Looking Back

A little over two months ago, I sat in my basement and typed my first blog post with nervous fingers.  I had no idea what to expect and was having the hardest time getting over the fact that two months was substantially longer than any time I had ever lived outside of Kansas.  Scenarios, good and bad, ran through my head as I packed for a trip that was too good to be true.  All of these emotions feel so distant now that I am on the backend of my journey.  All of the excitement of international travel may have passed, but the memories of once-in-a-lifetime will stick with me for forever.

I have been back in the States for nearly a week now.  It has been a whirlwind of events as I have unpacked, talked with friends and family, and tried to squeeze all the typical summer activities that I am used to into a seven day period.  On top of all of that, I have dealt with some very serious jet lag.  It has been a busy time, but I have not hesitated to share the stories of my experiences.

I thought that it was going to be easy to recall and share every aspect of my two-month trip to the Philippines.  I have found it more difficult to condense the highlights of the trip into a series of stories to an amount of time that will hold my audience's attention.  As I search for the best stories and greatest lessons that I learned from the Philippines, I realize just how much of an impact my time there had on me.

Of course, my perspective on the world has changed.  While in the Philippines, I was exposed to customs and cultural traits that were foreign to me.  However, I also learned a greater appreciation for things that I didn't have before.  I saw a new level of poverty that I had never been exposed to back in the States.  This in combination with the constant level of friendliness that was ever present in every Filipino that I met has created a greater level of humility within me.  This is only one example of how the Philippines rubbed off on me.

I miss the tropical weather and the sweet smell of the ocean every morning.  Even though I do not miss the 45 min drive to and from work six days a week, I do miss the people that shared this ride with me.  I became so comfortable in Davao that I took for granted the fact that all of my everyday activities would end with my departure.  I miss the spicy chicken that we would have at our favorite local restaurant, Some Place Else, at least once a week.  Coconut juice isn't being sold by 20 different vendors in front of my house and beer is much more expensive than $0.50.  Each of these were so simply and so convenient to me for the past two months, that I forgot how quickly they would disappear once I returned home.

I have caught myself at meals using my spoon as the primary utensil like Filipinos do.  I distributed gifts and smiled as I explained the significance of each trinket.  If pictures are worth 1,000 words, then I have a wealth of words in my 2,500 pictures that I took to remember everything.  All of these are the more apparent things that I have brought back with me.  My stories are also my souvenirs, especially as I share them with those close to me.

I appreciate each of you for reading my blog and sharing in my adventure with me.  This blog was a great way to connect back to family and friends.  It was a open journal that kept an up-to-date account of my trip; I shared the significants points in my trip with you so that you would have a glimpse of my experience.  I also blogged for myself, so that each of these posts were a way I could revisit my time in the Philippines and recall all of the experiences at a later date.

In closing, thank you for visiting this site and joining in the fun with me.  My stories are endless and I could only put the best ones on the blog.  However, if you have the time, I am always willing to share more of my stories in person!

Cheers!

Packed!

I am in the final hours of being in Davao.  It's bittersweet: I am ready to get home to see family and friends, but not ready to leave this beautiful city.  It will always hold a special place in my heart.

After a couple hours of placing and rearranging clothes and souvenirs in my luggage, I am all packed up!  Two suitcases and a duffle bag contain everything that I lived with for the past two months.  They are filled to capacity and I am sure they exceed 50 lbs limit, but everything fits perfectly.

This will probably be my last post written in the Philippines.  In about 41 hours, I will be landing at MCI (hopefully).  But that is 41 hours of traveling that I have to survive first.  I feel jetlagged and exhausted just thinking about it.

Off to lunch and then to the airport!

A Taste of India

This summer, I have worked with many different people that call many different countries "home".  I have learned so many things about each of these cultures that I never knew before.  Obviously, I have learned a lot about the Philippines from my immersion.  I have also picked up a couple of phrases and characters from Mandarin Chinese, talked about politics with an Australian, and even learned more about Iowa and Indiana than I knew before.  Last night, I was even lucky enough to try some Indian home cooking.

It has been a constant quest to find Indian food in Davao.  Our Australian counterparts from our consortium partner, Leighton, love Indian food and told us that they couldn't find any quality restaurants in town.  Since we currently have four B&V personnel from India (the number is expected to increase with the progress of the project) we thought that it would be fitting to find some familiar food for them.

