Melting in Manila
I am finally here, and it is HOT!!! Manila is 12 hours ahead of USA east coast time, so I left Seattle on Monday afternoon and arrived here on Tuesday night (so weird!). The flights were long, but smooth, and we ate and drank very well under the care of Korean Airlines flight attendants. (I ate strawberry cheesecake ice cream as we landed in Manila!)
If I had never been to a developing country before, I would have found the Manila airport experience absolutely nerve-wracking. As it was, it was smelly, crowded, and sweltering, but nothing worse than what I've seen in other places. Due to a mix-up about our meeting place I never found my hotel driver, but managed to make it into town pretty easily via regulated airport taxi. I actually managed to sleep until about 7:30 this morning, so I'm hoping that any jet lag will be short-lived (although it was SO crazy to change my watch from 3 AM to 6 PM in Korea!).
The guidebooks all say that Manila can be overwhelming for even experienced travelers, so I have set out to un-intimidate myself today before my work contact arrives back in town and we start meeting later this week. I have spent the morning walking around my neighborhood to orient myself a bit; I am staying within walking distance of the Manila Bay promenade (apparently the site of incredible pollution-enhanced sunsets), the US Embassy (a FORTRESS--there is no other appropriate word!), Jose Rizal Park (which is actually quite pretty and calm), and one of Manila's famous shopping malls. I spent quite a bit of time in the mall to cool myself off after walking around for a couple of hours--it is SO HOT and humid, so the air con felt amazing!
The streets are packed with traffic and pedestrians, and everyone keeps asking me to ride in their bike taxi-things--I have been declining politely so far, although I might try it sometime while I am in town! The part of town where I am staying has lots of inexpensive, but decent accommodations and restaurants--it is not so posh as some of the fanciest neighborhoods that I've seen in other places, but I feel safe walking the streets and haven't been unduly hassled so far.
Although I haven't started working on my nursing education and migration project yet, I have already begun to notice evidence of the "culture of migration" in the Philippines. There are special lines at immigration for returning overseas foreign workers, and one of the first billboards that I saw on the way out of the airport was for a nursing degree program--"Get your degree in 2 years, and work abroad!" I also photographed an advertisement posted in an office window near my hotel for all different kinds of foreign workers in Qatar. I'm really looking forward to the chance to investigate the phenomenon more thoroughly while I am here.
I will try to post some photos soon! Thanks for reading. :)
If I had never been to a developing country before, I would have found the Manila airport experience absolutely nerve-wracking. As it was, it was smelly, crowded, and sweltering, but nothing worse than what I've seen in other places. Due to a mix-up about our meeting place I never found my hotel driver, but managed to make it into town pretty easily via regulated airport taxi. I actually managed to sleep until about 7:30 this morning, so I'm hoping that any jet lag will be short-lived (although it was SO crazy to change my watch from 3 AM to 6 PM in Korea!).
The guidebooks all say that Manila can be overwhelming for even experienced travelers, so I have set out to un-intimidate myself today before my work contact arrives back in town and we start meeting later this week. I have spent the morning walking around my neighborhood to orient myself a bit; I am staying within walking distance of the Manila Bay promenade (apparently the site of incredible pollution-enhanced sunsets), the US Embassy (a FORTRESS--there is no other appropriate word!), Jose Rizal Park (which is actually quite pretty and calm), and one of Manila's famous shopping malls. I spent quite a bit of time in the mall to cool myself off after walking around for a couple of hours--it is SO HOT and humid, so the air con felt amazing!
The streets are packed with traffic and pedestrians, and everyone keeps asking me to ride in their bike taxi-things--I have been declining politely so far, although I might try it sometime while I am in town! The part of town where I am staying has lots of inexpensive, but decent accommodations and restaurants--it is not so posh as some of the fanciest neighborhoods that I've seen in other places, but I feel safe walking the streets and haven't been unduly hassled so far.
Although I haven't started working on my nursing education and migration project yet, I have already begun to notice evidence of the "culture of migration" in the Philippines. There are special lines at immigration for returning overseas foreign workers, and one of the first billboards that I saw on the way out of the airport was for a nursing degree program--"Get your degree in 2 years, and work abroad!" I also photographed an advertisement posted in an office window near my hotel for all different kinds of foreign workers in Qatar. I'm really looking forward to the chance to investigate the phenomenon more thoroughly while I am here.
I will try to post some photos soon! Thanks for reading. :)
posted by Leah at
11:41 PM
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