O.K. No one panic I didn't actually join the Peace Corp. Seeing as how it's the "United States" Peace Corp, I think I'd have difficulty getting in anyhow. Honestly, I really had no idea what the Peace Corp was until yesterday when I was introduced to a young woman named Emily. She and her husband John, originally from Missouri, are with the Peace Corp and are spending the next two years volunteering with city departments here in Puerto Princesa. They arrived here Monday, after having been pulled off a job in Luzon for "safety" issues (aka local political violence).
I found out by word of mouth that another city employee happened to have a couple of Canadian interns staying with them also. So we arranged to go have drinks at a Kinebuch (owned by an expat Russian/American ex-motocross rider). I set out for Kinebuch only to have the tricycle I was riding run out of gas, and I had to help the driver tip it on its side to drain any remaining fuel from the tank into the engine. No success. So I asked how far it was, and was told with a gesture, "just over there". Naturally, just over there ended up being several blocks in the dark up to the main road, at which point I took another tricycle the kilometer or so down the road to the bar (welcome to Puerto). When I arrived I saw a group of North American looking folks so I walked up to ask if they were the Canadians I was meeting. It ended up being Emily, whom I had met early in the day, her husband, and another Peace Corp volunteer named Roger, from Los Angeles, who is here teaching at the local university. After finding the two Canadians, we all joined up and had a couple of drinks.
So, that was my introduction to the Peace Corp workers as for joining up and the dinner bit. I was invited to go, this morning at 5:15am, with a few people from the Mayor's Office (including my new Peace Corp associates) to a blessing for a dolphin and whale watching venture. Although this group has been operating for a while, this was a PR opportunity for the Mayor and guests (us) to make an appearance, have the group blessed by a local priest, and tour Puerto Princesa Bay in search of dolphins. All of this was part of the promotion of the Mayor's Green City campaign which has seen Puerto transformed from a derelict town into what is becoming quite a nice place to visit. All of this was also caught on tape, not only by local media, but also by a group from the Discovery Channel who accompanied us on the trip and are developing a documentary on Mayor Hagedorn and his developments around Eco-Tourism. After a couple of hours of searching for dolphins (which we ended up seeing about twice), the Americans and I headed back to the city. On the way off the boat I was asked by a local reporter for an interview about the experience, and apparently I was featured on the evening news, although I didn't see it.
This evening, we were guests at a dinner hosted at one of the local hotels, by the Mayor. Apparently, just about every week guests of the city are treated to a wonderful dinner, with a video presentation highlighting developments which Mayor Hagedorn's government have seen realized, along with some singing and dancing by a group of cultural entertainers. In the introduction which was given, while waiting for the mayor to arrive, we were given a brief introduction, at which time, Emily was introduced as the head of the Peace Corp for this region (which she was impressed by) and I was introduced as being part of the U.S Peace Corp. Although I made an attemp to correct the speaker, things just rolled on, and so I just had to laugh. Although I had met the Mayor briefly at the airport on the day I arrived, I'm sure he didn't remember me, and I was told by Melissa, my Agriculture Department contact, that I had been introduced to him in the morning as part of the Peace Corp as well. There are definitely worse things you could be mistaken for.
The cultural show which was put on after dinner, included singing and dancing by a traditional costume clad performers, and included a birthday song to the Mayor (whose birthday is in a few days, and which is a big event, judging by all of the banners strung up across town). The Mayor even got on stage and joined in the singing of a local song about "unity" (once a week they said?) It is nice to see the positive changes that have been made in Puerto under strong leadership, but for a Canadian, all of the song and dance is purely entertaining. It's all a big show. The City's official logo is the peacock and it is easy to see why. All of this wonderful fuss at dinner was, once again, caught on camera under the careful eye of the Discovery Channel crew, who filmed everything from us eating to the the mayor benevolently giving us all local gifts. So keep your TVs tuned. (see more photos)
I found out by word of mouth that another city employee happened to have a couple of Canadian interns staying with them also. So we arranged to go have drinks at a Kinebuch (owned by an expat Russian/American ex-motocross rider). I set out for Kinebuch only to have the tricycle I was riding run out of gas, and I had to help the driver tip it on its side to drain any remaining fuel from the tank into the engine. No success. So I asked how far it was, and was told with a gesture, "just over there". Naturally, just over there ended up being several blocks in the dark up to the main road, at which point I took another tricycle the kilometer or so down the road to the bar (welcome to Puerto). When I arrived I saw a group of North American looking folks so I walked up to ask if they were the Canadians I was meeting. It ended up being Emily, whom I had met early in the day, her husband, and another Peace Corp volunteer named Roger, from Los Angeles, who is here teaching at the local university. After finding the two Canadians, we all joined up and had a couple of drinks.
So, that was my introduction to the Peace Corp workers as for joining up and the dinner bit. I was invited to go, this morning at 5:15am, with a few people from the Mayor's Office (including my new Peace Corp associates) to a blessing for a dolphin and whale watching venture. Although this group has been operating for a while, this was a PR opportunity for the Mayor and guests (us) to make an appearance, have the group blessed by a local priest, and tour Puerto Princesa Bay in search of dolphins. All of this was part of the promotion of the Mayor's Green City campaign which has seen Puerto transformed from a derelict town into what is becoming quite a nice place to visit. All of this was also caught on tape, not only by local media, but also by a group from the Discovery Channel who accompanied us on the trip and are developing a documentary on Mayor Hagedorn and his developments around Eco-Tourism. After a couple of hours of searching for dolphins (which we ended up seeing about twice), the Americans and I headed back to the city. On the way off the boat I was asked by a local reporter for an interview about the experience, and apparently I was featured on the evening news, although I didn't see it.
This evening, we were guests at a dinner hosted at one of the local hotels, by the Mayor. Apparently, just about every week guests of the city are treated to a wonderful dinner, with a video presentation highlighting developments which Mayor Hagedorn's government have seen realized, along with some singing and dancing by a group of cultural entertainers. In the introduction which was given, while waiting for the mayor to arrive, we were given a brief introduction, at which time, Emily was introduced as the head of the Peace Corp for this region (which she was impressed by) and I was introduced as being part of the U.S Peace Corp. Although I made an attemp to correct the speaker, things just rolled on, and so I just had to laugh. Although I had met the Mayor briefly at the airport on the day I arrived, I'm sure he didn't remember me, and I was told by Melissa, my Agriculture Department contact, that I had been introduced to him in the morning as part of the Peace Corp as well. There are definitely worse things you could be mistaken for.
The cultural show which was put on after dinner, included singing and dancing by a traditional costume clad performers, and included a birthday song to the Mayor (whose birthday is in a few days, and which is a big event, judging by all of the banners strung up across town). The Mayor even got on stage and joined in the singing of a local song about "unity" (once a week they said?) It is nice to see the positive changes that have been made in Puerto under strong leadership, but for a Canadian, all of the song and dance is purely entertaining. It's all a big show. The City's official logo is the peacock and it is easy to see why. All of this wonderful fuss at dinner was, once again, caught on camera under the careful eye of the Discovery Channel crew, who filmed everything from us eating to the the mayor benevolently giving us all local gifts. So keep your TVs tuned. (see more photos)
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