Peace Corps 50th Anniversary Celebration

Some guy sleeping on me as I started out.

Oh boy. I've just returned (as I write this) from a four day excursion in Manila. The reason I went to Manila was to celebrate Peace Corps 50^th anniversary and to see my friends.

Fresh PCVs, like myself, have waiting period after swearing in where they can't take annual leave. Since the 50^th fell on a Friday, we were allowed a special exception to take annual leave in our waiting period, and a good number of PCVs from my batch seized the opportunity.

I packed up and headed that way on Thursday afternoon, the 3^rd, as my ride I was supposed to have on Friday morning had fallen through. I met up with fellow PCVs Caitlyn, Emily, and Natalie in a nearby town and we hopped on the first bus that would have us.

Two-ish hours later, plus a ride on the light rail system, we arrived at Pension Natividad; the hostel PCVs use the most in Manila. We didn't have a lot of time to prepare for a fancy dinner later that night and before I knew it I was in a taxi headed for some highfaluting hotel.

I was under dressed in a sea of three piece suits, Barong Tagalogs, flowing dresses, and belts. I forgot to put a belt on. Thankfully no one was turned away and we were all allowed to mingle with the crowd of RPCVs, Peace Corps Staff, USAID staff, and politicians.

I met some interesting people at the dinner:

• I met a guy who was a member of the first(!) batch in the Philippines.
• A guy from a batch in 1969. Very interesting gent who lives in the Philippines and dresses as Santa in the holiday season. He did in fact look like Santa in plain clothes.
• USAID staff
• The Peace Corps Director
  
  
  
  
  

That last one listed is pretty cool. Aaron Williams doesn't just swing by at random, he's usually found in DC. Since the Philippines have been a part of Peace Corps for almost all of Peace Corps' existence, he came out to show some love. He was a nice guy but I spoke with him for a minute.

The food at the gathering was FANTASTIC. I've got a diet but I abandoned it the moment finger-food-everything was wheeled out. I ate roughly 20 miniature mocha eclairs and 30 chicken skewers. There was also wine.

The next day was the actual celebration at Mall of Asia (MOA). With a group of friends I arrived at 9:50am, prepared for a day of standing, shopping, and eating. All of which I did in excess.

The events were interesting enough but they were more aimed at the public. I ambled through the displays and demonstrations, watched my friends perform on stage, watched speeches, and walked in a “parade.” The parade was just walking behind a marching band, they played very well.

After the speeches and parade the celebration shifting into info booth shows and I began the impossible task of exploring all of MoA. That mall is so big that I don't know how much of it I saw. I walked a good distance and saw a number of storefronts, but the directories kept showing more.

After a fantastic burger lunch at Wham! Burger, expensive coffee at The Coffee Bean, and several hours waiting, the flash-mob kicked off.

Flash-mobs are defined as an event that is organized within a large number of people (like PCVs and PC staff) and is enacted in a surprising fashion in a public place where bystanders are none the wiser. Our flash-mob was a choreographed dance of almost seven minutes long that was near the end of the entire program. It went very well, even without my help. Here's the video of the dance, if you have amazing eyes you can see me walking out of the crowd on the left of the screen after a couple minutes. I didn't know the dance.

On Saturday, I went to a farmers market in Makati that reminded me of the ones back home. Makati is one of the more wealthy areas in Manila and the prices at the market reflected on the products. Quality was thankfully part of the bargain.

After the market a few friends and I decided to visit a tourist-y place in Manila and decided on Intramuros. What I know about Intramuros is still limited but from what I recall it's a place that was here before the spanish showed up, and they built onto it. It resembles a walled city, the wall being twenty feet high and thirty feet wide, allowing space to walk along its surface. Within the walled area was one ancient cathedral, built in the 1570s. The belfry was impressive with its massive bells. I couldn't tell if they actually rung them as there was a gift shop in the same room as the giant bells.

Sadly our sightseeing trip in Intramuros was cut short by the rain. Typical rain. My friends, Munya, Natalie, and Deborah, and I hadn't brought any rain gear and we hustled under a recessed portion of the ancient wall. The area we had chosen looked like a jail and lead out onto a bridge that spanned a shallow moat. Beyond the moat was what looked like a nice park to visit sans rainfall. 

We were trapped by the heavy rain but were willing to just wait it out. As it would turn out we would be forced to leave thanks to flooding.

Deborah and Natalie, trapped

The floor of the dungeon like area was dry when we entered and was for several minutes after the rain started up. This dry state was finite and my friends and I watched as a small puddle pushed it's way in from outdoors. This puddle crept across the floor at a healthy pace and within three minutes I, with my suede Nikes, couldn't put my feet on the ground without being soaked. A few minutes later pushed the water level to ankle depth and the water showed no intention of abating with the rain still hamming the ground.

Natalie, Munya, Deborah, and I were trapped in a watery dungeon. At least we were until a group of entrepreneurial petty-cab (BMX bike with sidecar) drivers assessed our situation and rolled in to lend a hand and a lift. For Php20 a piece my friends and I loaded into a single petty-cab, where the water was now over the floorboards, and began our short journey. The bike was half peddled, half pushed, by a large group of gentlemen that even included children playing along. There was a foot drop of a lip to climb out of the dungeon and this was the toughest part. With the water licking at our boots our new rescuers strained their bodies and wills (maybe?) to pop our chariot into the flooded street. Thankfully the guys who helped us out also flagged a taxi for us and we padded through the lightly flooded street from the petty-cab's interior into the waiting taxi. Those guys got paid well for a grand service.

That about highlights my trip to Manila. I was able to see some friends who are in sites far away and I even made some new friends. I ate great food at high prices. I had a good time.