1. Always have you documents in order before you arrive.  This can lead to a huge amount of hassle and expense, as I learned.

2. Be open to new experiences and try to travel outside where you live and study.  This can be inconvenient or difficult, especially in a third world country like the Philippines, but it is definately worth it, and can lead to amazing sights and experiences.

3. Be careful, but not paranoid.  Theft and other crimes can be a problem, and you should always be cautious and alert, but don’t let fear keep you from doing the things you want to do.

4. Try to make friends and spend time with people outside your culture-international friendships are both eye-opening and useful when you finally take that backpacking trip around the world.

Its been an awesome semester; I made great friends, learned a lot, and had tons of fun.  I’ll definately be visiting again in the future!

1. Los Banos

That should be an enya, but I’m not sure how to type that with an English keyboard.  And it bears no relation to the Los Banos of California, which you may or may not be familiar with.

Anyway, what’s attractive about Los Banos, which is a town in Laguna Province only a few hours south of Manila by bus?  Its main attraction is the hot springs, which gave rise to the name.  There are quite a few resorts along the National Highway which offer pools fed by hot springs, not to mention a number of water parks and other water related attractions.  Then there is the campus of University of the Philippines Los Banos, which is the largest campus of the UP system and sits at the trailhead of the trail to the top of Mt. Makiling.

Unfortunately for us, we visited on the weekend of Typhoon Frank, which caused flooding throughout the Philippines and resulted in the sinking of the Princess of the Stars, a ferry.  Needless to say the weather was not conducive to hiking, and though we swam, it was not in the best possible weather.

2. Tagaytay

One of the most popular weekend destinations for Manila residents, Tagaytay is an interesting volcano within a lake within another volcano, and is actually considered one of the more active volcanoes in the Philippines.  Still, the outer crater is rimmed with resorts, small towns, and various things to do.  There are some good restaurants and other shops, especially for organic food and products, as well as the attraction of the volcano and lake itself.  Still, its clearly a tourist destination, and suffers from the deficiencies of any place popular with visitors.

3.Naga City

In the Bicol region, about 8 hours by bus from Manila.  College town with a decided lack of good bars, as we learned.  However, the hike up Mt. Isarog is a lot of fun, and accessible by jeepney from the center of town.  It involves a long walk through farmland, followed by an ascent into Mt. Isarog National Park and the chance to swim beneath a waterfall in the jungle, and fulfill some Swiss Family Robinson fantasies.

4. Banaue and the Cordillera

Amazing-absolutely breathtaking and incredible.  Its a long way from Manila, 9 hours by bus, but in every way worthwhile.

Banaue is a hillside town that sits beneath the famous rice terraces, which appear on the 1000 peso bill, not to much inumerable post cards and stamps.  The town itself doesn’t offer a lot, but we took advantage of a guide and the hike to Batad, a nearby village accessible only by foot.  It sits beneath its own set of terraces, which are mesmerizing, as is the hike to the village and the chance to meet and speak with the Ifugao, the mountain tribe that built the terraces 2000 years ago and continues to maintain them.  A warning, though-the hike to Batad involves a brutal set of stairs carved into mountains, and is not to be undertaken by the elderly, the sick, or the otherwise impaired.

Hopefully pictures will be up once the Internet connection begins behaving itself-hopefully soon.

Hello from your resident photographer! Because of an unfortunate event, I don’t have a camera anymore so I thought that I would write this week as my update.

I’ve been pegged in the dorm as “the letter girl” by the front desk. Every single time I walk into the dorm I’ve made it habit to check my mailbox. It’s hard to describe the feeling you get when there is something there. Small envelopes, big boxes, swirly handwriting, singing cards, it’s a feeling of elation that has been long lost since the invention of e-mail.

My first cards came at the beginning of my time here in the Philippines because of my birthday. It was nice to know that thousands of miles away someone was taking the time to write me and send me their birthday thoughts even though they couldn’t physically be with me here. I ended up writing everyone back and more. This created a letter writing frenzy! Now long lost friends are taking time to break out the old stationary and catch up for a while. Many a time, I have gotten letters saying how it’s almost therapeutic to write and a release from their daily lives. For me, it’s about reaching out over 10,000 miles. To bring back a tradition that has sadly faded away with the invention of technology. More than that I know that it brings them the same feeling it gives me.

Not only do I have memories of my trip here, but also physical mementos to remind me of my amazing time. My advice for those on study abroad, write much, eat lots, explore the depths of your ability, and always be thankful for the opportunity you have been given.

I noticed something today, a process that’s been gradually proceeding ever since I arrived here and first started classes at UP Diliman.  This is the gradual slipping of life here into the ordinary and everyday.  Yesterday, for example, I slept in, and got up just before my first class to take a shower and run out the door.  Then I rushed onto some public transit, which took me, after a delay, to campus, where I just barely made it to class.  After class I ate lunch with some friends, then returned home and read for a bit.

This sounds like a perfectly normal day in the life of an American college student.  The public transit, however, was a brightly painted jeepney that careened dangerously through Manila traffic before depositing me at the dilapidated entrance to UP Diliman on Shuster Ave.  Class was introductory Tagalog, held that week in the campus’s “shopping center” (which is nothing like the image that’s probably in your mind, if you’re an American), and consisted of asking the vendors of lychee fruits, homemade ice cream, and pirated DVDs about their goods.  Lunch was at a canteen beside the shopping center, where they served fried octopus, sinagang, lechon kawali, pancit, and of course, rice.  All for about 50 pesos, or a dollar.  And on the return home, I was constantly looking up at the sky, as there is the constant threat of a sudden rainstorm even on sunny days.

All these differences seemed huge to me when I first arrived here from California, not to mention  innumerable others I haven’t mentioned.  Yet somehow, it’s no longer remarkable to take a jeepney to class, anymore than it is that the people  who live in the shacks down the street keep roosters or that the guy in front of you in the line at the bank will suddenly start singing.

I suppose this means I really have started to settle into life in the Philippines, but it seems sad that these little things aren’t exciting anymore.

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