Stranger

I am at the airport in Manila waiting for my flight to
Seoul and then to Chicago. In the last two days I
have met with many old friends. Jay Ar stayed in
Payatas for one night. In one month he will be
onboard ship as a seaman. Flor, Jay Ar, and I met
Sterling at the SM mall. She is expecting a baby is
waiting for a visa to see her American husband in
North Carolina. Mary Joyce's mother and her sister
Kaye came later, and I bought books for Mary Joyce,
Kaye, Moy Moy and Idoy and clothes for Mary Joyce. I
also met with Christopher Sedillo who is trying to get
a visa so he can work as a caregiver. On Sunday Jay
Ar and Flor and I went to Flor's church where I met
several people I knew and a friend of Flor's who had
just come back from working as caregiver in Jeruselum.
A common theme is how much time is devoted to seeing
that ends meet. Working overseas is a big, big part
of the Philippine economy. People know that Filipinos
are good workers, and much of the hard work in
Medicine, caregiving, and shipping is done by them.
In turn they send back money largely by Western Union,
and this makes up a sizable part of the income of the
Philippines. Getting visas, however, can be a really
difficult and expensive proposition.

Living in Payatas is not easy. Students can expect to
have huge classes--80 students is not unheard of--and
while some students go to school for 6 in the morning
until 1, others go from 1 to 7:30 in the evening.
There is a great deal of uncollected garbage lying
about from the hundreds of stalls that sell clothing
and food. Air quality in Payatas is like Bangkok.
For the second year in a row I have left Payatas with
a cough. It is probably a place where running is not
particularly good for your health. It is amazing to
me that air pollution, garbage collection, and
polluted water are problems where there are solutions.
One has only to look at the fact that Funeral Homes
advertise rates for children (3500 pesos) to see that
there are consequences to not dealing with
environmental problems.

There is much that I really like about Payatas and
Montalban. People are not quite as outgoing as one
sees in the provinces, but as I run by each morning
there are people who say, "Hi Joe" or "Hi Man".
People stare at this "very tall" foreigner, and if I
smile they readily smile back. There is music
everywhere and hundreds of small stores and stalls. A
whole pineapple costs the equivalent of 35 cents. My
haircut which included a shoulder and head massage
cost 35 pesos which is about 80 cents. I have made
some wonderful friends here, not only among the people
at MMP but also among the students--Rapha, Jireh,
Queenie, Vanessa, Myca, and many others. As people
walk down the street there is conversation everywhere
including among people who are strangers to one
another.

On Sunday evening i was invited to dinner by Attorney
Raineer Chu and his wife Mila. I go with Flor and we
meet Pastor Winston at the Trinomial Mall.

It is a different world. In many ways.

Everything in this mall is spotlessly clan. There is
no hint of heat or humidity. This is an upscale
version of the malls I am used to, and the prices are
what one would expect on North Michigan Avenue in
Chicago. The shops are polished, and there are nice
waterfalls, cold fog, and other well planned effects.


But there is something here that makes me wish I were
in the poor section of town. Unless you meet someone
you know, no one smiles at you. People are polite and
well-mannered, but no one would think of saying, "Hey
Joe" or How are you my friend?". People are strangers
here in the mall, and they will remain strangers.

The plane is about to arrive. I am in the final
sprint home, and in the last week I have been trying
to memorize a poem by the Filipino poet Rio Alma. It
is in Tagalog, and there is an English translation
with it.
In English the title is Stranger

Here are the final lines in English:

And so at night when the world is still
And dew is intimate with leaf
I would douse my bonfire
Sling upon my shoulder the small backpack of my life
And squint ahead at what might be
The path to the nearest star

Belit's Purok

Isabelita Calope is one of the newly elected councilors in the Del Carmen Norte Barangay in Balilihan. In her first election, I am told, she got the second highest vote total of any candidate in the Barangay. There are ten councilors. As a councilor she is in charge of the Ubi 3 purok. Each barangay has 6 puroks. While I was in Bablilihan, Isabelita, who everyone knows as Belit, gave me a tour of the purok.

The headquarters is a building made of nipa with places to sit and dishes for food. On one wall is a map of the twenty five households that make up the barangay, and on another part of the wall is detailed information about the make up of the purok. It reads like a detailed census report with the number of men and women and the number of people of each age. In addition, there are records of who is a smoker, who is a farmer, who is employed, and which families use family planning.

On another wall is a chart put out by the government about proper nutrition. Here I see that it is suggested that people include dairy products in their diet. This is surprising because I have practically seen no milk in the Philippines. On this trip, I did see one quart of milk that was very expensive from New Zealand, but the people drinking it were Filipino-American kids. The chart also suggests that vegetables should be part of the diet, but most places I have been there have been few vegetables. Most of the diet is rice and rice and then rice again. The word viand means what goes with the rice, and it is usually some kind of meat or fish. I must say most places, and the home at Payatas in different. Flor Encomio drinks no coke or pepsi, and this seems truly unusual to me. She also believes in lots of vegetables. Hopefully this is a new trend because I do keep hearing about diabetes being a problem here.

Belit's purok has monthly meetings on the first Sunday of each month, and there are committees on public order, sports, farming, education, and infrastructure among others. Belit is, I think, the youngest Barangay councilor, and she looks like she will do well in politics. She is clearly well known in the community, and she would get my vote just for her great sense of humor. I am sure she will do a great job in Baliliahan and hopefully someday I will be able to say that I know Mayor Calope. In Payatas where I am now there is a great deal of cynicism about government. The garbage dump is in this area, and the problem of litter, unpaved streets, and air pollution are major problems here. Balilihan seems like a universe away from Payatas, and I remember thinking when I first arrived here, "Why do people live in cities???"
The answer is jobs, but there are many places here where there are no jobs.

The organization that I am doing tutoring with here--MMP--Mission Ministries Philippines--is one that I think is addressing some of the most important problems here, and I will discuss it in my next blog.

Early Morning Running

Three years ago James Kang introduced me to Raineer Chu who was active in a group called Mission Ministries Philippines, and last year I taught in Payatas and Montalban. This year I am back.

This is a great organization that is doing a great deal to help poor communities. They have established churches in poor neighborhoods, and with each church there is a pre-school and a cooperative for purchasing medicine. This year I am staying in Payatas with Pastor Landor, his family, and Flor. Each morning I get up around four and without thinking I start running. I am convinced that when it comes to doing something like running early in the morning one should never think about other possible things to do. So I start and soon am trudging up a long concrete hilll. Students are already on their way to class because one shift goes from the early morning to just after noon, and the other half goes from just after noon to 7:30 at night. Payatas is a place with lots of pollution, and it is best to run when it is just getting started and when not too many tricycles can belch out their exhaust.

When I return, Rapha is making her way to the school near her home. It is a private school, and Rapha is a delightful ten year old with a beautiful singing voice and a smile that makes everyone happy.

I meet one student early and make an arrangement to see her again tomorrow. Most of the day today will be in Montalban. We willl be taking food to feed about 65 children this morning, and in the afternoon I teach two different groups. One is a large group of younger kids, and in the afternoon there is a group of high school girls. There are some great kids here. Queenie is one of the most impressive people I have ever met. She has choreographed a dance that will be performed next week, and it is amazing to watch her direct classmates older than herself. I have a great time teaching them physics and algebra. Afterwards, when the dance practice follows our lessons, one of the students, Vanessa, tells me about her schedule. She goes to a high school that has approximately 80 students in each class. She gets up at 3:30 each morning to study and get ready for class at 6. Classes go to 1:30, and she tells me that they are often noisy and very hot. She has an old worn out science book which she treasures, but she admits it is hard to understand. Leaving through it I see that is very, very dry. Vanessa wants to be a doctor. She introduces me to a friend who wants to be a model. And her friend has a kind of stunning beauty that makes that ambition seem viable. From many students I hear the question in their minds about how they will finance their college education.

So the idea that I have been mulling over is to see if college students can be hired to tutor high school students. In turn high school students can be hired to tutor elementary school students. This would be a way of sponsoring students while giving them job experience. At the same time, it could help younger kids who miss lots of individual attention. I think I got this idea from reading Gandhi recently. He said he never gave anything to anyone, but he did offer them jobs.

I will have to go, it is late and I have to run so so early.

Math at 8 a.m.; Visayan on the Track

Although I am now in Payatas, I want to write some more about teaching at Dalaguete National High School. I met some great kids there, and I also got to talk with two of the math teachers. My students in Chicago will be interested to note that this class met at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning. The class size was pretty typical of what I have seen in the Philippines--about forty five students, and they were a lot of fun to teach. After the class, which was two hours long, I talked with about a dozen of the students for an hour and a half. And I was very impressed. For many of the students in the Philippines the question of how they will finance their college education is a pressing issue. Getting sponsorships is one way that some of the students can make it. This is definitely true with my students in Payatas who will tell me that they are very poor, but it is also true in Dalaguete where people are much better off. Here, and in Bontoc, many of the students have parents who are farmers or parents who have small stores. Financing a college education is not easy, but for an American the amount of money needed is really a relatively minor expense. I really want to talk with friends in America about how to make sponsorship of students more common. While I am sure that education is not the sole answer to problems facing countries like the Philippines, it is an important way of helping people.

