Corregidor Island

Hello Friends,

On Thursday morning we woke up at 4:40am to get ready to leave for Corregidor Island on the ferry in Manila. Traffic is so bad that it's easier to leave early, and is pretty much the only way we can be on time for anything.

Corregidor Island, for those who don't know, was a highly bombed island during WWII, and is the place where the American cemetery is located. It is the island where General MacArthur said, "I shall return" to liberate the Filipinos from the Japanese. For those who like to study the Pacific Theater (WWII in the Pacific Islands and Asian countries), this is a very important place for both Filipino and American history. As this small island is located in Manila Bay, it became a strategic point for invading naval forces so they could reach Manila.

The island is now run by tour buses, so we didn't have to walk everywhere. The island is also shaped like a tadpole, so the different sides are called "the topside" and "tailside." The ferry ride took about an hour and a half, so hopping on the ferry is like going to the Channel Islands in Southern California.

The island was completely destroyed during the bombings, and everything has now grown back into a forest. According to the tour guide, there is or was a bomb hole every twenty feet on the island. All that's left of the American and Filipino camps are crumbling ruins, which are riddled with bomb holes. The coolest ruins, in my opinion, are the Topmile Barracks. At one time, Corregidor was host to the largest soldiers' barracks in the world, called the "Top Mile" Barracks, which are literally about a mile long.

 They are huge, which is why I thought they were so cool. Other things you can see are old cannons and guns that have been repainted and face toward the Pacific. The weather was pleasant for most of the day, but then got hotter once it reached the afternoon. There are memorials all over the island for the Americans, Filipino and even Japanese soldiers who died during the war. 

The Filipino war memorial is the biggest and most interesting one, as the whole memorial is dedicated to Filipino history. There are statues representing important rebellions against foreigners in Filipino history, and goes up to Filipino independence. The American memorial erected a statue of an American soldier carrying a wounded Filipino soldier in front of the domed alter of peace, which is before another statue of an eternal flame. 

Corregidor was one of the places I really wanted to visit during my short stay here, and I'm very glad I was able to go. It may not be as interesting for some people unless you are interested in history, but I find WWII memorials to be one of the most memorable places to visit. It's hard to imagine that the overgrown forests full of native bougainvillea, traveler's palms, and trailing purple flowers did not exist after the bombings. Until you see the native fauna growing through the cracks in the collapsed barracks, then you understand that all of those things you learned in your world history class actually happened. If you plan to visit Manila, I recommend Corregidor. While you can only go via a guided bus tour (which doesn't give you enough time to wander around), it is still a great place to visit. 

Rules Optional: Driving in Manila

Guest post by Stella:
After three days riding as passengers in a car, Hanna and I still hold our breaths on near misses on the road. I don't squeeze her arm in panic and now just exchange knowing smiles each time we see some nerve wracking situations. We are now getting used to the fact that we are safe with our very skilled driver, my sister-in-law, who can definitely put the New York taxi driver to shame. We only occasionally try to put on our imaginary seatbelts in the backseat. Seatbelts are not required for back seat passengers and even if you want to wear them the cars don't have them installed in the back seat.

There is a variety of public transportation one can avail of to get around the city. Buses looked quite clean and are driven as well as the other cars. Jeepneys can seat up to 20 people. Two with the driver and the rest sitting on two rows (parallel to the road) facing each other in the back. There are 2 so called Jesus bars above your head you can grab hold on to to keep from sliding from your seat or leaning too much on the next passenger as the jeepney speeds between stops. Their goal is to pick up as many fares in their route. Bus or jeepney stops are ignored as they willfully stop anywhere to let passengers on or off. Car drivers try to drive on the leftmost side to avoid getting stuck behind these vehicles as they tend to be very unpredictable on when they stop.

Then they have the tricycle and the pedicab.  Tricycles are motorcycles with an attached cab to its side and can fit two passengers. Pedicabs are similar but use a bicycle instead . Although they are made to comfortably and safely seat 3 passengers, we've seen them with ten people on the road. Two people behind the driver, four inside the cab where two of them are sitting and the other two on the narrow floor or maybe the other one partially hanging halfway off the side, two more sitting in the one by two feet spot that serves as a back hood, and one hanging Jason Bourne-esque style on top of the roof.

For the tourists there is the caretela, which is a carriage driven by a horse. The carriage is set up higher on the ground so you can get a better view. We had the pleasure of taking a ride on a caretela driven by Eddie, who had a nice toothless smile. His white with brown-streaked horse, Richard, seems to be as old as its owner. A little cranky at first but he seems to like his role as the main attraction on this ride. Richard would follow directions well as he navigates through the traffic maze in the mid-morning heat. He is quite patient as we try to get on and off the carriage multiple times to walk through some tourist spots. He doesn't miss a beat in his trot as we were asked to adjust the weight in the carriage by moving our spot in the seat to balance it. Our tour guide Carlos, whose English is quite excellent, took us around the old Manila district - Intramuros and the fort, Luneta Park, Jose Rizal monument, and the university row. I have visited these places when I was younger and have studied this part of the history in school but it still amazes me that I have learned new things from Carlos. We went to see two beautiful churches San Agustin and the Manila Cathedral. The church of San Agustin is the oldest church in the country. At over 440 years, the church still stands and still is open for mass on Sundays. Manila Cathedral, currently undergoing reconstruction, is a beautiful church. It is popular for local celebrities and politicians who want to get married ala Westminster Abby style.

