Thanksgiving in Manila

How much can one do in a 1/2 day in Manila???

My new friend, Clive who is an anesthesiologist from the UK, and I were two of the first volunteers to arrive so we decided to find out!

The View from my hotel room

 After laying with my feet straight up in the air for an hour, the fluid levels in my lower extremities were balanced out enough to head out on an adventure.  We took a taxi to Intramuros, the old city of Manila. We visited San Augustin Church which was built between 1587 and 1606 and is one of the oldest church in the Philippines.  It was the only building left intact after the destruction of Intramuros during WWII.

After exchanging money at the bank which was guarded by an armed police officer(a little scary) we passed by the Manila Cathedral which was stunning. 

Manila Cathedral

 Then we shopped for some hand crafted jewelry and walked over to Fort Santiago.  The Fort is now a memorial to Dr. Jose Rizal who was imprisoned there in his final days before being executed in 1896 for inciting a revolution against the Spanish colonials. There was a lush park full off colorful plants, palm trees and fountains on the way to the front wall of the fort. Inside there is was a pathway with brass footprints marking Rizals final steps to his execution site.  The fort now contains an open air theatre, small museums, and lots of roosters couped up in the back.  It was swarming with a tourists and teenagers hanging out after school.

This was pretty funny!  As we were walking through Fort Santiago, local people mainly teenage boys and girls kept stopping us and asking if they could take a picture with me.  First, we thought they had me confused with somebody famous but then one boy said "Ma'am you look like a real live Barbie and we don't have real live Barbie's in our country".  Bahahaha.....what?!!! So from then on Clive decided to start taking pictures of the kids taking pictures with me, it was quite comical.  One kid said "will you be here for a while, I want my sister to see you and I think she's at home, i can run home and get her, she loves Barbie".  lol!
At times when I've traveled internationally I've felt like people looked at me like I have 3 heads because I look sooooo American.  In the past, its made me feel unsafe but this was a much friendlier experience.  They were all very sweet and polite and it was enough entertainment to keep my sightseeing partner and I awake as the jet lag was beginning to set in. 

 It was starting to get dark and we were having trouble finding a cab so upon the suggestion of a local, we decided to take a Jeepnee back to the hotel.

Uh oh!!!

A Jeepne is a cross between a bus and a jeep.  It's the most common form of public transportation in the Philippines. You just hop on and off the back and pass along your small payment to the driver and hold on for dear life.

  
It was quite the experience! A little exciting and a little frightening! We made so many detours that we weren't back to the hotel in time for me to take a cab to meet my friend Chad Africa in Makati City.  Upon the suggestion of the Jeepne driver, I got off and attempted to get a cab.  Yes....."attempted".....I'm typically not a nervous traveler but this got my heart racing.  I couldn't speak the language, there are very few traffic laws in the Philippines, I stuck out like a sore thumb, there were cars everywhere, and none of them wanted to give me a ride.  I found a woman dressed in a nurse's uniform who spoke English and she directed me to a bus to the mall.  Mom-if you're reading this, DON'T WORRY-I was fine and promise to travel with friends next time. ;)

Malls are all the rage here and we were meeting at a restaurant near one, so I was beyond thankful for the lead from the nurse.  I arrived just in time to meet this lovely group I was fortunate enough to have Thanksgiving dinner with. I've been away from home before on Thanksgiving but never without mashed potatoes, turkey and pumpkin pie. These guys made it all ok!

They ordered a table full of traditional Filipino dishes and we had a feast.  It was a different kind of Thanksgiving dinner, they treated me to dinner and I was very thankful! ;)  It was wonderful to catch up with Chad and get to know his friends.  Chad and I met 3 years ago doing a production of Kiss Me Kate with the Village Light Opera Group in NYC and he moved back to Manila last year. The restaurant we went to was at the Green Belt Mall, which was decorated like a Christmas Wonderland with Harry Connick Jr., Mariah Carey, and every other 80s and 90s artist singing their version of classic Christmas songs.  We were talking about the history of Thanksgiving in America and all of the hype surrounding Christmas in the Philippines. One of Chad's friends explained that the Filipinos are so thankful for the coming of Christ, since they don't have a Thanksgiving Day to celebrate in November, they start celebrating the Christmas season in October to show how thankful they are. LOL!   I've never seen so many Christmas decorations or heard so many different renditions of "All I Want For Christmas Is You", in my entire life.

