Rice Prices

Just like India (wheat) and Mexico (corn), the Philippines is having a difficult time with the rising commodity prices. The price of rice is beyond those living on annual income of $300. At the market today, the price of rice ranged from 33 pesos to 48 pesos. That is 75 cents to 1.10 per kilo. And in Filipino culture, a meal is not complete unless there is rice.

The government provides subsidized rice. It is lower quality but it is more affordable. The church we live in is one of the distribution points. Here is the line up yesterday afternoon:

There are many distribution points around the municipality.

What makes the present reality more tragic is that Plaridel (where I am) and other towns and cities in the Philippines are rapidly converting their remaining agricultural land into industrial or residential land in order to 'modernize' and provide more jobs and prosperity to their citizens and the government.

As planning students we are struggling with this because we know that food security will provide the best choice over the long term but the municipality and the people want to improve, to modernize, to attract business. And for them that means industry, factories, subdivisions and roads. How to provide a sustainable alternative that is a middle ground between these two visions?

No travel blog would be complete without a picture or two of young children. These are photos a colleague/friend took. I've chosen some that don't completely reveal the identity of the children as we didn't ask them if we could post their photos. Enjoy.

Impressions

Now that I've been here almost two weeks, I wanted to write down my impressions and random thoughts as I'm sure they will be forgotten as new impressions clamour for attention considering the pace of our course.

I arrived in Manila on July 15 after a week in Vietnam. The trip to Vietnam was an indulgence. I was going to be SO close and with Petra and others still there I wanted a chance to see them again.

It is strange visiting a country as a tourist when you have lived there in the past. This was my first experience of that and I am unsettled by my feelings. You know so much and yet, as a tourist, you feel more on the outside looking in.

In spite of those musings, it was a great trip. I spent some time in Hanoi and then visited Hoi An - the old city in the centre of the country that is renowned for its tailors. My friends drove down to spend the weekend. Unfortunately, visits with the tailors outnumbered the hours spent with them as I had forgotten the time it takes to get clothes tailored! I'm pretty happy with the results (the clothes). It is such an indulgence to have outfits that fit like they were made for only you :) Oddly, I didn't see anyone I had directly worked with during my stay in Vietnam. Maybe it is true that you 'can't go home again'.

Manila is an experience! Earlier on I had thought that since I had visited Bangkok, Mexico City and New Dehli, that I might have a sense of Manila. Was I ever wrong!

Manila is (at time of writing) not at all loveable. It is HOT. Hot like I've never been hot. Last week I described it as "the heat that rolls off the roads like a vaporous steamroller intent on reducing you to your basics of water and oxygen." Vietnam is hot but Manila is really, really hot!

My friend Celerina (Sister Celerina to most of you) met me at the airport which was a wonderful way to be welcomed. I met Celerina more than 14 years ago. She was already a nun then and a fellow student at UVIC in the School of Social Work. There were six of us, Brandy, Tara, Donna, Celerina, Jeannette and me that comprised a project group that lasted the whole of first year. We named ourselves the Group from Hell because everyone told us that we couldn't manage the group process in such a large group. Those who know me well will know that 'couldn't' is not part of how my world operates. The others felt the same and we chose to complete our project together. Five of us have kept in touch and we try to get together once a year, although this is harder now that one is in Mexico, one is in the Philippines, one on the island, another in the Interior and there is me who never stays long in one place.

I hadn't seen Celerina in over four years so it was wonderful to spend time together and catch up and learn and share about who were now. She is based in Bataan, a province about two hours by bus from Manila. Because of the way the buses are routed, she is more than 1.5 hours from me although we are equidistant from Manila.

After a few days together, I decided that Manila, as a representation of the Philippines, was the noisiest place I had ever been. The jeepneys, the tricycles, other various vehicles, the music from the various businesses together in the soup of pollution and then the intense heat makes one feel rather faint from the sensory overload. (Jeepneys are these amazing vehicles used for mass transit. From the Lonely Planet it says they are reconditioned American jeeps that were left behind. They are decorated by the owners/leasees in the most kitchsy way possible. They are a cheap way to get around).