The two teachers I taught with emphasized the need for more books at their schools. They told me how important they found it was to focus on hands on activities, and I must admit that with many older texts in math these kinds of activities are really missing. I met some great kids including one of the top students in the school, and I will do my best to see that someone can give her help to make it through college. While we were talking several of the students performed at singing and dancing--at my request, and then two others showed me how they had already learned how to juggle.

Afterward, I went running on the school's track and each lap as I passed the stands, I would carry on a conversation with a student who wanted to know if I could speak Visayan. Luckily I only made it sixteen laps. If I had gone any further I would have to make up some phrases.

By the way, I see many of the students here learning about farming techniques and environmental issues both in high school and in elementary grades. It is very encouraging.

I am sorry that I couldn't give name by name credit to the teachers here. I have to write some of these blogs from internet cafes, and I didn't bring my notes. I will have to do a summing up when I return to
America and have more time.


See you later Alligator

Perspectives

I met with five high school students this afternoon. They are all from Payatas. They pointed out that they are not from the dump site. Noeme, for example, said, "Look up at me! I 'm so beautiful." It was true. Shirley, who is sixteen, said, "I am a simple person." I asked her what she meant by this, and she said that she was content with what she has. I have heard the phrase "a simple Filipino many times" and now I know what it means. Danmark was too shy to say anything, but the girls said that he was gay. People who are gay here are accepted much more than I find in the United States. Kathy, according to her friends, is smart. In school she does well, and she wants to be a stewardess. Loujesa admits to being a funny person. She would like to be a television reporter, but she also would like to be an artist. Noeme said she has a crush on my former student Elliot, but she also says that everyone else here does too. She thinks Elliot is "so handsome". Poor Elliot, I told them, is so shy. Ha ha.

I asked the students to tell me something about themselves. Loujeso remembers when she was in grade three she badly cut her arm while flying a kite. Everyone here agrees that they do not go to the hospital because it is too expensive. Shirley said that when she was in 2nd year high school she got a medal for being an outstanding student in Filipino and biology. Her friends said that she should also get a medal for being cute. Kathy told us that when she was in grade 1 she had to go to the doctor because she had hepatitis A. She was in the hospital for two months. Her parents asked someone to help pay for it.

All the girls agreed that the Philippines has corrupt politics. They said that an example of this was that when people wanted to get rice from the government that had to get in a line and wait for hours. Rice is really expensive now, and the government is selling a cheaper kind called NFA. They think that tax money is used for unnecessary things.

Each of the four girls works. Loujesa sells suman which is a kind of sticky rice. The other three girls make doormats. The work is hard when you start. Each girl realizes that they need money for further study after high school, and they are trying to figure out ways to make it. In a further blog I will describe my experience at Dalaguete where I met with some students after class. We talked about ways of gettting sponsorship through schools and possible ways of financing their later education.

Greetings from Payatas!

I am in Payatas. It is where the garbage dump is located in Manila, and I am staying with Flor, and Jireh, Rapha, Lando, Josie, Julius, Evelyn, Hannah, and many others. Jireh and Rapha are helping me write this blog. Jireh is eleven and Rapha is nine. They are very, very cute. Mariel is fourteen, and she is joining us in this writing. And now Hannah who is eight is joing us too. She is a great singer. By the way, Jireh is as tall as my grandson Braxton!

We live at Sto.Niño St.Payatas A in Quezon City. Quezon City is in the area where Manila is found. We are happy in our home sweet homes. We have a garden where plants are grown using hydroponics. We have three goats and two rabbits. We also have lots of fish and three dogs. We also have two cats and lots of rats. Ha Ha. We also have cockroaches that can fly. There are also mosquitoes that bite us every morning so Zeus has a mosquito net.

Our church is Christ Servant Community Church. They teach us the word of God. We are happy to praise God. We all like to sing. Our favorite songs are Faith and Hossana.

We all like to juggle, and we would like to learn how to play the flute.

We like to play games on the computer. Y8, miniclip are two games we like to play.

When Rapha grows up she wants to be a missionary like her father Rolando. Our church anniversary is near. On August 31 the church will be six years old. Hannah wants to be an artist. She likes to draw. Mariel wants to be an engineer. She wants to build a big hotel. Jireh wants to be a nurse.

Chicken Joy is what we all like best. We like to go to Jollibee. Our favorite movies are Narnia, Titanic, and Deep Blue Sea, and Little Mermaid.

Jireh remembers that when she was one year old she got sick, and the doctor put all my body on dextrose. Her life was fifty fifty.

Rapha remembers New Year when we were playing with trumpets and making lots of noise. She also remembers having spaghetti on Christmas.

We liked playing lots of games like badmitton.

Mariel also remembers New Years best. She likes the beautiful fire works with many colors. We would look up in the sky and see them.

Hannah remembers being very happy on her birthday. My father gave me a gift of a walking doll.

Rapha remembers going on a trip to Bontoc in Visayas, and my father taught me how to swim. Rapha only knows Tagalog and English though.

Jireh knows Illocano, English, Tagalog, Bisayan, Korean and Japanese. We have a book of Japanese, and we had Korean visitors in our school.

Ate Flor knows eight languages.We will have to go because we have homework to go over with Tito Zeus and Edgar.

Bohol

I am in Bohol. It is a part of the Philippines that seems to be getting greener and more prosperous every time I visit. I am staying with the Calope family. They all call me Lolo Zeus here. And when the nieces and nephews return from school, they go out running with me. The runners among them range from 3 to 9 years old, and we soon set out on a grass path to my favorite hill where we race up and down a hill that takes me forty five seconds to ascend. They work in groups, some eating guavas while the others run.

After half an hour of running I return to juggle with the kids and play my flute. BJ, who is the oldest at nine years, has listened to my songs and can hum along on several of them. They are all great kids! I give some recorder lessons to BJ. As much as Filipinos love to sing, there seem to be very few musical instruments here outside of what I saw in Dalaguete. There are also very few books so I bought one book for each one of the nieces and nephews--who is about twelve kids.

Baliilihan which is the town where the Calopes live is doing very well, and one of the barangay officials is Sterling's sister Belit--who by the way is wearing a Toni Preckwinkle 4th Ward Alderman shirt, today. Belit is one of ten barangay elected officials. Each barangay is made up of puroks. This barangay has six puroks, and Belit is in charge of Purok 3 which has 25 households and 111 people. Each month they meet on the first Sunday. There are a number of committees which I will discuss in a later blog. Each purok has a meeting place, and Belit's has a garden including herbal plants. Nearby there is a newly developed park that commemorates the Balilihan Belfry that was built in 1844. Bohol has many great tourists attractions, and they really do seem to involve activities that relate to the environment. There are beautiful white sand beaches, The Chocolate Hills, the tarsiers, great waterfalls, and caves. I think it is no coincidence that this part of the country is doing so well.

Got to go.

Dalaguete

The visit to Dalaguete was really fun. I will be spending three days in Bohol while Danny and Ester go for a short trip to Manila then I will come back to teach one day at Dalaguete National High School. Dalaguete is a music town, and on the day that I got there I heard the children's choir perform. They sound truly professional!

Ester's husband Arpong was busy on a project to build a children's playground. This land will eventually be the site of a musical auditorium, and the enthusiasm here is really impressive. The swings were being built when I arrived, and Arpong encouraged me to bring my tennis balls to juggle. The crowd that gathered was very enthusiastic, and I think they were impressed to see me juggle five balls and work on six.

Being in the Ester's home is a musican's paradise. Hearing Danny and Ester practice and then joining them in playing songs together is really fun. The Dalaguete Music Foundation includes a band, a rondalla group (made of stringed instruments), and a choir, and shortly before we came one of the directors of the choir died So yesterday the students practiced and sang at the wake for the director. Danny and I also played one of the eight songs that we hope to record. It is called Ayam's Call, and it is named after the director whose name was Maya. (Maya spelled backwards is Ayam).

It is really interesting to see the sense of order in Filipino schools. Frequently students chant phrases together, and a common sign that I see is Observe Silence. Classes are often forty plus students in the provinces, and in the cities they may be sixty or more. Teachers will complain about some students being "hard-headed", but the sense of a very strict order is a great contrast to the relatively great freedom that I see among really young kids.

