Holidays in the Philippines

Christmas wreath made from discarded books.

Over the past few weeks I have been welcomed into people’s homes, traditions and celebrations. It has been wonderful to learn how the holidays are celebrated in the Philippines. Christmas is a big deal here with the world’s longest Christmas season celebrated from September till the feast of the Black Nazarene on January 9th.  American holiday songs are popular and it has been funny to be walking around the town plaza listening to  “White Christmas” blasting from the Municipal Hall while I am already sweating at 6am, very different from growing up in Montana.

New experiences have included: great homestays with families, new foods (biko, lechon, lanzones), walking through a pitch black field at 3:30am to attend a dawn church service, wearing polka dots (good luck for the new year), fireworks and lots of new friends.

Mall of Asia in Manila

View in Santa Ana

Trying to pump water

My lovely hosts for Christmas

Pumping water is hard work

The famous Lechon!

Neighborhood child climbing tree to get a coconut (buko) for fresh juice

Good luck for the New Year includes 13 round fruits on the table.

While I have been missing my family and friends in America and Australia over the holidays, I feel so fortunate to be learning new things. I greatly appreciate the many wonderful Filipinos who have gone out of their way to welcome me and the new connections and friendships.

The Great Ocean Road Trip

The Great Ocean Road Trip

Just before heading off on my Internship and Field Study in the Philippines, I was able to take a quick trip to Melbourne.  It was wonderful on many levels including good friends and a road trip on the Great Ocean Road including an energetic dog- Howard! We meandered through Geelong, Colac, Camperdown, past the Twelve Apostles, Lorne, Anglesea  and on our second day had a lovely tapas lunch in Barwan Heads.  

Great Ocean Road

Howard!

Windblown tourist

Twelve Apostles

Sculpture standing guard

One of the coast's many lighthouses

Looking at Federation Square from a lane way

The scenery of the coast was spectacular and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to see another part of Australia’s beauty.


Back in Melbourne it was great to be able to connect with a good friend who has just moved from the Bay area to Australia.  As I just passed my one year mark of leaving the US it was wonderful to hang out and catch up  on family, friends and of course dance info in California :)

Melbourne lane way art

   

“It’s more fun in the Philippines!”

“It’s more fun in the Philippines!”

 The last few days in Brisbane were a mix of emotions as I packed up, ran errands, participated in the fantastic TEDxSouthbank Women conference, and said goodbye to friends.  It really struck me that in the year that I have been in Australia, I feel so thankful to have developed such a wonderful network of fellow Peace Fellows, students, lecturers, dancers, Rotarians, community members and strong friendships. It felt a bit strange not to be heading home to the States, but rather to be heading off on a new adventure with a whole host of Aussie relationships that I will be missing in addition to the ones already in my heart. At the same time, it is strengthening as I head into a new experience to know that there are new wonderful people to meet and build relationships with.

After flying through Kuala Lumpur, I arrived in Manila. I made it to my temporary hotel and checking in with family and friends, I began to get increasingly frantic warning messages about the incoming Typhoon Pablo.  I was supposed to arrive in Mindanao the same day as Pablo.  I delayed my plans, trying to stay on top of the news and in touch with my program director. A huge typhoon, Pablo tragically wrecked immense damage throughout Mindanao, especially in the region of the Compostela Valley., with the numbers lost continuing to grow. The region I am now it, near Cagayan de Oro in the north, and fortunately seems relatively back on track. While devastation is evident, were no causalities.  This is a far cry from last year at about the same time, when this area was struck by a flash flood due to Typhoon Sendong and suffered dramatically.  I have met families who in the middle of the night last year climbed palm trees and waited there for five hours until help came, seven months pregnant and with small children.  This year there was a forced evacuation in the area. Even though the bridge to one of the local sites was destroyed by the river, by Sunday when I arrived, it had been rebuilt. The raw loss is a good reminder of how thankful I am for the opportunities in my life, and the health and safety of my loved ones.

