abroad

Indonesia: Diving in the Bali Sea

| Chelsea

“Your dives will be 1.6 million rupiah” the secretary at Gecko Dive Center doesn’t bat an eyelash as she rattles off this jarring number.

The mere suggestion of a million of anything is enough to make my stomach drop.  That’s insane!  ONE MILLION?!

Of course, 1 USD is equivalent to about 14,000 IDR so in fact the prices were quite reasonable.  We double checked the conversions and shelled out the rupiah to dive in the Bali sea off of Penida island between Bali and Lombok.  And it was worth. Every. Last. Rupiah…

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We met our dive guide Maid (pronounced: Maddy) at 8am and enjoyed the island time as we slowly got our gear together and headed out for the day.  When we took off I found the ride rather rough, but Maid assured me that it was a nice day and the ride wasn’t bad at all!

When we neared Penida island we approached a few other boats that were casually smoking cigarettes as they guarded a capsized boat with it’s props in the air.  None of the Indonesians on our boat really give it much thought, we later asked Maid about the boat and we had to remind him.

‘You know, that boat we saw this morning that was flipped over?’

He says with a big ole smile, with no signs of concern in his voice, that it must have capsized this morning.  Dani and I just shrugged it off and checked out our dive gear.

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We arrived at our dive site, Manta Point.  The dive site was below a sharp cliff, and the water was choppy as it bounced off the land and back towards the dozens of boats floating in the area.  Manta Point is a cleaning station for reef manta rays of the Bali Sea.  Manta rays are a migratory species so while some can get up to 5.5 meters (18 feet) in width, and up to 1.4 tons (2,800 pounds) (arkive.org), they can be hard to spot unless you know which reefs they visit.

The manta rays come to Manta Point to be cleaned by the reef fish.  They glide over the reef, and the fish come out of the crevices and rocks to pick parasites off of the manta’s body.  This is a symbiotic relationship because both the manta ray and the reef fish benefit.  The manta rays get rid of potentially harmful parasites, while the reef fish get a meal delivered to their doorstep for free!  This makes manta point a hot spot for diving, which was clear by the number of boats bobbing up and down in the water.

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We jumped in the water and hung out near a small seamount, where the reef fish sat waiting for their daily doorstop service.  We could feel the swells of the ocean’s surface up above as we bobbed up and down in the water column.  We also sat eagerly awaiting, for a second I wondered if this is how the reef fish felt.

Suddenly a manta appeared from behind the seamount!  It sailed over the divers with such ease.  As I followed the one with my eyes, I turned back to the start to find one swimming directly at me.  With thoughtless effort the ray rose just above me, just missing the top of my head.  Manta rays flap their triangular pectoral ‘wings’ to propel themselves forward, and they have little mouthparts that protrude forward, called cephalic lobes.  They appear to fly through the water column flapping their wings lazily and drift to the deep like a bird that has caught a steady updraft.  They’re playful animals and as they approach one another they seem to dance around.  Two smaller mantas encircle a larger one like children running at an adult’s feet.  As they swam around they playfully tossed their cephalic lobes back and forth as if to simply entertain themselves, like an elephant playing with it’s trunk.  Unlike other animals commonly spotted during a dive, their presence lost no novelty as the minutes ticked by.

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We swam along the reef and spotted several smaller rays on the reef as well.  These rays however move by undulating their pectoral fins.  In other words, the mantas look like they’re flying underwater, while these smaller rays look like the edges of their body are creating waves that circulate around their entire body.  When we surfaced we were absolutely ecstatic unable to even count how many manta rays we saw.

When we returned to land we were coaxed into doing a night dive at Blue Lagoon.

Night dives can be a little eerie.  As you sink below the surface of the water, the reef that was seemingly playful during the day, is run by entirely different group at night.  Swimming through the dark, you begin to realize what a scary place the ocean can be at night.  You see the fish from the day hidden in the crevices of the rocks and corals.  In the back of your mind you wonder…should I be hiding from what they’re hiding from?!

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During the day, I like to turn away from the reef and look out into the ocean.  It’s a deep blue color and looks like it goes on forever.  At night it’s black, even with an almost full moon, the sea remains black.  During a night dive you have a torch, and while flashlights on land can light up an entire area, underwater torches only light up one spot.  The lamp creates a well-defined circle in the sand, and the edges of the light are met by immediate darkness.  I shine my light out into the sea beyond the reef, into the blackness, to see what I can see.  Thousands of little organisms’ eyes reflect off of the light and they scatter as I follow them with the lamp.  I turn my back to the darkness and avoid thinking about the large predators out there somewhere hidden in the darkness of the ocean at night.  I direct my light back to the reef, and see a whole new community of organisms, wide awake.