Dalaguete is on the sea shore, but it seems quite a bit different from Bontoc. The homes are bigger, and there seems to be much more farming of crops like corn and vegetables and less reliance on fishing. I went on a long run-hike with Danny up to the side of the mountain, and we saw many goats and, of course, hundreds of chickens and roosters. Some of these are for cock-fighting. We also saw a mine where dolomite is taken with strip mining by a Japanese company. Although we can see lots of banana and coconut trees near Dalaguete, it does look like a lot of the native forest is gone. But Dalaguete is a pretty town. I especially like the many pedicabs. Ha ha. If Jamie ever gets a chance to read this, I suggest that he and I get jobs driving two of these and see who can get the most customers in one day.

Farewell to Bontoc

I left Bontoc early in the morning, and I know I will miss many people here. I will have to write out my complete thanks later, but to Judith and Glory I must say now I much I have them to thank for arranging the school visits. For Edgar and Elmar I owe much thanks for driving me on their motorcycles. For the two college students Marby and Rosette who did so much wonderful cooking and washing clothes (by hands)--you were wonderful. And to their shy but very smart assistant Barbie I will miss you.

I had to run early to catch the boat so I set out for a short run. Five kids spied me and set off with me. One of them said, "I like jogging," so I knew I would go on the stony dirt road rather than the concrete road with all the traffic. These were five very sweet kids. Kids from the Philippines and from India often impress me with their striking beauty, and these five kids were members of my Olympic training group for maybe 2020. When I got to Bontoc there were many people who said hello to me as an Ameican, but today three said, "Hi Zeus" as we ran. It was amazing to see these five kids run in flip flops and barefoot and keep up with me. I wondered how young they were and when I asked, "Pilay Imong Edad? (How old are you?)" The answers were "Cinco anyos" and "Siete anyos". They were five and seven, and as I ran I realized what incredible condition these kids were in. I knew today I would just be running out for ten minutes and back for ten, and as I an I realized that they intended to go the whole way with me.

It was amazing to think that five kids running along this rough road were not only able to keep up with me, but didn't think twice about being a mile away from home on a Saturday morning. There is no sense of "stranger danger" here, and I could not help but think what a totally differernt world kids live in when they are not surrounded by a sense of fear and are allowed to roam.

I am in a hurry now. I have now arrived in Cebu and am visiting my dear friends Danny Buenconsejo and Ester Hana in the town of Delaguete. I will write more of that later.

Rezalyn, Jeneveve, Lovely and Jenry

When teachers die, they should go to heaven and hopefully they will be rewarded with a chance to teach Bontoc National High School's Physics 4A class. I got the chance today. They were fantastic! Not every physics class finishes with all the students singing a song in Tagalog, but that is what these students did. This was the third day at Bontoc High School, and I made lots of great friends. The students were great in helping me with my Visayan, and they gave me a list of words that my students in Chicago should learn.

I just have time to write out four of the stories that students wrote:

My name is Rezalyn. I live in Cowayanan, Bontoc, Southern Leyte. I'm fourteen years old. I like to play badminton, write poems, listen to music and explore places. When I was seven years old then I joined scouting held in Calmon Cave. When my friend and I entered the cave with no flashlight, we got scared because it's very dark and scary. We cried and cried because we don't know how to get back our way. I remember the scary place until now and the voice when we cry.

Hi, I'm Jeneveve. I'm fifteen years of age. I live in San Ramon, Bontoc, Southern Leyte, Philippines. I'm a senior student of Bontoc National High School. The most unforgettable experience I had was when I went to the mountain searching for a guava with my classmates. I felt happy because we are joined together.
I like dancing, but I can't get the steps easily. I know how to act. I like singing but the problem is, I think music doesn't like me. It's fun. Am I right? He, He, He. Hi to Zeus' student Silas.

My name is Lovely. I live in Poblacion, Bontoc, Southern Leyte, Philippines. I'm twelve years old. I like playing musical instruments and playing badminton. When I am young, my mother and I went to Cebu. I saw the dancing sun near from the mountain.

My name is Jenry. I'm thirteen years old. I live in Talisay, Bontoc, Southern Leyte. I love to sing, play badminton, and jump off the bridge in Bontoc. My unforgettable story was when I am six years old when I am climbed a tree and falling because the branch of a tree was break and when the time that I am on the ground I can't breath.

You might notice that the students mention their barangay before they mention the town. Bontoc consists of 41 barangays. Some of the younger students have problems with verb forms, but realize that English is their third language! By their fourth year they have usually made huge progress. One of the other interesting things I hear is kids using 'he' when they mean 'she.' In Visayan there is the word 'siya' which means both he and she.

I have made some great friends on this trip, and today I heard from Cindy from Korea. She is now going to school in Vietnam. What I remember about Cindy is reading with her from Barack Obama's autobiography. Cindy is really, really smart, and also really fun to be around! Just like Bontoc's 4A physics class!!! Hope you all get a chance to meet her some day. Maybe when she becomes President in Korea.

Bontoc National High School

Today I taught at Bontoc National High School. The students were great!!!
The day begins at 7:15 with all the students gathering together for the flag ceremony. From there they go to their first class. The class begins with a prayer, and then after a short introduction the class chanted, "Good Morning, Mr. Zeus Preckwinkle." This was after many students had welcomed me with "Good Morning, Sir." I was really happy to be teaching so early because of the heat and humidity later on.

My first class is in biology, and I have students learn how to take blood pressures. Many of them want to go into medicine or care giving so it is a very useful skill to learn. We work on some of the same experiments that several of my students did this last science fair, and then we talk about how knowledge of blood pressures can help people prevent their having heart attacks or strokes. I encourage a lot of the students to look upon medicine and science for their adult lives, and their regular teacher makes a point to them that this is an expensive training. I will not be using the blood pressure kit for another year so I donate it to the class. My classes in algebra are just plain fun, and my aim is to show the students that this is not a dry dead subject.

At the end of the day, I have an English class where the students write short autobiographies. These I ask them to give to me so that my students at Ancona can read them. I will write some excerpts tomorrow. Many of the students talk about how they explored the areas where they live. They remember falling out of trees, seeing snakes, going into caves, riding a carabao and jumping off the local bridge at high tide. Although they sometimes say that they are frightened by seeing these things, they bring back memories of when I was growing up. I fear that in today's world kids are often missing these chances to explore, and it is sad.

Practically every student says they like to sing, and after a while I tell the students that any Filipino who does not like singing should be deported. ha ha. People in America would be surprised at how singing competitions on television seem to dominate. It seems like version of American Idol is on all the time, and kids really take joy in performing.

Many of the students talk about how they are shy, and two in the class of 42 describe a relative dying. This was similar to Libas. And there are several references to traveling in Cebu that sound like poetry.

When kids describe where they come from, they first identify the barangay, then the town, then the province, then the country. Bontoc has 19,000 voters and about 31,000 residents. It is divided into 41 barangays and each barangay has a captain and councilors who are elected. My friend Sterling has a sister, Belit, who is one of the councilors in the town of Balilihan which is on the island of Bohol. Although there is prestige and power to this position, many elected officials are called on to help people when they are in trouble.

At the end of the day I ended up talking with four of the fourth year students, and they were truly delightful. They wanted to know all about America, and they wanted to know what I thought of the Philippines. I told them that it is indeed the friendliest place I have ever been. I tell them that I will be leaving in a couple days to see my music friends in Cebu, and then I play two of the songs that Danny and I composed. They make me promise to bring my flute Friday so I can play some more songs for them.

Libas

I have finished teaching three days in Libas. It was a great experience especially because I got a chance to see the fourth year students who I first met when they were just first starting high school in 2005. When I entered the class, I could tell that something was up. In chorus they rose to their feet and chanted, "Morning Sir". This is actually pretty traditional in Filipino classes, but they really felt like old friends, and we had a great time. I hope they learned a lot!

I should mention that Libas is very remote. It took me thirty minutes to get there by motorcycle riding habal habal over a rocky road. Some of the kids walk two miles to school each day, and with no telephone service it is far from the internet. Most of the kids are faced with learning three languages: Visayan, Tagalog, and English and most of the parents spoke only a little English as far as I could tell. Lots of little kids know, "What is youir name?" and "Hello, Joe" but when I sit with people I have to start talking in Visayan or I sit very quietly. haha. I must say that I really feel for these students. In India, too, there were students who had to learn three languages, and while students have classes in Tagalog and English throughout their schooling, the first year students really had difficulty following everything I said in English so I made a lot of efforts to speak as much Visayan as I could.

Two graduates of Libas told me that they have to give their final reports in English, and there are plenty of "Koan" comments. Koan is a term that I believe means, "I am not sure of the word." I can just imagine what it would be like for my students to learn all their science and math in Spanish. Actually, when I look at English and Visayan, their language is a much more logical one. All the vowels are sounded, and I have not yet come across a word like pneumonia yet. ha ha. It was interesting to hear one parent from India tell me that in India people "pick up" languages. With papers, television, and everyone around you speaking in a variety of languages you start to navigate the world. It is very clear that language is not just about communication. It is also about identity.

