One of my favorite things about traveling to different countries is hanging out with the locals. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have Americans around to trade stories with and work alongside, but I just love culture. I love the idea of diving straight into the culture and going where they go, eating what they eat, sleeping where they sleep, and so on. For me, that’s the reason I travel. Well, that and the Gospel. But, while I do feel the Gospel is more than powerful enough on its own, the meaning just expands when you are able to do life together.
I met Joe yesterday and I’ve heard a ton about him already. In just a few hours, Joe and I will stand in the wedding of one of our good mutual friends as the only Americans. Donald, the groom and a friend I’ve already written about, has told me how Joe and I would get along and have tons of stories to trade. While Donald told me most of them already, it was cool to actually get to meet Joe and hear him tell his own stories.
A couple of years back, Joe was here with a volunteer team serving in both Malaybalay and Manila. While he was here with a team, most of his time was spent with the locals and just tagging along with them. When it came time for his team to leave, Joe stayed for a few more weeks. On his return to the capital, Joe was offered what some might think of as the rarest of cultural experiences. He was asked to ride in a truck from Manila, the capital, to Mindinao, the southern island.
Now this may not seem like that big of a deal, but the Philippines is a cluster of islands. So, not only are you traveling on a winding two lane “highway” for 40 plus hours, but every now and then, you must pull straight onto a ferry and ride a boat from point A to point B. All in all, the trip was 52 plus hours. Oh, and did I mention that the two drivers with Joe knew three english words? Yes, no, and ok.
I saw this truck the other day and it is literally a heavy duty work truck. In the cab, there is barely room for three full grown humans, so at 6’4” at least, I’m sure Joe was thankful for the shortness in this culture. On top of this, the windows in the cab don’t roll down very far and there is no air conditioning. Needless to say, in the heat of the Philippines combined with several hours in close quarters, the body odor began to take over. Luckily, around hour 40, Joe was able to pull over and take a nice, Filipino shower; in a hut with a water hose.
I loved hearing about all the stops they made and how they tried to communicate when and where to eat. Joe just went along with whatever the guys did and kept his fingers crossed his stomach wouldn’t be too angry with him. It’s cool to hear that after this excursion, Joe is now Filipino. While the conditions may not have been “ideal” and the journey may have been a little more intense than expected, Joe has a story to tell and great respect from the Filipinos.
One of the hardest things for some people is giving up one way of life to accommodate another. It’s not easy to give up comforts and things typically taken for granted to do something that doesn’t make much since. The flight from Manila to Mindinao is a little over an hour and around $100 round trip. Joe’s excursion was over 52 hours, and may have not been worth the money he saved, but he has two things money can’t always buys: a local, cultural experience, and the respect of the people he came to serve.
