From Marty: Getting There is Half the Fun

  
 Well, we almost got out of this New England winter! Yesterday our Portland
flight was canceled but due to fancy footwork and understanding husbands we
were quickly re booked out of Manchester, and all five us -- again thanks to the
good works of family and friends -- made it to Manchester in good time. Minor
crises abound: Juliette's three-year-old son has spiked a fever; Christin's
doctor has told her her foot is not convalescing as it should and that she is to
stay in her "boot" -- but spirits are high and we even got a few hours of sleep
last night. In Cat's case, a very few.

So we boarded the plane in Manchester, and settled back in our seats ... and
then came the announcement that freezing rain and common sense had closed the
airport.

Now we're back in the terminal, watching the minutes click by on the clock, and
knowing that if we lose our connection in Detroit, we, well, lose our connection
in Detroit. 

On the positive side, Northwest has kept us informed (!) and we had a long layover planned in Detroit. Maybe it will turn out
not long enough, but I will never (well, don't hold me to this) grouse about
long layovers again.

Hopefully, my next blog entry will NOT be from wintry New England. Hopefully. 

From Marty: We’re famous!

We’re famous! Well, not really, but the Boothbay Register, our local paper, has done an article on our trip, and, assuming we do something noteworthy, promises more. Check it out at: http://boothbayregister.maine.com/2008-01-31/group_study_exchange.html And we’ve also been given a grand send-off by Dr. Aqui and Chet Alamo, Maine residents who are originally from Manila. (see photo attached) So all ought to be well, but — wait, wait, don’t tell me! — a huge storm is bearing down on northern New England. Will our airplane be able to get out in time and take us to the tropics? Stay tuned … and remember, getting there is half the fun!  Marty

From Cat: Good Advice – but will it do any good?

Don’t forget to call your banks and credit card companies to let them know you’re going away!

I called my bank to tell them not to suspect fraud if they see transactions come through in the Philippines and they put a note in my account but said “Well, there’s no guarantee they won’t close your account anyway, so make sure you bring an alternative form of cash.” I thought, Isn’t that what banks are for, and isn’t that why I’m calling ahead??

“Striking Fountains”

The Philippines listings in “the bible”

As a committed adventurist and traveler, I have a number of books and literature that I keep close at hand at all times.  Tennyson’s Ulysses is prominently displayed in numerous forms throughout my home (“I cannot rest from travel…”) and numerous National Geographic books are scattered around.  Along with family photos are a number of framed print ads (!) in the living room, one of which is an ad from North Face with the tagline, “One of my greatest fears is owning too much furniture.”  Several close friends are laughing hysterically right now as they can attest that fear is nowhere near becoming a reality (you would have to read this ad standing up as, except for a piano bench, there is nowhere to sit in my living room!)

In any case, making a short story way too long, I of course own numerous copies of the NYT bestseller, 1000 Places to See Before You Die  in various forms (paperback, hardback, the board game) as gifts from many different people who thought it perfect for me (and I could not agree more.)  So, when off to new territories, I must research in the canon. 

The Philippines rate only three listings in the book but I hope we are able to check off at least one – The Taal Volcano:

“A Lake within a Volcano within a Lake within an Island”

Pack a picnic lunch and head south out of traffic-jammed Manila to Taal Volcano, one of  Asia’s most beautiful panoramas.  Among the world’s lowest and smallest volcanoes, Taal is filled with water, creating a lake, yet the volcano itself is located within a larger lake….”

The other two listings are Amanpulo on Pamalican Island, a ritzy beautiful resort with “… footprint –free talcum powder beach, surely the most dazzling in the Philippines,” and the Banaue Rice Terraces.  Will have to go consult my other tomes now!

From Evelyn: Airplane Adventures

I have to apologize to the team right now!  I seem to have a certain knack in attracting strange people on airplanes!

  

The Drug Couple- I had the misfortune of being stuck in a window seat with an elderly couple- not a problem until the wife decided to start drugging her husband with cough medicine to put him to sleep.  Then she kept ANYTHING they didn’t eat or use for later- including the plastic forks, napkins and butter!  Never know when you may need a butter pat!