Caretelas are allowed to be driven on the main roads alongside cars, buses, etc. It's amazing to watch Richard pull the carriage through all the speeding, honking modern machines. Eddie, our driver, told us that the horse has the right of way because he can't see very well on the side, and can't stop all the time. We realized that right of way means not following the stoplights or road signs. I am not sure whether I fear for our lives sitting on the carriage or for the horse that just kept going in spite of the oncoming traffic as we turn left from the main road. Surprisingly, all cars stop to let us through. If you think riding through the smaller streets is easier, it is even more interesting. Since horses can't just stop suddenly, Eddie would be yelling "Excuse the horse!" whenever a pedestrian or a vehicle is in its way.  Feeling more confident about our role in the road, we started adding "Richard is coming through." Just like the Red Sea, the road is parted and everyone seems to not mind moving over for Richard. As we said our goodbyes and thanks, Richard the lion-hearted, gave as a nonchalant nod of his head and rode off to find a spot of shade where he will rest until the next group of tourists comes along.

Mabuhay!!

Hello friends,

It's been one thing after another since we left California. Our flight left at noon to a layover in Japan, which was about 11 hours. Then we took a five hour flight to Manila from there. To get a good grasp of how long Mom and I were up, remember that we left California at 12:30pm. Continuing on Californian time, we arrived in Manila at around 9 or 10am, which is around 11pm Manila time. After saying hello to everyone at the house, we went to bed at 2am and got up early to explore Manila.

Manila is crowded, dusty and hot. Palm trees, bougainvillea, and spiky draceneas crowd what little dirt space is available. Three-lane streets become five lanes as people squeeze their cars into every inch of space as they aggressively punch their horns to warn pedestrians that they are careening through the streets. Manila traffic is colorful enough to write an entire blog post about, which I will write later this week with Mom's help.

In the morning after we landed, I visited Mom's old school and explored the streets around it, including the open market, which is quite the experience.

The open or "wet market" is street after street of vendors selling fresh vegetables, meat, food, fruit, and traditional Filipino things like a "walis," or coconut husks to polish wooden floors. 

Most of my first morning in Manila was spent going around the open market and looking at everything. There are so many things to look at and smell that it's pretty overwhelming. And there are tons of fruit and veggies that I didn't even know existed that Mom insisted I try, such as Lanzones (small yellow fruit with milky sap that is split into segments like citrus fruits. The flesh is clear and sweet, until you bite into a seed that makes it bitter). 

For lunch we went to an open sea market and picked out things to eat, and I got to taste this guy here: 

Some of the things you see around the city and markets make you laugh, such as the fact that once the vendors are done, stray dogs will jump up onto the tables and sleep there. Cooking oils are measured and sold in plastic bags. Gigantic prawns at the seafood market look like something from an Alien movie, but are actually quite delicious. I ate a lot of food yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. Just seeing all these things makes me realize how much I don't know about Filipino culture and the food, and that I still have a lot of things to try before I leave. 

Next blog post: the trip to the WWII memorials on Corregidor Island. 

Denmark is a prison

Shakespeare shenanigans abound!
The theater class directed Shakespeare scenes, and everyone had to participate. These ten-minute scenes, each from a different Shakespeare play, were set up all around the conference center and performed Thursday night. We had to improvise costumes (mostly borrow each other's clothes) and sets. I must say that I was very impressed by what everyone came up with. As for me, I played Baptista from The Taming of the Shrew, and we did a weird alternate universe rendition in a retirement home.

We look like the cast from Scrubs. 

Somehow it worked! And it was pretty funny. Others performed in The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, As You Like It, Hamlet, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Everyone did a spectacular job staging and costuming despite our limited resources.

Nerdy Macbeth (and his sock puppet companion) discourses with the high school witches. 

Amid our research and papers, we desperately needed something fun to do. Watching everyone perform Shakespeare definitely brightened our week! Tomorrow the Dickensians will go see the new Great Expectations movie. It works for my research as well, so allons-y! 

