Welcome to Rhiannon's Blog

Well, welcome!! This is very new to me, but as I am supposed to be documenting my research I thought starting a Blog would inspire me to write more and also more often!
Some may ask... where are you?? I am in Manila, Philippines.
Then the next question will probably be, what are you doing there?
I am doing my data collection for my dissertation research. I will be here for another seven weeks. I will be mainly in Metro Manila, but hopefully going down to West Visayas. Visayas is the central group of islands in the Philippines. I will be on the island of Panay. So, when I go, I will make sure and take lots of photos so that you can see the difference between the two areas.
I have attached a map, so you can see where it is that I will be working.
Hong Kong
So, I arrived a week ago after stopping over in Hong Kong (first time there!). I have a few photos of Hong Kong, but since I didn't have that much time I can't say that I saw that much. I just figured out what I would like to see next time!!

Manila
I came into Manila at 7:00 in the evening and it wasn't too hot:) Notice the operative word there too!! Right now in the Philippines is the beginning of their monsoon season. And in monsoon season it is hot, humid and wet!!! All the weather conditions I like the most:)
I think finally after a week and a half my body is finally starting to at least tolerate the heat (it will never get used to it:)!! And the funny thing is that when I tell Filipinos how cold it gets in Minnesota, they exclaim, "oh, I could never adjust to cold weather like that!!" Though, I must say that if I was to be anywhere where it feels like 110 outside it would be the Philippines. As a population, they are the most hygienically conscious people I have ever come across. Bathing as often as three times a day in this weather.
Another awesome benefit to this time of year, is that it is Mango season and no place in the world has more or better mangoes:) There also have delicious pineapple, jack fruit (even though it is the cousin to the very very smelly duriun it is very good), bananas, and mangosteens. (See picture)
Jeepneys
Originally these were jeeps left over from WWII, but they became something of an icon so now there is a company in the Philippines that manufactures Jeeneys. Now after my initial fear of getting on a Jeepney and having it take me to places I have no clue where it is. I take one to work every day. And to be honest, now that I realized how short their routes are, I never had anything to worry about!! So for about 20 cents a ride you just hop on an off you go....:) Inside there are two benches one on each side, when I feel a little more comfortable inside I will take a picture so everyone can see inside as well as outside. Because, just as every Jeepney is uniquely different on the outside, one can see some very funny, creative (not quite sure what the word would be) things on the inside.

The Filipino Population
The average Filipino is probably about 5ft 1in. So needless to say, whether I like it or not I stand out like a sore thumb!! Not only do I tower over people, I scare many children as they have never quite seen anything like myself. The tour guide from the tour I went on the other day, linked the population's shortness to the lack of calcium in their diet? I am not sure on this. Does anybody have ideas if this may be plausible??

My Research
The organization I am working with is called Save the Children. I will be addressing various different stakeholder groups beliefs and understanding of what they would like a quality early childhood program (ECCD) to look like in their community. As I get more into the research I will talk more about it. Since, I have a few pictures from January I thought at least I would give everyone an idea of the areas I will be working in.

Ok, this is enough I think for my first post! I would love to hear from everyone and what you are doing!! So drop me a line when you get a chance!
Rhiannon