Week 1

Day 0

After 24 hours of flights, layovers and 50 hours without proper sleep, we finally arrived at the Manila airport. The first thing I noticed was how crowded and cramped the airport was, especially when we were claiming our checked bags. Once we exchanged our dollars to pesos, we left the airport. Although it was 11pm at the time, I immediately noticed the intense heat and humidity once we stepped outside. I could not imagine how intense the heat was going to be during the daytime. Before this trip I had the opportunity to study tropical ecology in Costa Rica and I felt that trip prepared me really well to get accustomed to the heat. I can definitely understand why the traffic could be so bad in the Philippines especially in Manila. Manila is the capital of the Philippines and it is considered to be one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The traffic reminded me of Chicago’s rush hour, but 20 times more congested. Streetlights are usually absent in the intersection making streets chaotic. On top of that there are many people on motorcycles and bikes that would squeeze between cars. Vehicles were inches away from each other and everyone had to drive aggressively. For the night we stayed at the Continuing Education Center from the University of Philippines in Los Banos.

 

Day 1

Strangely, everyone woke up at 7am and I surprising did not feel any jet lag. For breakfast, I had banana pancakes at the local restaurant and afterwards we explored the campus. Around the afternoon we had our first orientation about the Philippines. During the orientation, we had the opportunity to learn about the rich history and culture of the Philippines and learned basic Tagalog. Although there are numerous indigenous languages spoken in the Philippines, Tagalog is the main language. Back in the day, the Spaniards colonized the Philippines that influence the language and culture of the Philippines. After our orientation we went on our first jeepney ride to a local restaurant. Jeepneys are military jeeps that are used as public transportation in the Philippines and they are very popular. Jeepneys are present in almost every street you go to and they are very cheap. It cost 7 pesos ($0.15) for 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) and it can hold up to 15-20 people depending on the size. Jeepneys have an interesting and retro aesthetics and it reminds of a vehicle you will see in one of the older Mad Max films. Jeepneys are unique from one another from their differences in size, shape, color, and design compared to taxis which all look the same. At the restaurant we had the opportunity to try a variety of popular Filipino food like sinigang, which is a sour soup that is usually mixed with many vegetables, fishes, and meats. We also had chicken and pork adobo, which is very popular in the Philippines and it consist of broiled meat with special sauce. For drinks we had tropical juices and their domestic brew. All the tropical fruits are very popular in the Philippines like coconuts, pineapples, bananas, and mangos. After our delicious meal we had leche flan for dessert, which is caramel custard, made from milk and eggs.

 

Day 2

In the morning I decided to go for a run around the community and it was interesting to see some of the households and markets. Later we took a jeepney to check out the market street and the mall. Throughout the day we encountered a lot of confusion due to the cultural and language barrier. We were surprised at how much English Filipinos knows even though they claim to have terrible English. We looked like lost puppies throughout the day because we weren’t used to Tagalog and we didn’t know what we were doing. I thought I would blend right in with the Filipinos because I am Korean and I got a nice Costa Rica tan, but everyone could tell I was a foreigner and gotten mistaken for a Japanese person many times. People told me that my eyes are very different from other Filipinos. I noticed everything in the Philippines is extremely cheap compared to the United States, especially with food and transportation. On average I would spend 100 pesos ($2.15) on a meal, which is incredibly cheap, but their portion size is very small. For lunch I ordered a bacon burger and they asked me if I wanted rice or bread. Thinking it was a side I asked for the rice. Instead of a burger, I ended up getting a really sad bacon patty with rice on the side, which I thought was funny. Later we decided to get coconut juice from the market. Thinking we would get a coconut juice in the coconut shell, we ended up getting the juice in a plastic bag. Since we didn’t know how to properly drink it, we just poked a hole in the bag and started sucking on the bag. Later on we stumbled across a hiking trail and decided to go on a hike. Throughout the hike we saw many households and children that lived in these forests. During the hike we encountered two dogs barking and it started to chase us. I sort of freaked out so I started running the other way. I learned the hard way that you weren’t supposed to run when dogs are chasing you.

