Thursday 28 July, 2005 - Working too late

Hmmm - note to self...

Do not, when you are trying to get out of the office at 6.45 p.m., stop off at the cubicle of your very stressed out colleagues and ask them how they are doing. Because, before you know it, you will be helping them out with their work, except that they got weeks of training in this and you have NO CLUE what you are doing, and they they go home and are not available to help you out as you help them out. And then you will be stuck at the office until all hours while Judi's vegetable lasagne goes cold and you miss Lost...*sigh*

At least I have Polo Mints (yes - they have them here, they are made in Indonesia, but they don't taste too bad at all - I did a happy dance when I found them in the office canteen - and then another one in the office of a British colleague who was, I think, on the verge of calling immigration and getting them to revoke my visa)).

Hmmm - other news. Not much. Went out for dinner to farewell Anita - was nice. Lots of AYADs there, from both our intake (arrived in April) and the previous intake. I took some photos so when they are developed I will post and you can see some of the people I talk about. There were about twenty Philippinos as well - I only knew about five of them, but the ones I do know are really lovely and I hope I will stay friends with them after Anita leaves.

One girl, Lillian, works at ABS-CBN which is one of the big TV stations here (like Channel Seven or something) and she took a few of us on a tour of the studio a month or so ago. It was pretty cool. Lillian works on the news so we went all through the news center and watched the newscast go live to air. And we were on the radio (no idea what station!) Then we watched them film this show, "Search for a Star in a Million" which is like Australian Idol or something - it was pretty bad. And soooooo cold in that studio. But it was funny - there were all these Entertainment Industry Reporters (not quite sure why I capped that?) there and they weren't at all what I thought they would look like. I thought they'd be Paris Hilton wannabes or something, but they were pretty old and very unglamarous etc. It was a little bizarre. They didn't seem to be taking it very seriously (neither did the judges, who spent a lot of time on their phones - maybe they couldn't decide and were using a lifeline to call a friend?) Anyway - that was fun. Lots of people in lots of make up, and I think we met some really famous people, except of course we didn't have a clue! We just shook hands with someone and then afterwards were told they were a famous director or TV star or newsreader or something!!

I heard quite possibly the most awful thing of my life while waiting for the lift today. There was the radio playing in the liftwell and I kept thinking that the song sounded familiar, until I realised it was some kind of Britney Spears-ish version of Men at Work's Land Down Under! It was truly sacrilegious and so terrible for a good Aussie girl to have to hear. Not a good start to my lunch break (really wanting a smiley now so I can put in a sad face or something).

Anyway - the polo mints are about finished and I want to go home. I will work on this some more there - maybe catch the last ten minutes of Lost? I think they are about to off one of the leads and this time he may actually stay dead. Sorry if that sentence made absolutely no sense to you at all! Actually, I am kidding myself. I am never going to make Lost. Oh well - bring on the reheated lasagne!

Hope you are all well

Toodlepip

Kate

Aaaarrrggghhh

I'm sorry Maggie - I have gone and changed the template for my blogs and it is supposed to be all nice and pale now, and it shows me that in the preview, but it won't change when I actually open the blog. So I don't know what to do....

Have spent too long on this - will try again tomorrow...*grumpy face*

Just pic - don't worry about this one...

Wednesday 27 July, 2005 - a bit sad

I have had a request to change the template of this as a certain somebody (who I will refrain from naming!) has said that white on black is too difficult for her old eyes! So I will go play with the other templates and change it over in the next day or so. Pity - I like the black and white - thought it was simple and neat. Anyway...

Well - I am sad today because one of the other AYADs, Anita, from Perth, is going home tomorrow. She arrived in September last year (is from the intake prior to mine) so has been here 9-10 months. She works very near me so we have lunch together quite a bit and have discovered that we have quite a bit in common, especially taste in music (was very excited to hear that her boyfriend was the guitarist in a band I really like, although no Nancy, I didn't do a repeat of my Maine histrionics of 1999!!) She was the person who introduced me to Cafe Saguijo - my favourite place to hang out - a live music club that specialises in promoting independent and alternative music in Manila. We are starting to discover some of the great indie music around Manila and this club has helped with that a lot - starting to have some faves and see some trends. You can check it out if you want at http://www.saguijo.com/index.php