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While many fish are asleep, the draw of a night dive is that you see an entirely new group of marine organisms that hide during the day.  My favorite creatures we saw on this dive were the small cuttlefish.  Cuttlefish are a type of cephalopod.  This means they’re related to octopus.  Cuttlefish have chromatophores in their skin that allow them to change colors.  They use this ability for camouflage during the day.  One can swim completely by a well-disguised cuttlefish that looks like just another rock.   At night, they use this ability to lure their prey close.  The flashes of black and white run down the length of it’s body and it’s tentacles pulse the colors as well.  Once it’s prey wanders close enough to it’s beak, it snatches it’s prey out of the water with all of it’s tentacles like a lizard’s tongue! Luckily they can’t hunt humans because I was completely mesmerized by the cuttlefish and followed them for much of the dive.  Other active predators during a night dive include sharks and octopus.

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As we swam along we came across a small coral catshark that darted in and out of rocks and corals looking for dinner.  We also saw a whitetip reef shark swiftly swimming close to the reef trying to spot an easy catch.  There were a few other species we still haven’t been able to identify!

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We came up to the surface absolutely thrilled once again, and I decided it was the best day of diving I had ever done.  Little did I know that in a few days time we would get luck enough to hop on a day trip to Sipadan island in Malaysian Borneo, a spot that has been recognized as THE best dive site in the world….but more on that later! 😉

P.S. check out the videos on my Facebook post, they completely surpass the photos! (WordPress won’t allow me to share videos without a premium account)

10 Things All Peace Corps Philippines Volunteers Know to be True

| Chelsea

There are certain experiences we’ve all had as Peace Corps Volunteers serving in the Philippines.

As I celebrate with my batch mates the closing of our two years of service, I wonder what sort of things we will forget about as we move on to the next chapter of our lives. What are those little things we’ve gotten so used to these past two years? What habits will we find hard to leave behind as we return home?

So here it is, my best approximation of what experiences we’ve all had through-out our time in the Philippines.  This isn’t a static list so comment below and tell me what’s one thing you think all volunteers have experienced!

Happy early COS Batch Family!

10. You know FAR too much about your fellow batchmates’ bodily functions.

I don’t think this one qualifies as ‘something you didn’t notice you did here’ because it’s very obvious that we know way too much about each other’s medical history.  At home you don’t really know about someone’s medical ailments unless it’s a cold or a flu you’re worried about catching.  No one makes casual water cooler talk about the tapeworm they just passed, or the dengue fever they just got over.  But here, sitting around a table at Pension, talking about the last time you pooped your pants or passed a parasite is pretty basic conversation, it practically comes right after asking how site is.

PCV 1: How’s site?

PCV 2: Good, did you pass that worm yet?

PCV 1: Yeah! Wanna see a picture?!

PCV 2: YES

9. You can identify a fellow PCV based solely on their water bottle.

PCV1: Did the guys from Leyte arrive yet?

PCV2: yeah I saw their water bottles in the lobby.

8. The couch in the Information Resources Center at the Peace Corps Office is the comfiest couch you’ve ever touched.

I don’t know where this couch came from, it’s probably so comfortable thanks to the generations of Peace Corps Volunteers who have napped on it before us.  But it is so very comfortable and you can’t help but fall asleep a little whenever you sink back into it’s soft lumpy cushions.

7. You’re never further than an hour from a jaw-dropping gorgeous once in a lifetime paradise getaway spot…

…but because you’re a Peace Corps Volunteer and you live here, you’ve used the word ‘okay’ to describe this location.

Tourist: The sunsets here are AMAZING!

Jaded PCV: Yeah, tonight’s is okay.

6. You haven’t completely realized how much tagalog has infiltrated your regular speech until you have your first non-PCV visitor.

You: It’s bawal

Them: It’s…what?

5. The amount of acronyms you passively understand is a little disturbing.

CR, PCMO, VICA, CD, PNB, AL, PM, CRM, CYF, EDU, LBC, CP, MST, IST, PST, IO, COS, PNVSCA, CBT, DPT, LPI, PDM, PCT, PCV, USPC, PC, CIC, SM, RIICE, WeUp, IRC, VAC, RM, SM, PA, TCF, LCF, RPCV, PCRV, PCT, HCA, LGU, MRE, VRF, LPA, C2 to name a few…

4. Your proudest Peace Corps accomplishment is your impeccable budots form

Budots is a Filipino dance craze and as a Philippines PCV it is your duty to master the art of budots before you close your service.

