Monsoon
Today is my least favorite day in Manila so far, for several reasons:
1. I'm pretty sure I was not alone in my room last night. I saw something scurry out of a bag I had on my nightstand before I went to sleep and awoke to hear more movement and scratching behind my bed for most of the early morning hours. A mouse? A rat? A really big bug? The cleaning people at my hotel are supposed to be checking today while I am out, so I am hoping that whatever it is will be gone when I get back. UGH.
2. I left the hotel for the long walk up to Intramuros (the old Spanish part of Manila) at about 9:30 AM, and it started POURING soon thereafter. We are in monsoon season, so the wind was strong too--the waters of Manila Bay were spilling over onto the baywalk, and my umbrella nearly turned inside out! The rain has let up some since then, but there is still an impressive amount of water everywhere. On a positive note, however, squelching back from Intramuros in the midst of the downpour meant that I walked in relative peace--most of the locals who would have otherwise been trying to sell me everything from pedicab rides to paintings had taken refuge anywhere they could find it!
3. IRB hassles are slowing down my ability to get started doing formal interviews, including some really trivial revisions that I just got back today. I am glad that they are minor, but the 12-hour time difference means that I lose at least another day to do interviews. Yesterday I ran into a guy who has been waiting 3 weeks for IRB approval, though, so I guess I can't really complain too much.
Speaking of not complaining, I can also say that yesterday was my favorite day by far (minus the mouse/rat/bug sighting in the evening). I met a whole bunch of people at the University of Philippines-Manila College of Medicine, including my main work contact here along with some of his students and mentees. They were all delightful, and I am really looking forward to work with them. My advisor has all kinds of ideas for types of people I can interview, places to visit, etc., so I am sure I will be busy once the IRB comes through! I am also psyched for next week because I have made plans to share meals with some friends of friends who are in town in the next few days, to visit an international church tomorrow morning, and to go out of Manila in the afternoon with my advisor (my lungs are already excited!). I also anticipate the arrival of 3 Duke friends on a medical missions trip next week--how crazy is that? So overall, things are looking up. Connection with people is always precious, and I am especially looking forward to meeting other Christians in Manila. This will be a good week--take that, mouse/rat/bug! :)
I will post some more pictures soon. Have a great weekend!
1. I'm pretty sure I was not alone in my room last night. I saw something scurry out of a bag I had on my nightstand before I went to sleep and awoke to hear more movement and scratching behind my bed for most of the early morning hours. A mouse? A rat? A really big bug? The cleaning people at my hotel are supposed to be checking today while I am out, so I am hoping that whatever it is will be gone when I get back. UGH.
2. I left the hotel for the long walk up to Intramuros (the old Spanish part of Manila) at about 9:30 AM, and it started POURING soon thereafter. We are in monsoon season, so the wind was strong too--the waters of Manila Bay were spilling over onto the baywalk, and my umbrella nearly turned inside out! The rain has let up some since then, but there is still an impressive amount of water everywhere. On a positive note, however, squelching back from Intramuros in the midst of the downpour meant that I walked in relative peace--most of the locals who would have otherwise been trying to sell me everything from pedicab rides to paintings had taken refuge anywhere they could find it!
3. IRB hassles are slowing down my ability to get started doing formal interviews, including some really trivial revisions that I just got back today. I am glad that they are minor, but the 12-hour time difference means that I lose at least another day to do interviews. Yesterday I ran into a guy who has been waiting 3 weeks for IRB approval, though, so I guess I can't really complain too much.
Speaking of not complaining, I can also say that yesterday was my favorite day by far (minus the mouse/rat/bug sighting in the evening). I met a whole bunch of people at the University of Philippines-Manila College of Medicine, including my main work contact here along with some of his students and mentees. They were all delightful, and I am really looking forward to work with them. My advisor has all kinds of ideas for types of people I can interview, places to visit, etc., so I am sure I will be busy once the IRB comes through! I am also psyched for next week because I have made plans to share meals with some friends of friends who are in town in the next few days, to visit an international church tomorrow morning, and to go out of Manila in the afternoon with my advisor (my lungs are already excited!). I also anticipate the arrival of 3 Duke friends on a medical missions trip next week--how crazy is that? So overall, things are looking up. Connection with people is always precious, and I am especially looking forward to meeting other Christians in Manila. This will be a good week--take that, mouse/rat/bug! :)
I will post some more pictures soon. Have a great weekend!
posted by Leah at
1:06 AM
2 Comments:
Dear Leah,
I hope that the rat/mouse/bug thing was found. I imagine that you'll sleep more fitfully when it has been captured (I know that I would!). I wonder--does monsoon season mean that it rains torentially everyday? It does sound as if you are having an adventure of a different nature than you've ever had before! God bless! Mom
By
Anonymous, at 8:42 AM
Heyo...your daily reader here! (That kind of sounds like a Kermit the Frog intro, doesn't it! ;-) hehe)...
WELL, a rat/mouse/bug/whatever?? That is GROSS!!! How did you end up going back to sleep? I would have lost it!! Did you ever find out what it was??
I had a wonderful day today. The gas giveaway that I've been working on was SUPER successful and I feel as if we have made a mark on the community of Millbury. I knew it was going to be good b/c I had SO much resistance planning it...but I didn't realize what an impact it would make. We had some people who were extremely thankful. One was a single mom who said that she had just gone to pay all of her bills and had to get gas...and was wondering how she was going to be able to pay for it...God is so good, huh!!! People were in shock at the fact that we were just doing something to be nice and didn't have any strings attached...what a refreshing thing, I would imagine!
Apparently channel 4 news made some remarks on the news...but they never sent anyone out to film us...that's ok, I'm sure they will do it next time.
We had scheduled 2 hours for this outreach...and we gave away $1500 gas ($15 gas - 100 cars...not like I need to do the math for you! ;-) hahaha....) in 50 minutes! Isn't that CRAZY!!! We also handed out 100 muffins in that time!
Well, I hope you have a wonderful day at the International Church...I'll be excited to hear all about it.
Love you...and I'm sure your time there will be fruitful as well as fulfilling! I'm excited for you...sounds like you have adjusted well. Talk to you soon...
~Jen
By
Jenn-ay, at 5:06 PM
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