Slow days

Slow days:  The past couple of days at the hospital have been burtally slow.  There just haven’t been many kids around.  I tough it out for as long as I can but I’ve still been closing the playroom early.  Honeslty, even when there are more kids around, it can be tough.  There just aren’t that many different things to do.  I never thought I’d play so many games of pick-up-sticks in my life!  But I have to keep reminding myself that I’m there for the kids and they like coming to the playroom.

More on Jeepneys: I forgot to mention that I have yet to see another foreigner on a jeepney.  Guess they all take taxis.  Even filipinos are surprised to learn that I ride jeepneys.  Oh well….no one’s ever accused me of being a spendthrift.

Sports:  Basketball is a popular sport here (the American influence) even though filipinos are fairly short.  I even met a filipino who is a fan of the Cleveland Cavs.  Another popular sport?  Badminton.  Really.  All the gyms I looked at offered badminton courts and people were actually using them.

lots of miscellaneous

Malls and Department Stores: I’ve posted before on malls here in Davao.  But now that I’ve been here longer, I know a bit more.  There are 5 malls….Victoria Plaza, Gaisano, Gaisano South, NCCC, and SM.  Each mall has a grocery store and a department store that is “tied” to the mall (so Gaisano Mall has Gaisano Department store and Gaisano grocery store).  In addition to the malls, there are two “free standing” department stores: Chymes and NCCC (which is different then the NCCC mall).  Plus, there are two more malls being built….Robinson’s and Ayala.  That’s a lot of malls and department stores for a city of 1.1 million people!  

From what I’ve been told, the people who work in the department stores, work six 8 hour shifts a week.  Why? I have no idea.  Whenever I go in a department store, there are lots of people standing around doing nothing.  Which makes shopping a hassle because the second you enter their area, they start wanting to help you.  And “I’m just looking” doesn’t seem to work here.  They continue to follow you around “How about this sir?” “What about that?”

Oh, and at least at Gaisano mall (the one I normally go to), Christmas decorations have made an appearance already!

Transportation:  Besides walking, there are three main transportation options in Davao – taxis, jeepneys, and tricycles (I’m pretty sure most cities in the Philippines have these same options).  Taxis are the most expensive option, generally costing about $1.25-$2.00 per ride.  I don’t use those very often.  

Jeepneys are quite cheap (about 15 cents).  They drive along the main roads and pick up and drop off passengers at any place along the route.  Jeepneys follow a set route which is shown in the front window and along the side of the vehicle.  Since the jeepney drivers are essentially independent contractors, they load the vehicles up with as many people as they can.  As I mentioned, the jeepney will stop wherever someone wants it to.  Sometimes one person will have the driver stop and get off and 5 feet later someone else will have it stop.  I know it’s hot here, but come on!  Also, when you get on a jeepney, people tend to move toward the entrance/exit in order to create room.  Which is annoying because you then have to crawl over everyone to get on.  Anyway, jeepneys are what I primarily ride to get around.

This photo shows what a jeepney looks like:

http://www.travel-images.com/photo-phil41.html

A tricyle isn’t what you might think.  They operate along the side road and cost about 10 cents.  They use a two-stroke engine which is horrible for the environment.   Fortunately, I’ve only had to use one once.  There are also non-motorized tricyles.  This is a photo of a tricycle:

http://hem.bredband.net/kristita/tricycle.jpg

Games: The kids at the hospital like to play games.  But they’re not particularly competitive and they don’t get upset if they’re not doing well or if they lose.  Quite refreshing compared to how I’ve seen American children react when playing games.

Voting: In case you’re wondering, yes I do plan on voting.  I just need to fax in my absentee ballot application.  And you really shouldn’t wonder who I’m voting for.  :)

Perspective:  The place I’m renting costs about $280 a month.  That includes all utilities, free internet service and maid service a few times a week.  And yet, every filipino who hears how much I’m paying thinks it’s way too much. I try to explain to them that a similar place in the US would cost 3-4 times as much but they can’t comprehend.  Of course, even college educated filipinos tend to make less than $280 a month, so it’s understandable.

Taxes: One nice thing about all the countires I’ve visited is that tax is already added into the price of the item.  So if an item is priced at 100 pesos, for example, it actually rings up at 100 pesos.

some of the kids

Just thought I’d pass along some info on the kids I’ve been working with.  Below is a link to some photos.

