First of all let me say a huge THANK YOU!!! Wow within about 10 days I was able to raise $1,400 in my support account. I am blown away by the support and am so happy to be able to continue the journey set before me! I still have $5,254 to raise in order to be fully funded but God has never failed me and I am already thanking him for the provisions.
Micah 7:7
“But as for me, I watch and hope in the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.”
As you can imagine Asia, specifically the Philippines, is very different than the States. I’d like to take you all on a little journey through what I mean by “different.” I’ve been living on the outskirts of Manila, the Capitol, in an area called Cainta; so this is the perspective I’m speaking from, not the whole string of islands that make up the country.
Manila Fast Facts
I am 13 hours ahead of Eastern Standard time. Meaning when I wake up for Sunday it’s Saturday night back home and when you all wake up and get ready for the day I’m almost asleep.
The city’s population is 1.6 million and the National Regional Population is 11.8 million. To put this in perspective NYC has a population of 8.4 million and Manila has less square mileage than NYC: it’s OVERPOPULATED people.
There are no seasons like I have at home, it’s either dry or wet season with a temperature pretty consistently in the 80s. Right now it’s starting the dry season, so it doesn’t rain everyday like when I was in Guatemala.
Random fact about my location.
I am working with Kid’s International Ministries (KIM) located in an neighborhood called Cuatro, yes that’s Spanish for four. Its a type of squatter village located right next to the FOURTH hole of Valley Golf, a golf club; clever huh? Condos all around us but in this little area Filippinos have lost their houses and have made make shift houses out of cement, scrap tin and other scraps of all kinds.
With these pieces of background let me take you through what I’m experiencing through my 5 senses……
Touch
Baby skin. This sounds a bit weird but let me explain. One of the first places I served at here was the nursery at the Children’s home up the street. They have anywhere from 3 month olds to 5 year olds living up in the nursery. Usually two workers are there with 7 under the age of 1 and probably 10 toddlers, meaning not enough workers or attention for all of them. All the babes are living their just waiting for adoption or to continue to grow up in the Children’s home. Plenty of babies to hold, tickle, play with, and cuddle with until they fall asleep.
Sweat. I’m constantly wiping sweat off my face. Kind of gross but hey it gets in the 80s at night and the 90s during the day in the shade, you would be sweating too. I’ve grown quite used to it though which is a positive.
Aircon. Just a shortened way of saying air conditioning here. It’s not everywhere but you know when you feel it, so refreshing. Some people take trips to the mall just to get some aircon because it’s so hot outside.
Smell
Trash, sometimes burning, sometimes just sitting there.
Exhaust. There is so much traffic. Ya’ll you think your town has a lot of traffic, nothing compares. All vehicles have two days that they are not allowed to even drive. So many cars the government says you aren’t even allowed to drive twice a week. These days off depend on your license plate numbers. Lots of people travel with scarfs and bandanas in hand to cover their mouths as to not smell and inhale all the exhaust from the cars.
Chlorine. At KIM where I am working they have a swimming pool in this little compound, in which I swim everyday with the street kids. My skin smells like chlorine more often than not.
There isn’t much variety in smells around here because when you live in such a populated place there isn’t room for anything but people and houses. It just doesn’t smell too pleasant here.
Hearing
Tagalog, (pronounced ta-gah-log) the local language. It sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard before, which is what I assumed out of Asia. They say it has some Spanish roots because Spain had something to do with the settlement here on the islands. All I know so far is Salamat Po, which is thank you.
English. I never expected this but just about everyone speaks some form of English. I can have full conversations with people everywhere!! I asked and a girl about the language spoken in schools and she said it half English, half Tagalog. Even most street signs are in English.
Gear shifts. As mentioned there is a ton of traffic and most everyone drives a stick shift. The cars are old and loud, you feel and hear every time the gear shifts in most any vehicle.
KARAOKE! They absolutely love karaoke here. Now I’m not saying every single person loves it but on any given night you can find a karaoke bar or just hear it off in the distance. One night our next door neighbors had the karaoke going for at least nine hours, from afternoon until after I went to bed, no joke.
Taste
Halo-Halo. I really am going to struggle to describe this one; in Tagalog it literally translates to mix-mix. It is my first Filippino dessert. Starts with shaved ice that a sweet cream is dumped on then normally has 4 to 6 ingredients on top you are supposed to stir in including what I thought were jello cubes, beans, bananas, leche, coconut strips, ube ice cream; many more things you could possibly put on top but I just didn’t get. Normal things like caramel.
McDonalds. They. Are. Everywhere. And really cheap, a Mcflurry is only about a dollar or 49 pesos, the local currency. Ya’ll McDonalds even delivers here, like straight to your doorstep. Like what?? Few fun things on the menu are Coke floats with chocolate syrup, a Burger McDo, an Apple pies a la mode, or Apple pies we are used to split in half in a bowl with got serve on top.
Starbread. It’s almost like a Hawaiian roll but larger and with sugar on top! The top of the bread is shaped like a star, hence the name. It’s about in every corner shop and only costs 5 pesos, or like 10 cents, I think, math is hard.
Balut, a delicacy in the Philippines I pretty much think I will not try this. It’s a fertilized egg. There are 4 different stages you can get the egg in. 1 being hardly developed, 4 being the bird has started to grow feathers and bones……. Just to much for me to handle. You crack the top of the egg and throw it back, don’t swallow it whole, chew a bit, and don’t eat on an empty stomach the locals suggest.
Sight
Jeepneys. This is a form of public transportation. After WWII the U.S. Left all their military jeeps behind and the Filippinos have made good use of them. They have open windows and open backs for people to just hop on an off whenever. You can’t stand up in them and seating is bench style sideways. I really encourage you to google Jeepneys in the Philippines, go now, then come back to the blog. It’s normally 8 pesos for a one way ride, little over 10 cents I believe.
Trikes. Another public form of transportation. A motorcycle with a metal cover and a makeshift side car with a metal cover as well. Go ahead google these too! You normally fit 4 in the side car and two behind the driver sitting sideways, 7 people in all. At one point this past week we fit 8 on one and flip it, upside down, I have a nice bruise to prove it. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.
Smiles. Everywhere. These are some of the nicest people I have ever met. It’s always yes ma’am or no ma’am and plenty of apologies if anything is awry. They’ll do just about anything for you and the street kids are quick to give out hugs and hold hands. Now there is a problem with abuse within families around this area but they absolutely know how to be polite to strangers. That will come with a later blog.
The eyebrow raise. All the time in any scenario. I can ask any of them any question in the world and I would get the eyebrow raise, even toddlers at the nursery do it, it’s definitely cultural. So what is it? Imagine my whole face is still and I raise both my eyebrows, sometimes nodding my head upwards but it’s just both eyebrows up with no other facial movements. I can ask where something is, how old they are, if they want something and the eyebrows go up. It’s not as normal in American culture as we think. At first I had no idea what they meant but it’s just something that happens. It’s a greeting, and answer, a smile, a point in a certain direction, anything. Try it next time someone asks you something, it feels odd and they probably won’t get it.
Malls. The Mall of Asia is here in Metro Manila and it’s said to be bigger than Mall of America, it was huge, that’s all I know! There are malls everywhere. There are two within a within a 15 minute Jeepney ride of where I live.
Young people and kids. The average life expectancy is in the 40s here so the elderly are a minority. Also when we step out of our compound kids swarm. It’s really great. Just step out the front door and hang out with some wonderful loving kids.
Hope you have a a sufficient sample platter here of Manila and thanks for making it to the bottom!
