Instead giving a shopping list of things I've done I'm instead going to share some of the ongoing commentary in my head that gets little release here except to Marni. It is not normal or customary in philippino culture to complain, make fun of, or criticize the way things run or things in general. It makes me feel like a bitter white girl. Thus I'd rather talk about some random things about living here that can't be summed up in a guide book.
(Campus shot)
So I realized that my last blog complained a little about the lack of facilities but i want to re-neg those comments and perhaps limit it strictly to toilets. What is a blog for if not to rant about things when in a developing country? I kid...
(tricycle drivers by my dormitory)
So I think Matt (sherlock) thinks I talk about poo too much, but I rather think not enough... I'm in this for cheap laughs.
But, not being accustomed to the local diet and perhaps the local water, can leave you with some rumbly tummy and other side effects. This is pretty obvious. But perhaps what I wasn't prepared for was being stuck walking around Los Banos with a case of rhea and not the Paul Ko- kind, and there not being a toilet in a 2minute walk or if there is a toilet, it is down a back alley that screams "only go pee here if you want to also be kidnapped". This is particularly cruel, but also ridiculous at the same time because of course the name of my town is "the bathrooms" .
Thus in attempt to make it back to your dorm, or perhaps a nice bush on campus you have to now scramble into a jeepney. Jeepneys were not made for westerners. They are sardine cans with wheels and colourful names like "Kitty", "Blue Moon", GunsNRoses" on the front. It is a sort of game of how many Philippinos can I fit in a moving contraption at once. So you flag down the Jeepney, rather it flags you down by honking at you repeatedly until you give in and you get on to discover that of course it is already full, so the Philippinos squish their little hips to make room for my very big hips. To remind you, I badly need to visit the bathroom and now half of my butt is sitting on a girl the size of my right leg and every time someone gets off they have to climb over my knees which occupy the leg room space of three people. Maybe I made it home in time, or I maybe I fell in a ditch while making an "emergency exit". Lets just say I've lost my pride here... completely.
(not so crowded jeepney ride)
So, I mentioned that jeepneys will honk at you to see if you want ride. Well this is not unusual behaviour for jeepney drivers. In fact, jeepney drivers are perhaps the craziest drivers in the world and use the horn as a sort of ongoing conversation that you can only guess what they mean by it. For example a honk could mean one of the following: i'm turning here (no turn signal), i'm stopping now, i'm passing you, do you want a ride?, you're in my way white girl move on to the sidewalk, "oh hey there is a white girl", "do u want to meet up later to eat street meat?"... I think u get the idea. So I deliberately cannot watch what the driver is going to do or else I am white knuckled, clenched teeth, muttering profranities under my breath the entire ride. This is mostly because jeepneys will pass even if there is oncoming traffic. Many times it seems like everyone is playing a controlled game of chicken and if it wasn't for the guy behind us at the very last second putting his break on, we barely would have made it. But alas, jeepneys are the only way to get around here and so I endure.
(crowded jeepney ride)
The constant honking isn't the only noise pollution going on. In fact every time I venture out of the campus I feel like i'm being assaulted in every direction by flashing lights, really loud music, really loud diesel engines, honking, people pointing out the fact that I'm not a local, screaming kids, barking dogs... it is never ending. I know there are some absolutely gorgeous parts of the Philippines that are beautiful quiet, postcard beaches... but the cities are not these places. Even Los Banos which is more rural is popping and bopping all the time along the main road and as I soon as I come back on to campus I feel the stress being relieved and the tension going away. The walk back to the dorm is so peaceful because all I can hear is crickets, the occasional cow and I get to look at light bugs and horses. If i didn't have this little escape I think I would slowly being going mad. It is so bad that on trips I wear my ear plugs or i-pod for 90% of the transportation period. Rant over.