So we had a long weekend here, courtesy of the President's State of the Nation Address (which I didn't watch but apparently was pretty uninteresting and interrupted 43 times for massive appluause - she certainly had the room stacked with her rent-a-crowd). There were supposed to be huge rallies - I am not actually sure how many people turned out. I must confess, I just can't be bothered following it at the moment (evil girl!) One of the biggest things that GMA (the president) is pushing for is Charter Change (called Cha Cha - which is very confusing to a Philippines political novice - they seem to keep talking about a dance!) There is a big move around to try to solve the Philippines endless political crises by switching to a constitutional assembly (I think!) with a parliamentary system that, from what I can gather, would more closely represent the Westiminster system than the current, more American style system. Anyway - GMA kept pushing this in her SONA as well as talking about the two Philippines!! (I think if you are not with her, you are against her!!)

Anyway - off politics because I am a bit sick of it all. Other long weekend stuff. Ange and I sat through Ray, which we both decided had been overhyped and massively overstretched (I was getting annoyed with it because I just couldn't understand half of what they were saying and the wretched thing just kept going and going and going - it was like the Neverending Story, except incomprehensible! (and if anyone is tempted to make the inevitable comparison to my blog entries...just don't go there, okay!) We also went to the ballet, which was an eye opener. There is a world of difference between ballet in Oz (and other Western countries) and ballet here. I remember reading an article on the artistic director of the Philippines National Ballet who returned here earlier this year after 20 years abroad. He was talking about the challenges of ballet here, and how the dancers make so little that they have to work - and he loses his best dancers to Disneyland Hong Kong!! Sadly, it showed as well - we saw Swan Lake and I was thinking that Odile/Odette possibly would have made it in the Corps de Ballet at the Australian Ballet, but that was all. And the choreography was so simple - I almost broke out laughing once when they started running through their arm positions - it looked like they were doing a barre drill!! And then they all held hands in a line and sort of skipped forward together, occasionally leaping off the stage. It honestly felt like a dance school recital. I was telling Mum about it on the phone and I said "I felt like such a ballet snob" and she said "you sound like one too"! But I thought of you Mrs Johnstone - ever since you said you counted the 32 fouettes, I have done that as well now (and she got through them all!)

We also went to Cafe Saguijo for it's one year anniversary concert. There were over 25 bands in the line up for a one-night show!!! Unfortunately the a/c was not working terribly well, so after arriving at 7.00p.m. a few of us flaked by 12.30 a.m. - we were just dripping sweat and not enjoying ourselves any more. Not sure what time the others packed it in? Much more stamina in the heat...

Okay - I am trying hard to respect those who are calling for shorter blog entries, so I won't bore you with a blow by blow of my entire weekend. Suffice to say, it was fun and full of Philippino moments! Tonight we are going out to a great vegetarian restaurant for Anita's farewell, which will be fun. Very good food at this place - it is yummy. I have had a roll of film developed and put onto CD (no - am not yet willing to sacrifice my SLR for a digital) and so will post some piccies very soon as well, hopefully.

Hope you are all well - was oodles of fun to talk to those of you I chatted to over the weekend (missing you all heaps).

Toodles
Kate

Friday 22 July 2005 - Scuba Babe!!

Hmmm - well, I'm not doing as well with this as I hoped. Partly this is due to the fact that I only have internet access at work and at the moment, as I feel compelled to get home to Bob and Judi's at a civilised hour, I can't really stay late to update my blog. Also it could just well be that I am well versed in procrastinating. Anyway - seeing as I have now sent this link to everybody at work, I figured I should give them something to read!!
So last weekend I went off back down to the island of Mindoro (loved the reference Pip!) to breath the clean air, partake of the good food and try to pretend I wouldn't have to go back to Manila at the end of the weekend! I had Monday off work so we had three days (yipee) and went with Ange, one of the other AYADs and Debs, who I work with. Achelle, another girl from work, was supposed to come to, but had to cancel at the last minute, which was very sad.

We had a lovely start to the weekend as Bob and Judi's driver drove us down to Batangas (the town where you catch the boat to get to Mindoro) in their car - it was so much nicer than the bus! We felt very decadent and very unlike volunteers!! To get to Mindoro, you catch a bus (or your hosts car and driver!) to Batangas, which is anywhere from two to three and a half hours south of Manila (depending on traffic) and then a bangka over to the town you want to get to. A bangka is a Philippino boat, which comes in a variety of sizes ranging from big enough for two Phl boys to the biggest I have seen, which supposedly takes 60 people, but the actual number limit is 'room for one more'! They are just your basic boat but with those things sticking out the side that balance them (have NO idea what they are called!) that are made just of bamboo and always look to me like they should be really flimsy, but in actually fact are very sturdy (I mean, children jump off them and stuff). We had a slightly rough crossing over (monsoon season and all) and eventually got to Puerta Galera.

