This is Angela. I was giving her some ideas
about how to get more students in her school.
This is the current class of students at ACE.
They're all tons of fun.
This is me speaking to a packed house in Laguna.
I swear there's people here. It just looks like it's
empty. I promise. No seriously, I'm not just pretending
to be talking to people. Really.
Last weekend I traveled to a place called Laguna
to give a fireside and talk about this competition
we're putting together. This is a pic of the countryside
on the way home. There's a lot of green out here.
Maayong Buntag from the Philippines!! Hello to all you wild Poll bloggers! In case you didn’t catch the memo, I’m in the Philippines right now. Yup, you got it, Phil-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-PEEEEEEENES! I’ve gotta tell you I’m so glad I came. This has been a wonderful experience and a fabulous opportunity to serve. Also, I’m really falling in love with these people. So in all honesty, the first week I was a little disturbed. I was excited to be here, but this Academy is such a well run program and they have such great people that I wasn’t sure if I was really going to be able to add a lot of value. However, as I’ve come to know them better and understand the Academy, I still am amazed at how well it’s run, but I’m seeing a number of places that I’ll be able to help.
I guess the most exciting piece of news is that I’ll be traveling a ton! In fact, right now I’m on a flight from Manila back to Cebu (Cebu is where I live). We left this morning at 4am (I left my house at 2am) for Manila and then took a 3 hour car ride to a place called Laguna. Today we officially launched the Entrepreneur Academy Awards. This is the main project that I’ve been asked to help with and it’s basically an Entrepreneur of the Year competition for all of the 1,500+ graduates of ACE (the Academy for Creating Enterprise). It will be held in October, but right now we’re going all over the Philippines holding firesides and seminars to let the people know about the competition. I’m teaching a little seminar about financial planning and investing. I spent a lot of time last week investigating different investment options here in the Philippines, and now I’m letting people know about it. I told the story this morning about when I flooded the basement. You all remember that? That was funny……………….riiiiiight Dad?
Anyway, it’s going to be really neat traveling throughout these beautiful islands and meeting these amazing people. It’s so cool hearing the stories of what a difference this ACE program has made in their lives. Some of them have started wonderful businesses and are making a great income all thanks to what they learned in the academy. Well, here’s a little sampling of a few things that are just a little different about living in the Philippines.
Have I told you about some of the things that are just different here in the Philippines? Well, let me tell you a few. They LOVE soft rock, especially anything that resembles, Bryan Adams, Whitney Houston, Air Supply, Chicago, and music of the sort. They honk a lot. The streets are filled with the sweet sound of horns honking. There are birds in the airport. As I speak, two little birds are hopping around not two feet from my feet. Whoa! One just flew right under my legs. Motorcycles and tricycles are everywhere. A major form of transportation is riding on the back of a motorcycle taxi. They also have these motorcycles and bicycles that are converted to tricycles with a side car for passengers. They pat you down when you go into a mall. When you walk in, there’s a line for men and one for women. Then they give you a friendly pat down before you embark on your shopping endeavors. They speak a lot of languages. Every island has its own language. I don’t understand any of them, but I don’t know how they understand each other and I never know which one they’re speaking. There are beautiful beaches everywhere! Okay, I haven’t seen any yet, but I’ve seen pictures, and they look great. The food doesn’t taste very good. I know, to many, I may be completely off on this one, but boy, I’m still in search of a great meal. Although Pizza Hut made me a great personal pan pizza the other day. People are really nice. I read the other day that Time Magazine did a study with some University and they found that Nigerians and Filipinos are the happiest people in the world. I’ve found that to be true. Lots of smiles, laughs, and happiness everywhere I look. It’s Hot and Humid always! Even when it rains and I’m soaking wet, I’m still warm. I have hot water at my place, but I only use it to shave. I haven’t used it for a shower because there’s really been no need. The cold water isn’t very cold and it feels much better than a hot shower would. Jeepneys. These are these crazy little buses that they use to get around. For about 15 cents, you can hop on the back of this crazy pimped out short bus and they drive like maniacs to get you somewhere. It’s tough to know where you’re going because they don’t speak a lotta’ English and they’re always in a hurry. The smells. Well, let’s just say my nose has had some wild adventures in the last two weeks. Whoa, another bird just almost grazed my head. Touchy men. At first I was seeing a lot of gay guys. But then, upon closer examination, I found out that they’re not all gay, just friends. If two guys are friends here, they’ll walk with an arm around their friend and in church or what not rub each other’s backs and put hands on legs, etc. You know me, that’s a bit outside my comfort zone so some of my friends here have started doing that sort of thing with me and I politely shoot to the other side of the chapel. Yikes! Shirts. Totally optional around these parts. Hey, it’s hot, what do you expect? Shoes, these are also optional. They’re usually replaced with flip flops. I’m not kidding, flip flops are all the rage out here. They use them no matter what their line of work. I’ve seen people working the fields with them, welding with them, doing road construction with them, carrying huge crates of fruit with them, they’re the universal shoe, practical, functional, and stylish all at the same time. The squat. They don’t sit, they squat, just wherever they are, if they need to rest a little, they have this amazing ability to just squat down with their rear hovering inches off the ground and make it look as comfortable as chillin’ in a La-Z-Boy. The weather is nuts. One second it’s scorching hot with blue sky, and the next minute you’re drenched in a torrential downpour, then it’s blue sky again. Well, I think that’s enough for now.
Love you all!-KP
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