A parent told me that although she grew up in South Leyte, she moved to Manila and her son spoke only Tagalog until he was four. When they moved back to South Leyte, her father was angry to hear that the son did not speak Visayan, and he was ignored by other kids around him until he learned the language.

By the way, I met the mayor of Bontoc, and he told me that he had noticed me in the crowd at the boxing match. He asked his aides to find out who that man with the beard and white hair was. ha ha. He laughed when I told him that I was not Osama Bin Laden. And he complimented me on speaking English clearly. Apparently, many Americans have fairly indecipherable accents. ha ha. The next day at a party, I met the mayor's brother and told them about a comment about where Bontoc is. He told me that there is a Bontoc Mountain Province in Northern Luzon. They, indeed, do speak Illocono. However, the Bontoc where I am staying is definitely in South Leyte, and although it only has 100 telephones apparently, there are 19,000 registered voters!

The weekend was spent in Ormoc and at Visayan State University in Bay Bay. In the early 90's there was a mudslide in Ormoc that killed 8,000 people I am told. Over logging apparently was the cause. Visayan State University is a school that focusses on Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry, and its President is very concerned about environmental issues. When I ran on the campus, I passed by an eco--park, and then I went up into the hills through some of the most beautiful woods I have seen on my trip. The campus was wonderful, and I am sure it was because I love nature, and they had put the campus in a natural setting. The Philippines does have problems with finding enough good paying jobs for its citizens, but I am convinced that when people here understand what a wonderful natural setting this country has they will be make great strides.

I should add that while I was on the plane from Manila to Tacloban, the magazine for Cebu Pacific Airlines had an article by Lawrence Heaney from the Field Museum. He talked about the fact that the Philippines has more biodiversity per area than any other country in the world. He also pointed out that that few Filipinos seem to recognize this. I must say, however, that I have seen signs that awareness of the environment and the "treasures of the Philippines" is improving.

Tomorrow and Friday I will be teaching at Bontoc National High School. The school principal, Florintino Tao Tao, met with me today to show me around the school, and I will be teaching classes in biology, English and physics. He introduced me to several of the teachers there, and hopefully I will be able to send books and supplies to the school when I return to Chicago.

I have to go, but here are a few observations:

-When it is dark here, you can see thousands and thousands of stars and the Milky Way!

-I had a great time running in Libas with two students---Eric and Dicks. They both ran with me in flip flops five miles over a rocky road. During the day, they carried my bags and at an all school assembly they insisted on holding an umbrella over me to keep the sun off me!!!!!!!!!

-I had wild boar in Libas! It has much less fat than baboy (pig).

Init og igang ang panahon diri. (It is hot and humid here today.)

Boxing in the Philippines

I knew I was in the Philippines when I noticed that one of the stewardesses on the Cebu Pacific flight was named Jolly.

I have a great time in Bontoc the last two days. Today I ran on the backroads and a total of 16 kids ran with me. They would get tired and then I would head back and groups would rejoin as they caught their breath. I am teaching the kids here juggling and they are teaching me Visayan. When I get tired of juggling, I play my flute, and then they start singing, but I tell them I only want to hear Visayan songs. I am determined to learn how to speak Visayan, and I am making some progress.

Last night I was tutoring Barbie in algebra when Judith came in on her motorcycle. It is Judith's class that I will be teaching Thursday and Friday in Libas. She told us that algebra would have to wait. There was something big going on in Bontoc that evening. Well, it was big. Bontoc may only have 100 landlines, but there were between two and three thousand people at the pavilion when we arrived. They were getting ready to watch five hours of boxing. This included 25 three round bouts. Let me tell you. Boxing is a big sport in the Philippines. People used to joke that a military coup was once called off because Manny Pacquio was boxing that weekend.

It was a great joke, but it was probably true.

This was only the second time in my life I had seen a boxing match live, and the last time was over thirty years ago. The bouts were all amateur, but as the evening wore on they got better and better. I could tell by watching that one of the referees had been a great boxer in the past. He truly had presence! By one o'clock the top bouts were being fought, and I could see how skilled these guys were. It is always great to see athletes or performers who are really good at what they do, and these boxers were. And the audience was educated about the sport.

Well, I have to go. Being here, feels like going back in time. There are few televisions. Most households don't have computers, and all washing is done by hand. One would be fooled in thinking these kids are deprived. In may ways their lives are far richer than the lives of kids in the city. The way they sing, the way they play, and the sense of adventure that they have is something that I remember from when I was young. And they still have it.

Rupees and Bhats

In India the rupee has a picture of Gandhi on it. In Thailand the baht has a picture of the king. The king is revered here. His picture is everywhere. People wear polo shirts with the monarch's emblam on the front. His name is Bhumibal Adulyadej, and he is among other things a jazz fan who has composed and performed a number of songs. He has been the monarch since 1946 and from what I have read he has done quite a bit for Thailand. I say this knowing that I need to do much more research including listening to the CD of songs that he wrote. And, of course, trying to learn them on my flute. ha ha

I will be leaving for the Philippines tomorrow where I will start by teaching at Bontoc High School then going to Libas High School. I am really looking forward to it.

I am continually thinking of things I would like to see in our curriculum about Asia and several things come to mind. For India, of course, learning about the life of Gandhi is really crucial. He did a huge amount for India, but he also had a big influence on America in terms of ideas about non-violence. For the Philippines, Jose Rizal is a national hero who students really should know about. His book Noli Me Tangere was the book for which he was executed, and it was the reason the Philippines fought for independance from Spain. Having students learn about Thailand's monarch, I think, would be fascinating because today monarchs are seen as such anachronisms, but this monarch really does seem to have changed the course of Thailand's development. In Korea the amazing leader to me is the king who had his scholars totally re-invent the Korean symbols for writing. This may not seem important, but it really lead to a much more logical way of communicating and allowed so many more people to become literate.

I will finish with a few funny observations.

In India the amazing thing to see is cows wandering through the streets including highways. In the Philippines one is jarred awake by the sound of roosters. They are used in cock fighting. In Thailand the amazing thing to see is the number of stray dogs wandering the streets. If you can imagine the Loop with a dog on each block you get the picture.
Throughout Asia, the really remarkable thing I have noticed is the number of open air markets everywhere. There is practically no unemployment here, and the presence of these markets is probably one reason.

Got to go. I have a chance to run twice a day now that I have left Bangkok and I am using it. Ha ha

Growing Too Fast

Thailand is a country that makes a lot of money on tourism, but the common refrain is, "You don't want to stay in Bangkok very long."

There is a reason.

Pollution

and another reason

Traffic jams

Like many cities in Asia and perhaps in the world, Bangkok has grown too fast, and when I sat on a bus that didn't move for over 20 minutes I thought it was unusual. It apparently wasn't.

We also take our grid system for granted. Not a good idea. Many people here can't seem to read maps, there are few street signs and today a taxi ride of less than five kilometers took over 90 minutes because the driver got lost.

But there are saving graces. The skytrain was wonderful and reminded me of Seoul, and apparently there is a subway system that is great too. In addition, there is a wonderful commuter boat ride on the biggest river that takes people to an amazing set of shrines.

But these are such small parts of the overall transportation system...

I wonder why transportation isn't studied more in math, science, and social studies classes. It has so much to do with global warming, the way people spend their time, health conditions, and even happiness---note that my favorite part of the day is running to school and even better running home...

Bye for now

Tai Yang Restaurant

You may never believe this, but I am putting in a recommendation for a restaurant where you should go if you get to Bangkok. It is a place called Tai Yang located near the Ibis Siam Bangkok Hotel on Ratchapralop Road.

Why am I recommending a restaurant? Well, the food is really good--A Roi is the word for delicious here-- but the main reason is that I prefer restaurants where I know the people. In Hyde Park, Pizza Capri and Cedars are the two places that I love. I know the owners, and it is so much like the past when people were less anonymous. Well, Tai Yang is a restaurant where I have been going every evening, and the owner, Pornphet Saekow, each day teaches me a new Thai phrase. The tables are marble slabs placed over Singer sewing machines with foot pedals. I remember when my mother had one of these Singer machines.. Eventually the sewing machine companies in Thailand advanced beyond the foot pedaled machines, and the old ones here were recycled as restaurant tables.

The place is simple and airy. I first became friends with the people there when there was a torrential downpour. There are books about Buddhism placed around the restaurant, and when I asked about Buddhism, Pornphet told me about the Buddhist way of life. As she described it, it was a way of life where people slow down and become less obsessed with time and possessions. With the crowding that I see in Bangkok and the huge tourist trade I can see how one can try to avoid this kind of life.

