purple people meeter
im really tired, so this is going to be much shorter than it should be. perhaps ill try to chronicle the events of this voyage more along the lines of subject matter rather than time. too much happens in some days to try to talk about it all.
topic today: making friends in the philippines.
apparently im good at making friends with high school girls. i met two in mamburao and one very nice one (and all her friends thereafter) in las pinas, manila. i dont really do anything to try to make friends. people here are just rather friendly. perhaps as kids present a minimal threat to me (yeah, wow, didnt think i'd ever say that. thanks taiwan), im more likely to talk to them for a while.
in mamburao, i went to a carival with two girls, ages 16 and almost 16. they were nice enough, and invited me to their homes to meet their families. i got to shake lots of hands and teach some of the little kids how to play clapping games. again, thank you taiwan, as i now possess the skills to make parents like me by playing with their children.
post-carnival (which included, by the way, one of those rickety rollercoasters and the fastest, most fear-of-death inducing ferris wheel i've ever been on) i did hang out with some older folk at the hotel. the manager, the bartender woman, some guy and i talked about this and that for about an hour, drinking san miguel and translating english and tagalog.
then, today, hours after having flown back to manila from san jose, i went to las pinas to see a giant bamboo organ and met a very friendly 14-year-old girl who goes to school near the bamboo organ church. in the beginning, she was just showing me where to find the organ. before i knew it, she'd invited me to her school, introduced me to all her friends and teachers, and had me playing a bamboo xelophone. having gotten herself excused from class for showing me around (ah, the motive emerges!), she, her friends and i went to some of her friends' mother's house. said mother was incredibly hospitable and kind. upon learning that i didnt eat meat (as usual greeted with the, 'then what DO you eat?', she insisted that we go to the nearby mall and have a 'snack' which was really a meal. ive become wary of people trying to befriend me so that i'll pay for stuff, but this lady not only paid for all the girls, she paid for me as well. she never once implied return payment, and actually invited me to her family's home in southern luzon. i would think all this is just fluff to be nice, but we've arranged to go out on friday night, so im not sure that it is.
also, i went to the nice 14-year-old's house to meet her family. she lives in a very poor neighborhood, a la some of the places we went in senegal but more crowded. all this hospitality from someone with little resources...amazing. and such a young person, too. in short, although i know you've got to be very careful who you talk to, i've only been in this country for a week, and i've already met some priceless characters and collected some incredible stories. as long as you get out there, the experiences seem to be waiting. or is that way too corny? whatever.
topic today: making friends in the philippines.
apparently im good at making friends with high school girls. i met two in mamburao and one very nice one (and all her friends thereafter) in las pinas, manila. i dont really do anything to try to make friends. people here are just rather friendly. perhaps as kids present a minimal threat to me (yeah, wow, didnt think i'd ever say that. thanks taiwan), im more likely to talk to them for a while.
in mamburao, i went to a carival with two girls, ages 16 and almost 16. they were nice enough, and invited me to their homes to meet their families. i got to shake lots of hands and teach some of the little kids how to play clapping games. again, thank you taiwan, as i now possess the skills to make parents like me by playing with their children.
post-carnival (which included, by the way, one of those rickety rollercoasters and the fastest, most fear-of-death inducing ferris wheel i've ever been on) i did hang out with some older folk at the hotel. the manager, the bartender woman, some guy and i talked about this and that for about an hour, drinking san miguel and translating english and tagalog.
then, today, hours after having flown back to manila from san jose, i went to las pinas to see a giant bamboo organ and met a very friendly 14-year-old girl who goes to school near the bamboo organ church. in the beginning, she was just showing me where to find the organ. before i knew it, she'd invited me to her school, introduced me to all her friends and teachers, and had me playing a bamboo xelophone. having gotten herself excused from class for showing me around (ah, the motive emerges!), she, her friends and i went to some of her friends' mother's house. said mother was incredibly hospitable and kind. upon learning that i didnt eat meat (as usual greeted with the, 'then what DO you eat?', she insisted that we go to the nearby mall and have a 'snack' which was really a meal. ive become wary of people trying to befriend me so that i'll pay for stuff, but this lady not only paid for all the girls, she paid for me as well. she never once implied return payment, and actually invited me to her family's home in southern luzon. i would think all this is just fluff to be nice, but we've arranged to go out on friday night, so im not sure that it is.
also, i went to the nice 14-year-old's house to meet her family. she lives in a very poor neighborhood, a la some of the places we went in senegal but more crowded. all this hospitality from someone with little resources...amazing. and such a young person, too. in short, although i know you've got to be very careful who you talk to, i've only been in this country for a week, and i've already met some priceless characters and collected some incredible stories. as long as you get out there, the experiences seem to be waiting. or is that way too corny? whatever.
posted by bethany at 09:59
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