This is another thing about the Philippines. We wanted to catch a boat to Sabang. So we go into the boat terminus at Batangas and go to the counter that has a sign for boats to Sabang and ask for three tickets to Sabang. However, you always get these guys who latch on to you and appoint themselves your guides in the notoriously difficult task of buying a ticket for a boat, walking towards that boat and getting on to that boat (don't know how on earth I managed this before having their assistance). And with the assistance of these guys (who, by some massive coincidence worked for the company that was running this boat!!), we somehow wound up with tickets to Puerta Galera, instead of Sabang. (Quick geography lesson - Sabang is about ten minutes away from Coral Cove - the resort where we were staying. Puerta Galera (hereafter PG) is about twenty minutes away, although in a different direction. So going to PG is not the biggest disaster in the world, but we had arranged to a Coral Cove jeep to meet us in Sabang and weren't sure they would come to PG). Of course, when we said we wanted to go to Sabang, that is where we were told we were going (did they think we wouldn't eventually notice!) and it wasn't until we were walking towards a boat that wasn't a bangka and had a honking great big sign on the front of it saying Puerta Galera that I stopped and asked point blank, "Is this boat going to Sabang or Puerta Galera?" at which point the guy finally fessed up that they had sold us tickets to PG. The PG boat was leaving at 9.00 and the Sabang one we had been aiming for was meant to leave at 9.30 but he said there wasn't a Sabang boat until 10.30. We asked him about the one at 9.30 and he said, 'no boat until 10.30' and then that he didn't know about earlier ones because it was a different company. Of course - that is in his best interests anyway so we took it with a grain of salt. However, it is not at all uncommon for boats to be cancelled, if there aren't enough people or they want to paint the boat or they just don't feel like sailing right then because there is some diverting new reality TV show on. The first time we tried to come home from Sabang (about six weeks ago) we went for the nine o'clock boat only to find that it wasn't running until ten o'clock and they had cancelled every service since five that morning (hourly service - so we had six boats worth of people on ours - was very cozy!) And due to the plausability of the 9.30 cancellation and the fact that I had seen the names of our Aussie friends on the passenger list for the PG boat we ultimately decided to just get on this one. It all ended well as the Coral Cove jeep came to PG to meet us and dropped our friends in Sabang.

I have basically told you this story to try to illustrate some of the daily situations in the Philippines. What is funny is that this whole thing didn't seem remotely strange to us at all - it is pretty run of the mill. But I occasionally get frustrated that the most simple things can become complicated, and that we can't go anywhere without people trying to sell us things/services/their sob stories (I have had exactly the same story twice now from this guy near my home - I should have let him finish and allowed myself the time to come up with the perfect comeback but instead just cut him off in the middle with "I have heard your speech before and gave you 150 pesos last time." I am kind of hoping he does try me at least once more as he is instantly memorable with his speech - it was identical both times "I am not a bad guy. I am a foreigner like you" (despite that fact that he is actually a Philippino and goes on to tell you that he lives in Los Banos which is about two hours south?!?!) and then he starts crying about the sibling that he has lost and was meant to meet at a building near here. Next time, I am going to ask him lots of questions and try to get him to cry more and more and see how long I can draw it out... I know that is really mean but I have started giving way too much money away to beggars (sorry Mum - I seem to have regressed) and hate being conned - especially when on a volunteer allowance. Am becoming a little harder again in recent weeks.