We started on the internet, but the restaurants in Davao are not up-to-date on current marketing strategies.  The only results to an "Indian restaurants in Davao City" search in Google were four restaurants: one was Italian food, another was Persian (close to India, I guess ...), one only served Indian snack foods, and the final was out of business.  We even asked cab drivers if they knew of any places, but to no avail.  Luckily, our gracious Indian friends volunteered to prepare a home-cooked meal for us before I took off for the States.  It did not disappoint.

One of my few exposures to Indian food was in the movie Along Came Polly.  An exaggeration on the spiciness of Indian food, I knew that it wasn't a fair representation of the cuisine.  Last summer, the cafeteria at the Sprint campus where B&V was leasing office space had Indian food available.  I was courageous enough to try a plate one time.  Ironically, it was extremely spicy and I could barely finish it (I didn't sweat as much as Ben Stiller, though).  Still, I was convinced that this was not true Indian food.  So when the idea surfaced to find a local Indian restaurant in Davao, I was excited for the opportunity to try some Indian food close to India (assuming that it's more authentic the closer you are to the source).  Having a native Indian cook the food was even better!

Our chef for the night was a mechanical engineer named Sachin.  He was assisted by an electrical engineer named Lalit as well as his wife.  We took off work an hour early to allow them time to prepare a delicious meal for us.  And it was very delicious.

Like a good number of Indians, Lalit is a lacto vegetarian and doesn't consume any meat or eggs.  He was in charge of the vegetarian dish for the night.  His portion of the meal consisted of what I was told was prepared with "garam".  It had various vegetables in a savory, yellow sauce.  Sachin on the other hand prepared a spicy curry chicken dish for the group.  With some rice and Indian chapati we had a small Indian feast.

The chapati are very similar to tortillas back in the States.  For the Americans at the meal (out of habit I am sure), we folded the chapati in half and proceeded to fill it like a taco.   However, we were shown the correct way to tear the chapati and dip it into the delicious sauces of each dish.  Our friends found it funny that all of us did this is the exact same manner, without discussing it before hand.  I thought it was funny as well, especially since Mexican food is an unsatisfied craving that I have had since day one here.

Everything else went smoothly.  We all enjoyed the cuisine and had seconds until we were satisfied.  Curry is a key part of Indian cuisine and I had never had it before.  Both of our dishes were heavy in curry and I found it to be a delicious new taste.  Here is a picture of my plate:

It is funny that an American is having his first real experience with Indian food in the Philippines while drinking some Chinese wine and enjoying it with an Indonesian.  A juxtaposition of many interesting cultures that created a fun meal and a great night.  This level of diversity just doesn't exist back in Kansas and I am going to miss readily sharing stories and ideas with the diverse group that is on the project.  The food that I have eaten and the people I have met in the Philippines have both contributed so much to my growth since being here.  I am thankful for people like my Indians friends for sharing a small part of their culture with me.

Durian

"It smells like hell, but it tastes like heaven."

Today marked the day that I got my first real chance with the "king of fruits," durian.  Before, I had only heard about durian and the divergent opinions on the fruit.  The only time that the opportunity was presented for me to try it, the fruit wasn't ripe enough to enjoy.  But today was a different story!

I have mentioned durian before and the obsession that Southeast Asia and the Philippines has with the fruit.  Most natives speak very highly of it and love to share it with foreign visitors.  For the most part, the Americans I have talked to didn't share the beliefs of the native.  Nonetheless, I held true to my philosophy of trying as many different things as I can while I am here.

A departing coworker picked up about $30 worth of durian as a gift to the office on his last day.  I went with him to purchase it from a little street vendor 30 min from the office.  I watched as they inspected the fruit to get the best quality.  It was hard to tell if there was a process to the inspection or not.  The vendor produced a sizable knife and began alternating between hitting the fruit with the dull side of the knife and cutting seams in the sides of the husk.  He did it with such nonchalance that I am surprised his fingers weren't covered in noticeable scars.

We loaded our precious cargo in the van and made the 30 min return trip to the office.  Our Asians friends were obviously excited to get back and enjoy the "delicacy."  However, the car ride got a little more interesting once the pungent smell of the durian made its way from the back of the van to the front; eventually filling the car with a smell that I would compare to old, moldy socks or raw sewage.  Being a durian novice, I almost couldn't handle it!  I was so happy to have some fresh air at the end of the ride.

"It smells like hell, ..."

The smell of durian is so extremely strong.  Since not everyone finds the foul smell enjoyable, it is actually banned in different places (from what I have been told): airplanes, public buildings, and anywhere else that has a sign like below.  We had to eat the durian in a secluded conference room with the windows open and door to the office closed so as not to offend anyone.