Yesterday, I met Lika who is an editor of textbooks in Thailand. It is fun trying to communicate with someone when both people have just a simple understanding of the other person's language. I know maybe ten Thai phrases, and although Lika knows much more English, it was really a puzzle how to say things. So I got out my flute and my tennis balls. There were not many people there so I showed them how to juggle. ha ha. Then I played two pieces that Danny and I composed. Music is a universal language like math, and it is so much easier than memorizing long lists of vocabulary.

It is interesting to see how people manage in places like India where the average student has three languages to master. Apparently people learn how to pickup phrases that are needed. English is definitely the universal language that is emerging, but this seems like such a ridiculous choice with the many problems that exist in our language.

Got to go.

The Influential Harry Fee

When I was little I had a neighbor named Harry Fee. He was always getting me in trouble. I remember particularly well the time he suggested I fill a paint can full of kerosene and throw in a match. The way I remember I just threw the match in without lighting it, but I also remember a huge fireball. I remember quite vividly even today. But I know that there was one time I got him in trouble. We lived four miles from school, and one day I remember looking at the steps to the bus and the green grass near the parking lot and suggesting to Harry that we should walk home.

And we made it.

Well, we made it half a mile when Mrs. Case, the first grade teacher picked us up and drove us home.

These two things happened when I was six.

But I have never lost the love of walking and running. So on my first day in Bangkok I ran and walked for 3 hours. Well, almost all of it was walking. The running was in a beautiful spot named Lamphini Park. It is a beautifully manicured place, and along the way I heard a group of people chanting and dancing to drums and singing "Hare Krishna." I passed another spot where people were practicing martial arts and two other pavilions where students were reading as a teacher read aloud to them. Nearby there were high rises that seemed not much different from North Michigan Avenue. There are cars everywhere, and as I write this I can smell the exhaust. Traffic is fast here, and although there are motorcycles and scooters right now it seems much like the traffic I would expect in Chicago.

On the way to the park I passed through some great market areas. Jay has spoiled me so I really want just to eat vegetarian food, but the street food is great to smell and look at. And the pineapples and mangos are delicious. I think the word is a roi. Remember to roll the 'R.'

Occasionally I look up above these markets and see housing that looks tiny. I have no clue how the real people live here. Bangkok does have an overwhelming look of a city that lives on tourism. India had its Hindu temples and Islamic mosques, but I seem to see so many Buddhist temples here.

Last night I had dinner at nice restaurant that is located halfway in the open, and there was a torrential downpour. I ended up talking with the owner practicing what little Thai I know. Sa Wat Dee Krup and A Roi. That's where I learned the pronunciation.

Have to go soon. By the way, I had to stay over for twelve hours at Calcutta, and I discovered that there was a dorm at the airport. For about $17 dollars I got a room which included a roommate, M.D., Arfan Ali, who was a Senior Vice President of the Bank Asia LTD in Dhaka. He told me of the problems of lack of infrastructure in the area where he works. He comes from a small village an hour from Dhaka where he helps out children who go to the mosque there. He invited me to come teach there. If I keep breathing in fumes here in Bangkok, I may take a train to Dhaka to get a little change of pace teaching. Ha ha. Just joking. But it would be great to see what Bangladesh is. It is, I am told, the most densely populated country in the world with about 147 million people. The water problems seem like something I should investigate.

Bangkok and "Billions of Entrepreneurs"

I have arrived in Bangkok. After India it just looks like another American city. I had such a wonderful time in India and Korea, that it will be hard for any other country besides the Philippines to meet my high expectations. On the last day in Bangalore Jay took me to meet Vishwanath S. who is from the International Rainwater Catchment Systems Associates. This visit was really great, and Jay and I are thinking of ways that we can get the school in Bangalore to work with Ancona on a water project. Water will be a major problem in the world in the next couple decades, and it is important that people start thinking about it. The ideas I got from this visit were really profound. I will have to write more later.

After that visit we saw a green architect, and this was equally fascinating. The ideas I am getting from these discussions are really worth discusing with my students and other students I meet. Being around Jay and her husband is like being around Reshma. It is truly fun to be able to think!!!

Ashok suggested to me a book that one of his friends just wrote, and at the airport I got it. It is called Billions of Entrepeneurs. It deals with the economic boom that is taking place in India and China. When I read the first paragraph, I felt like he had just stolen an idea that I have had for the last few months. Ha ha. The ignorance that Americans have of Asia is monumental, and it really needs to be remedied. Jay and Ashok were in the US for at least fifteen years, and although they really love India, they really love the wilderness in America and the efforts Americans do try to be fair. We also are capable of making very rapid changes in America, and I am sure if we see ourselves going in the wrong direction, we are capable of turning things around.

Sambhavi, Manasa and Jayashree

ZEUS: This blog is being written by a committee of youngsters.

SAMBHAVI: Sambhavi is five years old and would like to say that Zeus juggled at her school and at her home. Sambhavi and her sister study at "Namma Shaale" - a Montessori school whose name translates to "Our school" in Kannada. Their mother Jayashree teaches yoga at the school. He played the flute for us, and my classmates called him the "juggling man". Sambhavi's cousin Sanjeev will be in her sister's class next month. Sanjeev, as most of you know is Reshma's son, and he is coming to Bangalore from Chicago.

MANASA: I am Sambhavi's sister. My name is Manasa. I am seven and a half, but that is almost eight. I learned about parabolas from Zeus. Zeus said anything that is thrown forms a parabola. He showed us how to play the flute. We blew across a water bottle, and I could make the sound of a flute. He gave us each a juggling ball and three tennis balls. And we got a big wooden drum. He and Dad will later get us a wooden flute. At school my classmates and I had a class of juggling and flute playing. We came home and played chess and monopoly, and Zeus videotaped my sister doing Indian dancing.

We had a big party at our school to honor Zeus. We had cake too.

JAYASHREE: I am Jayashree - Manasa and Sambhavi's mum and I wont tell you how old I am! I loved cooking for Zeus. He loves to eat and it was worth every bit of my effort. I cooked him dishes from North, South, Western India. No dishes from the Eastern part this time. He will have to come again. I hope Zeus has gained a little weight. He's been playing the flute so often I'm going to miss the live music over dinner starting tomorrow. We hope Zeus visits again. It has been such a pleasure for all of us. And...I am practising the very basics of juggling too.
Tomorrow I plan to take Zeus to visit an amazing group that has been building completely sustainable houses out mud brick houses and with rain water harvesting built in. He is looking forward to it. We've had some discussions on Gandhi and non-violence which I've enjoyed a lot.

ZEUS: The Naama Shalee School is really beautiful, and it has been great fun teaching there. Everyone knows me, and everyone knows about parabolas which by the way are pronounced as pair a bow las in India. The part of Bangalore where we are staying is so much less congested than the big cities we have been visiting although I have not really seen the central part of the city. This is really a part of the booming India that we have been reading about. I am really getting more impressed with how diverse this country is. Almost all the students here are learning three or more languages, and in this area most people are Hindu but there are lots of Christian churches too. By the way, did I mention that almost every house has a "God Room". That is the way it was described to me by one of the older students. Men here are much less likely to wear turbans. I have been listening to lots of Indian music, and it really is so much different from anything I have ever played or heard before.
Got to go. Tomorrow evening I am off to Bangkok.

Bangalore

I left Trivandrum yesterday. Sree, Anya, Domonique and Kari are off to Bombay. The visit with Sree's parents was fabulous! They were just the nicest hosts you can imagine. This whole trip would not have taken place had it not been for Sree, and I owe him a debt of gratitude!!!!!! By the way Kari knows how to juggle, and Domonique tells me that she is working on it too.

When were leaving we went to a Hindu temple. Sree, his dad, and I got two coconuts each and part of the ritual was to smash them against a stone wall then to go forward to an alter an pray. It was a ritual that Sree and his dad went through when we arrived, and this was our way of departure.

At one point I talked with the three girls, and we concluded that India had less diversity than the United States. For example, we have people from every continent while most people in India can trace their ancestry back to this country. However, I am beginning to think that this idea needs to be modified.

India has amazing diversity, but it is of a different sort than America. For example, I am now in Bangalore--the fourth city I have visited--and here the main language spoken in Kanada. All four cities have a different language!!!!!!

I am now visiting Reshma's sister-in-law Jayashrree and her husband Ashok and their two beautiful daughters. They are so much like Reshma -- smart, talented, and just so so interesting. Jayashree's one vice is that she buys books by the dozen, a vice I share, and talking with her and with Ashok is so stimulating. She is a wonderful cook and makes fabulous vegetarian dinners. She pointed out to me that India has more diversity in its cuisine than any other country, and I am really seeing this. Food differs greatly from region to region, and with different religious groups the food that is eaten greatly changes.