It was so nice to catch up with Chad and see a familiar face on the other side of the world.  We finished off the night with ice cream and taro bubble tea. Yum!

I made it home just in time to crawl in bed before I fell asleep standing up.  I walked in to find a sleeping roommate who is one of the Student Volunteers from Bolivia.  This mission is like the United Nations of Operation Smile, I love it! :) Can't wait for tomorrow!

Korean Air Rocks, Chasing the Darkness, and Cankles

I HEART KOREAN AIR, I really can't say it enough. I seriously could be their new spokesperson!!!

After being informed that I was bumped from my aisle seat to a middle seat because I was one of the last people to check in(even though I showed up more than the suggested 2 hours ahead),  I made my way through the security check staffed by very unpleasant and rude TSA employees. Then things turned around for the better.  I came upon my departing gate which was full of lovely, friendly, calm Korean people and this group of Korean flight attendants who looked like a throw back to the 1950s Pan Am Stewardesses. They were stunning, beyond polite, perfectly dressed and groomed in their powder blue silk perfectly tailored blouses, jackets, cream colored pencil skirts, and matching hair bows.  I couldn't stop staring at how lovely they were people must have thought I was a creeper.
I made friends with a little guy named Nathan who came over and shared his Incredible Hulk figure with me, to his parents surprise, and then a few minutes later, I was staring off in the distance at the lovely flight attendants, I feel little Nate crawl up into my lap and put his face up by my ear and say "I'll keep you company until we leave, Mommy has Daddy on that bench so I'll sit with you".  It was a little like a scene from a movie and the perfect remedy to calm my slightly heart which was slightly anxious about flying to opposite side of the planet by myself.

Ok, so more on Korean Air. I board the plane to find a large blanket folded neatly on my seat with a plastic cosmetic bag filled with cloth sandles, a tooth brush and toothpaste, headphones, and tube of chili sauce that came in what looked like a tube for acne medicine or craft glue(random but amusing).  I was barely seated when the flight attendants came around with warm wash clothes for our faces and hands. There was even a little clip on the back side of the tray table to put the wash cloth until the flight attendant came around the retrieve them. Check out the back of the seat, there is a pull out hook on the left to hang a sweater, an outlet on the right to charge your cell phone/Ipod/computer/whatever, and a TV with tons of movie, tv and travel map options.

It was a bit surreal to watch the world map color coded in real time with daylight and darkness.  I knew based on my flight time that I would be traveling backwards in time until we reached the international date line but to essentially be chasing the darkness on our flight and not see the light of day for close to 25 hours was a pretty surreal.  I also had plenty of room in my middle seat because I was definitely one of the heavier people on the flight.

We also had 2 full meals and multiple rounds of snacks and wine on the 15 hour flight from JFK to Seoul.  The first try at breakfast was on the recommendation of the Korean American woman sitting next to me.  It was Green Tea Porridge, let's just say "I tried it......."

This is what the flight attendant brought me when she saw the look on my face after the first few bites.

This was all in economy class! If you can't tell I'm a little enamoured by the little things in life. ;)

The Seoul airport was stunning and impeccably clean.  It was like an enormous mall with airplanes parked outside.  I had a 4 hour lay over before my connecting flight to Manila and so a I sat down at this beautiful restaurant at 5am(Korea time) on the 2nd floor of the terminal with floor to ceiling windows and had this delicious Korean vegetable rice soup for "breakfast".

My flight from Seoul to Manila was an entirely different experience.  The passengers were mostly Filipino men coming from some kind of golf outing in Korea and were pretty rowdy.

I was very excited to reach my final destination for the day and these lovely ladies were at the gate to greet me when I arrived in Manila.  Aaaaahhhh, it feels good to have someone know your name on the other side of the planet when traveling alone.

They were very helpful watching my carry on bags while I elbowed my way through the rowdy golfers to get my luggage off the baggage carousel. Sheesh! They kindly escorted me through customs and to the Operation Smile Team Coordinators waiting outside baggage claim.