We gathered around the fruit as it was divided among everyone present.  I reached for one of the smaller pieces and dug in.  The taste shared no similarities with the smell.  Whereas the smell was overwhelming and unenjoyable, the taste was ... tolerable.  I won't say that it is the best fruit I have had, but it is definitely something that I could eat.  However, the texture was very interesting.  Gooey and fibrous at the same time.  It was a little more difficult for me to handle a texture that I didn't expect.  But I finished my piece and politely turned down offers for seconds.  Which was fine, because everyone else couldn't get enough of the durian!  Especially our field civil engineer from China, Yang, who was very excited to see the large durian that we brought back:

"... it tastes ok."

I did it, though! I may have felt like a contestant on some wacky game show, but I survived.  I tried the durian and crossed off another item on my Philippines bucket list.  Between durian and boiled fetal duck eggs (balut), I have experienced many unique foods here.  I would love to bring both of these foods back to the States to share with my friends and family.  Not for their enjoyment, but so that I can laugh at and sympathize with their discomfort of trying these foods.

The final countdown has started!  I only have one week left of work before I depart for the US.  I have no idea where the time has gone, but it has been fun.  I will try and sneak more blog posts in about my finals days in SE Asia.

Transportation in Davao

Even though I am content with taking a taxi cab everywhere I need to go in Davao, there are a couple other options that I have never seen in any American cities.

Jeepney

Jeepneys are the most popular form of transportation in the Philippines, and many Filipinos describe them as "public transportation".  For as little as $0.25, they can take you anywhere on their route.  They are usually filled to capacity (and then some) and make their way around the city with flamboyant decorations and non-traditional horns that are more like musical instruments than traffic devices.

The jeepneys were originally made from jeeps that were left over by the US after World War II.  Since then, they have been sold in modeld that are similar to the original design.

Tricycle ("trike")

Similar to a motorcycle with a sidecar, trikes are usually motorized scooters that are surround by a chassis that has a bench for passengers.  Sometimes they will have a foot-powered bicycle instead of a scooter.  They are common and I usually see them darting through traffic with little concern for the other vehicles on the road.

The trikes cost around $0.50 per ride and usually are used for short distances.  If you are lucky enough to get an audacious driver, he or she will find a way to get you to your destination quickly.

I have seen trikes that are built for 2-3 passengers have 8 people on them.  This puts an obvious strain on the small scooter engine and it's almost comical to watch them attempt driving up a steep grade.

I am still trying to get a picture of a "high-capacity scooter".  The scooters are designed for only an operator and a passenger,  but I have seen 5 people on a 2-seater.  It may be dangerous, but you can't help to wonder, "How do they actually do that??"  I have only seen this a couple of times, but I will post a picture of this mystical creature once I see it again.

Walking and Wandering

Since arriving in the Philippines, all of my Sundays except three have been filled with activities.  Granted, these activities have been amazing and unforgettable experiences, but I have never had the opportunity to explore Davao City on my own, until this last Sunday.

I started in the mid-afternoon and left the apartment complex with no destination in mind.  The apartments are surround by a very lively area that always has something going on, so I felt that it was a good place to explore!  There are numerous merchants with dollies in the area that sell fried food, coconut juice, cotton candy, and many other carnival-like snacks.  I walked between these vendors scanning what they had to offer (I began to realize that 15 feet away from any vendor was another vendor selling the exact same thing at the same price) and ended up at the San Pedro church.  I have mentioned the San Pedro church before, but it is the most significant landmark in the area around our apartments.  It's a very famous church in Davao, and since the majority of all Filipinos are Catholic, nearly everyone knows about it.

I was lucky enough to walk up to the church during an afternoon mass.  The mass was entirely in Visaya, so I wasn't able to follow the sermon.  Instead, I walked around the church just observing all of the attendants.  It was unbelievable at all the people crammed into the church.  Every pew was filled, there wasn't any vacant standing room, and people were standing around the doorways trying to be a part of the mass.  Even though the church serves multitudes of people on a daily basis, it still doesn't have air conditioning.   The heat was almost overwhelming when I snuck inside for a couple of minutes.  Everyone was fanning the air with whatever they could find, but it wasn't making much of a difference.  I decided that the most comfortable place for me to observe the mass was outside near the entrance of the church.