Anyway - I have gotten away from the weekend (there's another great story about our trip home to come - just wait!) So we got to PG and eventually Coral Cove and had to spend a while getting the message across that we really did want a bed to ourselves and then settled in. Due to CC being run by Brits, it has toasted sandwhiches on the menu which we always find very exciting (I didn't realise that I missed them until I saw them on a menu and then I was like "I have to have that!" and then Debs went off diving, Ange went snorkelling and I...well...I went and had a nap!! Bob and Judi have ABC Asia on their cable service and I had managed to come home the previous night just as the Essendon/Collingwood game was starting and managed to be tuning in for the one game all season (I think!) that Essendon has actually won, so only got about four hours sleep, by the time we left Manila at 6.30 the next morning (footy is on pretty late here!) I should probably clarify that previous sentence for the many non-Aussies out there. ABC Asia is a service that the Australian Broadcasting Center runs into Asian countries - it has a lot of ABC shows so documentaries and news (and Denton!) plus some commercial shows (plenty of All Saints and Blue Heelers - PJ seems so incongruous in Manila!) and is greatly beloved by all Aussie expats (who can afford it. Volunteers cannot, hence my delight at having it whilst staying with Bob and Judi!). I was referring to Australian Rules Football and my team, the Essendon Bombers, who are having a very sad season (to my father's eternal dismay as he reports in his emails!) but struck in lucky in a game they were supposed to lose!)

So now that I have indulged in another, rather pointless, aside, I will get back to Coral Cove. Many of you have heard me rave about this place from the last time I went there, but it is so tranquil (the cement mixer that greeted us on Saturday notwithstanding!), secluded and beautiful. It is on its own little cove and you have it to yourself - shared with the little fishing village a few hundred metres away. You basically go out of your room, walk ten steps to the water, get in and the coral is RIGHT THERE! You can just snorkel (or dive a bit further out) or swim or laze about. It is primarily a diving resort (as most are around there) but it is quite possible to just laze around reading and partaking of their excellent bar/kitchen and the fun company. So I got up from my nap and had a lovely swim (jellyfish notwithstanding!) and then the heavens opened so we hunkered down in our room for a while. Debs had been off scuba diving (she is moving to Singapore in two weeks so was getting in her last diving trip before leaving the Philippines - the catalyst for this whole adventure). Then we went into Sabang to have dinner with two other AYADs who were spending the weekend there. It was a lot of fun to catch up with Naomi (who came in our intake and is working at the University of the Philippines on sweet potatoes) and Leharne (who came in September last year and is working at the International Rice Institute, along with about 1000 other expats...and yes, I may be slightly exxagerating). Leharne is a very keen diver who got her open water licence earlier this year and can't be stopped - is not going for her navigation licence (I think!) They both live in Los Banos - a couple of hours south of Manila - and were supposed to have come to Sabang with us all the previous weekend, but were sick and had to cancel. So that was really fun to play with them.

Sunday was the big day - Ange and I went scuba diving!!! We did this discover scuba where you can try it out - they show you all the equipment and teach you a few basics and then you are off. So while Debs went off to do her fancy-pants WWII Japanses ship wreck shark dive (or something!) Ange and I sat at the floating bar off Sabang (which is exactly that) and got into our gear. We looked so professional in those wetsuits (all that lycra really does something for one's self esteem...not!) and these absolutely massive tanks on our backs that you had to be sitting down to put on (and they ask you your weight and give you a weight belt...reminded me of flying to northern Uganda and having to stand on the scales myself before being allowed onto the plane!) and then the big moment where we had to jump in to the water. I think we looked at each other and thought "what are we doing?" before ultimately taking the plunge (small pun intended!) and jumping in!

So we did a few exercises (I was probably the worst person ever at clearing my mask after it filled with water, as it kept going up my nose and I kept coughing and spluttering and pulling off my mask...which of course is not going to work if one is under water. Actually come to think of it - we never practiced that under water...hmmm... in the end I just thought 'well, hopefully that won't happen, so let's just get on with this'!) and then our instructor, Ricky, said "okay - we will go under now?" and I thought we would go down and have a few breathes and then come back up. But no - we went down and kept going until we were 20,000 leagues under the sea (or, about four metres!) and sitting on the bottom of the ocean floor! It was pretty cool - I was just thinking "I am scuba diving"..."and I sound like Darth Vadar" (that is all I could think, breathing in and out of the regulator - that is exactly what you sound like - I kept expecting to hear dum da dum music!) So we equalised our ears a bit and kind of got used to being there and then Ricky gestured that we should head of and explore...so we did! It all seemed to be missing some steps to me (I actually never saw my guage or learned about anything technical - just totally trusting in Ricky!!) but we pushed off, and I sadly cut my hand on the coral (it is still sore and not pretty, although it is healing - but everyone who tells you how sharp coral is, is NOT lying!) You don't actually swim much when scuba diving - you are wearing this inflatable vest and you inflate and deflate it to go up and down, which takes a bit of getting used to, and then you just kind of kick yourself forward. It is a bit hard to manoeuvre with the big tank and your peripheral vision is not great due to the mask. So it takes a bit of getting used to. But we were swimming around for a while and then felt a tap behind us and there was Debs and her dive master, Christian. It was a lot of fun having her there with us for our first dives, although she had started long before us and so had to go up before we were finished. But Ange was having trouble equalising so Christian was assigned to go up to a shallower depth with her and equalise and Debs was reassigned to Ricky (although she was essentially independent) and he just grabbed my hand and started towing me around under the water. Which was great - I really didn't have to think at all...could just sit back (figuratively speaking) and enjoy the scenery. It wasn't the most spectacular coral that we were diving in (Debs was a little disappointed that they hadn't taken us anywhere better for our first dive) but it was still amazing to be floating along on the bottom of the sea.