By the way, both in Trivantrum and in Bangalore we eat with our hands. In Trivandrum, Sree's parents welcomed us with a feast where all the food was served on banana leaves. I must say, I seem to be eating enormous amounts of food, and I am not gaining any weight. The school where I started teaching is absolutely beautiful. It is a Montessori School and all the students call me "Zeus Uncle." Interestingly, the students there seem to not have much interest in fast foods. They bring food that is cooked at home, and practically all of them say that they eat together with their family every evening and every morning. We start the day with yoga, and then they go to classrooms which are open and airy. I have started videotaping their observations, and today I had them say hi to individual members of my class at Ancona. Hopefully, we will be able to keep up these contacts. The students here like the students in the Cambridge School are really a nice group.

Have to go now.

Trivandrum

We are in Trivandrum. It is so beautiful here. It reminds me of Bohol in the Philippines. Sree's parents live here, and they have shown us a great time here. Yesterday we went on a four hour cruise of a beautiful lake on a houseboat. The food is truly delicious! You should get a link to Trivandrum.

Here are a few brief observations:

There are many more men here wearing dhotis. I have no clue how they keep them up.

Frequently one sees a whole family on a motorcycle with the mother riding sidesaddle wearing a beautiful sari and holding one of the children in front of her. The other child sits in its father's lap. It really looks amazing.

There are red hammer and sickle flags about. Both Trivandrum and Bengal have strong communist parties.

Every night at 8 the electricity goes off for half an hour.

I got a hair cut for approximately $2.50. Then I decided to get my beard trimmed. Ha ha. You would not believe how short it got. Anya insists she will make copies of the before and after. I feel like Samson. argh.

Many people here really are very unhappy with George Bush's foreign policy. Is this a surprise?

Leaving Calcutta

It was 3 a.m. when we left Calcutta, and the air was still warm and humid. At the corner a block away from where we stayed there were four people sleeping on mats on the sidewalk, and at the other end of the block there were five more people sprawled out. I had come to Calcutta with images of poverty that were pretty dreadful. For the past twenty years I have been hearing about how there are people living on the streets in this city, and often there are reports that one will be walking past people dying there. In the week that I was in Calcutta I encountered two people begging. That was actually less than what I would find in Chicago, but these were a little boy and a mother with two kids in hand. It does appear that these people on the street are making some kind of a living selling things at the markets that they have there. They get their water from a pipe at the corner, and they do their washing at that corner. Cooking is often done on the street with a little stove. I am told that everyday 1.5 million people make their way into Calcutta to sell things so the question is: are these people on the street permanently living there or are they just there for a short period. I cannot ask them because they speak Bengali. In Delhi it was Hindi, and in Trivandrum it will be Malayalam. Some people speak English, but many do not, and I doubt that these street people do. And how would I ask them anyway? It is clear that many parts of India are booming, but the streets where I spent my time were very crowded. filled with exhaust from vehicles and the constant noise of cars honking. I wish I could find out the life story of some of these people. I do not see people dying on the streets, but I do not see evidence that the children living on the streets will be able to compete with children who have a more permanent place to stay.

By the time we get to Bangalore on the way to Trivandrum we see an airport that looks like it could have been built yesterday. It has the modern look of an airport that could be anywhere. This was "shockingly modern relatibvely speaking" according to Dominique.

I must go...

Cambridge School

Teaching at the Cambridge School in Calcutta was a wonderful experience. Sarjesh Makherjee who owns the school was a great host just as Tom and Jocelyn had been in Seoul. I have been so lucky! All the administrators, staff, and students at Cambridge made me feel at home, and I only wish I could acknowledge everyone personally. I probably ended up seeing just about every student in the school, and I feel like I have lots of new friends.

The Cambridge School has a direct connection with Cambridge University, and in size it is very much like Ancona. Classes are small and there is an emphasis on discussion, questioning, and life long learning. Most of the students are from India, but a sizable proportion are from foreign countries. In fact, nine different countries are represented with the largest representation from Seoul. I got a chance to practice my Korean in almost every class. For the most part my teaching started with me juggling and then discussing with the students how this was related to ideas of parabolas and the work on Galileo. Well, almost all of it was like this. I left out a little of the physics when I saw the preschoolers! I also got a chance in most classes to perform some of the songs Danny Buenconsejo and I will perform in Cebu. A group of Korean students performed a gospel song with voice and flute, and then I joined them playing Arirang while they sang.

It is always fun to be able to relate juggling tricks to Galileo, and I certainly noticed how all the students seemed to know of the work of Isaac Newton. Well, I guess since he was an alum...

Following these physics and music lessons, we would talk about what America and India are like. Most kids knew much more about America than any of us know about India. With the high school students there were several very memorable discussions in which the students complained that India is being overwhelmed with consumerism. It was a pleasant surprise to see people complain about malls and the jobs that they are taking from poor people, and when several of them noted gleefully that the first McDonald's in Calcutta had burned down in an accident, I realized I was really not in America! Ha ha. It was great to hear that good taste still exists.

After Three Days of Teaching

This is the end of my third day of teaching at the Cambridge School in Calcutta. I have had a tremendous time teaching kids from preschool to high school and have made many great friends among the students and the faculty.

The Cambridge School is much like Ancona. It has small classes with bright students who are not afraid to question and think. Most of what I have taught has been from my lesson about juggling and algebra although I have modified it greatly for younger kids. I am really looking forward to having my students in Ancona share experiences with the students here. They would really like to do the same. Their knowledge of America is far more extensive than what we know about India. They can all tell me about Barack Obama, and, of course, Michael Jordan. Of course, there was the student who told me he thought that Chicago was a city in the state of Boston, but for the most part they are not pulling my leg. ha ha

Calcutta was, on my first trip around the city, a more prosperous looking city than Delhi, but I was told that this was just appearances. There are, indeed, some beautiful places here, and the lake where I run each day is one of them. Anya, Domonique, and Kari were happy to discover that there are malls here too. In this respect Calcutta looks like the new India that we keep hearing about.

But there are other places which we would never see in Chicago. The place where we stay is nice, and I am indeed thankful that it has air conditioning. Calcutta is very humid. When I look out my window in the morning, I see a small group of people gathering around a pump where they collect buckets of water. There is usually one or two people with soap washing up there while others are filling their buckets. Across the street is a beautiful woman in a bright yellow sari She is wearing earrings and a nose ring She is the street sweeper for these two blocks. At least once every day while I am waiting for our driver I see someone running past with his rickshaw. I have become used to seeing bicycle powered rickshaws, but to see someone running with another person seated behind me was truly an amazing thing for me. I don't see too many runners in this city, but this is clearly an example of India's distance runners.

There are many people here with servants, and this reminds me of the Philippines. There are also many people living in temporary housing -- often tents. But what I see here also are people sleeping on the street. In a country with lots of cars, lots of malls, these extremes of wealth are truly jarring. I have gotten to know just a few people on the streets. One older man with a long beard asked me if Anya, Domonique, and Kari were my "followers". If they are, they certainly haven't been showing their guru enough respect. ha ha

Sreer finds the traffic with its constant honking almost intolerable, and I am beginning to agree with him. I am amazed that I have not seen an accident yet. The air pollution here is like what I have seen in Payatas in the Manila area. You can smell it. I have now discovered that the improvements in air pollution in Delhi were a result of laws there. Natural gas is now proving to be cheaper than gasoline, but it happened because of governmental intervention. Apparently, its air pollution was really intolerable, but today it is much, much better. Dust from the dry conditions is what remains, but this is an amazing improvement over what has occurred in many Asian cities. This is something that many cities can learn from.

I have been really impressed with the quality of the newspapers here. Chicago's papers really seem to go in to so little depth compared to what I am reading here. I am finally getting some sense of what the issues are related to the Nuclear treaties, but in America I am not sure that I would have even recognized that this was an issue.

My access to the internet here has not been too good. I will hope to get pictures as soon as I can.

Just North of Calcutta

We are staying in an area just north of Calcutta where we are just relaxing for a day. I have been really thinking about transportation a lot lately. Of all the countries I have ever been to, this country seems to have the most chaotic transportation system. However....

It is the country that seems to be dealing the best with the energy crisis.

I had this in the back of my mind and thought it was just a random thought that should be ignored, but then I noticed a letter to the editor in the paper here.

The writer praised bicycle riders for being the solution to many problems. Three of them were:
1. The energy crisis
2. The problem of pollution
3. The need for exercise

Now, this solution is something I hear practically no one talk about with the exception of my friend Jamie Kalven. Certainly the vast majority of people on bikes would probably prefer a Lamborghini were all expenses paid for so the problem seems to be economic.

India is the country where I have seen compressed natural gas being used along with propane. I also saw some evidence of electric powered motorcycles. The real price of transportation, however, is not just the fuel price but also the road construction, the price of the vehicle and the price of parking. Many countries can barely afford to maintain these things just for the use of the very wealthy.

So much for transportation. I will have to solve this problem some other day. haha

While running today, I was again struck that the heavy labor of carrying dirt in construction seems to be done mainly by women.

Other random thoughts:

-There are so many people who open doors and serve here. It is so much different than Korea and the US, but very similar to the Philippines.