After San Pedro, I explored the surrounding area even more.  Since this is all near city hall, there are various monuments erected to honor heroes and significant moments in Philippine history.  There was a monument for the fallen soldiers of World War II and tributes to influential leaders of Davao's past.  All of the monuments were beautiful, but easy to miss.  They were placed in parks and in front of buildings like a casual piece of artwork that didn't have much significance, and it took careful observation to realize that they were something more.

Aside from the artwork, everything else that I came across was much more "random", but very interesting at the same time.  Since English is not the language of choice here, I had to explore everything in depth and couldn't simply dismiss something because it seemed uninteresting from the English description.  This proved to be very beneficial!

After walking for a bit, I noticed a small crowd gathered around a megaphone that was blasting speech from an excited orator.  I walked closer to see what the presentation was about; slowly working my way through the crowd.  From the crowd rose a middle-aged man with a microphone in one hand and a 8-foot long snake it the other. LIKE IT WAS NO BIG DEAL.  I am deathly afraid of snakes, but I was intrigued by this man and his friend.  There were two snakes and they were massive.  They would have been frightening if they hadn't been in some kind of torpor.  He was handling two of them with ease and there was no struggle from either reptile.  It amassed a sizable crowd, who all seemed to fear snakes less than I did.

Trying to put some distance between me and the snake handler, I headed into a wooded park where some aspiring masseuses were offering discounted, open-air massages for practice.  I politely declined, but the several massages I have had in the Philippines have been amazing and extremely affordable ($7.50 for an hour massage).  Maybe before I leave, I will see how much potential these massage students have.

I came upon a group of men huddle around tables under little gazebos in the center of the park.  It was here that I saw something that was neither frightening nor foreign to me: chess.  Though I didn't play (the competition looked fierce), I was able to connect with by-standers about a game that my dad taught me when I was in kindergarten.  It was entertaining to watch the lighting quick moves and the reactions of the crowd.  Even though they may say "check mate" differently, the strategy and the game was all the same.

I left the park and headed aimlessly down the street.  I grabbed some fresh buko (coconut) juice and a couple pieces of Philippine bread from a vendor.  The Philippines has a mild obsession with bread, and they are very good at preparing it.  The pieces I had were the perfect mixture of soft and sweet.  I enjoyed my afternoon snack in the shade of a tree on the large plaza that is right next to the city hall.  I am not sure what the occasion was, but the plaza's stage was prepared and a crowd had gathered to watch a couple of performers sing songs for everyone.  I appreciated the extra entertainment with my snack.

I explored the area for a total of an hour and half or so.  I couldn't believe all of the amazing, interesting things that take place literally steps from my apartment complex.  This whole time I had missed it because Sunday was the only time that I could explore the area before the sun sets at 6 pm.

After spending time in the San Pedro area, I headed to the closest mall to grab some things I needed.  The malls are more comparable to little communities than retail centers.  Each one has stores, a movie theatre, food court, restaurants, salons, and various entertainment services.  You could spend an entire day at a mall, and never have to leave to get something that wasn't available at the mall.  I even came across a bingo hall that had some bingo veterans enjoying their Sunday. 

After taking these pictures, I was chased down by an official

with the bingo hall.  It turns out that it is frowned upon to take

 pictures of a live bingo game. Luckily he didn't confiscate my

phone and these pictures.

The mall also had a talent show for children this afternoon.  I caught the very end of the show and only got to see the presentation of the awards and the excitement of the winning kids and their families.  The mall is part of a chain owned by SM, and the local winner of the talent show will have the opportunity to compete against the representatives from other SM malls across the Philippines.  These events, put on by the mall, only add to the feeling of community.

For dinner, I met up with several other B&V people and headed out to one of the most scenic areas of the city.  It sits on a hill and is called "Jack's Ridge".  There are a couple of restaurants on the ridge, and each has an amazing view of the city.  We were able to arrive just in time to catch the sun as it descended over the horizon.

It is hard to make out, but this is a panorama of Davao.

Off in the distance, you can also see the island of Samal.

I even recognized the artwork in the driveway as an image I came across multiple times while I was researching the Philippines and Davao City.

I didn't even realize it, but my time in the Philippines is coming to a close very quickly.  I am starting my last full week of work this week, and that doesn't leave much time to do more exploring like this.  However, I think the plan is to fill these last two weeks with exciting activities.  I will make sure to keep you all up-to-date with more blog posts!

I couldn't find anywhere to include it in this post, but feel free to check out my short post on the transportation in Davao.

