Tourism, sustainably

While rainy season starts in the Philippine tropics, some sustainability thoughts while looking back to summer..

Pinay Arkitek

I started writing this piece in the middle of a 2-hour lecture for a subject called Strategic Spatial Planning.  It was a 2-degree wintry day outside and I was wrapped in 3 layers of clothing inside the lecture room, and now that it’s spring it’s still quite cool at rainy 12 degrees. In any given day, I often forget either one among the necessary hats, scarves or gloves.  That day more than ever made me dream of verdant islands under the brilliant sun with pretty, chilled cocktails on hand.  The class was about tourism and how it should be sustainable economically, ecologically and socially.  A tall order and perhaps strategic planning can lead right to it, according to the professor.  Very interesting indeed but it got repetitive and so my mind wandered back to clear blue waters where schools of fish nip at your toes and perform the most natural…

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bend low, bend low and see what the Lord can do…

That’s probably the most remarkable part from the mass service that I just witnessed for the International Community here in Leuven, at the Sts. Mary & Martha of Bethany University Parish in Minderbroedrsstraat 15.  This came in the offertory part, after all the kiddos offered their lit candles and adults gave all kinds of things (even bottles of coke!) ..then the African women started chanting and singing the phrase above from the back of the church and moving forward in a cadence bringing flowers to the altar.  They definitely were the most festively dressed of the whole and celebrating the service with a lot of family and friends.  And hearing”Kordero ng Diyos” sang by the majorly African choir was ear-opening…that they can do it so Pinoy-like!

After years living abroad, I think it is safe to say this is the first time I’ve attended Catholic mass on a Sunday, and after so long.  Thing is the weekend in Oman is Thursday and Friday, so people go to church there on Fridays. After getting turned around trying to find the church the first time and was unsuccessful, I never returned.  Also started reasoning that attending church is not the only thing I do for my faith.  Yet as much as I want to think and totally be intellectual about it, I cannot entirely divorce myself from religion.  True, there are atrocities committed by the church, especially the men in and out of the church which is indeed the ugly side of religion.  But, our mother always taught us the spiritual side of things.  Also that things are never black and white and you have to always listen to your inner soul.  Trust God like a kid  would and don’t be shy asking for mama Mary’s help.  I was probably in grade school going to high school that time and was taught in a strict chinese-catholic school.  I’m sure I only understood half of what that meant…

For now my inner self is in a quandary.  In the scheme of things, a very trivial one but something that’s been bothering my mind for days.  My question was should I break my accommodation contract which is still to start this 20th September, and move in to a studio by myself, hopefully closer to both school & town? Or stay here in this shared house with 7 other people and live through the noise and the mess the majority of the undergraduates normally do? They both have pros and cons and honestly the only thing really stopping me form moving out is the hassle of packing, transporting and unpacking… But if I find  a reasonable studio somewhere, I can imagine myself taking it and living by myself.

But what if I totally missed out all the signs again? And that this is actually where I’m supposed to get out of my shell and comfort zone and interact. With housemates. Interacting is OK, but it’s dealing with the mess in the kitchen, the noise during evenings that makes my head ache.  And if I’m going to do this the whole year, I better be in my best and most positive disposition given that I keep hearing everyone telling me that my chosen course is…intense, to say the least.  Then there are practical considerations such as I already paid my landlord and signed the contract.  Yet surely in the years since this university started, this is not the first time that someone was not comfortable in their first place and wanted to shift.

So there, I can only do so much inquiring and checking.  I have to decide.

challenges of the day

01. wash clothes

Mundane tasks should not be a big deal.  But this is the first time I’m going to use the washing machine in the basement of this old house.  I still got images of dank, dark basements from all sorts of movies, with the furnaces looking menacing and such.  And all the bad things happening right when you’re going down the narrow steps… However, aside from the fact that the machine didn’t have a dryer, the basement wasn’t so bad.  But one thing I will try not to do is use the bathroom where the washer is.  It still feels odd  and smells stale 😀 After almost an hour of wash, even if I hang my wet clothes out to dry, there is no sun! So just left them hanging in our cavernous but badly-designed bathroom.  At this point, I really don’t care if my new housemates see it. Let them tell me how to dry clothes here and I’ll happily oblige.

02. prep/cook a meal

I did manage to mix several veggies yesterday and this is the result…Greens+tomatoes+pre-shredded carrots and just topped them off with olives & feta cheese from a jar..

And of course my meal will never be complete without desserts!   This oh-so good chocolate eclair came from a goodies shop, just right across the house.  So I have a feeling I’ll drop by there everyday right after school..

However, all these were prepared by someone else and the true test came when I made dinner tonight.  After figuring out the electric cooktop, it was just a matter of taking the stuff I bought (and carefully transported via bike!) yesterday and throwing something together!  Result is pasta with pesto/rucola paste with mushrooms and topped with PORK bacon.  Didn’t care much for the rucola, found it slightly bitter, but my goodness it has been ages since I had pork! And this one was just heavenly, even cooked by me! 😛  I can imagine it with steamed rice, fresh tomato and scrambled eggs too.. *laway*

So I don’t know what else to make after this actually, so let me surprise myself as well 😉

Naamsesteenweg, 3001 Heverlee

So that’s where I’m gonna live starting Monday.