We saw an eel, which was really ugly and a little scary - we only saw its head as it was under a rock and you basically had to lie on the ocean floor to see it. We also saw some sea snakes, which are very venomous but have these tiny little mouths, so find it quite hard to actually bit anything, so that is fine. We also saw a puffer fish - all puffed up and extremely ugly! And lots of Nemos! They are apparently a bit agressive and will protect their anemones quite vociferously, but it is hard to be wary of something that small! All they are going to do is try to bite you with teeth the size of a grain of sand! So we toodled around there for forty minues (time just had no concept - we really didn't know how long we had been down there) and went down to nine metres (the deepest they can take an unlicenced diver is twelve metres) and eventually we came back up and were just grinning at each other with these very stupid 'can you believe how cool that was' grins!! As I said to Mum on the phone a few days later, "I think we've got the bug - we want to get our Open Water licences now." She was suitably thrilled and responded with a sarcastic "That was exactly the news I was hoping to hear" and obviously wishing I would gravitate towards less high-risk sports, like knitting and croquet!! (although apparently scuba diving has about the same injury rate as bowling - not sure if that is lawn or ten pin!!LOL)

Getting out of the water is not a terribly elegant proposition. Whilst still in the water you have to divest yourself of, first, the weight belt and then the tank (you don't realise how much that thing is weighing on your back until you take it off) and then your flippers - all this may sound easy, but I am here to tell you...it is NOT! And then you get to mount the half-broken steps up to the floating bar and try to stagger over to the chairs. And Debs was just sprawled there with a coke looking like she was doing a Visa card commercial or something - not a care in the world!!! So then Debs went off for her second dive and Ange and I sat with Ricky at the floating bar and just talked about diving for an hour or so. All in all, the experience was most satisfactory and we can't wait to get back in to it.

I have stayed at work much too late finishing this, so may tell you about our adventures getting home (basically, a trip that could potentially take as little as three to four hours took ten!) another occasion.

Hope you are all well. Thank you to the many people who have emailed me in response to reading my blog entries - obviously the way to stuff an inbox!! I will eventually get around to replying to everybody (I hope!) but have limited hotmail access so often take a while.

Have a great weekend everybody. In true Philippino fashion they announced today (Friday) that Monday will be a public holiday here. The president is giving her State of the Nation address and there are going to be a lot of protests and rallies so just to keep things a bit safer, they are keeping everyone at home. We have had three Mondays as public holidays since I got here, and each time, they only announced it on the previous Friday. So we are always frantically trying to make plans at the last weekend. I think I will actually stay in Manila this time - I have a lot on this weekend. Bit of a waste though...Funny though - apparently all these other politicians are going to give their own individual States of the Nation as well, in opposition to GMA. So there will be, like, ten States of the Nation - maybe you can just pick the one you like best!!LOL
See you around the bend
Toodlepip
Kate

Friday 15 July, 2005 - Beach Bound!!

Well - this blog is no longer a one-hit-wonder - I am posting again!! I have just been looking at my sister's website pictures from her travels through the US/Canada/Sth America and am feeling very sad that I haven't seen her in so long - she went and got this cute little blonde bob haircut and looks adorable...made me quite homesick. *blowing BFSK to Alex* Unfortunately Alex arrived home from her year overseas one week after I left for mine, so I haven't seen her in quite a while!

