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.)

An Exciting Thursday

Davao is a city of nearly 1.5 million people and often shares the same criminal problems that other large cities face.  Thefts and holds up happen, even though I have yet to see one (and hope to keep it that way).  However, a high-profile story in the Philippines ended today in Davao City.

The background: last Friday, a businesswoman from Manila was taken by a kidnap-for-ransom syndicate and forced to pay P15 million (about $375,000) to her captors. She convinced them to withdraw the money in Davao instead of Manila.  The group of 14 captors and the single victim made the trek to Davao where they were met by special police task forces at the bank.

In a fire fight with with the police, three suspects were killed and one taken into custody.  The other 10 or so escaped the scene.  Here is a link to an official news story on the situation. (Notice that they do not refrain from including images of dead bodies in the article).

Luckily, the businesswoman was rescued by the police.  However, the 10 at-large suspects created a lot of commotion in the city.  Noticeably on the job site, too.  Our security detail was on high alert all afternoon even though shootout took place at least an hour's drive from our job site and our apartments.  Driving home, our convoy of vans and SUVs traveled more cautiously and we had to pass through several police traveling checkpoints.  However, I sit safely in my room typing this post as if it was just like any other night.

Kidnappings are more common in the Philippines than back in the States, but Black & Veatch has taken the precautions to ensure our safety.  Not once have I felt unsafe in Davao, and with the protective agents that we have, even today didn't make me feel uncomfortable.

Kidnapping is just another problem that the Philippines faces and the government is working hard to eliminate it.  It is not a reputation that they are proud of and I think the lethality of responding police units shows how seriously they take the matter.

The 4th of July, Community Service, and a Big Day Out

One of my favorite things about summertime is seeing fireworks.  Usually, I can get my fix by visiting Kauffman Stadium on a Friday night for a post-game show.  However, the 4th of July obviously provides the most opportune time for me to view one or more fireworks shows.

However, this being my first 4th of July abroad, I was in for a different experience.  As you might expect, they don't celebrate the American Independence day in the Philippines like we do back home.  They do have the 4th of July dedicated to the "Philippine-American Friendship Day" due to the close ties between the countries.  However, there was no endless supply of burgers, beer, brats, or baseball to enjoy on the 4th.  There especially weren't any fireworks since they are outlawed in Davao.  We even had to report to work on the 4th! As if it was just some typical day.  It was the complete opposite of everything I had ever experienced ... but it wasn't that bad.

Luckily, the project field manager, Todd, invited us to his house for dinner where his maid had prepared some "American" dishes for us.  She had made some delicious burgers, hot dogs, and brats for us.  As well, we had some chips and other sides.  I am not quite sure how "American" guacamole dip is, but we had some of that and it reminded me of summertime in the States.  We even had some Coors Light to enjoy (brewed and canned in the Philippines).  So for the hour or so that we enjoyed dinner, we escaped back to the States and felt as if were were celebrating with everyone else.

Even though we didn't get the 4th off, we had this past Saturday off to attend an office celebration with our consortium partner, Leighton, on the resort island of Samal in the middle of the Davao Gulf.  Before we headed there, we decided to help out with a river clean up project in the middle of Davao.

We met at a local elementary school and walked the river picking up trash that had washed down stream.  We spent a couple hours collecting the trash and were even joined by a group of 100 or so college students from the University of Mindanao.  I have been a part of several clean up projects, but this one was definitely the most difficult.

A picture of the college students.

When people think of river clean up projects, they might imagine a nice river with the occasional non-degradable item on the shore deposited by a careless individual who couldn't find a trash can.  It was much different on the river that we were working on.  Firstly, the water was obviously polluted.  The water standards here are not up to the level of the EPA's in the US and this leads to some dangerous effluent being released into the streams.  As well, there was more than just the occasional piece of trash.  The banks of the river was plastered with trash, and I think this has to do with the developing infrastructure of the waste management in Davao.  Ironically, the trash that we came across the most were campaign flyers that were posted for the recent city and regional elections.  Any and all available walls and structures are covered wither these posters that are made to withstand the weather and not degrade.  After the elections were over, most were not collected and have since become trash that pollutes the rivers and other areas.

However, we gave the project our honest effort and filled about 20 or so rice sacks with trash that littered the stream.  I hope that we were able to make some impact on the river as well as the people who lived around the river.

It was truly humbling to walk through the villages of these people who lived right off of the river.  The only access to their homes from the road was a dirt path that had to get sloppy during the rain.  The homes were of simple construction, but were more than enough to the people living in them.  The homes lacked many of the amenities that I have grown accustomed to, most notably: air conditioning.  However, there was no complaining from anyone and they greeted us happily as we passed through doing our work.  I was even able to play a little basketball with some young boys.  With the popularity of basketball here and their belief that every American plays basketball well, I think I disappointed them with my skill.  Basketball was never my sport.

One of the many basketball courts sprinkled

throughout the river villages.

After we finished the community service, we made our way to Samal for some rest and relaxation.  We cleaned up and had a lunch of traditional Filipino cuisine.  If you look at the picture below, you will notice that they serve the shrimp with everything still attached.  The head, tail, legs, shell, and all.  It surprised me the first time I had it, but I have since gotten used to the additional crunch.