3. You’ll never get sick of the double take tryke drivers do when you’re vacationing and you hit them with the local language.

PCV: Magkano ang pamasahe, Kuya?

Them: MAROON ANG (insert local language here)?!

2. The kindness of the Filipino people is some of the most generous kindness you’ve ever experienced.

Whether it’s your host mom sending you with 2 bushels of bananas and 5 avocados for baon, or a stranger offering you their umbrella to shade you from the sun, the generosity here is overflowing and genuine.

And Finally…

1. Whether it’s a tryke, jeepney, or a PCV vacation…

There’s ALWAYS room for one more!

My Little Peace Corps Life: The Sea Wall

| Chelsea

This is one of those stories I wrote about a while back but never ended up publishing.  This one is from around early to mid-October 2016, right at the start of my life at site in the Philippines.

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When I lived with my host family, I discovered a spot that still remains my favorite spot in my entire municipality.  The end of the sea wall in my home situ Storom.  The situ is named ‘Storom’ because it started out, quite literally as a storage room when the national highway was being built.  But now, it’s a cute little concrete and dirt pathway snugly tucked between houses of all different sizes, materials, and colors.  My host family lived almost at the very end of this little pathway.

My occasional walk home, when Kuya Bilyo didn’t take me home in his tryke, was down the sharp downhill turn from the highway, around the a few bends waving to my friends posted on their porches, working at the sari-saris, and in the woodworking shop.  I’d walk past a few small rice fields, across the basketball court (even the tiniest of situs has a basketball court!) and down the straight path filled with friendly faces and tiny kids yelling ‘hello! I love you!’.  When I arrived home, I would quickly throw my things down, change out of my work clothes, grab my tsinelas, and walk to the seawall.

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The sea wall bordered the entire situ, keeping the river from putting the whole place underwater during the rainy season.  I’d walk down towards the only house further than my host family’s and climb up the concrete stairs to the sea wall.  The sea wall was flat on top with a raised portion in the middle making it so 3 people could walk side by side.  Usually Bochoy, the family dog, would jump up onto the highest tier and accompany me on my walks.  I’d walk down the meandering sea wall, the river on one side, and a sea of rice fields on the other.  My favorite part of the sea wall was, aside from Bochoy and I, there were barely any people on it.  Just he occasional fisherfolk returning from the sea.  Here, my neurons could take a break.

At the point where the river opened up to the sea, the sea wall ended.  I would sit and hang my legs off the end, and process what was almost always a hectic day.  On the days when the tide was low, I could walk out through the grazing cattle and carabao, to a few mangroves and a sandy tidal flat.  I would wander around that area, try to get some steps in from my mostly sedentary days, and watch the beautiful sunsets.

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One day I was wandering close to the few mangroves that were growing on the riverbed, the ground was sandy so I thought nothing of it.  My feet sank slightly into the sand and I stepped a bit quicker to prevent myself from sinking deeper.  Big mistake.  Instead of landing on firmer ground, I continued on to spots that were sinking faster and faster.  All of sudden one of my legs was sucked up by the earth to above my knee.  I tried to use my other leg to leverage myself out of the mud, but it too was sucked up!

I did a quick survey of the area, the LAST thing I wanted was for some horrified Ate or Kuya to find me stuck in the mud in my favorite wandering spot!  My host family would never let me come back! There was no one, only the carabao who lazily looked at me.  The carabao, if they were thinking about my situation at all, were probably jealous that I found such a good mud hole, not the slightest bit concerned that I was Indiana Jones style stuck in the mud.  I struggled a little and began to sink deeper.  I sat for a moment and laughed at the situation I appeared to be in.  Sucked up in the mud, on an abandoned beach, in the middle of the provincial Philippines, what a sight, what an experience, what a life.

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Composed once again, I surrendered my tsinela and used my arms to pull hard on the left leg, my right one sank deeper, but my left leg began to pull free!  Once at the surface I found a stable spot to pull my right leg out.  With my legs no longer holding the mud apart, it sank into the holes I had created beginning to take my tsinelas with them!  I quickly reached in and pulled them free as well.  I looked around again, legs covered in mud, still no audience, thank goodness.  I quickly darted out of the quicksand area, and to the sea to wash my legs, arms, and hands.  I sat back on the beach and laughed.  I think back to all my past selves.  The one who applied for Peace Corps, the anxious high schooler who packed her bags for university, the little 5th grader who dreamed of being a marine biologist, the kindergartener who wanted to be an astronaut.  I think of them, and I think of what they would think if they saw me now.  Muddy, wet, laughing, by myself, on a beach in the Philippines.  As an avid overthinker I really love the moments I can’t predict, the ones that really surprise me, the ones that I sit back and think about, and say ‘wow, I really didn’t see that coming’.  Probably my favorite part of living in the Philippines is saying those words so very often.

