Describing my Cultural Community

In my experience in the Philippines, my cultural “environment” has been split into two. The first is the local community I interact with on a weekly basis when participating in volunteer projects and when we go diving in the locally governed marine protected areas. The second cultural environment consists of the staff and volunteers that make up MCP itself. The majority of MCP staff and volunteers are from the Americas and Western Europe. In both environments, I am constantly learning new things from the people around me. In the first week of my experience, I was introduced to both by way of presentations. The first presentations introduced me to base life and the rules and expectations. We live in very close proximity to one another and so it can sometimes feel a little claustrophobic, but the end result is a close-knit group working towards a common goal. The second presentation served as an introduction to Filipino culture and the rules and expectations that come with living in a foreign country. I see a community as a group of people working towards a common goal, and in both instances, I have observed that communal effort being made.