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Greetings, all. Here's the first post of the Group Study Exchange (GSE) Philipines blog. I'm Max Bowen, writer for the blog, and I and my teammates (Laurie Butts, Shelley Moylan and Jon Miguel) will be keeping you up-to-date on all we do as we prepare for our trip to the Philipines next February. There's a lot to do and not much time to do it in.
The GSE is a program run by the Rotary as a way of introducing young professionals like ourselves to different cultures and countries. While there we'll be meeting with professionals in our vocations, as well as learning all we can about the Philipines and the people who live there. Myself, I've only been outside the United States once in my entire life, so this is an experience that I know will have a profound impact on me.
On Saturary, Dec. 20 we met at Team Leader Doug Detweiler's house in Concord, our home base, if you will. This was our second meeting, and our first with Jon, a videographer who will be helping us to document the trip. We went over some of the paperwork we'll need, medical insurance, and so forth. Tagalog is the main language spoken there, and we'll be giving ourselves a crash course so we can speak some of it once we get there.
The real highlight was getting to speak to Marla Luzzi, a Rotarian who has participated in Rotary projects all across the world. She was really glad to meet us, and excited for the opportunity this trip will present. We spent the better part of the meeting bombarding her with questions on what the Philipines are like and what we can expect once we get there. Marla's a veritable treasure trove of Philipines facts, not only of the people and culture, but a few lesser-known tidbits that will no less prove useful.
Here's some of the Philipines 411 that Marla shared with us at the meeting:
* It's important that our clothes are always ironed.
* Many of the homes we'll be staying in will have servants
* Filipinos are known for being extremely hospitable.
* Many Filipino dishes have a tomato base
* In grocery stores, the prices are set, but in the market, you can bargain for the best price
* One American dollar is equivalent to 48 pesos
* Filipinos are very affectionate. Though it's not uncommon to see two women walking hand-in-hand, it doesn't necessarily mean they're lovers.
* Foods like chocolate and maple syrup are very popular in the Philipines.
* Avoid the water (very important)
Well, that's all for now. This Saturday we'll be heading to a Filipino restaraunt in Quincy, and I'll be giving you a full report afterwards.
Max B.
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I've already learned something new Max. Never knew that Filipinos were affectionate people nor the importance of ironing.
ReplyDeleteDan
Indeed, Filipinos are affectionate. Why is it surprising Dan (smile)???.
ReplyDeleteOn ironing, it's okey if not, too...but depends where you are going. Like me, i leave like rushing things all the time, i don't bother sometimes, but then again, we have helper, but at times, when I travel, I don't care anymore so long as you look decent and comfortable with it...we have the so called "gusot-mayaman" or "crisp-rich" clothes hehehe but it can be very expensive, that is why they called it like that....so nobody knows and nobody ask the price anyway, so some people got used with wearing not-ironed clothes or we call it a wash and wear even the materials is meant need ironing hehe...most importantly, even not ironed, it smells good and you look good...sometimes, it's just the way you carry yourself no matter how well-ironed your clothes are...hehehe
In fairness, people who really goes to work, businessmen and the like, they really mind and they wanted to look smart all the time and one way is wearing a well-ironed uniform/clothes.
Cheers!