Crazy Adventures in the Life of a Redhead

Happily, I returned to Seoul, one of my favorite urban sprawls—so modern, clean and fascinating. This time I am pleased to announce that no snow remained from the horrendous downfall I experienced in January. All that remained was the familiar sight of concrete and rainy tracks of human habitation. I cannot say that the weather was fantastic as it rained or threatened to rain for the entire week, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself in spite of the less than perfect climatic conditions. With an express purpose of visiting my friend from high school, Amy, and of discovering/conquering the surrounding mountains that dot Seoul and create a unique skyline, I landed in Seoul with my mom early in the morning. My mom and I stayed together, lounging at a Dunkin’ Doughnuts, until she had to return to the terminal for her 12-hour flight back to the States. Having communicated at a late date with Amy, I was unsure of what would happen when I reached her town of Uijeongbu on the outskirts of metro Seou

My Last Week in the Islands: Buoyant in Bohol with my mom For more than two months, my mom and I had been planning to meet in the Philippines and then exit the country together. She arrived the weekend after Easter and spent the full week with me—Sunday night Saturday night. Together we took the midnight flight out of Manila going to Seoul, South Korea, the next Saturday. I had a full week of adventure planned for us since I wanted her to have the most complete Filipino experience as one could have in a week. (Flying halfway around the world for one week is not really advisable, but when that’s the only time you can squeeze into your schedule, you have to make the most out of every moment.) On Monday, we took a puddle hopper from Manila to Tagbilaran, the capital of the island of Bohol. We almost missed the flight, which was strange because once we took our seats the plane remained on the tarmac for another hour. Talk about “hurry up to wait!” Upon our arrival at the airport, we found

Oh, Manila! What a horrid city! I have spent the week in Manila, which is more tragic than most urban conglomerations. I have to say that of the three urban centers that I have visited in the developing world (Nairobi and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso being the others), Manila is by far the worst. It is quite hard to describe why I feel so great an aversion to Manila, but let me try to name a few reasons: one, the pollution is extensive, combined with the heat—awful; second, the stench of sweaty working people compounding with the pollution says enough; third, the lack of street signs in proper places or a complete dearth altogether; fourth, I don’t know if it’s because I am a woman or if all foreigners get this treatment, but the endless cat-calling gets quite tiresome very quickly; and finally, I get the impression that the only reason anyone is in Manila is to work and make money, which is reflected on the derelict state of almost all the cultural things one can find in the metro area.

Going Bald So I finally went through the shaving of my head, which I have wanted to do for a long time. It was a really interesting experience: I did it while I was in Bicol because I wanted the staff to see me without any hair, as I had been discussing it with them for the past month. They are so great! No one said that I would look bad without hair or that I would be a disgrace or something, but they had some practical questions I needed to consider. One said: “You shouldn’t shave your head because the mosquitos will get you even worse!” And another said, “Are you sure you want to shave your head? You are going to need a lot of extra sunscreen!” Both of these comments are certainly true. Without hair, one loses her natural protection against the elements, but I was too set on shaving that I simply laughed and had a good time with their comments. I cut my hair short in stages, which you can see from the pictures. (The first was taken in May 2009 at my college’s research symposium. The

Be Hot in Bicol: Staff Trip to the CoconutRregion Even though I have left Baguio, I am still in the Philippines and have even extended my time with the staff. I have been so blessed to work with such great people. This last week, we set off on a real adventure, Swiss Family/Partridge Family/Brady Bunch/Full House style. We got into our big 12-passenger van loaded down with vegetables, sticky rice, ube jam, the luggage of the two Vietnamese, the luggage of one American girl, the luggage of a family of four, and of course, all the rest. Needless to say, we were packed. On this trip, I was blessed with a front-row seat because of my long legs. I normally curse my long legs, when taking Filipino transportation, but on this trip, I got the best seat in the house because of them. We did not leave Baguio until late on Monday night or early Tuesday morning, so that we could avoid Manila traffic. I was reminded of my all-nighters at the nursing home except I had no butts to wipe :) LOL Anyway,