 

The Missionaries- Two sets of husband/wife who met on the plane and they talked across the aisle ALL about religion for about 4 hours.  Where was the cough medicine when you needed it?

 

Then Lady who stole my shoe!- This one takes the award!

 

I was on a flight from Washington to Germany.  This lady was my seatmate- she had the window and I luckily had an aisle seat. 

 

* I had taken off my shoes when I was sleeping.  I got up to use the restroom.  When I returned I only had one shoe.  I asked her if she had seen it- she said yes but the shoe was not mine.  Huh?  No honey- it’s mine!  But, she couldn’t return it to me because it was buried among her personal items.  Before departing I did get it back.

 

* This same lady drank at least 10 diet cokes during the 7 hour flight.  When the drink cart went by she would ask for two each time and then when she was running low she went back to the galley to ask for more!

 

* Hourly application of face cream- I am not kidding- every hour, on the hour she applied face cream and then asked me if I wanted some!  No, I’m all set, Thanks!

 

* Water on my seat- when I returned from the restroom there was water splashed on my seat.  The only reasonable explanation is that she somehow lost her ice when she was returning with her diet coke refill trip?

 

* At dinner we were served a salad.  She decided not to eat hers but rather stuff it in a half eaten subway sandwich (looked like chicken salad) to save for later.  You never know when you may need it she said.  Well, sure enough- about 4 hours later she hauls out the sandwich and ate it!  I guess she doesn’t know/care about food safety! 

 

I should have offered her a granola bar!

 

The Rosary Lady- After the shoe thief, this lady was the least of my worries.  This lady was reciting the Rosary (with beads in hand) while waiting for the restroom.

 The National Guard- On my short trip to Washington with about 25 people on the plane- 18 of them were National Guard members on their way to Afganistan.  I felt pretty safe on that trip!  Although I did feel out of dress code!  

So these are some adventures I have had on planes- I am sure others have stories like mine!

From Marty

Worst fears of the unknown

 

When five interesting but heretofore strangers plan to spend a month together in close proximity, the consultants recommend a crash-course in team-building. Now, I’m for ropes courses and golf tourneys as much as anyone, but it’s winter in New Enland … the golf balls will get lost in the snow … the rope lines are frozen with ice … and if further excuse is needed, one of our members is recovering from surgery and still wearing a surgical “boot.” Ropes course definitely NOT recommended.

 

So rather than rely on outside influences to help us team-build, why don’t we just rely on ourselves?

 

First, we share our clothing sizes.

 

This is really not an option: We need to be fitted for our team jackets. And men may not recognize the team-building aspect of this data-exchange, but all women know that confessing clothing size is confession indeed. That over, we move along to: 

 

Sharing our worst fears of our trip.

 

Okay, here it’s all out on the table. It’s monsters-under-the-bed time. We all are excited about this trip, we all anticipate what an incredible opportunity and experience a month of business and cultural exchange in the Philippines will be, but that doesn’t mean that our overly active imaginations haven’t come up with something — usually something we don’t completely understand — that we prefer to create nightmares around.

 

Okay, let’s share.

 

Our biggest fear has to do with sleep deprivation. This is an accepted start of our trip: We begin with 28-hour of flight(s) including an eight-hour layover in Detroit (of all places) and when we do arrive in Manila of course it’s already yesterday and the sun will be setting instead of rising. And despite a layover morning for recuperation, we will quickly be involved in a very strenuous schedule. So yes, sleep deprivation is a major and universal fear.

 

Second biggest fear: Weird food. The video previously mentioned on this blog didn’t help, since one of the delicacies shown is a fully formed embriotic duck egg. Yumm? An embriotic egg certainly falls into an American’s list of worst food disasters, although I know from experience that Americans will eat anything as long as it is hidden is a sandwich. If faced with an embriotic egg, I will smile and politely request two slabs of bread. Then, and according to every Filipino travel blog I’ve read, a hog’s head, snout up, figures largely and oink-ily in Philippine banquets. My question: Is the head a centerpiece, more or less there to set the mood, or is it an anticipated part of the menu? Again, my Americanism is showing: I’ve probably eaten every other part of the pig; why not the head? Answer: Because. Any questions?

