Out of The Sea Into the Tree

Out of the dry cold mountain night that covered me
a mirage of the ocean I see
out of the mountains and my sheer folly
it is the mermaid's cry that beckons me

Whilst some would always choose to live in the valley
I would always choose to live in the sea
but I thank mother earth for the chance to see
nature as lovely as the Bristlecone trees.

Hello Reno

"...Wing is written on your feet
Your achilles' heel
Is the tendency to dream
But you've know that from the beginning
You didn't have to go so far
You didn't have to go..."

So goes the lyrics from the song "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star)" from a band called REM and it's been playing on my ipod since my arrival here a week ago. I am here for 4 months on a fellowship program with a fancy title. The US government is paying for my being here and yes thank you to the good American people.

I am here to experience and gain a first world perspective on community development. So I thought I'd compare and contrast my small world in a small island town in the southernmost frontier of the Philippines to the vast planes and follies of the State of Nevada, Unites States of America.

No, I am not gonna be a star but yes my achilles' heel is my tendency to dream. Did I have to go this far? That is a million dollar question. But right now, let me tell you about Reno.

Reno is packaging itself as "the biggest little city in the world". I am not sure what it truly means but I am guessing it wants to feel big (compared to its neighbor Las Vegas) in spite of its being just a small city (again in contrast to its neighbor Las Vegas). 

Somehow I see myself like Reno. I dream and think big but I am just a small town girl from a small town island so small that my host said to me once, "I am looking at the map of the Philippines, where is your island?"

Sometimes I keep forgetting I am already in America. I switch off anything that uses energy when I am not around that the apartment building's handyman kept telling me to leave the AC on so it won't be stuffy when I return to my apartment. A friend in England now thinks I am obsessing about toilet rolls because I keep bitching about how much trees must be cut to have different papers for different human body parts, not to mention their kitchen use. My friends back at home are already making fun of me for wanting a water scoop to use in the toilet and forgetting what it is called in English (a "dipper"!).

Where I come from, water is more valuable than gold. In fact, what we use for laundry we reuse it to flush the toilet. We save rain water to drink. We save rain water to wash, bathe and everything else water is needed for. Ironic isn't it? We are surrounded by water but it's not potable. Think "Water World" the movie. That's where I come from.

In Reno, I have a bath tub. I get to choose hot or cold water in a push of a button. I still haven't had a bath that I didn't feel guilty about a luxurious bath because I know my 83 year old mother at home has to carry a bucket of water to the bathroom just so she could wash herself everyday. It is not because people are poor where I come from (although I am not saying we are rich) but it's just is. That's just the state of our little world.

In the grand scale of things I think I am lucky to experience different worlds at the same time. 

So, hello Reno! I hope you too are ready for me.

Setting Foot in the Land of the Free

Drenched from escaping the heavy downpour and howling wind in Metro Manila (Philippines' capital), I found myself fanning my shoes, my socks, my shirt and my hair awaiting for any flight announcement of whether or not our flight to Nagoya, Japan en route to Washington DC was going to be canceled. I arrived at the airport 6 hours before the flight for fear of getting caught up in the flood that truly reminded me of a bad experience in 2009, the last Sunday of my bar exams when Typhoon "Ondoy" hit Metro Manila. This was codenamed "Gener" and "Gener" as opposed to "Ondoy", came with a howling wind.

My long hours of waiting in a stuffy old international airport that didn't have any dryers in the restrooms was not in vain.  My colleagues and I met at the lounging area and we were able to fly as scheduled.

It was a long and tedious flight from Manila.  The crying baby on the flight to Nagoya made it even worse.

Almost 24 hours later, we arrived at Reagan Airport in Washington DC looking like we took a shrimping boat to America. We were stinky, haggard and hungry.

Still jet lagged, we had our first session the morning after.

61 participants from 28 countries from South America, Africa, Europe and Asia and the Pacific.  We will stay and live in different communities in different States here in America for 4 months to share, learn and exchange insights on community development under the Education and Cultural Affairs of the State Department of the United States implemented by IREX (International Research Exchanges).  We hope to be able to bring back some new experiences and pay if forward to our respective communities at home.

The sun does not set until about 8:30 in North America and it rises at 6 in the morning because it is the summer season here.  This makes it even harder to sleep at night.

One day I will look back at this year 2012 and say, once in my life, I had the chance to experience 2 summers in a year. 

10 (Counting Down to New Adventures)

I usually count to 10 when I restart my internet modem, or whenever I feel like lighting a cigarette or when I feel like making an emotional decision. It has become a habit that I have recently acquired during my international volunteering stint in India. Patience is a virtue I do not have if one would ask my friends. What it really means to me is that my attention span is very narrow. But my attitude is a work in progress and with the kind of work that I do in my community, patience is not too far behind.

10 months ago, I found myself at a crossroad again when I returned home from my international volunteering. Questions like What to do next? Where do I go from here? cropped up every time and sleep almost became an enemy.

Sometime in October last year, I got an email from my mentor in community development, a professor and environmental scientist, asking me if I were interested in doing a consultancy work for a project he was about to initiate in my hometown in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi. This time, it was something to do with the conservation efforts for Bud Bongao (Bongao Peak or Mount Bongao) and its flora and fauna.  I thought it was different from the Coastal Resources and Fisheries Conservation Project we did before and I was having second thoughts because of my inexperience but upon my mentor's persuasion, I said yes. Sometimes all a person needs to boost confidence is a little encouragement, a short note saying, "you can do it" is all it takes to take that unfamiliar path.  So I flew in and started my work in the communities at the foot of the mountain, interviewing people and reestablishing my roots again. I had a good time and forgot about my worries on my career path. It was an adventure I enjoyed while making contributions to my community.

Around about the same month, my childhood friend sent me an email about Community Solutions Program, he thought it might keep my hands full and divert my attention to something equally fruitful. It surely did. That very night I wrote my essays for my application and that was the beginning of my participation in this year's Community Solutions Program under the United States Education and Cultural Affairs implemented by the International Research and Exchanges or IREX.

10 days from today, I will embark on a new adventure in Reno, Nevada to learn the tools and methodologies of Resource Management Plans being implemented by my US host organization, the Great Basin Resource Watch and to be mentored by an American professor and environmentalist in community participation and resource management is something that I am truly looking forward to experiencing.  I hope to be able to learn and understand the cultural, social and spiritual values  and aspects of the Native Americans' environmental conservation efforts in the Great Basin regions of the State of Nevada and be able to share to them my experiences in the Coastal communities of my island province in Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. In return, I shall be able to pay it forward by sharing what I have learned at improving what I, and my colleagues and friends can do in our community in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines, to promote ecotourism and sustainable resource management through volunteerism. That against the odds that I have faced in the past in my efforts as a volunteer, I am grateful for this opportunity to make a difference.

I have never set my foot in American soil before and everything I know about America is based on the movies and television series I follow.  It is going to be an exciting (and hopefully) a fruitful journey ahead.

#special thanks to FILEMON G. ROMERO, Ph.D, WWF-Philippines