Peace Corps: A job, a lifestyle, a journey growing in unexpected directions

| Chelsea

Taking a glance back at my blog posts I’ve come to realize I don’t talk much about my actual job.  I do in fact, have a job here!

My Job Description:

I’m a CRM PCV in the MAO of an LGU.  I work on PCRAs, CRMPs, IECs, and sometimes SWM, with MFARMCs, BFARMCs, POs, 4Ps, BFAR, DENR, DSWD and MENRO.

Makes sense right?

Your face right now.

The Philippines, and Peace Corps both LOVE acronyms.

In plain english.  I’m a Coastal Resource Management Volunteer, and I work in a Municipal Agriculture Office in a Local Government Unit of a Municipality.  I work specifically with the Fisheries Unit.  Agriculture is a way bigger deal here- which if you think about it is kind of odd considering they probably have more water than land, right?-  Anyways, Fisheries/Coastal Resource Management work is often split between different departments.  My counterpart is the Fisheries Unit, but offices like the Municipality Environmental and Natural Resources Office (MENRO) also work on Coastal Resource Management.

Okay, but what do you DO?

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The Bay

I live on an estuarine bay that is known for kasag (blue swimmer crabs), tahong (asian green mussels), and silag (anchovy), among others.  Our fisherfolk use a plethora of different fishing gears to raise or catch these different organisms.  As a major source of employment, as well as a major threat to the well-being of the bay, fishing must be appropriately regulated.  Fisherfolk also must be appropriately organized so they can make the most out of their fish catch, and protect their livelihood.  I try to help make this happen.

So many smiles!

BUT as a Peace Corps Volunteer my work isn’t just limited to the time I spend at a desk, in the mangroves, or under the sea.  As my sector manager reiterates, two of the three goals we have as Peace Corps Volunteers have absolutely nothing to do with my 9 to 5.  Peace Corps is also about being a point of cultural exchange for both Filipinos and Americans; and thanks to the internet and the growing presence of a global community I would say that my sharing of Filipino culture doesn’t stop at just Americans.

So here is what I do, as told through one of my more successful weeks at site.

Monday: I wrote communications to two of our coastal barangays about household interviews.  This is one of the first step in developing a Coastal Resource Management Plan for the Municipality.  

Our Coastal Resource Management Plan will outline problems identified by the community, a socio-economic profile of the coastal barangays, the status of our natural resources, and finally a plan to address problems and resource management for the next 5 years.  Putting together this document is a huge on-taking and has been one of my primary projects for the past couple months.  After these interviews we will conduct habitat assessments on our mangrove forests and seagrasses.  Then we’ll conduct participatory coastal resource assessments and we’ll hear from fisherfolk and community members where their resources are, and what they need.  All of those activities are just the data collection portion of this process.  

Tuesday: My Host Kuya explained to my officemates that I was ‘like the chicken’ as he helped me move to my new grown up chicken apartment closer to work.  He explained that I was moving because I’m ‘taree’ (a grown up chicken) now and I can roam around, but of course I’ll come back to visit the coop.

Wednesday: We conducted our household interviews.  There was such a great turn out that we ran out of response forms!

Thursday: I entered some of the data I collected from household interviews, but spent the better part of the day talking to my coworkers about Filipino and American culture.

Meeting with our Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (MFARMC)

During these conversations I not only learn more about Filipino culture, but I also learn about American culture as it’s perceived and questioned by my Filipino friends.  It’s interesting to hear what pieces of information spark curiosity in a brain that is culturally wired so differently from my own.

I’ve gotten expected questions about American weather patterns, American holidays, and food preferences (“wait, walang rice?!”).  But I’ve also gotten unexpected questions like why Americans are so independent and do things like move away from home at 18, how is our police system organized (There’s only the Philippine National Police, no smaller departments like NYPD), how accurately American movies depict certain aspects of American culture, and what sort of crops we harvest.  

I have to admit some of these questions sent me running to Google!  The United States is a massive country it’s not easy to summarize our customs.  Crop harvest varies depending on the region.  What would you say the ‘american staple food’?  The common guess here is bread. 

So no matter what I’m doing whether I’m at my office or roaming around my Municipality, I’m constantly sharing my world, and the world is constantly sharing in return.  