Anyway - it is Friday afternoon and I am going away for a three day weekend...*yipee*

I am going to the island of Mindoro, which is Southwest of Luzon (the main island, where Manila is located). There is a big beach/diving area there that generally goes by the name of Puerta Galera. However, PG is just the main sort of town and this encompasses about thirty smaller beaches and getaway areas. It is one of those getaway areas that we are going to. It is actually closer to Sabang (where we went last weekend) and is absolutely divine. Some of you heard me rave about this place when Ange and I went there about a month ago. It is sort of by itself in a jungle and right on the water - the water comes up to the resort and as soon as you get in, the coral is RIGHT THERE. For those who don't know, the Philippines has some of the best coral and diving in the world (although I have yet to see anything that rivals the Great Barrier Reef - but I actually haven't seen a great variety yet so probably shouldn't judge). (The SOSers amongst you will understand this gripe - I miss smileys!! It is so much easier to get your message across when you can put a little smiley at the end of your sentence...)

Anyway - there are all these cabins in the trees and it is so peaceful - you just wander over to the main restaurant/bar/gathering area and have a drink and chat to whoever is there (last time we were there, I sadly spent a lot of time sitting up there and working) and it has a great restaurant with a massive variety of food - including a whole page of vegetarian dishes (that are actually vegetarian! normally vegetarian here means that you get some vegetables with your meat!! I spend a lot of time when ordering saying NO meat and NO fish and NO seafood!) And you are looking out over blue ocean and mountains covered in trees. And the air is soooo clean there - you can take a deep breath, it is beautiful. This is where I am going:

http://www.coral-cove.com

How jealous are you now, hey?!?!

It is a bit of a trek to get there - a 2-3 hour drive from Manila (depending a lot upon the traffic) and then a one hour boat ride on a 'bungka' to get from Batangas over to Sabang. Then we catch the jeepney for ten minutes to Coral Cove. Catching the bungka is always interesting as the timetable is somewhat variable - if there aren't enough people they will just scrap a boat and you may have to wait for three hours, through three scheduled departures, before they will decide a boat has enough people on it to leave. And by then it is pretty cosy. The maximum number of people per boat is 'room for one more'!

The bus rides are often fun as well - you are crammed in like sardines (especially us - the seats are designed for Philippino bottoms and when you try to put a Western behind on to one, it becomes quite snug) and they have TV or old movies blaring. It became a game to guess which washed up B-movie star we were going to get on the trip back from Sabang last time - there was a suggestion of Dolf Lundgren (do I have that right?) I have already seen Arnie and Sly! Last time we got a TV show that made me think of nothing so much as an adult Young Talent Time!! (that will mean NOTHING to the non-Aussies!) Nat was the only one watching and kept turning around to comment to one or the other of us - eventually realised that we had no idea what she was talking about because we weren't watching! The buses are often really freezing as well - you are in a jumper, shivering away, while it is boiling outside.

So anyway - that is what I am up to this weekend. There are three of us going. Myself, Ange (another AYAD who I hang out with a lot and who will be my flatmate when I eventually move into my proper home!) and Debs, who is British and moving to Singapore (thus vacating the room I will be moving in to in a few weeks!) Debs recently got her open water diving licence so is going to dive (as was another friend, Achelle, a Philippino from work who sadly had to pull out just yesterday) and Ange and I are going to do the Discover Scuba where you go out for a few hours and try the basics and dive down to about twelve metres. Basically it is a chance to see if you like it... Pretty exciting - I am psyched!lol Another AYAD is going over as well and will be staying nearby and we will probably play with her a bit. So I am going to be lazy and soak up the heat (it is extremely hot down there) and play in the water and generally be decadent for the next three days. And still try to convince myself that I wouldn't rather be in the snow, nice and cold, toasting marshmallows!! We had a spectacular rainstorm earlier today (just as I wanted to go and get lunch!) that I think is the very tip of the typhoon that is heading to China, but apart from that, it is still hot here...

On the political front, it is quiet and has been for a couple of days. They got about 30,000 people to the marches on Wednesday (they were hoping for 40,000) which is a lot short of the several hundred thousand who marched against Marcos and Estrada. There were the usual rent-a-crowd (literally - they give them some money and food to come!) and a bunch of students. But there weren't the middle class and professionals that have come out in past mass demonstrations to really give it a cross-society mix. I have a feeling GMA is going to survive - the movement doesn't seem to be gaining traction - at this stage anyway.

Okay - I will go and finish my work for today and try to out of here before seven o'clock tonight!! Really need to get to the gym today.

