Lucas this time

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Laine's been pestering me to contribute to this, but I just havn't been filled with inspiration, especially with Filipinos reading over my shoulder in the internet cafe; they seem to have a very different understanding of privacy on the internet, possibly because few of them have email or personal pages that wouldn't necissarily be open for every passer-by to scope out. Oh well, such is life when moving through another culture - another thing to take with a grain of salt, shrug, and smile. I have found this approach essential when dealing with Filipinos, who (I'm sure Laine has already mentioned) are perhaps the most disorganized and ambiguous people I've ever met. I'm learned very quickly that in the Philippines the saying "everything is relative" becomes the golden rule - there seems to be no objective, solid truth here that is immune from the skewing of individual interest. This sounds ethnocentric and insensitive, and I can hear everyone sitting at home saying "Who are you to judge a peoples' perception of truth? What's 'true' in America?" but in all honesty, it's absolutely astounding how different people talk about the same thing and recount huge sweeping variations, from small details like ingredients in food, to subtle nuances like the relationships between locals, to seemingly un-skewable hard facts like whether or not there's a ferry today. Saving face is absolutely fundamental, and all truth is reworked to omit ANYTHING negative and amplify EVERYTHING positive. Now that I've picked up on this cultural underpinning, things have become alot easier, but it can still be difficult really getting a firm handle on anything.
But I don't want this rant to give people a negative impression. I speak of it first and so forcefully because it has been the largest cultural adjustment, and it can complicate things when you try to be productive or establish an understanding of a situation (already difficult as a foreigner), but I am also giving in more and more to the bahala-na worldview - things will be how they are, and fighting them only results in frustration and unnecessary conflict. As the British ex-pat deli-owner and 14-year Philippines-resident Dave said: "You can complain and abuse them all you want, but in the end you will get a lot more done and feel a lot better if you just accept and adjust to the 'Filipino way'". And I will say, they definitely have their own way - everything moves at a slower pace, usually late, and nothing is so urgent that it can't be done in an hour, a day, a week...
And in the meantime, why not come to my house and have a dozen or so meals? My goodness, the hospitality is just overwhelming. Sit in my chair, eat my food, watch my TV, do not help with anything. Their warmth and openness is still amazing me even weeks in; everyone is falling over themselves to give you something of everything they have and make you feel as welcome and comfortable in their house as possible. Part of this is because we're white, which is like having the Golden Touch around here (everyone assumes you're rich and educated), but I've seen them do it amongst themselves as well. Friends and family drop by unannounced, and stay for days as an honored guest without hesitation. Our host family is so nice I'm almost embarrassed by the treatment - we couldn't have asked for nicer people to let us into their home; all smiles, accommodation and high spirits.
I'm having quite a good time soaking up the local vibe, trying to get into the San Augustin rhythm; haggard dogs sleep in the street, pigs and roosters tied to posts, families perpetually preparing the next meal, ancient elders sitting on stools outside doorways all day, the absolute calm of the day interrupted for an hour with the flurry of activity when school gets out and the children flood the streets to play before returning for dinner and evening soap operas. Life moves at a easy, simple pace with lots of predictability and few expectations.
Of course, such an unattached and languid life is easy when living standards are so much lower. The poverty is shocking, though not anything like Manila. God, what a hell that was; what disproportionality. There are rich and poor in every place, but in Manila there is no geographical separation and insane disparity -- shotgun-weilding guards stand outside the gated communities directly across the street from miles of irregular haphazard shacks; shipping yards along the bay load crates filled with fortunes in natural resources onto barges bound for China and the First World while armies of jobless scavengers swarm over the enormous mountains of trash dumped outside their shantytown homes by corrupt companies who don't want to pay for the petrol to drive to the landfill; towering skyscrapers owned by Chinese and American firms offer the finest luxury amenities as the abandoned parking garages at their feet flood with squatters wallowing in refuse and pollution. Everything that is owned is guarded, everything not owned is overrun with landless urban poor; when the rich want to take back an area, they bulldoze the shacks and build engineering marvels on the remains of families' lives; opulence and desolation literally occupying the same space. It's like nothing I've ever seen..... an immensely dense mass of unfeeling and amorality made tangible, a postmodern chaos of globalization.
But that is behind us now, and I'm watching a gecko shimmy across the wall after a huge striped spider, and I'm realizing how much this time on the internet is going to cost me, and the beach sounds pretty good right now. So until next time my friends, be safe, keep the faith, and take it easy. Peace.

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Comments

[Ryan Pease]

Thanks for the Update
Awesome stuff Lucas. Great to hear from you too.

[cameron]

Sounds interesting. Brittany and I are still waiting to go on our trip. We're finalizing plane tickets. We also miss hanging out with you guys. And I'm curious, are you eating a lot of those filipino chicken skewers? I've heard they are good...