The cutest thing you have ever seen

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Hello, This month there is something for everyone with a big dance contest, some nice holiday type pictures, a bit about work and a collapsing bridge.

Once a year the province holds a “provincial day” called Kaliga this is mainly aimed at showcasing local businesses, products, tourist attractions etc with each municipality in the province having a stall to display and sell their wares. I got some very nice honey in an old rum bottle and also some carabaw (water buffalo) cheese. The cheese was similar to a very fresh young goats cheese. A bit bland but a real treat to a cheese starved me. To make it more of an event there are games and performances with by far the biggest draw being a dance contest between municipalities. Lanuza won last year so there was honour to uphold. This contest is very lavish with a huge investment being made by the Local Government Units into professional choreographers, set and costumes. Its obviously questionable use of local government spending when basic services such as sanitation, education and healthcare could do with some investment. Lanuza did win again and deserved to being the best by some way. There is a big sense of town pride in winning and it was good fun!

Every year all of us working in the Philippines with VSO get together for a 3 day conference to share ideas and experiences as well as a bit of socialising. The photo shows everyone that was there this year including the British Ambassador and his wife. He is the one in the front row that just looks British! There are almost 40 volunteers in total the rest being staff, partners and conference speakers. This year the conference was on the very nice island of Bohol. That explains the Tarsiers and chocolate hills below.

This cute pair of eyes belong to a Tarsier. He is very upset about loss of forest habitat and the popularity of domestic cats. This one is in a protected area on the island of Bohol but they can be found on Mindanao where I live as well. Tarsiers are prosimians, most closely related to lemurs, lorises and bushbabys. They grow to a full 11cm excluding the tail and weigh just about nothing. They must be doing something right because they have been here for 45 million years making them one of the oldest extant species on land.

The Chocolate Hills are the iconic postcard picture from Bohol. There are over 1200 of these mounds and no good explanation of how they got there. For the scientifically minded they are made of limestone with a bit of erosion thrown in (any advances on that geologists out there?). The more romantic have two stories to choose from. They could be left behind by a giant carabaw with gut trouble OR they could be tears from a giant morning the death of a lover. Take your pick. When all the grass on them goes brown in the dry season they look nice and chocolate like especially at sunset. In an interesting example of not joined up policy making the tourism department is trying to promote this site while the department for environment and natural resources has banned management by fire and cutting of scrub. So come and see the chocolate hills while you can in a few years they will be covered in scrub and rather less attractive to look at. That was the excuse for visiting as part of the conference.

At work I have been getting to grips with project planning, setting up financial reporting systems and lots of informal training sessions. One of my aims is to get computers used for more than solitaire and free cell. There has been a reasonable amount of investment in computer equipment and internet usage is coming fast to the area (when I arrived there was only satellite links now there is broadband via the mobile phone provider). What’s not developed yet is an appreciation of what IT can do in a business setting; even the basics like sending out documents by email instead of taking them round by hand. It’s a 4 hour trip to visit all 7 of the municipalities that I work with. Training is also at a low level so last week was basic Excel for the project accountant and bookkeeper. The first round of reports for our funding organisation (the EU) is coming up soon.

As well as the very important but quite dull project management stuff the fun forestry bit is also starting to happen. We have had the formation of working groups, gathering of existing plans and maps now its starting to get involved with community meetings, survey work and finding out what trees are actually out there. This all happens fairly independently in each municipality so lots of running around for me.

Check out the dead bridge picture! This is the sort of thing that happens quite often here. Its always good to leave plenty of time to get anywhere important, like the airport! This design of bridge has a 10ton weight limit but like all traffic laws that is regarded as optional advice. Timber lorries in particular tend to be much heavier (this is a load of plantation grown falcatta going for pulp). As is very often the case in the Philippines the laws are there but there is very little enforcement of them. Boats come in handy for getting across the river because this is THE road (the national highway no less) there is no detour. I made the plane this time but only just. The airport is great it only takes 10 minutes to collect the tickets, check in and be on the plane.

How many people on a motorbike? I haven’t caught a picture with people but this one shows how you can get 3 rows of people onboard by using wooden “wings”. The most people I have seen is 13 I think (its hard to count as they go by) and as for mystery items almost anything can be carried on a motorbike but pigs are one of the more common things both dead and alive. I must go and sit by the road a while and get some pics for next time.

Interesting geological fact of the day. Despite being so far away from the UK I am actually sat on the same tectonic plate. Looking at the map this is almost as far apart as it is possible to get anywhere in the world without leaving your “home plate”. Also there is a Philippine plate but the Philippines are not on it. Instead it is the one bashing into this corner of the Eurasian plate.

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Photos

Jester
One of the Kaliga 06 performers

Lads on a jeep
This is one of the other municipalities loading up their Jeepney for the ride home. They seem to have enjoyed themselves even without winning.

Conference photo
Can you find me? I am there or at least my head is.

Comments

[deleted_14800]

I want one!!
Can I bring one home when I visit? He would fit in my pocket for the journey! We had trouble finding you in the conference picture. Dad says he has seen more fat on a greasy chip. Go eat some peanuts!

[GrahamC]

Great to get your news
Have really enjoyed the regular updates - it certianly brightens up some of the duller days in Edinburgh. Sounds like you have settled in well and enjoying it too! The diet, although exotic sounds challenging though nothing to a seasoned sailor like yourself. Any signs of a dingy as yet or perhaps something a little larger to spin around the bay in? Keep up the good work and hear from you again soon. Regards Graham