December Report

I guess when I delay my blogs like this, I end up having to write about things that happened weeks ago. However, I really do need to talk about the completion of phase one of a major solar project in Catubangan. Catubangan is a remote village that had previously been without electricity. They still have cell phones, but they have limited light to study under and no TV to gather around at night. They used to have to travel 10 kilometers, often by walking, to charge their phones and lanterns. The old school was heavily damaged by last fall’s typhoon, so now they study at the animal feed warehouse/ temporary Episcopal church/temporary Elementary school/ solar charging station. The project is still only in its initial stage. Within a month or two we will be installing a piping system of my design to provide the village with clean potable water.

I’m designing a solar powered water pumping system that uses one imported pump instead of two local pumps. By using one efficient submersible deep well pump we will keep the costs low and the system simple. Most of the local engineers have initially told me (and more importantly, my boss) that my design will not work. I then show them the pump specs and I can usually ease their concerns. However, this project will represent my competency as an engineer. A lot of people have at least a suspicion that I will fail, but I’ve done the calculations, and I know this project will be successful. Hopefully I can use the success of this project to gain more respect as an engineer instead of only as a volunteer.

I am also writing to you for the first time since Christmas. It was a tough Christmas for my family and me. There was no snow, no Christmas tree, and no hot wax fight with my sister during silent night at midnight mass. Instead, I spent Christmas alone at a hotel in Manila. I did however get to Skype with my whole family for about 3 hours on Christmas morning. December 26th was a different story entirely. That is when I started my new year’s vacation to Japan. My first stop was Kamakura. It was a beautiful old style Japanese town with a long woodlands hiking trail around it. On these trails were dozens of temples and shrines. I was able to spend the whole day hiking (which I love to do, but haven’t been able to do hardly at all since August), looking at wonderful Japanese shrines that were unlike anything I had ever seen before, and eating sushi. The guesthouse I stayed at even offered me the opportunity to eat a sushi dinner with them. The coolest part was after the meal, we ALL rock paper scisored for dishes duty. I can think of no better way to make me feel at home than actively trying to get out of doing the dishes. It was a wonderfully refreshing change of pace. That’s not to say I didn’t miss the Philippines. The fast food noodle places in Tokyo were convenient, but they have nothing on Mang Inasal. Tokyo itself was a really cool city, but the best part of the trip was meeting up with 3 of my fellow YASC volunteers. Exploring Tokyo, while sharing experiences and stories with my friends was a special experience. I already miss chatting with Steven, Christine, and Spencer. Chatting about nothing in particular is something I miss. It was very nice and refreshing to be able to do that for a week.

This is me at the fish market. Yes, that is grilled octopus. It was very cold in Tokyo compared to the Philippines. I usually had to wear all my light weight jackets I brought to the Philippines at once.

This is a giant bronze statue of budda.

This is the dinner I was talking about. All this food was shared by a Japaneese couple, their baby, a Japaneese girl, two Scots, one Spanish man, and myself.

This blog was not originally going to be about Christmas or Catubangan. It was going to be about Mickey. Mickey is a puppy that belongs to my neighbor Auntie Andrea and her family. Every dog in the Philippines acts more like a guard dog than most American dogs. They have to be a little mean to keep from being stolen. Mickey was different. Every time I opened my door he came running to my porch to greet me and play with me. I jokingly called Mickey my nephew. I travel too much to get my own dog, but I could always play with him for a couple of minutes whenever I wanted and then send him back home. Much like hockey was in New York, playing with Mickey was often the lone highlight of any tough days. I was heartbroken to find out he passed away while I was in Japan. This tragedy couldn’t have happened to a nicer dog, or a nicer family.