Peace Corps tagline is ‘the toughest job you’ll ever love’ and it is such an accurate description of the job I have here.  Getting technical things done is tough when you don’t speak the language.  Working in a new environment takes adaptation.  Trying to understand an unfamiliar culture, demands acceptance that some things aren’t meant to be understood.  I spend many days having my views and personal opinions stretched and skewed by words, and actions.  This forces me to look at something I thought I knew, in an entirely different way.  It’s exhausting, and exhilarating.  

Sunset watching is definitely a part of my job description

Peace Corps is not what I thought it would be, nonetheless, I love my job more and more everyday.  It’s a tough journey I am proud to be on.  It’s an experience I know will leave me changed in ways I never imagined, and I look forward to every day as I grow in unexpected directions.

Pasko Na: The Season of Giving

| Chelsea

My Municipality is believed to have gotten it’s name because the townspeople kept their young men and women in hiding to prevent them from being abused by the Spaniards.  Therefore, to an outsider, the town appeared to be comprised of only old people.  When Americans eventually came to the town they asked for it’s name.  The townspeople couldn’t understand what they were saying and assumed they were asking why no young people lived in the town.  

The people responded ‘kasi gurang’ (direct translation would be ‘because old’).

The Americans thought they were responding to their question, and left believing the town’s name was Kasi-gurang.  Today as the Gymnasium filled with almost every student ages 6-16 in the municipality, I recalled this story and thought how it must look ‘Kasi gurang’ outside.  

5,300 students excitedly awaited ‘Pamaskong Handog Para Sa Mga Kaakian 2016’ (Christmas Gifts for the Children) to begin.  The Honorable Mayor stood in the center of the gym, as Christmas music poured out of the speakers.  The crowd of children jittered in their seats so excitedly, it made even the sizeable speakers sound like a pair of headphones.  The air was thick with humidity (of course), but also with that special feeling that only appears this time of year, known to most as Christmas spirit.  As I watched the Mayor start ‘the wave’ around the gymnasium several times, and the kids squeal as he began to interact with the crowd, I was in awe of the energy that enveloped the room.  It was as if I had stepped off the Polar Express on Christmas Eve and Santa was greeting his crowd of elves. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here. 

The Mayor gets up on stage and joins an intermission number

For the next 3 hours (yes, you read that right) the Mayor entertained the children by raffling off christmas gifts.  As he began to call the lucky numbers, each kid sat clutching their pink raffle ticket until the ink had begun to flake off and the paper was falling apart in their hands.  The grand prize was 50,000 pesos, and every kid was eager to bring it home to their families.  

To put this in perspective the average salary of the Philippines according to the International Labor Organization, is Php 13,901.18 per month.  Meaning this grand prize was over 3 and a half months worth of salary for the average Filipino.  

The average monthly salary in the United States is $3,263 (~$40,000/year), so for my american readers, at this pay scale the grand prize is the equivalent to winning just shy of $12,000.  

Again this is an average, the Philippines Statistics Authority reported the poverty rate (those whose income falls below the means necessary to provide food, housing, health and education) to be at 21.5% for the year of 2015, meaning that 50,000 pesos goes a lot further than 3.5 months for many of these children’s families.

Merry Christmas Mayor!

Upon the arrival of the grand prize announcement I couldn’t hear myself think above the cheering of the crowds.  They yelled so loud and stretched their arms up with their colorful signs painted with different phrases wishing the Mayor and his family a Merry Christmas.  All of them standing on their tip toes, with their shoulders drawn up to their ears, hoping that maybe if he saw their well wishes, he would somehow purposefully choose their number from the tumbling cage of 5,300 small clips of paper.  Upon reading the first number, no one claimed the prize.  

‘Wara?’ called the mayor to the crowd.  

To which they shouted back ‘Wara!’ and shook their hands in the air which is a common sign for ‘nothing’.

The Grand Prize Winners

A second number is called….

‘Wara?’

‘Wara!’

Finally a third number is called and the lucky winner runs down to the stage.  She’s a small girl of 11 years old and she doesn’t quite know what she’s just won.  She counts out the bills and is carted home to share her luck with her family.  

All in all, between intermission numbers and Apple-Pen-Pineapple-Pen dance breaks, the mayor gives out over 100 gifts including cellphones, rice cookers, and various denominations of money. All of the kids leave with a consolation prize of chichirria, and 20 pesos.  As everyone drains out of the gymnasium, some kids are carrying their winnings proudly, some are grumpy having lost, and most are running to spend their 20 pesos on more chichirria from the vendors outside.  They pile back onto the jeepneys to return to their perspective barangays and I return to work with my ears still ringing.  There is no doubt, the season of giving has arrived here in the Philippines.  Pasko na!