Philippines and Back + June’s Wallpaper.
Here is June’s Wallpaper. It is the sky over the Philippines this week. I did virtually no photography, but did snap this just for the wallpaper. Just click on it, go to the image and download it. Enjoy.
What a week; I have bites on my bites. In fact, it looks more like I have the measles than bug bite. I spent this past week just outside of Manila working with a faith based Filipino NGO. It was a great time. Made a whole host of new friends and was able to help them in many areas from how to create better presentations to learning how to do reflective practice. I even got to teach them a little photography. That was an unexpected pleasure. I was reminded how fun loving and caring Filipinos can be. I have always enjoyed my visits to the Philippines and this was no different.
I will say this visit stretched my endurance. The campus was a boot camp type environment. Limited in amenities, like air conditioning and hot water. The idea is to give the new staff a feel for the field and the hardships they might be facing in the future. Because I have a bad back, they put me on the floor with a mosquito net draped over me. I awoke after the first night to a few bites on my arms and a very stiff back. By Wednesday I was covered in bites. On Thursday I got sick and even had a fever. All this in the Manila heat with no air conditioning. So this was just what the new staff needed to get a real taste of field work.
I can’t tell you much fun I had with the staff and workers. I hope they invite me back next year. These folks even threw a birthday party for me last night. (Today is my birthday.) Spending my birthday in the Philippines in a hot buggy jungle was great. Not because of the bugs, nor the heat, but because of the wonderfully kind and thoughtful people. They drove at least an hour or more into town to get me a birthday cake. They even had special live music for me. I was really moved. Thank you all.
A couple of quick news items. David DuChemin has a new podcast you should check out. I am sure it is great, though I have not had the internet till now to check it out. (BTW I am at the KL International airport.) You can find it HERE.
The legendary Nat. Geo. photographer Steve McCurry has now joined the blogosphere. Check out his blog HERE.
I look forward to getting back to the blog this week. Let’s keep in touch.
Thank you for mentioning David duChemin’s new podcast. I work for Peachpit Press and wanted to let you and your readers know there’s still time to submit photos to be critiqued in the series. More info here:
http://tr.im/m85w
Happy belated birthday Matt!
Any experience with the infra-red body temp scanner in KLIA?
Happy belated birthday Matt!
Any experience with the infra-red body temp scanner in KLIA?
Hi Matt:
Maligayang bati sa iyong kaarawan! :))
It was good meeting you here in Bangkok last January with David and Gavin.
Cheers,
Florian
Hi Matt:
Maligayang bati sa iyong kaarawan! :))
It was good meeting you here in Bangkok last January with David and Gavin.
Cheers,
Florian
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sorry, for some reason my hotmail gets your email notifcation a day later than when you post so I am always late- story of my life :):)It sounds like you had a wonderful time in the Philippines (um, except for those bug bites- I feel like sending you a case of Stop-Itch…used to work great on midgie and sandfly bites in Oz 🙂 And once again the generoristy and kindness of the human race continues to amaze me.
p.s. Have fun smokin’ the new Aran Peterson pipe….will you be wearing your beret and listening to some classical music at the same time perchance? 😉
Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. Oh, and here is a look at the Aran in action: http://yfrog.com/1abcsj
😉
Crikey, its like the Aston Martin DBS of pipes!!
Matt, do you think you guys will ever do a photo trip to the Philippines? Like the ones you and David D do. My wife is also Filipina so we’d be visiting her family as well, what better a way to sell her on the idea huh! 🙂