I noticed that my ankles were unusually stiff and my jeans felt a little tight on the flight but it wasn't until I got to my Op Smile team and relaxed for a few minutes that I noticed how heavy my legs felt. I did sleep for 7 hours straight with my feet on the floor on the plane which was a small miracle but I never thought it would produce this kind of swelling. These socks were loose when I boarded the plane in NYC. When I took my shoes and socks off, I developed "cankles" with pretty moderate pitting edema.  I thought "Ok, great, I made half way across the world with out as much as a sore back but now this". Oy vey! 

To no one's surprise I didn't want to spend my only full day in Manila in the hotel room with my feet propped up so I laid on the bed, feet resting on the wall almost straight up in the air for about an hour until my legs felt a little less like tree trunks and off I went to explore Manila. :) 

Operation Smile Mission #2-Cebu City, Philippines

My efforts to blog my last mission were squashed when I got food poisoning on my 3rd day in Amman, Jordan.  I still need to back blog some of the that journey because in hindsight it was pretty hilarious.
I'll definitely try some of the local foods in the Philippines but I'm going to tame my adventurous foodie spirit and be a lot more careful so I can enjoy this upcoming mission and not just survive it. :)

So I leave tonight for the 2nd round of Operation Smile's 30th Anniversary mission in the Philippines.  The theme of missions is "The Journey Home" since this is where Operation Smile began their work 30 years ago. During the month of November there are 8 missions going on in different cities across the Philippines.  We all fly into Manila and travel out to our respective locations.  I will be on one of the larger missions in Cebu City, Philippines which is celebrating it's 15th Anniversary with Operation Smile.
Today was a whirlwind with recovering from my show last night, tying up lots of loose ends, packing, acupuncture, unwrapping an enormous stack of stickers from all of the awesome friends who donated to the Sticker Drive I had Facebook.  I took some from everyone but I had to leave about a third of the stickers behind because it would have pushed my suitcase above the weight limit. I have them set aside for my next mission. Thank you so everyone who contributed in stickers, toys, thoughts and prayers.  I am blown away by your thoughtfulness and generosity.

This was less than half of the stickers and toys that came in the mail. You guys ROCK!!!!

I was also blessed with a pre-thanksgiving dinner (since I will be eating mangoes instead of mash potatoes this Thanksgiving) with some of my nearest and dearest, Jenny and Bryan, Kate and Geoff, Megan and Joel and little baby Judah Budah.  It was comforting to spend the evening with some of my NYC family before flying to the opposite side of the planet by myself, accompanied by a full spread from Boston Market. :)

Screening Day

 After arriving at the hotel in Amman at 1am, I got a quick deep night's sleep and was on the bus to the hospital at 7am.  This what most buses in Jordan look like, event he city buses. The bus drivers definitely have a flair for interior design, more on that later. :)

 The first day of the mission is the Screening Day where families from all over the region and some from surrounding countries bring their children to be evaluated for surgery. The selection process is based on a series of criteria from age, what the surgeons and anesthesiologists on the particular mission are trained to perform, whether the child is medically stable enough to undergo anesthesia/surgery, etc. When we drove into the parking lot of the hospital my heart dropped to my stomach and my heart swelled with a mix of emotions to see hundreds of parents and children who traveled from far and wide, sitting under a large tent in 95 degree heat waiting to be evaluated for surgery. It was incredible to know that we'd be able to help so many of them but terrible to think that some would be turned away for reasons that were beyond our control.

The hospital we worked out of.

Families waiting to be seen for surgery.

 

Beginning of the screening process. 

One of our youngest patients-Yousef, 3 months old

This little guy definitely wasn't camera shy.

 I was in the vital sign station taking kid's weight, height, temperature, pulse, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation to determine whether they were stable enough to undergo surgery.  We had volunteers from Jordan and the Peace Corp to help interpret, all of the families spoke Arabic and very few knew English.  I'm terrible with language especially when I'm tired I start to combine words and say things backwards, I used my best charades skills that day and learned my first 4 Arabic phrases.
Salam=Hello
MushiMushki=Don't worry
MushiMushki Habab=Don't worry baby (don't worry, I only said this to the children) :)
Inshala-God Willing

Beautiful little girls, Shaema and her twin sister who came along to support. 