Keep Calm and Do Your Research

The lack of updates is intentional. After our free weekend we came straight back to Norwich (well, 40 minutes outside of Norwich by bus) to work on research and to wrap up the semester. Aside from a day trip to Cambridge on Thursday, nothing exciting has happened. We spend most of our time doing homework, and if we're not doing homework then we are goofing around. Challenging Chris to a game of ping-pong, Sean to a game of tennis in the freezing English weather, watching movies in our classroom... that just about sums up my life here.
On Thursday (Thanksgiving) we have the day off to cook for the entire conference center. The whole group will be cooking. I'm on roast vegetables duty. Shenanigans are planned for Thursday night, but I'm not sure what sorcery Chris and Cheri have devised for our amusement.
Staying inside all day makes us antsy, and because the sun now sets at 4pm we have less daylight hours to goof around outside. So unless you want updates on my research on Dickensian doubling concerning minor characters, with a touch of feminist critique concerning Estella and Biddy in Great Expectations, then you will have to wait until I return to London in December for meatier updates.

Cardiff!

For my second free weekend I went back to Wales, although this time to Cardiff. While Conwy was fun, there is a lot more to do in Cardiff because it's a bigger city. The four of us who traveled to Wales decided to have an easy, relaxed weekend because we'll be thrown into more papers and reading and research by Tuesday.

After an easy train ride into Cardiff we walked around town for a bit, had dinner and went back to work on homework. On Saturday Stephanie and I figured out how to walk from our B and B to Cardiff Bay, where there is more shopping and (more importantly) the Doctor Who Exhibition.

I don't think we found it. Nope. 

Trying to explain Doctor Who to an outsider is difficult, but I'll give it a shot: the show, which has been running for ages, is about a time-traveling alien (a Time Lord) called The Doctor, who picks up Companions and has inter-galactic adventures in his spaceship called the TARDIS (the blue police box). The exhibition took us through a walk-through show highly reminiscent of Universal Studios set tours, where you stop in a room and follow a storyline.

 In the first room we were told the story: the Doctor (Eleven, Matt Smith) has been captured by his enemies. After walking through a literal "crack in time" (a crack in the wall opened) we learn that the TARDIS has called us (the "Shoppers") to help the Doctor, thus becoming his temporary Companions. The Doctor instructed us to hop abroad the TARDIS and to steer the ship. In that room we walked onto the set of Eleven's TARDIS' control room, which shook violently as the ship crashed and careened through space.Then we became prisoners on a Dalek ship (the Daleks being an enemy alien race), and after escaping we came upon a dark room filled with strobe lights and weeping angels. Of course we end up saving the Doctor, and afterwards went to the exhibition. There we got to see props and costumes and other fun things from the set. 

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Like this fine weeping angel. Don't blink. 

Then we walked around Cardiff Bay and admired the view. On Sunday Lauren and I took a bike tour of Cardiff, which was fun. Overall a fun weekend, though I still have lots of homework to do! Tomorrow we meet the group again after a six hour train journey. Fun times.

The Primordial Soup

Celebrating All Hallow's Eve in Northern Ireland was quite an experience. In the midst of Dickens research, Pre-Raphelite poetry, and a sea of Bleak House reading, we took aside time to run a muddy obstacle course as a group.
It is supposed to be a race, but because the actual event was a few weeks ago we had the luxury of doing the course as a team-building exercise. In the early afternoon we trickled out into the common area in exercise clothes, the air so cold that our breath misted. Some came out bedecked in colorful warpaint and trash bags. Didi, one of our hosts, took us through the course.
We jogged through the muddy cow and horse fields, waded through the freezing creeks, and tackled the various obstacles placed in front of us. They were a bit precarious, though we were so full of adrenaline that that didn't deter us.
There is something about mud that breaks down all inhibitions. Once we approached the first mud pit the group broke out into open war. In light of the metaphorical political mud-slinging season, we experienced literal mud-slinging. Projectiles flew through the air in graceful arcs towards the people struggling to climb over the obstacles. People tackled each other and slipped into the mud. At one point Blake attempted to bring Chris down. At no other point in my life can I say I've seen someone with a Ph.D, covered in mud, come dangerously close to throwing a student over his shoulder like a sack of flour. As we waited for people to wade through the muddy pools we hugged one another, slapped each other on the shoulders, or patted each other with mud-filled hands, all in the effort to douse each other in horse crap.

Nothing quite says, "I HAVE A PH.D or I AM A MATURE YOUNG ADULT" than Irish mud. 

It was so cold that my arms were bright red and my hands felt numb, so cold that we didn't notice the cuts and bruises and nettles. I almost lost a shoe in one of the mud pits, and I did half of the run with rocks in my shoes. One of the more difficult obstacles was the hanging net, rather like a ship's rigging. We had to climb over the net, which was at least 12 feet high, over a wooden beam, and back down to the other side. Although I was hesitant about attempting to climb in front of the entire group, I practically pole-vaulted over the obstacle. I felt like a freaking Olympian.
The last obstacle, after over a mile or so of muddy fields, was an army crawl through some pretty disgusting mud. As we all went through we made Dickens jokes. We called the army crawl “the primordial soup,” in honor of our current reading of Bleak House. The other obstacles were dubbed “the forest of difficulty.” Overall, we had tons of fun even though it was freezing, and that night we had had a huge bonfire underneath a full moon, which rose steadily over the Mourne Mountains.

Chris and Gabby attempt to roast potatoes at the bonfire.