Mariyln: Marilyn is 9 and apparantly has a pretty severe form of leukemia.  Despite that, she smiles quite a bit.  Yesterday, she was in the ICU because blood was coming out of her nose.  Not sure if that was related to her cancer or just a regular nose bleed. 

Ton Ton: Ton Ton is 2 1/2.  He’s already had one leg amputated below the knee.  The doctor thought he was on the road to recovery but a tumor was recently found in his lung.  Now things don’t look good.  The other day his father was crying in the playroom.

Kimberly: Kimberly is 3.  I don’t know much about her case but was told that there might be a tumor in her brain.

Christina: Christina is Kimberly’s sister.  She’s 11.  She doesn’t have cancer, she’s just there to help take care of her sister.

Ivy: Ivy is 10 and has leukemia.  But you would never know it from looking at her (apart from the close-cropped hair).  She seems to have plenty of energy to run around and be active.

Eva: Eva is Ivy’s sister.  She’s 12. She doesn’t have cancer…similar to Christina, she’s there to help her sister out.

Kim: Kim is the six year old girl that had her arm amputated recently.  She hasn’t been around recently. Maybe her treatment is over and she’s heading home?  I’m not sure.  Anyway, the last time I saw her, she seemed to be in much better spirits.

I will also mention Shiena and Xai.  Shiena is the person who I primarily work with.  Xai is the senior level person for the child life program.  

Photos are here.  (sorry, no photos of Eva or Kim)

http://www.bubbleshare.com/myalbum/456729.fa97e091c93/editor

Funny signs

Signs: A few amusing signs that I saw recently:

• The marque for a restaurant in my neighborhood has the name of the restaurant followed by this list: “Spare Ribs, Coffee, Beer, Flaming Tuna”.  Maybe it’s just me but that strikes me as a fairly odd and random list of items to be advertising.  And Flaming Tuna???  That sounds downright dangerous.
• A nursery/greenhouse has a sign that says “Plants for Sale.  Plants for Rent.”  What????  You can rent plants???  How does that work???

The Hospital: The hospital I’m volunteering at is Davao Medical Center.  It’s a public hospital that primarily serves the poor.  There are two wings…the outpatient and the inpatient.  The outpatient is a beautiful, brand new building.  It was paid for by the Japanese government.  I’m guessing as some sort of apology for attacking/bombing/destroying the Philippines during WWII.  The inpatient wing (which is where I volunteer), on the other hand, is old, ugly, dirty, smelly, and has no air conditioning (it’s really hot here!).  Patient rooms have beds for about 10-15 patients and there are also patients out in the hallways.  I feel sorry for anyone who has to stay there.  Not sure why the Japanese government didn’t build a new inpatient wing as well.

Update on Kim: I saw Kim this morning.  Her arm has now been amputated.  I tried speaking with her briefly but she was pretty out of it.  She looked stunned.  Poor kid.

Books: When I was in Oaxaca, Mexico I had a steady supply of books due to the Oaxaca lending library.  In Chiang Mai, there were lots of used bookstores with books in English.  Here, in a country where most people speak English, my choices are a lot smaller.  One option is the National Book Store.  The sell new books but the selection is fairly limited and the books are more expensive than what you’d pay for new books in the US.  Several of the malls also have used books stores.  But the collection leans heavily in the John Grisham/Danielle Steel/Tom Clancy arena.  Not exactly what I read (apologies to those who like those sort of books).  So I may run out of books to read very soon here. 

Early Morning Sun: The sun rises early here, like 5:30 am.  I think I read somewhere that the time of sunrise in the Philippines is fairly constant throughout the year.  And unfortunately, my curtians do very little to block out the light.  So many mornings, I throw a towel or a shirt over my face so I can get back to sleep.

sad news

One of the kids I’ve enjoyed playing with the past couple of weeks is named Kim.  She’s six years old and has leukemia.  Yesterday, she was in the playroom.  Today, I didn’t see her anywhere.  I asked the other kids where she was.  One of the other girls put her hand against her shoulder and made a chopping motion and said “tumor”.  I don’t know enough about leukemia to know what that means for Kim’s long-term prognosis but I asusme that’s not a good sign.