Never a dull moment....even in a cyclone!

So last week we had our first signal one storm.  Of course the field activities stayed on schedule.  In Ireland, if you didn't work in the rain you didn't get any work done.  That philosophy stays true all over the world as far as I am concerned.

Everything got soaking wet in the rain!

Myself and Clare (Renee was up north with Richard) managed to complete our tasks for the day.  It was SO rainy and windy but it was manageable.  I have had worse days up the hill in Leenane in the west of Ireland to be honest. One of our fields flooded though and the water went straight through our fence. Thankfully it's the end of the experiment and things are winding down so we didn't have to worry about it.

The floods the next day

The highlight of the cyclone had to be when I was leaving a restaurant that night.  It had been bucketing down all day and while driving to the restaurant we could see the floods forming.  By the time we were leaving, the car was parked in water that was about mid-calf level.  The brilliant waiters had come out with us with umbrellas but they didn't put up much of a fight against the torrential downpour.  Val, the car owner, made a run for it in his dress pants and his fancy shoes and socks.  He was being a gentleman and opening the car for myself and Sara so we wouldn't get too wet.  I rolled my pant up and made a run for it.  I opened the car door and just as I was about to get in my flip flop washed clean off my foot. I tried to grab it but it quickly floated under the car and disappeared in the murky flood waters.  I jumped in the car and opened the door on the far side just in time to see it float away.  The waiter came to the rescue though and saved it before it joined one of the local rivers.  Only in the Philippines!

In the tropics the weather can turn in an instant.  This week it's roasting and we have been acting the maggot on the way home from the fields today.  It's more fun in the Philippines.  Of course, most of the locals think we are pretty much certifiable!

Niamh

Clare

Renee



Sleepless in Sumatra

Myself and my cousin Kylie (currently residing in Dalian, China) constantly talk about how bizarre life in Asia can be.  I had visited Sumatra briefly with my boss Grant Singleton in August but nothing could prepare me for my farm stay this time.

It is quite the trek to Telang Rejo.  It involves me leaving IRRI at 4am and flying from Manila to Singapore, Jakarta and then on to Palembang in Sumatra. I arrived at my very nice hotel at about 9pm.  This is where things started to get fairly bizarre.  I had been working hard all week and had broken my already broken body doing rat damage assessments in the field here in Laguna. I decided I would call the spa and organise a massage for that night.  After some major communication issues, I managed to organise a massage at the spa, or so I thought!  I got a call from reception and after more major communication issues I finally got the message that a therapist would be coming to my room.  At 10.30pm this teeny tiny elderly lady arrived at my door.  She had no English and my Bahasa at that stage amounted to “how are you” and “thank you”.  Anyways, this tiny woman proceeded to beat seven shades of shite out of me.  I had no idea what she was trying to say to me but she insisted on trying to communicate nonetheless.  Every so often she would stop massage one or other of the knots in my back or neck and make her way down to my feet or my hands.  She would grab hold of a toe or a finger and give it an almighty tug.  Every joint that was attached in line would proceed to crack.  I couldn’t stop giggling the whole entire time.  The whole experience was just so bizarre.  I am sure she thought I was half cracked.  I felt amazing after it though……just in time for me to break it all over again in Telang Rejo.

The insane amount of motorbikes in Palembang.  It isn't a patch on Jakarta though!

So my colleagues appear the next morning so we can all travel to Telang Rejo.  Now I thought living in Leenane and Klamath Falls, OR was about as rural as I was ever going to get.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  The quickest way to Telang Rejo is by speed boat.  I use the term speed boat loosely here.  Firstly, it took us several attempts to get started and pointed in the right direction.  Secondly, I’m pretty sure that if we went too fast that our wooden speed boat would break into pieces!  All the good work the little Indonesian lady had done went out the window the minute we picked up speed.  It was one hell of a ride.  At the end of our journey, we were taxied to Pak Wasikin’s  (our farmer host) house on motorbikes and mopeds.  Mammy Quinn has a heart attack every time I tell her about this.  There are no cars in Telang Rejo but there are also very few helmets too. The little roads are very narrow but no one travels too fast so we are usually pretty safe.  Apart from the bridges!  I have a mild heart attack every time I cross over them.  Some of them are made of concrete and extremely steep, some are made of wood, the ones that are reinforced with bamboo give me the heebie-jeebies though.  I even had a lesson or two which mainly involved me screaming and the locals laughing at me.