 

Day 3

In the morning we moved to FNRI’s headquarter located in Taguig City. I actually didn’t know FNRI was a government agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) until we got there. The building is really nice and we had a full tour of the department. We also got introduced to all the staff. During our orientation we learned a lot about the health culture in the Philippines. I learned that the Philippines have a lot of problems with anemia, iron deficiency, iodine deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, malnourishment, and overweight problem. To fix the problem, we made rice that was fortified with iron and made iodine salt more available. For meals, we had Jolibee, which is their most popular fast food restaurant. Their menu consists of rice, fried chicken, eggs and sausages. I noticed that Filipinos love fried chicken and it is everywhere. I also noticed it is not normal to drink water with your meal. I usually don’t drink sodas and juices for health reasons. It was really difficult to get water with my meals in a lot of restaurants because they all tell me that soda is included with my meal. I often get strange looks when I request water instead of a soft drink. From talking to the locals Filipinos are known to have a sweet tooth, which explains why their desserts and drinks are a lot sweeter than what I am used to. We once ordered a pizza that tasted sweet rather than salty. The Philippines are known for their malls and the two main malls are Robinson and Shoe Mart, which are competitors and a franchise of malls located all over the Philippines. For dinner we ate at a restaurant called North Park and I tired their congee, which is rice porridge mixed with eggs and meat. For dessert I tried their halo-halo, which is the most popular dessert in the Philippines. It reminds me of the Korean dessert bingsu. Halo-halo consists of milk, ice, ube and cheese ice cream, leche flan, red beans, jelly, and corn flake in one bowl. Halo-halo varies from different restaurants and different regions. So far I have loved all the food that I have tried in the Philippines. The food is similar to what I eat at home so it was easier for me to get accustomed to the food here.

 

Day 4

Today was the day we went to Bulacan-Pulilan to do our field immersion work. We had the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Pulilan and meet all the team leaders that we will be working with for the next month. I was really excited to do some work for this company. From our schedule, we are traveling to 3 different provinces to do field immersion where we collect data for the national and local surveys. I really liked the aspect of move to different places and I was excited to see the differences within the 3 provinces. After we do field work in the middle of July, we will be going back to Teguig City to do office work where we will organize and analyze the data collected. We stayed at a resort and rode a tricycle for the first time. Tricycles in the Philippines are similar to jeepneys, but a lot smaller and it is controlled by motorcycle. It is also a lot cheaper than jeepneys. Something that you will see a lot in the Philippines are stray animals. I’m a dog lover so every time I see a dog I just want to hug it, pet it, and love it. In the Philippines the dogs are rarely touched and the dogs here are not the same as the dogs you see in America. Dogs here won’t jump on you or lick you. Instead, they are very independent and they are more likely to bite if they are touched.

 

Day 5

Today was the first day of working in the field and I was very excited to finally start working. We met all the team and they were all really friendly people. The team mainly consisted of researchers, nutritionists, nurses, and dieticians. From my experience so far, all the Filipinos I’ve met are extremely hospitable, kind, a lot of fun. They are also one of the happiest people that I’ve ever encountered. Filipinos try really hard to make us comfortable to the point where we felt very spoiled. They will always talk to us and welcome us into their country, they will give us free food very often, they would always stand to offer us a seat, and they will try to feed us food that we were used to. I wasn’t sure if they were stereotyping or trying to be nice, but the Filipinos always try to offer us fast food, and American foods like pizza and burgers. They try really hard to keep us in an air-conditioned room and many of them worried about our safety in the Philippines. We had to explain to them that we are here to get the full experience of the culture and I was prepared to live like a Filipino person. I am a very adventurous person so I was willing to eat anything especially their delicacies. I was also willing to sleep on the floor, and live the ways Filipinos live. We did feel like we were treated like princesses and we felt bad that they were doing so much for us. I have never felt so spoiled ever in my life their generosity and friendliness was incredible. The Filipinos are also very happy. They all know how to socialize, laugh, make jokes, and live life to the fullest, which was very encouraging to see. For our fieldwork, we go to house to house to conduct interviews about their health and nutrition. We would also weigh their food and ask questions about how the food are stored, bought, and cooked. We would record a 24-hour recall on their intake of food and we asked questions regarding their nutrition. Almost the entire household we visited was impoverished. Some of the households are in trash fields and the people would often scavenge the trash fields for food and items. The whole thing was very difficult to see. Most houses did not have a roof, and the village was infested with flies. We also did anthropometric measurements like waist/hip circumference, height, weight, and blood pressure. Afterwards, we would measure their blood pressure and enter everything into the database. They usually take a blood sample as well, but the Phlebotomist was not available. I was able to learn a lot from talking to the locals and the team. They even taught us more Tagalog. I learned that 3/10 children here are malnourished and underweight. Health care is very limited here due to less access to hospitals, but there are health clinics that people can go to for medical and health care. After working all day I tried the street food for the first time and it was absolutely delicious. We all went out for karaoke and dinner at the end of the day and it was a fun and interesting experience. On the side note, our access to Wi-Fi is very limited making it difficult to post pictures and blog. Pictures will be uploaded when I have access to faster Internet.