However, I can admit it now, I’m not sure if that was the right decision.  I had to give up  a lovely, lovely, brand new, Ikea-furnitured studio because of cost implications, so I have to settle for this (only to find out later on that the studio landlord was willing to drop down his price : [   He only speaks Dutch, that’s why)  This studio had a curious situation in which they can only rent out 2 different studio units under 1 contract. So future tenants should at least know each other and the rent fee is so much better divided with 3 people, say a couple & a single person.  Which was the case for us.  After a lot of discussions and thinking,  since half of the couple is not sure if he can stay or not, I had to decide very rapidly to go for the other room in a shared house .  I cannot risk having my rent increase enormously in the middle of the year or whatever.  And my appointment for the other one was literally in minutes and rooms and studios in Leuven now are being snapped up like crazy!  But after seeing  and knowing about that studio unit, I’m not so happy about it now coz I could’ve worked out the cost for it even if we divide it only by 2. people, especially if the whole rent was lowered…Plus I could have moved in immediately without additional costs and just wheel out my suitcases as its only 2 streets away from where I currently stay..

 

But since I’ve already signed my room contract & submitted to the international office, I have to believe there is a reason for this setup.   My chosen unit is not so bad either, it’s basically a decent-sized bedroom with tall windows facing the main street in a shared big house with 6 other people. It has 2 bathrooms, a common sitting room & dining/kitchen plus a small garden for barbeque at back.  It’s already located in the adjacent city of Heverlee, where my campus actually is.  I think I’m justifying it now, because there’s really no going back, I just pray that new place will be quite alright.  Though charging me rent for moving in before my contract starts is not a good sign, but I may not have a choice now…

 

Noormannenstraat, Brusselstraat and Naamenstraat

Day 02.

I am officially registered and dutifully following through the next step which is actually looking for permanent accommodation. That feels to be more of a challenge than the whole of the travel and registration combined!  I mean, walking around this town, albeit picturesque, is no easy matter.  They say Belgium is flat, but whoever said that didn’t walk around looking for university buildings in a university town! Street names, as titled above are each a tongue twister.  I temporarily live in the first, have to walk the whole length of the second, to get to the third which is where the international/admission offices are.  But a lot of things do happen in those walks. I crossed paths with a couple of Filipino who are also students.  And got invited to a dinner of sinigang tonight!   Would really love to, but feet are dead tired.  Might really be the time for renting that bike now. Then, got handed a leaflet for an event called Quam Optime.  Good thing I received it as it was a free invite for the UP Singing Ambassadors, here in Leuven! I can’t recall if it was them or the Madrigals that I saw before but I do hope I can make it tomorrow evening.

Tried riding the bus and of course it went with incidents.  It was from my new friend though, and not entirely mine 😀   But best part is that it is free all year round as the university is really integrated to the town mechanics.  Ended up in the Haverlee area where my faculty is.  And since it was almost deserted, actually had time to take pictures, unlike my visit last year.  I think I was slightly overwhelmed by the fact that we will be taught in a castle, but just a small one.  I remember the studios as white-washed, high, with tall windows looking out to green and gardens.   Oh, and we enter via a drawbridge over a proper moat.  I feel like I should come into class with a cape and hood or something 😛

Well, this is just to keep my mind off  the worry over the accommodation.  It seems every international student has the same brilliant idea of coming here early to house hunt.  And surely lots came before me.  So step 3 tomorrow is the hunt for the ultimate proper lodgings.

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Leuven!

Whew. Made it to the guesthouse.. Safe, just slightly battered.  It started with hand-carrying an approximately 15kg cabin luggage over 2 plane changes.  Then there was the physical challenge in Doha where you’re hanging onto a handstrap for 10 minutes while the Cobus driver ran circles around the International Airport.  I honestly though he couldn’t find the plane from the terminal.  My suitcases fared slightly worse. The Samsonite luggage, which is supposed to be very sturdy, had a busted outer zipper.  So I was pushing this big red suitcase in Belgium with a big side pocket gaping open.

But to backtrack a little.. I was met by a girl from the university at the airport, so that was OK enough except that I always manage to fall in the slowest-moving Passport queue so it was quite a wait.  Train ride from Brussels to Leuven was quick though getting the ticket for it was another long process.   All the machines seem to be not functioning properly, one way or the other. One wouldn’t accept bills, the other won’t read the card, etc.. But the real challenge came when disembarking in Leuven.  Taxis were scarce as apparently today is a public holiday and everyone just started drinking since 10am.  Roads were blocked and they all became fairgrounds with stalls and shops.  So in search of a cab I had to push my 30kg luggage all over town trying to find a cab.  Never saw one, until I just asked the student who met me to call for one.

So I eventually found and settled in The Viking Guesthouse where my accommodation is back to being a student. Still a slight upgrade from my state university lodgings back in UP.  I would post pictures but for some reason my phone wifi is crappy & I cannot transfer via bluetooth.  Gaad, have to figure out soon how to function efficiently here.  But, I did get a local SIM, I’d announce the number, but cannot figure it out yet 😛  I’m thinking in my 3rd time zone now, from Philippines to Oman, so having a slight temporal shifting disfunction..

Made a small walkthrough of the area, street names are sooo long! Managed to buy my essentials, which means orange juice & milk.  And now that I finally logged online via laptop, I just thought to update everyone who cares to know.  Thank you. I’m so looking forward to sleeping good as jetlag and all the events of the past week will catch up.

Hope things will go well tomorrow.  Next on the list: 1. registration 2.accommodation 3.enrollment. Yeah, coz I’m actually supposed to study here.