One of my more peak experiences was in a jeepney, with Celerina. It was my third day in Manila. It had only just rained so that the streets were wet and you could smell the vegetation. Night was falling. We were sitting in the back (near the exhaust and the only door), other people were around us on the bench seats. The driver was honking his horn, as others were in the traffic. The driver had chosen a soft rock station (Philippinos seem to enjoy 80s love ballads) and at my peak moment, the BeeGees were singing "Tragedy" at top volume through speakers that scratched the high notes. There came a moment where I just started to giggle and then laugh out loud. It was just too ridiculous and out of my normal experience. I just had to laugh. This experience encompassed so much of what Manila meant to me, to that point.

Here is a sign that saw from a bus at a random point in the city. Dr. Jose P. Rizal is a national hero. He advocated for reform during the Spanish colonial era. The quote is his.

The First Week Part One

Have you ever been somewhere and the days are so full that you look in astonishment at your nearest calendar when you realize only two days have passed because it feels like a week or more must have already expired? On Tuesday I had just that experience.

For those who do not know, I am in the Philippines on a 'studio course' for my master's program. It is a one month intensive six credit course. It is being held in Plaridel, a small (99,000+) municipality about 2 hours NW of Manila. We are twelve students and one professor and our purpose is to provide assistance to the municipal

government with their development plans in five key areas: informal settlements, livelihood development, solid waste management, transportation/urban design and youth development (my focus!).

We are living in a 400+ year old church that is in the centre of town (as old churches often are). Our accomodations are impressive. As you can see from the photo, there are a number of beds in one room. The ten women are in one room and the two men are in single rooms, one on either side of the resident priest (Father Dennis). Maybe they were expecting some trouble? :) The girls share two bathrooms, the boys have attached ones, one of which is shared. We have fans to cool the rooms (and ourselves!), although considering how much we 'glow' or sweat, depending on your sensibilities, the fans are not quite adequate (I think some of us dream of air conditioners) to the humidity of North Luzon. We have breakfast and dinner together in another large room on the same floor. If you are imagining that we are together almost all the hours of the day, you are right. Building community is challenging but it helps a great deal that we are genuinely fond of each other.

We all arrived in individually or in small groups on Sunday and that evening there was a dinner and welcome cultural performance for us. It is impossible to describe the show the community arranged for us. The dances seemed to all be performed by the same young people and yet they never looked exhausted. There were so many different performances! They were sharing all the different cultures of their country with us. Here are a few pictures (excuse the blurriness, the dancers move quickly):

And some more:

The hospitality and the kindness of the people we have met is difficult to adequately describe. This is not a town that receives many 'foreign' tourists and it seems the whole town is excited that we are here. Before the dinner we were actually introduced at the end of Friday mass to the congregation. We paraded one by one into the church as our names were called and stood in front facing everyone as they fanned the air and snuck peaks at the strangers. Each place we go people are interested in where we are from, what we are doing here and our physical differences. Several of our group are tall and either blond or quite fair and they are especially popular with the Filipinos - they are told they are beautiful, they are touched and of course they hear the obvious - "You're SO TALL!!!!" (many times a day). Those of who are shorter or darker are taken for Filipino, which is also a lovely way to wander in a new country.

Monday morning began at 7:30 am for the flag raising. We, as guests of honour, are seated in the front row. Here is the sign that greeted us:

More greetings. Here is the mayor, Mrs. Tessie Vistan. She is regarded as very progressive and is generally spoken with reverence and respect.








After the mayor, we had more welcoming performances. The children in both high school and elementary receive instruction in cultural activities - art, music, dance, etc. I have before seen such wonderfully confident elementary school children. They are beautiful and so talented.




























I'm going to stop here although I only got to about 10 am on Monday. As you'll notice I labelled this post Part One. I'll come back and give you some other highlights and maybe video a little later.

This is my first blog entry! I hope you enjoy it and I know that as I go along the entries will get better and even more enjoyable. I welcome your comments! Love and hugs.

PS If you notice the time and day this is posted, it is on Vancouver time. I'm about 15 hours ahead (if you want to do the math).