-In Korea, I wanted to write down the name of a political figure, but I only had a red pen. Tom told me not to write his name down in red. It is apparently bad luck or perhaps an insult.

-In Korea, people celebrate the 100th day after someone's birth or the 100th day that a couple has been together.

-In India two cars often share one lane in passing and often a car will pass a truck on the left with inches between the vehicles leaving one to think the end is near.

I have little time for the internet here so I will have to race to a finish. Bye for now.

Running in Delhi

None of the three young ladies took me up on my offer to go run so I had to do it myself. It was so much easier running without the afternoon traffic so I got a chance to run behind some of the bikers. There are many of them! The park where I run has several groups of people doing yoga and meditating. The seem to end with clapping which I, of course, appreciated greatly because my speedwork is getting better. ha ha.

Across the street from the park is a huge dirt field where there are people living in blue tents. I was about to think that these people were all down and out, but having started Gandhi's biography I have begun to wonder. He talks in it about moving to smaller and smaller quarters to save money, and I have begun to wonder how many of these people are actually working. Two kids ask me my name and I shout it back, and then another asks where I am from and I yell, "Chicago". For the most part people speak HIndi, and I am a little surprised to hear English. I have noticed both here and in the Philippines that poorer people seem to be very attractive. For Americans who prize being thin and having tans this seems understandable. It was interesting to notice that some of the people from the tent area bring buckets to get water from the irrigation hose in the park. I remember Reshma telling me once that for poorer people the time spent looking for water is much greater than for middle class people.

We will be leaving for Calcutta this evening. We have really enjoyed getting to know Mr. Banga. He is a Seikh, and he has a great sense of humor. Last night we had dinner at his house with his two boys. His wife and the two house servants served us, but it was disconcerting to see her not eat until we were finished.

We visited a shirt factory this morning. Outside were about twenty bicycles and a handful of motorcycles. There were metal containers called diffin which men use for carrying their lunches. The men working at the sewing machines were in their twenties and thirties, and they might have been the people that I was racing when I returned to the hotel. Ha ha.

I will have to end here. I have so much to say, but I have to rush. Lunch is waiting.

Delhi

I have arrived in Delhi, and it is so different from any place I have ever been! After arriving at the airport, I was taken by Mr. Banga's driver to the hotel where Sreer Nair, his daughter Anya and her two friends--Domonique and Kari---are staying. We have done much travelling in Delhi, New Delhi, and areas south in the last two days. We have seen the Taj Mahal, the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, the Bahai Temple, the Quaban Tower, and the Swaminarayan Temple. (I am hoping that I have not butchered any spellings). The Taj Mahal is truly amazing, and Gandhi is one of my greatest heroes so these have been great experiences. The Bahai Temple was wonderful, and I am getting a sense of the amazing history of this country.


Domonique thought that, "The Taj was rather cool with its all around intricate symmetry." Kari noted that people were more interested in taking pictures of Americans than they were of the tourist sites. Anya can only say that she is hungry having had some of the worst McDonalds in the world can obtained here. The think that putting Mc as a prefix is not sufficient for making this a truly American corporation. Anya believes the quality of the food at this franchise is truly McNasty. LOL. I must admit that the traffic here has really been overwhelming. Coming from Seoul where there is such order and precision, the roadways here are amazingly chaotic. I have seen on the roads, the following: bikes, bicycle powered pedicabs, carts pulled by bikes, people, oxen, horses, and camels, scooters, motorcycles, people on foot, cars, buses powered by compressed natural gas, and motorcycle powered tricycles. I think I may have missed something, but there is such a mixture speeds and vehicles everywhere that it feels like total anarchy. Cars weave in and out often keeping within inches of one another, and I am amazed to have not seen an accident yet. Manila seems so organized next to this. Am I criticizing everything? At first I was. The mixture of speeds with each vehicle makes for very slow movement at times. But in time I began to wonder whether all this was bad. Mr. Banga is the manager of a factory that we visited today, and as we entered I noticed that the parking lot was filled--twenty five bikes! I am sure that if they had the money, the workers would all be driving cars. But would this ever be possible?? I really wonder what will happen as oil becomes more difficult to obtain. Will we be starting to use other alternative ways of getting to work?

I went running when I returned from our travels today, and in a large park it was comfortable if a little hot. Walking on the way back, I suddenly decided I would just jog anyway even if it involved weaving through traffic. The opportunity to outrun one of the bicycled powered pedicabs was too much to resist and I did win even if the driver didn't know we were racing. Then I decided to see if I could keep up with one of the motorcycle powered tricycles. Argh, he pulled away just slightly. Tomorrow I will have to see if man can beat machine.

Saying Goodbye to Seoul

Sunday we went to the Ancient Village which is about an hour south of Seoul. It reminds me of New Salem, Lincoln's hometown. I thank my fine friend Sang Shin for recommending it to me. I will have to come back to see it again. It truly is a beautiful place, and we got a sense of the real history and daily life of the Korea of the past. It is worth remembering that Korea was not a wealthy country fifty years ago, and it has really been transformed in that time. The value of hard work is definitely here.

Along the way, we saw high rises everywhere but lots of lush green forests. There are many, many greenhouses here, and judging from the wonderful diet here, I can imagine that a lot of them are for raising vegetables.

Yesterday we saw Phillip off. We will miss him, and I particularly will miss the way he and Jocelyn loved to tease one another. Last night after Phillip left we watched the absolutely wonderful movie Sassy Girl. If you ever have the chance to see it, you will see someone who is the Korean version of Jocelyn!

Today I am leaving for Delhi. Tom and Jocelyn have been absolutely wonderful hosts here, and I cannot thank them enough. I have met some great people here, and I know I will remember them all--Cindy, Sean, Candy, John, Tom's brother in law, and many others. I went on my last run in the Children's Grand Park. The old man who must be close to 90 waved to me again today. The women who for the last week has been giving me a drink of green tea gave me an entire bottle of it. I did not see the young man who pushes himself around on a wheel chair. But I am sure he will be there, and I was motivated to run faster when I saw him wheel himself up the steep hills. There is a stretch of the run which is under a canopy of trees which reminded me of a road I once ran down in Luzon lined by flowers. It is a great place. You should all come to see this.

The Cheonggyeecheon River

One of the great places in Seoul is the Cheonggyecheon River. The story about it is worth reading, and I hope you can look at the link here. It is a great place to run or walk, and at night the water falls and fountains have made it a new tourist attraction. These waterfalls are not just beautiful; they contribute greatly to the cleaning of the water. The Chicago Water Reclamation Board has done some similar things, but Seoul's example is so evident to everyone that it has become know throughout the world.

The concern for the environment is very evident here. When I visited the Center for Green Technology in Chicago last year, I learned about how sidewalks can be made "porous". Rather than having asphalt or concrete, walkways can be made of bricks with spaces between them where water can seep through rather than run off. The problem of excessive run-off is a truly important one. I would be interested to find out if that is the purpose of the bricks here are in order to make the walk ways more porous. I suspect it is, but I can't say for sure. Although Seoul and other urban areas seem to be one high rise after another, it is clear from the numbers of hikers I see that many Koreans really love nature and the environment.

One of the other things which is really evident in Seoul is that there are many street vendors. People set up shop on the main streets, in the subway, and in the small winding streets like the one where Jocelyn and Tom live. There are also in general far more shops here, and while there are some big places to shop there seem to be far more snall shops for eating, selling clothes and computer games. Seoul, by the way, is the computer gaming capital of the world. The streets here, like in the Philippines, seem much more alive with activity than in the United Startes.

Juggling at the Flea Market... in the rain

Phillip has learned how to juggle. And like many people who have just learned how to juggle, he had to see how many throws he could complete. Which, of course, can drive people around him crazy, but that doesn't include me.

So yesterday when we went to the Han River, is was raining and we ended up going to a "Flea Market" under one of the bridges. This particular flea market seemed to be sponsored by the Seoul Global Center which is a community space for foreigners in Seoul. It actually sounds quite interesting, and when it finally dawned on me that I am foreigner, it seemed even more interesting. I probably would have just walked by, but the shelter from the rain made it inviting, and then Phillip decided he needed to practice juggling. Well, I cannot stand to see someone juggling alone so I joined him.

And soon we had an audience.

It started with the 75 year old veteran of the Korean War who liked Chicago. Then it grew to lots and lots of kids, several photographers, and a delightful volunteer from the Seoul Global Center. The kids practiced their Korean on us, and having spent several months practicing, I got a few gasps from the crowd when I finished off by juggling five balls. It was fun, and many of the kids left knowing they had met Juice or Zee Ooze.

