This past week was the only regular work week for the month of August, with every other week involving at least one public holiday. I've now been in Naga for more than a month, which (frighteningly) means that I'm more than one-sixth through my contract. The last week was by far the most productive week I've had since arrival: my culinary tourism project is beginning to take a recognizable form and I'll be starting field research in Metro Naga's 16 municipalities next week. I have to say that one of the most significant outcomes of the
last week, which was filled with meetings with various partner
organizations and stakeholders, has been that it's been tremendously
instructive in learning to balance the differing interests of the involved
parties. I'm quickly realizing that one of my most important roles in this project is to
speak up for (and defend) the importance of the client/traveller experience.
My first major deadline is coming up in a month from now, when Naga hosts the second annual Bicol Travel and Food Expo (BITFEX...because Filipinos love their acronyms). I've been asked to give an hour-long presentation on trends in culinary tourism and to unveil my project at a forum for industry stakeholders during the expo. It's been a long time since I've had to prepare a talk for an audience size bigger than what can comfortably fit around a conference room table, so I'm a little bit nervous about speaking in front a larger audience. Public speaking has never been my forte -- I was the shy kid in kindergarten and I'm still not keen on being the centre of attention -- but I'm glad to have a concrete target to shoot for. I'm also happy that it'll be an opportunity to meet with regional and national tourism industry insiders.
Anyhow, it's been an otherwise uneventful week in Naga (which also accounts for the lack of updates). Outside of work, the highlight of the week has been that I inally have a way to cook food at home. Since moving into my apartment, I've been living with a broken camping stove; partly out of an inability to coordinate with my landlady and partly out of my own laziness, it took a month to get it replaced. As a result, I spent most of the last month living on exotic fruit (delicious!) and pasta soaked in hot water until it became soft enough to chew (far less delicious...).
A couple of snapshots from the week:
My first major deadline is coming up in a month from now, when Naga hosts the second annual Bicol Travel and Food Expo (BITFEX...because Filipinos love their acronyms). I've been asked to give an hour-long presentation on trends in culinary tourism and to unveil my project at a forum for industry stakeholders during the expo. It's been a long time since I've had to prepare a talk for an audience size bigger than what can comfortably fit around a conference room table, so I'm a little bit nervous about speaking in front a larger audience. Public speaking has never been my forte -- I was the shy kid in kindergarten and I'm still not keen on being the centre of attention -- but I'm glad to have a concrete target to shoot for. I'm also happy that it'll be an opportunity to meet with regional and national tourism industry insiders.
Anyhow, it's been an otherwise uneventful week in Naga (which also accounts for the lack of updates). Outside of work, the highlight of the week has been that I inally have a way to cook food at home. Since moving into my apartment, I've been living with a broken camping stove; partly out of an inability to coordinate with my landlady and partly out of my own laziness, it took a month to get it replaced. As a result, I spent most of the last month living on exotic fruit (delicious!) and pasta soaked in hot water until it became soft enough to chew (far less delicious...).
A couple of snapshots from the week:
Inexplicably, it took a month for me to notice this painting hanging in the entrance of the office...thematically, I'm not sure how it links to an office focused on local development
Several days of rain was rewarded with a beautiful sunset over Naga on Thursday night
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