School Visits

Although my two days of hunting for a translator have proven to be relatively fruitless so far, I have had the opportunity to explore the campuses of several universities in Dumaguete.  First I went to Silliman, which is the oldest American university in the Philippines and one of the top six schools in Asia (says a woman I met there):

Next I went to Negros Oriental State University, which recently won a pan-Asian award for most racially insensitive epithets in a school’s name.  I just made that up.  It was registration day when I showed up, so every person I asked to point me towards the business school was either a timid incoming freshman or an exhausted staff member. 

Finally I went to Foundation University.  All the offices I visited were cool and comfortable and paneled with beautiful dark wood; the campus was really nice, too.

Last night one of the other interns started an email chain where we could let off steam about the challenges we’re facing.  It was a brilliant idea.  I was feeling pretty crabby about hiking all over town in the heat all day looking for anyone to be a translator, but my problems were put into perspective when I learned that another intern has been sick and unable to move for over a week and sleeps on the floor in a compound that is sealed shut at night because the UN considers the city to be dangerous.  Whoa.