We had originally planned to meet some Filipinos for a picnic, but because of the rain we ended up gong to the house of Gigi who is in the Korean class. Her husband George is Korean (note that many Koreans take American names when they meet us), and he turned out to be an accomplished pianist so we had a great time playing music for one another and then trying some duets. I have been working on a variation of Arirang, and we actually tried that a few times. I have promised my song writer, Danny Ayam, that I willl have an idea for it by the time I get to Cebu in August.

Random Observations

Many people here, particularly older people, go hiking or walking. It is not unusual to see women on a warm day wear white gloves, long sleeves, pants, a very long visor and even masks covering their faces while they walk. Umbrellas were often common as shade from the sun.

Younger women, in contrast, often wear very short skirts. This is a real contrast to the Philippines where long skirts below the calf and jeans are what practically all women wear.

Older men often wear very conservative clothing. A white shirt, dark pants, and dress shoes. Very few younger men had tattoos or body piercing.

There seems to be much more recycling both inside homes and on the street.

Lots of classical music is heard on the street here. Phillip and I noticed a lot of western music in the form of rap or country western, and it was only after listening carefully for a while that we realized it was in Korean!

There are many small streets that seem almost like alleys here with people walking on them moving to the side on occasion when a car comes through. I have not seen any parking lots, and the cheapest gas I calculated as being about $6 a gallon. (They, of course, use liters here).

There are professional teams for companies, but pro sports seems to be nowhere near the level that we find in America. There are no Cubs, Sox, Bears, or Bulls that I could see although everyone knows who Michael Jordan is.

Everyone seems to know about Hillary and Barack. How many of you know who the candidates were in the last Korean election?

Everyone, of course, places their shoes at the entrance of the door, and most eating is done at small tables where one sits cross legged on the floor. For Phillip, Jocelyn, and me this is pretty difficult, but I am convinced it is good for stretching muscles. There are sooooooooooooo many more vegetables in the diet here. Pop comes in tiny thin cans.

From my tiny sample I noticed that the younger kids seemed more outgoing, and the older kids seemed much more shy. Children's days are very busy often going from one academy to another after school.

Heating is through the floors rather than forced air or radiators. There is air conditioning, but I never used it.

People talk about pollution from dust storms coming from China.

Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl are really fun to use when teaching kids English. I could repeat the stories over and over, and students would not get bored. I also found that juggling with students and giving them directions in English was amazingly effective. "Toss the ball to my from your right hand", "Balance the ball on you the back of your hand,""Bounce the ball and hand it to the person in front of you," were a sample of phrases that built up vocabulary for the kids who didn't know much English.

In spite of the fact that Korea is a very different country from America, it seems easy to adjust to. People seem more serious, kids seem more driven to succeed, and there seems to be much less emphasis on fast food and malls, but I have a sense that the difference between the U.S. and Korea will pale next to the differences between India and the U.S. Stay tuned while I adjust my turban.

Honest Abe or Juice? (You decide.)

Today I woke up and went running in the huge Children's Grand Park that is nearby. Usually I run along feeling very anonymous without anyone noticing that I am there. But for some reason today four people waved to me, and as I was finishing some sprints on the soccer field, one of the many walkers that I see greeted me with the familiar Anyong Haseyo and asked me if I wanted some green tea. I am not sure why today was different, but it was.

The morning Korean class was fun as usual. The Korean teacher addresses me as Abraham Lincoln rather than Juice, and all the students are constantly joking and passing around food. They make sure the teacher gets food too. Today I memorized my first Korean poem. We all have to recite it, and I am really intent on getting it right. After class we meet for lunch in a Korean restaurant and everyone speaks Tagalog so I am having both a Korean lesson and a Tagalog lesson. Tagalog is easier to understand in part because I have heard it a lot more and also because it has so many more cognates. I can tell that all the Filipinas welcome a chance to speak Tagalog so there is practically no Korean or English spoken at lunch. I realize now that I am better at Visayan than Tagalog. Maybe I willl greet everyone with Maayong Buntag this morning. Ha ha

Tchalee and the Chocolate Factory: Part 2

This is the continuation of the Tchalee and the Chocolate Factory story by Candy and Sean. However, it is being finished by Sean and Cindy.

The Galbee House where Tchalee was to get his birthday dinner was owned by Wonje Wonka. Wonje Wonka had developed the most fantastic recipes. People came from all over Seoul to see Wonje Wonka and eat his amazing Golbee dinners. No one knew how he had made them. No one ever saw the chefs who worked in his kitchens, and no one ever saw any trucks arriving to bring the meat and yaechae (vegetables)!! There was great speculation about how his food came to be as extraordinarily delicious as it was.

But Tchalee's hal aw baw je (grandfather), Ginbum Buket, had his theory, and it was a most fantastic theory. He believed... no, he knew, that the Galbee House had cooks that were the tiniest of humans. They spent their entire lives apparently in the Galbee House. And it appeared that the beef cattle for the Galbee came from within the walls of the Galbee House. No one had ever seen them, but they clearly had never come from the United States and no one ever protested about how they were inspected.

On Tchalee's birthday, he and the other six members of his family got dressed up to eat at Wonje Wonka's Galbee House. They were all going to gather around the one dinner that Tchalee would get for his birthday. The seven of them would have to share the one spoon and the two metal chopsticks that were provided. The room where they ate was collosal and the sick tack (low table) where they sat with their legs crossed was made of the most beautifully polished wood in all of Korea. The Galbee dinner was extraordinary, but the seven members of the family had to hold back their appetites. Each one took a tiny nibble of the Galbee, and munched on the most delectable morsels of kimchi and ggack ttoo gi.

When Wonje Wonka heard of these unusual patrons, he had to see them. He was used to people who loved his dinners but left some of the food uneaten, and the sight of these seven people lovingly consuming his masterpieces so touched him that he burst into nun mul (tears). From then on, he announced, Tchalee and his family would always be welcome at his Galbee House. And from then on, once a week the Bukets would arrive there to have a wonderful sumptuous dinner with Mr. Wonka.

Tchalee and the Chocolate Factory

Today we have a story written by two of my favoirte students--Sean and Candy. You have heard of them before. They are very smart! We are reading the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and today we are going to change it into a Korean story.

Tchalee Buket was a poor and sleepy boy who lived with his umma and apba (mother and father) and his two halmoni (grandmothers) and his two halawbawje (grandfathers). The seven of them lived in a dan kan pang (cement house) which was only six feet square. For acheem, jumshim, and jun nyok (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), they had only cold watery ramen day after day. But once a year on his birthday, he got the chance to eat Galbee. Galbee tastes marvelous, especially to Tchalee. Galbee is a special kind of meat from beef cattle. Although Tchalee was extremely poor, in the distance he could see a Galbee House and smell its fantastic smells. It was masheta (delicious). His apba only had a part time job sweeping up trash in the Children's Grand Park. But once a year one of the people who hiked in the park would give him money for a dinner at the Galbee House, and Tchalee would get to share the dinner with his parents. (To be continued)

Cindy's Upcoming Departure

Cindy is leaving for Hanoi in three days. She will be living there for sometime, maybe three years or maybe six. Today we read from a book that Barack Obama wrote, Dreams From My Father. This particular book was signed by Barack to my wife. Cindy had heard about Barack Obama on the news. She knew that he was very smart, and he is running for President in the United States. Phillip told us that his brother had seen Barack at his health club and Zeus lives just around the corner from him. Cindy knew that Barack was a black man, and she found out about Barack's father who was from Nairobi which is the capital of Kenya.

Cindy says she is not looking forward to going to Hanoi, but she will try to make new friends there. At the new school they will speak only English. In Korea Yoo Yoo means crying but we know that Cindy is a very friendly smart person, and we think that she will make great friends. We already feel like she is a great friend to us. So we will play one more game of Thumb War and see if she can win this time.

Argh.

She won this time and won't let me play it again.

Seoul Sites

Seoul is a beautiful city with a wonderful transportation system and some really nice parks. There are so many small shops and winding streets here, and although one occasionally sees a fast food restaurant, they do not fare too well against the other smaller places. Tom tells me that many people do not like fast foods. People here seem pretty health conscious and although I do not see too many people running, there are lots of people of all ages that love to walk and hike.

Over the weekend we went to see the Emperor's Palace and the War Museum. The Palace was impressive, and the changing of the guards really gave a sense of the ancient history of this country. We had lots of opportunities to take pictures, and the most fun was going up to a group of girls and asking if they could be in a picture with Phillip. Hopefully we can send a whole collection of these soon. I, myself, was quite happy that my camera did not seem to be working, but then I figured out its problem. Drat. I hate taking pictures.

Our trip to the War Museum was fun because we managed to fit eight people into a car!!!!!! On the way back we decided to divide up and take the subway, and it was great fun getting lost and finding our way back. It was even more fun juggling while on the train. It was nice to have an audience. Te he. Well, I have to go soon. We have a Korean class in a little while. All the students except Phillip and I are Filipinas and they love joking with Phillip. When he told them that he was 16, they told him they were 14. ha ha