Thanks to all those who emailed me after my first post - quite encouraging to see how many people actually read it! (even if my mother was disparaging about something called a 'blog'!!) Helps keep the momentum going. I will endeavour to reply to them all. And Emily told me how to make my blog more pretty, so I will work on that as well!

Hope you all have a splendiferous weekend.

Toodlepip
Kate

Wow - my first post on my blog! This is very exciting. Thank you Helen for suggesting this link - it was so easy to set up (truly idiot-proof!) - here's hoping I don't mess it up later (there are lots of options to customise that I will have to play around with later). Anyway - thank you for reading this, if you are here, and I will try to keep it interesting and a little briefer than some of the tomes I am known for!

Well - it is Wednesday here in Manila. Last night, I moved (again!) in to the apartment of an Australian couple here. Judi used to be our In Country Manager (ICM) - that is, the person who manages the volunteer program (Youth Ambassadors) here, and Bob is the manager of Sagric - this is the company here that manages most of the AusAID funded programs in the Philippines (and also runs the Youth Ambassador program). They are really lovely - great Australians, interesting and very down to earth. They are from Adelaide and are going home in a few weeks for their son's wedding - I think they are looking forward to a trip home! Anyway - they are very nice and they have a lovely flat in a quite swanky building - I don't feel like I am in volunteer land right now!!! It is also just a nice short walk to the office - different from the commute from Mandaluyong, where I have been staying at the Missionary Guest House (more about that one later).

So it is Wednesday and the weather is stinking hot. We are meant to be in to monsoon season now, which would have cooled it down, but the monsoon doesn't appear to have been informed because it is taking its sweet time. It is incredibly humid today - my traditional dripping sweat when getting into the lift at work act. The pollution is also really bad today. There are hills about 1.5 - 2 km away from the office and I judge the pollution by whether or not I can see them and how clearly. Today, I can't see anywhere near the hills - I would say that visibility is down to less than a kilometre. So that is not fun. I seem to have acquired a cough that I can't kick, and I am sure the pollution is part of it. We went away last weekend to the beach on a nearby island and the air was so lovely and clean. But when we returned to Manila, within an hour or two, I was hacking away again, so I think the air must be a contributing factor :( I think it is going to rain and thunder and give us a tropical storm this afternoon - should be interesting with the marches.

Which leads me to...

TODAY'S POLITICAL UPDATE: (cue introductory music, please)

Not sure if you are aware, but politics in the Philippines is a tad tense right now. There have been two key issues against President Gloria Macapagal Arroya (known as GMA). The first was that she announced a crack down on jueteng - an illegal gambling racket throughout the Philippines that many local government and authority people are involved in, so it has a lot of kickbacks and corruption associated and obviously a lot of people resisting its closure. It was this issues that brought down the previous president, Estrada. Except then it emerged that her husband, brother in law and son were all involved in it! So the yoghurt hit the fan (WVA people will recognise that expression!) and that saga-ed itself out. They were all also involved in politics - can't remember what exactly, except that her son was a congressman or something and is refusing to resign, and her husband did resign his post and fled to Hong Kong (they said it was to allow her to focus on governing etc., but might convenient that he isn't around to be prosecuted, hey?!). Then, this tape emerged that was purported to be GMA speaking to a Comelec (Commission for Elections) official during the presidential elections last year about the vote tally and how large her margin would be. Although this is not actually illegal in Phl, it is not terribly ethical and for weeks GMA didn't say anything about it, allowing only her inner circles to issue statements that the tape was faked. Anyway - eventually GMA issued a statement that it was her and she regrets the lack of judgement that led her to make the call. So now that tape is being played everywhere (the night they first played it in Congress was amazing - everywhere you went, from the gym to restaurants to shops to taxis, everyone was watching/listening. Was like Oz during the Melbourne Cup or something! She starts out the conversations saying "Hello Garci" and the grab of this has now become the most popular ring tone for mobile phones here!!!LOL People send it to each other by blue tooth and they have even set it to music! (little amusing aside. They now can't find Garci anywhere in the country! They are trying to issues him with summons to testify about this, but can't find him and keep bringing the summons back! That cracks me up). So anyway - when she did that, it set the ball rolling and the marches starting. Not big, so far, but steady. The military has gone on alert and there are people calling for her resignation. On Thursday last week she fired ten cabinet ministers (is now calling for all Philippinos to suggest replacements!!!) and then the next day they said they quit anyway (heh!) and called on her to resign. That is when things got ratcheted up to the next level and people started (again) talking about juntas etc. I might cheat and copy and paste some stuff I have written to others (shush if you recognise this!)

