From the Philippines

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Once again, I find myself in an internet cafe in the Philippines. On the computer with no immediate responses to the messages I send out, because of the large difference in time between me and the world I am familiar with. However, I am fond of the place I am in at the time, and I enjoy the lively hood and environment in a very unique way, different from the way I love home. When we first stepped out of the airplane, into the airport, first thought-- HUMID. Sticky and hot. We bumped into a friendly white guy who was to marry a Filipino woman. We waited outside for about one or two hours, for our ride. Our plane had arrived one hour early, and our drivers had expected us one hour late. Unfortunately we did not have contact information. cough, mom cough haha. So we had to call America, then to call our uncles in Manila. The numbers I had seen seemed wrong. But it was just my American eyes. Although it was around 4-5 in the morning when we arrived, there were many people out on the streets already. Yes. Unusual. But it could have been because it was a school day. Friday. We took pictures of the unusual. People on bikes, tricycles, these ghetto Filipino bus looking vehicles called jeepneys. People walking with buckets on each end of a long stick. Stray dogs, stray cats. The barrios, these poor looking houses beneath the bridges. The heavy traffic. The large puddles on the road. The pedestrians having the time of their life. Capturing the roosters that make this screaming yell that act as an alarm clock. The heavy greenery. All so interesting. AFVillage. We see Uncle Wally's house. Nice! Geometric. Looks big, isn't very big. Much glass, much wood, many mirrors. Content much inspired by Uncle Wally's desires. Interesting, cute, love the stories. Stone house? Interesting story. Log house? Exciting. It feels weird to be served by people. It is the only job they can get. It is not forced labor. They'd like to do it. So they keep them, as a Christian way. Stories/talks with these people are highly educational. :] I learn from the people. and I enjoy it. Meet the Seranilla side of Ate Nikki's family. They reside in Canada. Names are Sean and Armie. We meet more Candadians later. We go to Cabanatuan. The childhood home of the Briones family. We have a tour around the place. It has much potential but is poorly kept. I love its countryside. Beautiful Beautiful. We see the Pacific Ocean. We see Uncle Teddy's house. Nice! Very nice color, and then I realized that the middle class Filipinos (that have nice houses) like color. Different colors. I can see why Janeczka's family likes color so much. And why her house is nicely painted colors like yellow and teal and orange. The rooftops around this village are colors like blue and red and orage and yellow. Interesting. I see people working out in the rice fields. I see ducks laying eggs for balut. I see streets flooded so heavily with water that a picture of it could pass as Venice. I see an upgraded version of the tricycle, now instead with a motorcycle! There are many malls in the Philippines. from Mall of Asia, I see the South China sea. There are malls such as SM, Green Hills, Market!Market! and many many more. Right now I am in the Rockwell mall. I see Uncle Ernie's old house. I did not remember it at first, but once we went inside upstairs, I vividly remembered the memories that I had with my cousins there! and how I had to be carried downstairs because I had been so scared of the cockroaches x] yes.yes. I remember. But now Kuya Em and Kuya Dennis live there with there children. I find it so hard to believe that I AM an aunt. I am. Yes. We spend only two nights in Cabanatuan. But I seriously love that place. Next time I would like to stay there longer. So here we are in Makati/Manila. I really don't understand the difference x] I haven't been told. I will tell you more. haha Maybe if I get to be in another internet cafe soon. This is just the basics of what I've seen. :] WELL Good bye foolkkss! :] greetings from the philippines -michelle.