Monday, March 22 from Cliff

Got up with the sun this morning and no mosquito bites, amazing!  Today we asked that instead of lounging around at the beach, if we be allowed to go to the Taal Volcano crater.  With the blessing of Fed, we headed out to Tagaytay and then down the mountain to Talisay on Lake Taal.  The road down was winding with very steep dropoffs. The kind of road I hate.  In Talisay, we found a person who would procure a boat for us.  Once the price was settled on and all of the extras were known, we set out across the lake to the island volcano in the middle.  From above we couldn’t appreciate how big the lake was.  It took 30 to 40 minutes in a relatively fast boat to get to our destination.  After arriving on the beach we then negotiated a price for horses and a guide to take us to the crater.  Saddled up, we ascended up the mountain to the crater’s rim.  What a beautiful site of a hot sulfur lake.  The horses were not allowed to descend to waters edge so if you wanted to go you needed to hike down, and of course back up.  I elected to stay with Francis, the Rotarian with us, and let the rest of the team walk on down.  They said the water was very hot, and it smelled.  Apparently there was a family from Ohio there as well who actually took a dip.  After the boys came back, pretty tired I might add, it was back on the horses for the trek down.

While we were in our boat we passed hundreds of fish gates or pens.  It was explained to us that they were for fish farming and the pens all contained Tilapia, which was ultimately sold to the Manila market. Lunch on our return to Talisay was part on the agreed upon extras that we would incur for use of the boat.  We had some very tasty BBQ  Chicken and some Pork Adobo.

 After our trip it was back to the Manila area to meet our new hosts.  Sleeping in the car was the prime activity.

Sunday, March 21

I am getting tired of saying, “another great day”.  When do they end?  Today after the usual delays in getting started (We are adapting to the schedule fiascos) we traveled to Nasagbu, Batagnas.  The schedule said this was our mid-tour isolation period.  The guide book says there are great beaches and resorts in Nasagbu.  We arrived and drove through a half broken gate, and onto a dirt road and parked in a field.  We then walked about 300 meters to a pavilion on the beach.  This is a private open air pavilion overlooking a small shallow bay.  In the pavilion are scattered around a number of beds.  There are also some enclosed area in the event you do not want to sleep outside.  I didn’t see any advantage to the enclosed rooms as there were no screens and after the walls there was no ceiling until the roof over the entire place.  After about 30 minutes or more of agitating over the prospect of sleeping outside with no mosquito netting anywhere, I came to the conclusion that as a guest of Rotarians we would not be put in a position where we would be harmed. I had plenty of bug spray and our hosts had even more. So we settled in for another good time.  Some went for a swim in the bay where the water was very clear and your toes could still be seen even when in shoulder deep water.  Two masseuses were brought to this, in essence a camp, and I decided to get a massage to help relax.  And it did the trick.  Tim and Ben were able to try Balut, a Filipino delicacy which is a partially developed duck egg that has been cooked a little.  They said it was like a chewier hard boiled egg.  I'll take their word for it. Afterwards, we were able to sample some Filipino Rum.  We had 15 year Tanduay Rum and it was very smooth.  Somehow two bottles disappeared.  The price of this was only 350 Philippine Pesos, about $7.75.  A fire was arranged to be built on the beach and we stood around singing songs for a while.  The moon was in the first quarter and I got to see the “Smiling Moon” for the first time in my life. (Near the equator the moon is rotated 90 degrees from what we are used to seeing and looks like a big smile in the sky.)  It is now 11:30 PM and haven’t seen or felt a mosquito yet.

S aturday, March 20 – DISCON Day 2 from Cliff

  
Up early to get our slides to the technical people for our presentation at lunch.  When the time came for our GSE presentation, I introduce our team like they were on a game show.  We came out and told everyone what we do and then we sang our song.  We chose to do “When the Saints go Marching In”.  Our rendition got the whole place involved clapping their hands.  It was well appreciated.  On the other hand the team from Vienna had a rather stiff presentation.  The team felt it was a great success.  For the afternoon, Tim and Ben went by the pool, while Lew and I went to the Mall of Asia with the team that will be coming to New Jersey.  The Mall of Asia is huge.  It is impossible to describe how big this place is.  I bought another barong and then we sat and had a snack, well it was more than a snack.  One of the items on the platter was a supposed “delicacy” – pigs’ ears.  Not really a repeat food item.  On our return to the Sofitel, we went to the Governor’s Ball.  Another interesting extravaganza ending with dancing.