I wrote this last Friday, 8 July:

The political situation here is extremely tense as the calls for the President to resign are growing again. She is pretty isolated and it is all tipping on what the military will do now. We are currently at a military Red Alert and World Vision has raised its security level to Security One Alert. If it goes to Security Two, all expats (including me) are issued with an open ticket out of here and if it is three, we are on the first plane. Obviously, that will suckI waver between feeling like nothing is going to happen (this situation has dragged on for a couple of months now and never come to a head - one of the reasons that there has not been a massive people power, like the type that ousted Estrada and Marcos, is that there isn't really anyone better to replace President Arroyo) and feeling a bit scared - I have been in a war zone before, but never lived through a coup and never been evacuated. I am going away for the weekend (better to be out of Manila, methinks - about ten Aussies are going to the beach!) and taking a couple of extra sets of underwear in case I can't get back in!!!

And then this was on Monday 11 July:

Well - I think (hopefully) we are going to be okay. Friday was pretty tense (it was funny - we all got a message that we had to stay in our homes and not go out, and definitely not go to Makati, where all the protests were. Except a friend and I were going to the mall to see Batman Begins (man, was that a waste of two hours of my life!) and meet another friend. So we were on the phone to our volunteer coordinator going, "can we still go to megamall? I know there's a coup in the works, but can we go to the mall?" It was pretty funny. Anyway - I slept on the bus out of Manila on Sat morning so didn't see if there was build up outside the police or army HQ, and am not really sure what happened over the weekend. But yesterday, the Catholic Bishops Conference decided to NOT call for the President's resignation, although they do want a commission to investigate her actions. I think that might be a tipping point - they hold tremendous influence here (it was at their urging that Estrada and Marcos were overthrown) so their support (although it is not unilateral) gives Arroyo a reprieve and things may calm down. I still don't know if she will hang on to power, but if there is a transition, I am hoping it won't be a coup. The Bishops were very strident in NOT calling for a junta - saying that this was a very bad move and condemning anyone who took this line of action. So that is encouraging...Anyway - I will keep you posted, but for now, I think we are going to be okay. So thank you for your concern, and fingers crossed....Problem is - they are still stuck with a corrupt president. But Philippinos don't expect a president NOT to be corrupt - its automatic. So sad. And there is nobody better to replace her...

This is from Tuesday 12 July:

Since then, we have heard that there are going to be massive marches tomorrow (Wednesday 13 July) in Makati - they are expecting about a million people. This will be one of the turning points - seeing whether that many people do turn out, whether it stays peaceful and whether this heralds the start of ongoing marches. I was talking to one of the ladies at the office today who was out on the streets marching to overthrow Marcos in 1986 - how sad that we are in a similar situation almost 20 years later Philippinos are incredibly peaceful and gentle people and I don't feel in danger at all, just worried about the situation and not wanting to be pulled out. And it is hard when you are living in a place and become attached to it and emotionally invested in its future, but also don't know what is the best way forward any more. I feel so awful for all these wonderful people around me that they have to live with a corrupt government and they have to go through this, apparently time and again. And yet they stay so cheerful...

And back to today! We got a message from our new ICM, Lynette, BEFORE SEVEN this morning! It said that the marches were going to be all over Makati and stay away. But now they are concerned that Abu Sayaf are going to infiltrate the marches. I don't quite understand what effect that will have, except maybe to turn them violent more easily (that is the extremist group from Mindanao who specialise in kidnapping tourists from resorts and ransoming them - they killed the missionaries down there a couple of years ago).

Okay - enough political woes. I will keep you posted, but I think that is enough for one day. Apart from that. I am at work today and then having my tagalog tutor tonight. Tagalog is the main Philippino language - spoken on the main island of Luzon and in some other areas, although there are hundreds of dialects throughout the Philippines. Anyway, I am trying to learn but my teachers is not very good and I am also not terribly motivated! My office runs in English and everyone speaks English, and for some reason, I am finding it hard to pick up tagalog. So anyway - I had better find time after work to do my homework!

Hope you read this! I will endeavour to make future posts a little shorter, I promise! But at least you have some background now, to build from.

Signing off (and feeling so darn smug for having done this!)