog and business of the city. It was an adventure just to get to the retreat house. It involved a 1 1/2 hour bus trip to Los Banos and then a jeepney (kind of an extended jeep) ride to the university there. (It is a agricultural university) After being dropped at the Animal Husbandry department we then had to catch a tricycle (local public transport for 2 - 3 people) to our retreat house in a small rural community near the university.
On first glance the retreat house was basic but clean, close to the jungle. We dropped off our bags and headed up the main hill for a walk. The walk was great although I'm not a fearless jungle walker but we did not see any spiders, snakes or other nasty wild animals so I was fairly happy. We did hear one 'insect' which sounded like a very loud chainsaw - creepy.
The end of our walk was a bubbling mud pool similar to what you would find in Rotorua in NZ. It was a relief to get to the end as it was getting late in the afternoon. We headed back as it began to rain. Walking in the jungle in tropical rain (big, wet, heavy) with a dilapidated umbrella was a highlight for me. My umbrella (although springing several leeks) held up and I made it back to the start nearly dry.
The three of us travelled back to the retreat house in jeepney and tricycle. Much fun was had in the open tricycle. Jitka received a shower from below as the wheel was not covered.
We thought that would be the end of our adventures for the day but it was just the start. When we entered our room we found that rats had had their own adventures with our bags and shoes. A rat had eaten through 2 layers of Jitka's backpack in it's search for food. One of my shoes had lost half a leather strap - rendering it useless and one of my flip-flops/jandals had disappeared.
Needless to say we did not feel comfortable sleeping in that room and after I saw a rat run along part of the ceiling beam we asked for a change of accomodation. We moved a space near the dining room which had less holes for rats but the came with the company of a flea ridden, hairball(?) coughing-up dog. We had a tough choice - flea ridden, hairball coughing dog or rats running over us in the night. The dog won by a hair - it hopefully would keep out the rats we thought and it didn't seem that interested in coming near us - a bonus under the circumstances.
That night we slept with the light on and with constant interuptions of scratching and hairball coughing but at least no rats to be seen.
After a restless night we headed out for more walking the next day - the botanical gardens were interesting but as we had to take our backpacks with us I began to feel like a soldier in full kit walking through the jungle.
So - an interesting time had by all. Thank you God for keeping us safe. We arrived back in Manila about 6pm - back to the smog and craziness.
On first glance the retreat house was basic but clean, close to the jungle. We dropped off our bags and headed up the main hill for a walk. The walk was great although I'm not a fearless jungle walker but we did not see any spiders, snakes or other nasty wild animals so I was fairly happy. We did hear one 'insect' which sounded like a very loud chainsaw - creepy.
The end of our walk was a bubbling mud pool similar to what you would find in Rotorua in NZ. It was a relief to get to the end as it was getting late in the afternoon. We headed back as it began to rain. Walking in the jungle in tropical rain (big, wet, heavy) with a dilapidated umbrella was a highlight for me. My umbrella (although springing several leeks) held up and I made it back to the start nearly dry.
The three of us travelled back to the retreat house in jeepney and tricycle. Much fun was had in the open tricycle. Jitka received a shower from below as the wheel was not covered.
We thought that would be the end of our adventures for the day but it was just the start. When we entered our room we found that rats had had their own adventures with our bags and shoes. A rat had eaten through 2 layers of Jitka's backpack in it's search for food. One of my shoes had lost half a leather strap - rendering it useless and one of my flip-flops/jandals had disappeared.
Needless to say we did not feel comfortable sleeping in that room and after I saw a rat run along part of the ceiling beam we asked for a change of accomodation. We moved a space near the dining room which had less holes for rats but the came with the company of a flea ridden, hairball(?) coughing-up dog. We had a tough choice - flea ridden, hairball coughing dog or rats running over us in the night. The dog won by a hair - it hopefully would keep out the rats we thought and it didn't seem that interested in coming near us - a bonus under the circumstances.
That night we slept with the light on and with constant interuptions of scratching and hairball coughing but at least no rats to be seen.
After a restless night we headed out for more walking the next day - the botanical gardens were interesting but as we had to take our backpacks with us I began to feel like a soldier in full kit walking through the jungle.
So - an interesting time had by all. Thank you God for keeping us safe. We arrived back in Manila about 6pm - back to the smog and craziness.
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