Isolation

When our schedule said we would have an isolation period, I didn't think our hosts would take it so literally. As I write this I am sitting on a beach, near our bungalow awaiting dinner. I am now seeing the same constellations I haven't seen since when I was in Australia. Obviously the light pollution in Manila has not allowed us to see the island stars. Our team was treated to a relaxed day with a little swimming, local food, massages and fantastic filipino rum. It's not all paradise...the infamous Filipino mosquitos are just now beginning to bite. However, once we get the bonfire going, I am sure they will not be so much a problem anymore. After the hectic week that was the District Conference, albeit fun, it is certainly nice to break from rigid schedules and the traffic of Manila. Now, the folks who have taken us here today say they find time to enjoy this sort of Filipino tranquility at least once a month. It makes me wonder why most Americans do mot take similiar time to do this with their families. On the eve of a stressful day for US lawmakers--presumably the health care vote will come down Sunday--I think of my coworkers and all that consumes our lives as Americans. Perhaps we can take a tip from our south Pacific friends and put away the worries of the workweek and take comfort in the pleasures of simplicity and all that life has to offer. And more rum, yes, definitely more rum.

Our Team

Since we are a little more than halfway through our visit, I think it would be an appropriate time to reflect on my fellow GSE Team members. Full Disclosure: as much as I would like to say I'm cramped in my room writing nice things about the team, I'm actually poolside at the 5 star Sofitel Manila.

Many of you have already had a decent intoduction to our team members from just reading the blog. Lew is certainly making the most of his educational and cultural experiences, Tim is learning more about Filipino urban planning and farming than I think he expected, and Cliff has fit in some quality golf while watching in amazement the flurry of activities of his fellow Rotarians. As for me, I am trying to take as much of it in as I can without having sensory overload.

Our team leader Cliff has been a good sport through our experiences so far. One thing we all needed to pack before this trip was our patience and flexibility. Our hosts have been very gracious with their hospitality. The days have been filled with unique cultural experiences, but as with anything in life, schedules change and things move around. When such changes occur, Cliff manages to hold down the fort and get us to where we need to be. As a result this has given us a reputation among the Filipinos as the most laid back Americans ever--completely going against the characterization of Americans as stubborn, overworked, and stressed. At the end of the day, who really has time to be stressed when the lifestyle of the Filipino has flexibility and flux built right into it. It comes standard with any plan you make.

Lewis is a fun character to travel with. His committment to his family and career is something we all strive for. As we visited a village in Antipolo, we were able to bring along new textbooks for the school children. I don't believe there could be a greater moment in an educator's career than to improve a child's educational experience in an instant. By just leaving the books there, we were able to affect the livlihood of the children (well, they were Algebra books, so for me, my livlihood would have decreased. Har har.) Lew has been lucky to have a few similar experiences on this trip. Typically he will go into the classroom and tell the children about his classes in the US. He is very eager to bring the American experience to their classroom and, upon his return, bring the Filipino experience to his children. I very much enjoy his enthusiasm and credit him for much of the opptumism we have encountered along the way. Hopefully his students at home will realize how lucky they are to receive even the basics of an American education.

Tim is our in-house scientist. As a soil conservationalist, Tim has been in paradise since just about every Rotarian starts their conversations with, "You're an environmentalist? Wow, so am I!" I don't Tim has met so many environmentalists outside of a Grateful Dead show. For a person who talks about dirt, he is certainly able to make the topic very interesting and I think we all are amazed by how many Rotarians want to talk about dirt themselves. The country is moving with new trends in urban planning and organic farming through earthworm composting. This type of education is helping Filipino villages learn the best way to make the most of their resources. By recycling their biodegradables they are able to compost the trash to produce nutrient rich soil. Clearly this better serves the environment and the farmers. They are also teaching the Filipinos how to literally market the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor. Tim is eager to begin to teach folks back home about these techniques. Currently, First Lady Michelle Obama is leading the fight against childhood obesity. Community farms that utilize this type of composting is a part of her plan. Even at my new home, I have plans to brgin my own composting pile to grown my own herbs....with Tim's help of course!