After the first day of field work it was time for a bath.  In my head I thought, oh great, they have a bath!  So I go into the bathroom with Pak Wasikin’s wife who has NO English and she starts to talk to me (I obviously look like I speak Bahasa) too and waving her arms and pointing to buckets and the “bath”.  There was one light bulb in the bathroom and it barely lit it up so I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on.  I look at the “bath” and I become very concerned when I can’t see the bottom of it.  I stand there for a while wondering what the flip I am going to do and decided that a quick wash using the bucket of freshwater was the best idea.  Later, I asked my Indonesian colleague how to use the bath and asked her if you get into the big bottomless tub.  She looked at me, laughed and said definitely don’t go in there.  From what I gathered the “bath” is some sort of a reservoir or well.  No wonder I couldn’t see the bottom of it!  I wasn’t as brave to ask her about the toilet.  I am still not sure I was using it properly!

I didn’t have to do much work at all though.  I was mostly there to make sure that the experimental plots were put in the right places and that my colleagues were properly informed about the project. It’s just as well there was feck all to do.  I barely slept the entire time I was there.  I am pretty sure that sleeping on the floor would have been more comfortable than the bed I had and when I did finally get to sleep I was woken up at 4.30 every morning by the call to pray.  Only one of my colleagues ever seemed to pray though.  I think that the village was pretty liberal.

Pak Agus for the Indonesian Centre for Rice Research (ICRR) passing on some rice basket weaving skills

One of the field sites.  They have huge smog issues and we are still waiting for the rains to come here

We ate all our meals on the floor and Pak Wasikin’s wife made a big effort to try and not blow my head off with the extremely spicy local fare.  I never thought the words “mmm, fermented bean fritter” would ever leave my lips! There’s a snake in the kitchen was also a new one for me!

Pak Wasikin's wife and daughters.

In the evenings everyone would talk and just sit outside.  Time seems to stand still in Telang Rejo.  I don’t know what the people do when they aren’t farming.  I spent my time reading. My Bahasa had dramatically increased since leaving Palembang but still nowhere near enough to participate in a conversation.  On two occasions I was treated to Kung-Fu lesson.  I am not sure what the local martial art is called but it was very impressive. Pak Wasikin’s brother was the Kung-Fu master and he gave a lesson to the kids on two nights.  Before the lesson on my last night I had a sparring match with him.  I managed to clip him on the ear while he messed with my head and gave me little kicks and punches all over the place.  The locals thought that this was hilarious of course and I was also greatly entertained.

Pak Wasikins's brother at the martial art's lesson

Apart from the Kung-Fu entertainment I was the only other entertainment on offer in the sleepy village.  I guess not many white people make it to the village and probably even less white women! I am in so many photographs with so many people and their kids.  It was truly a bizarre experience. Most of the little kids were terrified of me, particularly Pak Wasikin’s very young granddaughter.  She cried almost every time she saw me!

Back at home again I reflected on my experiences in Sumatra.  I would never in a million years have thought that my life was going to end up here. I know fermented bean fritters and squished up, deep-fried cassava and fresh fish aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but it is one hell of an experience that I am really glad I get to have. I’ll be back again in December most likely so no doubt I will have more stories of my (mis-) adventures.

Pempek-savoury fishcake delicacy from Palembang made of fish and tapioca

Welcome to the Jungle

Just a quick update to let you all know how I am getting on here in the Philippines.

