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About The Philippines
Lonely
Planet may have required 480 pages and an appendix or two to adequately
cover The Republic of the Philippines, but in a bit of been there done
that arrogance, I'm going to try and do it in one page (by the way,
thanks to LP
for the adjacent map). Just kidding, but since I know I have some
time to attempt a summary of this constantly changing and fascinating
place, this page will evolve constantly over the next two years and
beyond. By the way, I'm writing this after being here for just ten months,
but I'm hoping it might answer some of the questions that you might
have about life in the Philippines.
First, the facts! The Philippines is not one continuous
block of land, but is made up of approximately 7000 islands. When I
first arrived here, I thought to myself that they should know how many
islands they have since throughout history many other countries have
made an issue of life and death over exactly where their turf begins
and ends. As it turns out, the exact number is a source of debate depending
on whether it is low or high tide as some islands slip beneath the sea
when the tide is up.
Over 84 million people live here, surprisingly 90% of
them are Christian, 80% of them are Catholic, a legacy of the 400 year
colonization by the Spaniards. The Capital City is Manila and the president
is Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; the Philippines narrowly avoided a California
style governmental makeover with a close loss by actor statesman Fernando
Poe Jr. in the May 10th, 2004 elections.
Weather
The weather here is, in the immortal words of Buster
Poindexter, "Hot, Hot, Hot!" and as far as I can tell there
is little distinction between the seasons. Although I'm a bit apprehensive
of the monsoon or rainy season since I was not able to hack the constant
rain when I lived in Seattle five years ago. As it has turned out (this
first year at least), the rainy season here at my site in Dumaguete
is not as dramatic (read: it is sunny here) as it can be in other parts
of southeast Asia. We are also well out of the typhoon belt that has
wreaked so much destruction and misery recently in the northern parts
of the country..
Today's
forecast......HOT!
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Overall, I would characterize the Philippines as a pretty
typical tropical climate with plenty of sun and very little temperature
fluctuation between day and night. It will certainly be an adjustment
to move home and have seasons again and have the possibility of being
cold!
Coming soon....Food and more!
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