The resilience of the local Filipinos I have met is remarkable.  In a volatile land historically full of volcanoes, earthquakes and cyclones, there are still smiles- especially when I try to speak one of the local languages -Bisayan.  I have already met wonderful people, from Rotary connections in Manila who greeted me with dinner and tips about the Philippines, to unexpected new friends and an adventure to see the small volcano Tangatay. In the local community of Tagoloan where I am staying, families have shared their homes, their traditions and their meals. The lovely ‘Auntie’ next door, is making sure that I have enough home cooked food to eat!

 I am excited to be working with Dance 4 Peace-Pilapinas, the Philippine branch of a US organization.  While Dance 4 Peace is a young organization, the enthusiasm and dedication are evident.  My program director is charming, fast-walking, has a friendly greeting or word for everyone, and is an educator with a vision for peace and engagement in his country. In addition to teaching workshops, working on strategic planning and research, I have also been included in meetings for further partnership and learning about the local culture and traditions. 

Travel here is a definitely a challenge and one series of meetings last Friday involved multiple kinds of transportation:

-7 jeepney rides
-1multicab
-1 "tricycle”
-1 motorbike
-& lots of walking

All an education unto themselves!

I look forward to all the different kinds of learning while I am here and building a  new network of meaningful relationships. As the button I received at the airport says, “It’s more fun in the Philippines!”

With Prime the local Dance 4 Peace Director

Students at Midanao State Illigan City Institute of Technology dancing and learning

Tagoloan, the city  where I am living

With fun PeaceMovers

Print center 

Jeepney!  They are also named after where the family member is working and sending money back to the Philippines

Area around Santa Ana

Catch-up, Ketchup- or in Oz- tomato sauce

Catch-up, Ketchup- or in Oz- tomato sauce

The last few months have sped by! I thought that the first semester of my Master’s Program was busy, but that I was staying on top of things. That is until second semester snuck up with an extensive Peacekeeping role play, preparation for our Internships, Dance for Parkinson’s programs, ongoing Aussie cultural education  and generally a crazy schedule.

Though not in true chronological order (but in true Erica Rose style), over the next weeks I will be updating my blog with photos and stories from my adventures in Oz and my current escapades in the Philippines.

Making friends at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, look closely  for the fun surprise on my hat :)

Rainforest Adventure

The school semester is speeding by and we are entering fall/winter here in Brisbane. I remain mixed up about directions, some words and weather, isn't it supposed to be spring? So far it just seems to be different shades of warm although now the nights are cool. Classes are going well, lots of reading! (lots of learning too :)  Rather than taking you through the pile of journal articles on my desk with titles like…. the Paradox of Trust, or State Sovereignty and the Articulation of Political Space/ Time, or another favorite-Paradigmatic framing of protracted, intractable conflict: toward the development of a meta-framework-II'

….I realized  I'm a bit behind on sharing some of my adventures outside of uni coursework.

Through the generosity of new friends and my Rotary counselor Pam I have been able to explore some of the areas around Brisbane. One of my first outings was a drive up the ‘Bruce’ (well really Highway 1 but like many things Aussie it has a nickname) to the Mary Craincross Rainforest   where we had a spectacular view of the Glass House Mountains, ancient volcanic plugs.   Before we walked into the rainforest the park staff advised us to apply a good dose of leech repellant- yikes!

Glass House Mountains

Immediately we were surrounded….not by leeches, phew! but by a rich variety of trees and plants with an amazing number of  different shades of green and leaf shapes.  I learned about the Catbird (bird that sounds like a crying baby- really) the Wampu (another bird), the Strangler Fig and Lawyer Vine- which has all sorts of prickly spines.  We even spotted Pademelons, six in total, sort of like a small version of a kangaroo.  After traipsing through a Palm grove and escaping leech free we had a lovely coffee in the rain at the mountain top cafe. 

Maleny  was next on our itinerary, a quaint town in the hinterland with a Sunday market and small arts and crafts shops.  My favorite was this woodworking shop where you were invited to touch all sorts of finished and unfinished pieces of furniture. Then off to the Sunshine Coast, where I was treated to an iconic Aussie lunch at the Alex Heads Surf Lifesaving Club complete with the chance to watch a “Nippers” race in the surf.  (kids in surf lifesaving youth programs)  Combined with a swim in the ocean before heading back to Brizzy it was a full day!

Notice the note at the top...

Pademelon, none of my pictures turned out as they hopped too fast!

Alexandra Heads

Beach!