The Department of Tourism in the Philippines has started a new tourist campaign costing 63 million PHP (€1.2 million or $1.6 million).  The slogan “It’s more fun in the Philippines” certainly rings true.

I have been here at the International Rice Research Centre (IRRI) for over four months now and the time has absolutely flown by.  It is one adventure after the next. My project is looking at the interactions of rodents and weeds in rice cropping systems here in Laguna and also in south Sumatra. Field work in the nearby farms in Laguna brings its own set of unique challenges.  We have language issues, the insane heat, monsoon rains, me falling over, the leeches, an insane work load and many more.

Paddy in the paddy fail

Working in the tropics and this weather is probably one of the greatest challenges.  After having to tackle the heat of the Central Valley in central California, I thought I would be well prepared.  Not a chance!  I dehydrate just thinking about going outside.  The humidity is the killer here.  I often describe walking outside here like walking through soup. You feel like you can touch the air it is so heavy and sticky out there. Then when you add physical labour over a period of hours it just becomes almost unbearable.  I look like a complete state when I am finished for the day.  I look like I have been rolling around in the paddy (although often I have been) and the smell is just something else after a long day in the field.  I have an amazing intern from Engerland called Clare.  She does as much as I do but I look like a disaster and she looks like she is walking out of a shampoo or a make-up advert at the end of the day. I am a muck magnet for sure!

Despite the hard work we have great craic though.  The field crew is usually made up of myself and Clare and my assistant scientist Renee (Filipina).  However, we are often joined by Ted who is a Filipino associate weed scientist.  He is great craic and pretty much tells us the same 3 or 4 jokes every week.  We also have a great team of labourers that we have picked up from two of our farms to help us with the more labour intensive things like weeding and putting up the fences and helping us with the removal of weeds for our biomass estimations. 

Some of the field crew with our very fashionable paddy boots

Lost in translation!

Often things are lost in translation here because of all the many cultures that are here.  It works both ways though.  We were traveling back from a long day in the field a few weeks ago and I was looking at all the snails that they were selling on the side of the road.  They were all tied up in plastic bags and had been sitting out in the heat all day.  I said mmm suso. I thought this meant “mmm snails”. It certainly didn’t.  I could tell that there was something up from the look on Renee’s face.  She informed me that I had just exclaimed “mmm breasts”.  Apparently it’s all in the pronunciation.  I won’t be making that mistake again. There are so many more examples of this lost in translation stuff.  I have yet to get a picture of the "Elf for Hire" sign!

My travels have taken me to Baler up on the north-east coast.  This is where my all new dairy intolerance reared its ugly head (although I didn’t know it was dairy at the time)! I have been south to some amazing beaches in Batangas.  I have seen the lovely walled town of Intramuros in Manila and an insanely massive shopping centre in Manila too.  I have been pretty much dragged up river in a tiny boat through this amazing gorge and scary rapids to see one of the local waterfalls.  Who would have thought that going up rapids was more terrifying than coming down them?

The view from the hotel in Baler

It’s all happening in the next few weeks. I have a trip to Manila planned to go and see Phantom of the Opera.  We have the final phase of our field work happening this month and next in Laguna. I am so busy but it’s great to get it all finished and start having a look at the data. Myself and Clare and Richard are heading to Palawan in early November for four days.  I return for two and the Denise (a friend and work colleague from California) comes to visit and we are doing some island hoping for 10 days or so.  Poor Clare will have to man the ship while I am away. I am pretty confident she will survive though. I think she finds it tough to survive the week though without having me to laugh at because of falling over in the paddy, disappearing in the rice, falling into the channels and slipping on the bridges.

I will probably have another trip to Sumatra in the next few weeks too.  It is not easy trying to manage projects in two different countries, on two different sides of the equator. It certainly keeps me on my toes! I will have to update everyone on my last trip.  It was one hell of an experience.

Anyways, I'll try and make a better effort at keeping in touch but I will try and update everyone from here too.