This little guy lit up the room from the moment his father carried him in, flying like he was superman. Check out his mini tunic, so cute I can't even take it! :) 

Little fashionista :)

Another supportive sister. These two were dressed in the prettiest little matching dresses. 

 In addition to being completely sleep deprived and in a foreign country on the other side of the planet, it was a complete shock to the senses to be immersed immediately into a new culture.  It was completely different than anything I've experienced before.  Among other cultural difference I'll get to in a later post, I was so intrigued by the variety of clothing on both the adults and children at the screening day.  I asked one of the volunteers about all of the children being so dressed up and she explained that the family's see the opportunity to have a free surgery as a great honor so they are wearing some of their nicest most presentable clothing.  Quite different than showing up for surgery in the US. :)

OR set up

Our first Jordanian Meal. Mensaf-fatty rice with pine nuts and herbs topped with boiled lamb in yogurt sauce. Best cafeteria food I've ever had!

Operation Smile Jordan poster

The play area set up by our childlife specialists. The kids had a blast, most of them were covered in smiley face stickers by the time they got their vital signs taken.

Approximately 145 babies, children and young adults showed up to be evaluated and 80 were scheduled for surgery.  Surgeries performed on our mission included cleft lip repairs, cleft palate repairs, lip/palate revisions, burn and scar revisions, repair of webbed fingers and toes, and removal of extra digits, and a few others.  It was great getting to know the team in the midst of this exciting day.  Off to a great start!

One of the volunteers who was a medical student from Amman so kindly offered to pick us up at our hotel and show us around downtown that night, we managed to muster the energy to make it out on our first adventure in Jordan.

An American in Paris....for 2 1/2 hours!

When I found out I had a 6 1/2 hour layover in Paris on the way to Jordan, I thought to myself "there is no way I'm staying at that airport!".  So i found a quick way to get into the city and spent a lovely afternoon roaming around.  It was a little tricky finding an outfit that would be romantic enough to frolic around Paris in but still be appropriate to arrive in the Amman airport. ;)
It was a really rainy day but mother nature was on my side and skies were clear from a few minute after I arrived in downtown until I got back to the airport, what a blessing!
I took the RER to the St. Michel stop and took a stroll through the twist and turns of the Latin Quarter.  I stumbled upon a few restaurants and cafes we went to on my first trip to Paris last winter and picked up my favorite, an almond croissant and cappuccino, at one of the cafes and took it over to enjoy the view down the River Seine.  I continued on to Notre Dame to take a few pictures before walking up the hill to the Luxembourg Gardens.  It was my first time visiting the gardens, they were absolutely stunning.  I took in the view and found a nice little tree to sit under and write in my journal.  It was a glorious and peaceful afternoon.  It fun and liberating to roam around so comfortably in this foreign city.  I was even asked out to lunch by a handsome man sitting nearby, I didn't have time to go since I had to get back to the airport but it was flattering nonetheless. :)

On my way into the gardens I had my new phone in my hand(that I'm still figuring out how to use) and accidentally took this picture.  In the process I discovered the setting that allows you to turn the lense around to take pictures of yourself, this provided for some amusement. :)

                                                         Hmmm.....where to next???

                                                             The little tree I sat under.

I was a little nervous about being an American woman flying into Amman by myself at 11pm at night.  Luckily I was seated next to a lovely nurse from Operation Smile, Shawna, on my connecting flight from Paris who had been on 2 other missions with the organization.  She filled me in on what to expect and we both felt better about starting off our adventure in the Middle East together.  All was smooth and easy once we landed, exchanged our US$ for Jordan Dinars, went through customs, and our suitcases were sitting at baggage claim.  Adam(our fearless mission coordinator) was just outside of security waiting for us with a big hug and got us a taxi to the hotel.  Ahhhh......we made it!

June 20th, 2012
Today a life long dream of mine is coming true.  I'm going on medical mission to Amman, Jordan with Operation Smile.  I will be serving as a nurse on a medical team made up of Plastic Surgeons, Dentists, Anesthesiologists, Pediatricians, Nurses, Social Workers and other volunteers from all over the world. Over 100 cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries will take place on children from all over Jordan in the next week.  I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity.  I can't wait to meet the families, little patients and experience the culture and history of Jordan.  
Assuming I have a good wifi connection, I'll be blogging throughout the mission.  Stay tuned! :)