 

Fear running a far distant third: Kidnapping and other cultural disasters. I’m not really worried about my own safety — who’d want to kidnap me? (There was a Bette Midler movie to that effect about 15 years ago.) But our hosts will be well-placed Filipinos, and who knows? 

And then there is terrorism, an undercurrent in American life since September 11, 2001. Not that the Philippines are an expected source for international extremism, but then, you never know, you know?

 

And a continuing fear that’s just part of being female, I guess: Will we pack the right clothes/do we understand dinner etiquette/will our attempts at crossing the cultures be understood for what they are?

 

Next team-building exercise: Learning Tagalog like a native (not!)

 

Stay tuned!

Side trips and conflicting information

Reading through various travel guides, I have a synopsis on what is generally agreed upon as the “can’t be missed” for a trip to the Philippines:

1) Day trip from Manila – Pagsanjan Falls and Baguo

2) Bontoc’s Rice Terraces

3) Moyon Volcano and Mr. Kanla-on

4) Cabayugan River

5) the Chocolate Hills

6) El Nido’s Mankinit Hot Springs

While I think we will only have a chance at the day trips from Manila, I look forward to learning more about the other natural wonders of the country.

 Also have come up with conflicting information – leaving food on your plate.  One book says you must leave some on your plate or they will keep serving you.  Another says you must never leave food on your plate as it signifies that the meal was not good.  Seems like we are certain to offend somewhere somehow!

Pint-sized Filippino Pen Pals

A Filippino Rotary member (and outbound GSE team leader!) runs a school, (pre-K – 12) in Quezon City so we can assist in developing next-generation relations between our countries.  Learn more about Sunny Hill School at www.sunnyhillschool.com!

Blood in the Philippines

I recently begged off watching a travel video that a couple of other Rotary GSE participants watched because they talked about a faith healer and lots of blood.  So I went to get a travel video and checked with our leader to make sure it wasn’t the same one.  I was assured it was not so I settled in with a notebook and pen to take notes and… of the 47 minutes of video, I am sure I missed at least 20. 

This video started with the hostess/narrator of the video going to a faith healer.  She said she felt him pinching her stomach and then… BLOOD EVERYWHERE!   And when she left a few minutes (hours?) later, nothing.  No scar, no blood, nothing.  I like to think of myself as adventurous but I can assure you I will not be lying on any table with a faith healer around. 

Phew!  That segment over!  Ready to settle in and enjoy the scenery and culture…  not to be.  I am not good with blood (my own, or anyone or anything else’s) and really don’t like violence.  At all.  Have never ever seen boxing – live or on tv.  Did not watch high school wrestling.  Declined “great seats” to bullfighting in Spain at great professional expense.  Will not attend rodeos.  Call me a gentle (yet meat-eating) soul. 

So what is the next segment in the video?  Cockfighting!  The one glimpse I saw was awful (just before I ran screaming from the room.)  They then showed a shot of the (very plentiful) audience and some of them were turning their heads — you know it must be bad.

Phew!  It has to be downhill from here… BUT NO!  Holy week in a town where they reenact the thirteen stations of Christ with the actual crucifixion as the highlight and finale.  The host visits with “Jesus” the night before as well as the man who is responsible for nailing his hands and feet to the cross.  Both have done this numerous times before.  The following day, “Jesus” is dragging the cross along followed by dozens (hundreds?) of shirtless young men flailing themselves on the back, blood everywhere.  Starting to think I could save lots of money on food by watching this.  No, better yet, I will go make popcorn… just in time as I hear the hammering as I leave the room.

It has to be bloodless now, right?  Oh no… Lechon (pig).  Showing how they butcher then skewer and roast whole pigs.  But we are not done yet – let’s eat some duck embryo (aphrodisiac).  And not yet even.  Let’s tie up a mare in heat and give two stallions some aphrodisiac as well as tether the mare to a post and let the two stallions fight!  I was raised on a farm – I have never seen horses fight.  Nor understand why you would want to make them – or watch them.

I am in for a lot of learning!  And toughening up!