A Wet Weekend

The rainy season.  It rains almost everyday in varying amounts here, but any precipitation on the job site can turn the exposed soil to mud and slop in no time.  We pray for clear days so that construction isn't halted and we can walk around the job site with ease.  Luckily, we were blessed with nice weather this past weekend.  Which was great for the job site ... and for the activities we got to do away from work.

The weekend started off Saturday afternoon (as it often does on our project).  A couple of us decided to take a half day off from work and travel to a local cable lake park.  Cable lake parks are man made lakes (pond is a better word) that have cables running over the water with tow tethers dangling freely to the surface of the water.  By simply strapping on skis or a wake board and grabbing the tow line, you can simulate being pulled by a boat.  The cable runs in a continuous circle around the lake and one can jump on the circuit whenever they please.

It's hard to make out the cable, but this is the lake  (with

ramps).  In the background is the majestic Mt. Apo.

Frequent visits to my uncle's place at Pomm de Terre lake in Missouri taught me how to water ski.  However, I never attempted wake boarding until this weekend.  It was different. Much different.  I think that a good analogy is comparing snow skiing to snow boarding.  Between the two, your orientation and maneuvering techniques have little in common.  If you don't know snow skiing and snow boarding, then I will just say, "it was tough."  I could get up and going on the board with ease, but making the turns in the lake was difficult.  But nothing that a little practice can't help!

Saturday was capped off with our official going away dinner with the office at night (there is a reason it was three weeks out from our departure date).  The office will see a significant change in the next four weeks as Justin and I are only two of four people that will be leaving the job site before mid-August.  One other professional is transferring closer to home and family in Jakarta, while the other is taking on a new role for a different project in Thailand.  So the dinner included celebrations for these individuals as well as Justin and me.

We had the dinner at a traditional Philippine restaurants called Delongte's where the food was amazing.  We had endless amounts of kinilaw, tuna belly, rice, chicken, fried pork, and Sam Mig Light.  It was delicious and filling.  I am really starting to appreciate Philippine cuisine much more now.  I may have even surprised the waiter last night when I recognized the dish in front of me was the local speciality, kinilaw.

After dinner and some pictures, we headed to a local karaoke establishment (it wasn't a karaoke bar like those in the US) to finish the night off with some group singing. We filled a room with a capacity of 24 and sang for a couple of hours.  I even joined the fun as I served as the back up vocals for our rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody.  I thought we did fairly well, but it was nothing compared to the singing of all the Filipinos.  They are a truly musical culture and I swear that they are all born with golden voices.  Every song they sang sounded in tune and incredible.  It's no surprise that the Philippines are the birth place of karaoke!

After a good night's rest Saturday night, a group of eight of us headed out again to the beautiful island of Samal and went diving at some waterfalls.  It was as amazing as it sounds.  The island of Samal is absolutely beautiful and is the source of at least half the pictures that I have taken since being here.

Getting to the falls was an interesting trek.  It is part of a national park, so there area wasn't heavily developed or commercialized.  After we disembarked the ferry, we made our way through the crowded sea villages to the interior of the island.  We winded our way up the roads for several kilometers until we came to our turn.  Once we turned off the main road, we traveled on a very precarious path to the falls.  This road consisted of nothing more than two narrow strips of concrete big enough for a tire; they were like two pieces of ribbon casually set on the hills.  We made our way slowly and leaving the road occasionally so another car could pass us going the opposite direction.  After about 15 minutes and several nervously chewed finger nails, we made it to Hagimit Falls.

Tucked away in the hills of Samal, it is a little oasis among the trees and yielded some good opportunities for photos.

Me observing a brave soul take the plunge.

We spent the rest of our day resting by the waterfalls.  Every once in awhile, we would jump from rock about 10 feet high into the cool, clear water below.  It was refreshing to say the least. There was even a small cave carved out by the powerful water that we could sit in.    The front of the cave was covered in a cascade of water that was almost like a massage if you stood under it just right.

The waterfalls were amazing.  It was one of those days where you wish you could freeze an instant and just enjoy it a little longer.  It still blows my mind at how easily it is to do amazing things here in Davao.  Distance or cost are rarely an issue in this paradise.  Swimming in the ocean and under waterfalls are something I don't have the opportunity to do all the time back home, which is shocking for Kansas.  So when I get to do them here, I enjoy every last second of it.  I am just glad the the rain held off so that I was able to experience the 'falls of Samal!

With another week around the corner, there comes the potential for another amazing experience.  Keep an eye out for a new post!

(One post on the crazy traffic here should be coming soon ... I think.)