Diplomacy, Development, and Defense

Earlier this month, we attended the "A3D" Event (American Diplomacy, Development, and Defense). This event was the brainchild of our ambassador, Harry Thomas Jr.. The event has been held in four Filipino cities, most recently in Iloilo.

About two months ago, the ambassador took out the Peace Corps volunteers in the region to coffee (of course to the only Starbucks in the region). The meet-and-great and very nice. The ambassador was extremely personable and asked each of us where we were from, and he managed to have something to say about all of our hometowns. When there are places ranging from Manhattan to Atlanta to South Carolina to Upstate New York, that's no easy feat. We also talked about each of our projects, and I made sure to ask him about his. At the end of the coffee, he started promoting his A3D event. We said that we'd be happy to be involved, and they asked us to take the stage in Iloilo to give a performance. We said no problem. About a week or two later, we received an email from our country director saying that he was happy that our conversation with the ambassador went well, and this was the first A3D event that would feature Peace Corps volunteers. He also mentioned he hoped our presentation entirely in Ilonggo.

Fast forward to March 2. I arrived at SM City, where the event was being held. SM City is the biggest mall in the city. It was very strange to see our usual stomping grounds being taken over by foreigners. For a change, we were on display (formally) rather than just being someone who stands out of the crowd. Lots of Americans and other foreigners who are married to Filipinas were there, as well as lots of navy personnel and other travelers. The bottom floor of the mall was taken over by the A3D event, with lots of sign boards and embassy personnel holding booths. There were signboards about the U.S. - Philippines relationship (including a Peace Corps booth), a picture-taking with "Obama" (unfortunately the Joe Biden was broken), and information about studying in America and applying for a visa.  

Posing Filipino style with Obama. Took going to SM City in Iloilo to get a picture in the West Wing. 

Stef, Sean and I with Elliott's counterparts at the Peace Corps booth. 

And we thought we were popular... you should have seen the  number of people (of all ages, and genders) lining up to take pictures with the army guys. Their booth was next to ours,  and it was fun hearing about their mission in the Philippines and the challenges they face in their work. There was lots to talk about

The Joe's invade Smallville. Jack & cokes and ribs on country director Denny! He took the volunteers and our regional manager Lynn out to dinner. 

Two of our old Peace Corps trainers, Nelphi and Alvin, came to the event. We all met up to party party in Smallville afterwards. Sharon, Alan and Bobbit joined us later as well. They were troopers - staying out past 4AM with us. We've come a long way since training.

On stage was a series of presentations, ranging from the Navy Band to a popular Filipino dance crew giving dancing lessons to the crowd. Of course everyone's highlight was the Peace Corps presentation. After changing around everything at the last minute, it was decided that after our country director's introduction, we would be holding doing some trivia questions. Stef agreed to be the host, while Stacey, Amari and I were in charge of presenting about our sectors and giving out candy during the question portions. The crowd was really into the trivia, and the emcee from the Embassy did a great job pumping up the crowd. Plus our speeches were really well-received. It's not often for the Filipinos hear foreigners speaking their native language. Most foreigners living here can't speak the language, and it's especially uncommon for foreigners to speak Ilonggo, the regional dialect, rather than Tagolog, the national language. Our presentation and speeches were really well received, but I'll let you see for yourself...

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