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.