While driving to Los Baños from the airport in Manila, I was looking at everything we passed. Everything was new and was something I had never seen before. It was funny to see the influence of western culture here with some of the fast-food places we have back home, but with a cultural twist, of course. I also noticed the disparities of the rich and poor with the shiny sky-high skyscrapers and condos being in such proximity to slums. I stayed in Los Baños from July 11 to July 13 on the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. Upon arrival at the school, it was as if the jungle had engulfed the university's campus, and I loved it. We had that evening free, so some colleagues and I took the time to explore the town a bit once we had arrived. We grabbed a mango to snack on while we walked up to the busy street filled with people, jeepneys, cars, and motorists. When I tell you this was the best mango I had ever consumed in my life, I don't think I'll ever be able to eat another mango in the U.S.; it was so sweet and juicy. We stopped in some of the shops before heading back to the campus to freshen up and chill before dinner.
When it was time for dinner, I didn't want to stay on the campus, so myself, along with two others, went scoping in the town to find a restaurant. Once we had found a place to eat, we were waiting for a table when a transformer explodes and starts sparking yards away from us. The explosion knocked out the power for a whole portion of the community, and the transformer near the restaurant also started to spark, but nothing exploded thankfully. This was an excellent way to commemorate my arrival here in the Philippines. I started the trip with a bang. After that whole fiasco, we ended talking to some local college students who were pretty nice. They told us one of the hot spots that people frequent and funny enough after we finished dinner, we ended running into them there. They welcomed us as if we hadn't just met like an hour or two earlier, and they were all warm, really nice individuals. This was an excellent way to end my first night in a new country!
The second day in Los Baños consisted of orientation and a crash course into Pinoy culture. We learned everything from how to bargain at markets to common phrases to use when in conversation with locals. I am grateful for everyone who was involved in illuminating me to their culture here. However, it was a packed day, which drained me. It was a lot of information to digest in one day, but I managed to get through it. My favorite part of the orientation had to be the lunch (read more about that in the Food tab). After lunch, we had to put together mini skits based off of the things we had learned throughout the day, and that was pretty fun. After the day concluded we went to dinner to have some traditional Filipino food, which I was also pretty excited about (for more detail read in Food tab). After dinner, I met up with two of the people I had met the night before at a bar where I had some bar food and butterbeer (for more detail go to Food tab). It was nice to get to know them a little better. I got more insight on what it's like navigating one portion of the Philippines from the perspective of people in my age group, which I found incredibly interesting. A set from discussing experiences in our respective nations, we also talked about music preferences. I found this very engaging because they weren't privy to most of the popular music that was being played in the States at the moment, but they were more interested in oldies that I listen to in my solitude. I was amazed and excited to find others who had interests in genres I consume regularly.
The next day was the day I prepared to leave Los Baños and start the journey back to Metro Manila, where I'd be working and living for the remainder of my time here in the Philippines. I woke up at 6 am and got breakfast (in detail in Food tab) while I waited for Tita Irma and Kuya Melvin. When they arrived, we loaded the car with Leah, Emma, and I's belongings then we pulled off for Manila. I don't know if I ever mentioned this, but the traffic here in Manila is ridiculous. You can be going 30 minutes away, and you won't make it to your destination until like an hour to an hour and a half later... like crazy! In the car, Emma (interning with me at MAD) asked Kuya Melvin, "What's the craziest traffic you've ever experienced?" And he replies, "12 hours because of weather, but I got out and started walking." I was taken back! Twelve hours, like that, is crazy! But we arrived in Metro Manila, Mandaluyong specifically. When we arrived at our condo, I thought it was alluring but small. Upon arrival, we didn't have any downtime. WE dropped our things, changed into business casual clothing, and were on our way to our workspace named QBO (read about my first day in QBO in Work tab).