Filipino Funk

My seat on the train - it was quite a
surprise to sit down and find it broken.

I wasn’t intending on making a last minute trip to any other countries before we left until Air Asia reared its beautiful head. It all started with Emma and I casually looking up plane tickets (I promise it was all casual) and WHAM. There she was – PVG to MNL for only $100. For all who know my style of travel, plane tickets are generally the big expense – dirt cheap hostels are definitely the way to go once you arrive.



How quickly an aiport becomes a play-
ground in the middle of the night

The trip started with a 24 hour delay in the Shanghai airport; at first this wasn’t a bother because they had a BURGER KING, but burger king wore off pretty quickly. Let’s just say at this point Emma and I are experts when it comes to the Shanghai airport.

Jeepney

At long last we reached the Philippines. First stop: Mindoro. We spent the day exploring part of the island and ended it investigating the night life. Throughout the night we saw various discos and were told by one of the locals we should check one out. We made sure to ask if the discos were strip clubs (due to the suscpiciously hung curtains in the doorways) and were assured by him that while people danced at them they definitely didn't strip. Talented dancers at a disco always makes for a fun night so away we went. We walked in and ordered a drink when I looked off to my right towards the stage and, well, let's just say that it wasn't a strip club because one can't possibly strip what they're not wearing. Emma and I had just enough time to register the situation when we were surrounded by 3 to 4 of the "dancers" interested in talking to the only foreign FEMALES in the joint. It seems we could only do what anyone would - strike up conversation. One of the girls was incredibly sweet and told us about her 3-year-old daughter (though she herself didn't look older than 17). After polite conversation and a great deal of observing those who were at the "disco" observing the stage (which was the most interesting part of being there) we hightailed it out. As we exited we passed by a child who couldn't be older than 5 years old singing along to the disco song and saw various other kids running in and out of the bars; mind you at this point it was closing in on 11 p.m. With everything I’ve heard about Thailand I must say that the Philippines was more "Thailand" than Thailand was when we were there, at least where we stayed. It sounds cliché to say but it really did hurt in the heart region of the chest to see kids subjected to this kind of culture and growing up knowing nothing different. On another note, a theme that continues to present itself in my life over the last few years is how easy it is to simply talk to people. Different cultures, different walks of life, no matter; relating to people may sometimes be difficult but loving them and pursuing understanding certainly isn't.

Needing to wash off certain aspects of cultural grime we spent the next day making our way to the Tamaraw waterfalls. We started off in a jeepney which was unique but miserable in the heat - they're glorified jeeps with long benches in the back - and then opted for a motor cart for the rest of the way. The falls were beautiful and the best part of the day was engaging in a series of dares with some Filipino preteens (I’ve posted about this on Facebook) which included jumping from rocks of various heights into the falls. After this trip we spent the rest of the day at the beach before we were rained out. Emma convinced me to buy a pair of fake Ray bans – apparently they’ve been “in since 2009” and it's becoming apparent that I'm one of the least cool Americans she seems to know – mostly in terms of fashion and other things that make a person cool.

We ended the trip in Manila which was too hot for comfort and too chaotic to make sense of before returning back home to the middle kingdom! All in all a remarkable $100 investment.

               

Fire Fever

It seems to be a continuation of blessings for Paul and I. Here’s the rundown of what’s incredible right now (in somewhat chronological order):

-          We weren't expecting to be reimbursed for our original flights to China this year because we had to return home with Beau and miss almost 2 months of work. We also weren’t expecting to receive any pay for the month of February as it was Chinese New Year and we were traveling through various countries. However, in a moment of sheer brilliance, we decided to make our case. We spoke with administration at the university and told them we hadn’t technically broken contract since we returned and  also had taken it upon ourselves to get our classes covered by other teachers (this was a big one). We were told to write a letter of request and we would have to wait to see what happened from there. Last week we checked our accounts and WHAMO. An extra 20,500 RMB which is around 3,000 USD. It may not seem like much in America but here that goes a LONG way. Not to mention it will cover our summer trek through Europe (which, by the way, we would NOT have made so extensive if I’d actually believed I would get into Yale!).

-          Our taxes were significantly more complicated this year without W2’s and with Chinese contracts so we had to wait some time for them to be completed. Because of this we both missed deadlines for receiving financial aid from our schools and were expecting to have to cover EVERYTHING with loan money. We were sent both of the account outlines and, low and behold, I was given a $7,000 scholarship from Yale and he was given a $2,000 scholarship from Fuller. Unexpected scholarship is the best!

-          It’s been a little stressful trying to figure out where we’ll live when we return. We’ll be in Europe until August 7^th, orientation at Yale starts August 19^th and somewhere in the middle of that is my sister Taylor’s bridal shower and our welcome home/re-going away party. I decided to apply for on-campus graduate apartments because it is incredibly expensive to live in New Haven and these apartments take up a little less space in the pocketbook and also looked pretty neat-o. Not to mention it would be an opportunity to meet other graduate students and be on a beautiful campus (that’s the part I’m most looking forward to; I must admit Wuhan isn’t exactly “beautiful” in the traditional sense). They had really low apartment availability to applicant ratio so I didn't think anything would come of it but we received word this morning that we were offered the exact two-bedroom apartment we wanted. Note the two bedrooms; this means to come visit us as we’re a hop, skip and jump away from a number of delightful destinations.

-          Last but not least – ok, probably least – is that we were given free tickets from a Chinese friend to the Wuhan vs. Shanghai soccer game today. Thanks Jin Xun!

Besides all of the aforementioned we’ve been trying to soak in as much of Wuhan as we can before we can’t. A lot of that has been hopping on buses and arriving at wherever that takes us; this has made for some “interesting” adventures – in China you never know what you’ll come across!

Great place for a nap