(Marni and goat on our country lane)
Another not so strong suit of the Philippines is anything administrative. For example, today I went to go drop my social forestry class (teacher isn't very good and I need to focus on Chem), so I go to the main forestry building and ask for a "dropping slip". Unfortunately he says, you must first compose a letter to the secretariat of Forestry explaining why you want to drop the course and asking for her to please allow me to do so. Then once she okays this, I can then get a dropping slip, where I then have to get signed by professor (awkward in a 4 person class), take this slip to the Registrars office (on the other side of campus) where I then have to pay 30 peso to drop the course. He said that they would let me know at the Registrars office what else I had to do. I almost punched him in the face. I half-played the "I'm an exchange student do I really have to do this" card, and then gave up in utter shock. Registering for classes was so absurd that i guess i had it coming to dare drop a class. And of course my Philippina friend who i shared this with didn't have much to say and so i felt like a bit of an asshole for complaining. I couldn't imagine what would happen if one of us lost their registration slip or ... their passport! What a nightmare.
(male Water buffalo and duck on my country lane)
So perhaps you have noticed so far by my passing references, i get a lot of attention here. Not just the occasional stare, but at any moment I could look at anyone in the vicinity of me and they are staring at me. Staring in a way that would definitely not be chill back home. And then everyone wants to say hello, how are you, what is your name, etc. etc. etc. For the most part this is endearing and the first two weeks I smiled at everyone back because i wanted them to think I was friendly. Now i keep my head down, don't make eye contact and never respond back, pretending I can't hear them. I mean I can't be Vanna White for every Philippino that wants it. Hey don't judge me, this is my rant... But honestly though, I sometimes miss the ability to just slip in and out and around. I like to be a chameleon in classes, and some days I'm just irritated, frustrated or feeling off. On those days you don't want to be stared at by everyone, so on those days and only on those days I stare back and make faces at little kids (I am no kidding). Oh it brings me joy. Anyways, it really isn't that bad.. i'm totally used to it now. When I go shopping for groceries I usually get no less than twenty "Good morning Ma'am"'s- I'm practically royalty.
Everyone refers to everyone as "ma'am" or "sir" here... I kinda like it, it is pleasant.
But seriously though, take all of this with a grain of salt. These are just some of the little things that happen in my daily life here and to be honest I love it. I'm not actually complaining I just find these things hilarious and mostly ridiculous... so I wanted to share. It keeps things interesting, it is a different way of doing things and I like it. I am forced to be constantly open, calm tempered, patient and accepting. It is difficult to relate to some of my classmates, but I recently made some friends with older Philippinas in Forestry who are great. My friend Ems I can actually be sarcastic with and joke/make fun of things with her... she is my savior. She is trying to teach me the local food here and last week she had my try deep fried fish balls, some street meat, grilled pig intestines (i've already had pig face) and she wants me to have premature egg. I want to hang out with her as much as I can because i actually relate to her, but also because she wants to show me the ropes of the Philippines. Pig intestine was pretty good and I'll probably go back and try the other option they were selling which was fried pigs blood cubes.
The street food is pretty good as well as some cheap restaurants that sell my favourite dish so far called sisig which is grilled pieces of chicken or pork face with rice. Most dishes don't have vegetables here and consist of mostly meat and rice. They should stick to this, because their knock off versions of American or European dishes are pretty bad. For example, they love pasta, spaghetti, lasagna but the tomato sauce is super sweetened and tastes more like sugar than tomatoes, as well as the cheese is usually a processed cheese.... ech. Last week I went to the International Rice Research Institute's housing for the "American Thanksgiving" which was awesome and I was really happy to eat some foods I have been missing, mostly vegetables. It was crazy to be in the same room with the brightest and best minds of agricultural research in the world. It was a mixture of every race it seemed and there were clusters of East Indians, Koreans, Americans, Germans, Brits, Japanese, etc everywhere. I can't wait to do the tour of the IRRI building when I get a chance. Anyways below are some food pics. Matt (sherlock) I wish u were here to cook with me and go to the market!
(Quail eggs and San Miguel- The Philippino beer. Quail eggs
taste just like regular eggs and street kids sell them to you so you
snack on them while drunk)
(Piles of Street Meat in Calamba City)
(Towers of beer!!!! Ingenious... and the local beer is pretty good)
(The next few pics are from the local fresh food market.
It is great but I haven't purchased from there yet)
(pigs head being cut in two)
(potluck party)
(My new Philippina friends from Forestry... they're great)
(riding in a jeepney in Manila: Kim, Ally, Marni, Joyce, Rhyme)
(Eating balut: premature egg with my friend Ems)
eating balut... she makes me try these things :)
(fancy floating restaurant in Quezon Province )
(our whole dormitory: five nationalities)