Philippine shrimp, chicken, and meat balls with rice.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with random activities.  The resort, BlueJaz, is also a waterpark so there was plenty of swimming.  They have some water slides that were pretty long.  However, I noticed at once that they did not enforce the strict rules that I had been taught for slides during my time as a lifeguard.  I remember whistling at kids for some of the stuff that I was doing as I went down the slides.

Walking the pier towards BlueJaz.

I was even able to play a little soccer for the first time since being over here.  They had a field of sand and a couple of goals.  I have played some soccer on sand before, and had always found it best to play barefoot.  After removing my shoes and playing a couple of games, I realized that the sand wasn't as finely graded as I expected.  Luckily my mom made me pack bandaids and anti-bacterial ointment so that I was able to tend to the minor cuts on the bottom of my feet.  I barely even noticed the pain during the games, but it was a different story after the adrenaline wore off.

On the whole, BVL's Big Day Out was very relaxing.  I was able to meet several expats from Leighton and talk to them a bit.  One was even from Ireland and recognized my heritage as soon as I introduced myself!  

Me with Kiran (right) and Sachin (left).  Both

of them are B&V field engineers based

out of our offices in Pune, India.

This was the first Saturday that I have had off since being in the Philippines.  It was nice to get out and do some fun stuff on Saturday so that Sunday could be dedicated to being lazy.  Writing this post has been my only significant accomplishment of the day, and I am not too worried about it!

Until next time!

Construction Customs

I will start this post with a confession: this isn't my only blog.  As part of my experience in the Philippines, Black & Veatch asked me to be one of their 10 intern bloggers for the summer.  The other interns are scattered about, with only one other blogger abroad.  I encourage you to read about the amazing things that all of my peers are doing all over the States and in the different divisions of Black & Veatch.

Since I am one man writing two blogs, much of the content will overlap.  This post especially overlaps with my most recent B&V blog post.

If you didn't know, I am a fairly superstitious individual.  I trace it back to my days of playing the fickle game of baseball and following various superstitions to improve performance (because hard work and practice alone weren't enough).  Since then, I have followed many of the age old superstitions: Friday the 13th, black cats, broken mirrors, walking under ladders, umbrellas inside, so on and so forth.  Though I realize the nonsense in superstitions, I like to follow them more for the peace of mind knowing that I am not violating a supernatural rule.

After talking with the two field civil engineers about their cultures, I have learned that superstitions and the belief in the supernatural are active in Southeast Asia.  Kiran, from India, talked about ghosts in India and Yang, from China, echoed his apprehensions of phantoms.  It also appears that some of our subcontractors share similar beliefs in evil spirits with my friends.

Our subcontractor from Taiwan achieved a substantial milestone when they erected the first piece of structural steel on the job site.  We have finally gone "vertical" in our construction and things are going to get interesting.  When I went for a walk on the job site to see this masterpiece that only engineers and construction workers can be in awe of, I noticed the ornamental lantern at the top.  It could have served so many purposes, and at the time I doubted any of them were practical for construction.

I went back to the office and Yang explained that the ornamental lantern was a way of fending off the evil spirits and bad thoughts.  Even though these spirits and thoughts are conspiring to doom our project, this lantern will bring about good fortune for the project.

Again, I realize that the lantern serves no purpose besides aesthetics.  However, the peace of mind that comes to the construction crew knowing that they are protected from those bad spirits and thoughts can play a major role in a craft worker's work ethic.

What if, though?  What if there were apparitions floating above our job site and the lantern was the only thing keeping them at bay? 

Mystifying, but reassuring.  Every time I walk past the structural steel and see the lantern, I am reminded of this superstition and the different beliefs and customs that are unique to each culture.  Maybe I will have to invest in an ornamental lantern to hang near my school projects next semester and add it to my running list of superstitious acts.

A Quick Update

After three and a half weeks in the Philippines, a routine has been established.

My typical day consists of waking up and grabbing a quick breakfast before boarding our van for the job site.  We spend nine hours on the job site before we board the van again to head back home.  During the nights, I will usually try to get a quick work out in or grab dinner with Justin or the other B&V personnel at our apartment.  Then it's eight hours of sleep before it is all repeated again.  

It is a nice routine, but doesn't allow for too much exciting, blog-able material.

To prove to you all that I am actually doing work and not just enjoying an extended vacation, I will share with you my current task that my supervisor assigned to me.

The Therma South project is currently in what is deemed the "civil" stage.  This consists of clearing and backfilling the land, as well as constructing the foundations to support the power plant structures and equipment.  This is perfect, because it is everything that I have studied in school thus far!

However, the specific point of the project can be tricky, and here is why: as the construction crews finish up the civil works of the project in the next couple of months, the equipment that will rest on the finished foundations won't arrive for half a year at the earliest.  However, there is a critical interface between the equipment and its foundation known as an "embedment".  Embedments are part of the foundations that most times must be cast in the concrete when it is poured.  As well, these embedments are usually supplied by the vendor of the equipment.  The tricky part: the vendor has a delivery scheduled for their equipment, but they must also be cognizant of the delivery of the embedments when the foundations are being constructed (six months beforehand).  As the field engineering intern, it is my job to organize relevant information about the embedments in a usable fashion.

