Speaking to power

Provincial government power, that is. I had a meeting with a provincial governor this morning! I flew from Manila to Iloilo yesterday, and today took an early morning ferry to Bacolod to meet him. (Here's a map if you want to see where those places are!) He is a cheerful guy who laughs a lot and seems to be working hard to develop some innovative solutions to the staffing shortages faced by many of the provincial hospitals here. I also got to spend some time with his health officer in charge of the hospital system. Everyone was very friendly and accommodating and gave me grief for only staying in Bacolod for a day--"But there is so much more that we could show you!" I am on a lunch break now and will have some more meetings this afternoon before returning to Iloilo to meet up with my Manila advisor. This weekend one of his former students is taking us to the beach!

Hope that you are all having a good week too!