As for me, as Lew commented the other day, a walk down the street is a vocational outing for me. I have been taking in all I can when it comes to their political trends and local policy challenges. The schools, entitlements, proper employment and decent pay is just a short list of problems here.

In a nutshell, that is our team. We are a nice group of young professionals who are finding it increasingly hard to prepare for our departure from the Philippines. There is certainly still a lot more to learn. From the looks if it, our team is prepared to learn all we can from our daily experiences.

Friday, March 19 - DISCON Day 1

The District Convention in 3830, usually referred to as DISCON, started today.  In this district and maybe in the Philippines in general, the DISCON is a different sort of event that what I have seen in our District.  This is the glitz and glamour of Rotary with cameras on the speaker projected onto 3 large screens.  We had Mardi Gras dancers and singing of all the national anthems by Rotarians; speeches with plenty of visual aides; loud noise makers, some of which shot confetti into the air.  There was a general atmosphere of gaiety and friendship.  When they started on some business items our team disappeared to our room.  We had to practice for tomorrow when our team gets to make its 4 minute presentation.  We were told before we left NJ that we should have a song and/or dance.  Of course as Americans, we thought this was silly and gave it very little thought.  The first thing that we were asked when we met with the District Governor was did we have a song.  As time went on we realized that this was a big thing. So we put our heads together and we found some music that I, for some strange reason, had on my computer, and worked on our presentation. 

After rehearsal (15 minutes) it was time for cocktails. Out on the lawn of the hotel overlooking Manila Bay, we enjoyed great company and watched as the sun set over the bay and Mount Bataan in the distance.  What a place. 

And now for the climax.  Back into the ballroom for dinner, which was great, as usual for food in Manila.  All the Rotary Clubs were divided into 5 groups.  Each group had to come up with a singing and dancing routine for the entertainment.  This year each group was given two decades of Rotary as their theme and had to depict that era in song and dance.  This was very entertaining.  I was routing for the 2nd Makati group which included my first host’s club and her friends in Makati Desmarinas.  They had the late forties and fifties.  Each group also had to include a little about the history of Rotary during their presentation.  Very interesting and informative as well.

As the evening ended we hoped that are short presentation would go over well tomorrow.

Thursday, March 18 from Cliff

This morning we convened at the Manila Polo Club, an exclusive club with a posh club house.  We were served a buffet breakfast/brunch and told that the Rotary Club of Makati East, our hosts for the day, were changing the schedule.  Instead of the visit to the Children’s Hospital we would instead be going to the main TV station in Manila and get to watch the live broadcast of a variety show called Wawawee.  It is a mixture of Lawrence Welk, American Bandstand, Name that Tune and Let’s make a Deal all thrown together in one 3 hour long show.  We were the only non-filipino faces in the audience.  So you can imagine what happened next.  The host Willy came over to where we were sitting to ask a few questions, they stick a microphone in my face and I have to answer for the group.  You have to understand that one of my main goals in life at this point is to never be on TV again because I don’t come off very well.  Everyone was smiling when Willy moved on and I was able to at least mention that we were there because of Rotary.  This show has the highest rating of any Filipino show.  Apparently you have to wait up to 6 months to get a ticket for the show.  One of the members of Makati East works for Ernst and Young Accounting firm and one of the responsibilities of his department is to certify the contents of the hidden prizes to keep the show honest and believable.  So he was able get access to the people in charge of seating and we were given reasonably good seats.  What a great experience.  After the show two of the other Rotary members who were also with started receiving texts asking why they weren’t at work and were on TV, we really did have prime seats.  When we went to the international dinner, at night there were a number of Rotarians that came up to us and mentioned that they had seen us on TV.

For dinner we had a Rotary International Dinner at a Chinese Restaurant in Resort World, a casino.  This was to honor delegates from a Rotary District in Malaysia and the Rotary International President’s Representation Liam, from Taiwan.  The dinner was a nice affair, the food was good and the speeches were short.  We were able to have dinner with the GSE Team that will be going to New Jersey in April.  Another very nice group of young people.  They will have a good time in our district.