My supervisor has set me on a mission to create packets of drawings for each area of the power plant.  These drawings include the B&V building drawings as well as the vendor drawings for all of the pieces of equipment in that particular area.  Some areas have 30+ pieces of equipment.  On top of compiling all of these drawings, I also have to go through them and highlight the embedments required for the equipment.  Once I have tracked all of the embedments, I have to make a list of them and their corresponding equipment as well as determine when they are set to leave port from the origin country (we have equipment coming from places as close as Indonesia and China and as far as Austria and Atlanta).  Each packet is essentially a comprehensive embedment package for each area, and I am the one who gets to organize them.

I had never looked at construction drawings more than a handful of times before this summer.  This task definitely would have been daunting earlier in the summer, but now I am more familiar drawings and how they function after spending my first three weeks perusing them.  It is still a large amount of information that I will have to sift through, but it is manageable.  As well, this project allows me to see every aspect of the power plant in detail and get an intricate understanding of each of its buildings.

To all of you non-engineers out there, I am sorry about this blog post.  It is full of technical activities.

To all of you engineers out there, I am sorry about this blog post.  It has way more words (and less pictures) than I promised I would do.

In closing, I want to leave you with a relevant song for my trip.  It is 2,000 Miles by D-WHY.  The theme of this song is about being away from home, but also enjoying the experience and growing from it tremendously.  D-WHY talks about what it feels like to be "2,000 miles from home" (more like 8,344 miles for me).

Enjoy!

Gone Golfin'

Another work week, another one-day weekend.  They are keeping us busy on the job site and the pace of the project doesn't leave much leisure time on the weekends.  However, we all try to make the most out of the day that we get away from work.

This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to go golfing with a couple other people from the office.  I have always been intrigued by golf and hadn't actually taken it seriously until two years ago.  I took several weeks of lessons during the summer and played a round of 18 with some friends shortly after my lessons were over.  However, I could never work up the courage to go golfing again after that.

But here I was: in the Philippines and talked into playing a round of 9 with the field project manager, my direct supervisor, and some other regular golfers.  I just hoped to get through the day with a little pride intact.  I didn't keep track of my score, so I can't give an objective rating on my performance.  However, I don't think that I did too terrible and I didn't lose any golf balls.  So all in all, it was a good outing and a great experience.  I enjoyed it so much that I look forward to golfing some more while I am here.

The best part of the golfing experience was the entourage that came with playing the course  We didn't have a cart, but I had my own caddy.  Each of us also had an umbrella girl that held an umbrella over us to protect us from the terrible Philippine sun.  There was also a beer boy who was quick to give us "more power" if we ever had a bad shot.  If you're keeping count, there were five golfers and a crew of 11 taking care of us.  All I had to do was walk and swing my clubs, and I wasn't very good at the latter.

My favorite part of the round was the caddy and umbrella girl challenges.  On a short par 3, we all bet P100 ($2.50) into a pot to give to the caddy that could get closest to the pin.  These caddies were all very good and were hitting the green.  However, my caddy, Edgar, was the closest and won the pot.  On the same hole, the umbrella girls got the opportunity to putt for their winnings.  Unfortuneately, my umbrella girl couldn't finish Edgars incredible shot.  We all had fun and it only added to the experience of golfing in the Philippines.

I am sure my mother is going to love to hear this, but their is a typhoon (hurricane) off the coast of the Philippines and is expected to make landfall in the next couple of days.  I can't wait to see what Emong has in store for us and how different it'll be than the rest of the rain we have been receiving so far this wet season.

Balut

Last night, I tried a Philippine delicacy, balut.  It is very similar to your typical hard boiled egg ... except that its a duck egg ... AND it was allowed to be fertilized and grow for 15 or so days.  Essentially, it is a hard boiled embryonic duck egg and they absolutely love everything about them in the Philippines.

Feeling brave, I decided to try one last night with some encouragement from my coworkers.

The steps for eating balut are as follows:

     1.  Crack the top of the egg slightly.
     2.  Remove enough of the eggs shell to reveal a clear liquid in the egg.  Drink said liquid.
     3.  After draining the egg of most of its liquid, remove the rest of the shell.  The embryonic duckling with have vague similarities with its hatched brethren.  Circular shapes appear to be the body and head, while you might even see feathers if you look close enough (I tried not to).
     4.  After a good portion of the shell is removed, eat the egg whole.
     5.  Celebrate!

All in all, it wasn't a bad experience.  The taste was almost exactly like the hard boiled eggs that I am used to back home.  The texture left a bit to be desired, but I am not a foodie so I won't criticize.

This is one of those experiences that fell perfectly in line with a major philosophy for my trip: try everything I can at least once.

Here are some sequential pictures of the process:

Crack the top enough to get to the juices.

Drink the juices.

Remove the rest of the shell.

Don't look at it too much before you eat it.

Dig in!

Chew ...

Finish and celebrate! You just ate balut.

The remains.