Welcome to the Philippines!
Jiggy, Christian's cousin Candy's son (first cousin once removed to be exact!)We were welcomed to Manila at the airport by Christian's Aunt Linda and Uncle Eddie. We had a wonderful few days at their house in the Quezon City section of Manila, enjoying lots of food, malls, and especially being with all of Christian's long lost cousins. As is the Filipino tradition with guests, we were treated like absolute royalty and were fed 5 times a day.
More Columbreses! Aunt Chit and Uncle Ernie's Family
The Royal Treatment Continues: PJ and Athena, Christian's cousins, drove four hours each way to pick us up in Manila and drive us to their house in San Jacinto, Pangasinan. Aunt Chit and Uncle Ernie's family lives in the same house where Christian's dad grew up.
Athena and PJ were our official tour guides for our whirlwind 3 days at Pangasinan Province's tourist sites.
Pilot seatFirst stop on the tour: Hundred Islands National Park. We relaxed on the beach, and had a nice boat ride around the tropical islands.
Our steed, parked at Marcos Island
Columbreses on "Christian" IslandWe instructed our boat captain to land on this unnamed island, and we christened it "Christian Island" since he was the one to spot it.
Baguio
A note about the Philippines: It is hot! 3 months later we are now accustomed to the 95 degree plus temperatures. For example, at 85 degrees I might not even point the fan at me because I am cold. Four days into our trip however, we were sweating all over the place, so going to Baguio, "the summer capital of the Philippines", was an excellent idea. Its mountainside 65 degree temperatures felt positively chilly.
The Ifugao were the traditional culture that inhabited the Cordillera region where Baguio is located. Now they get their pictures taken by the tourists for money.
The four Beetles
US culture is strong in the Philippines, I am guessing due to our 50 year colonization and a shared language (half the population speaks English). For example, the police's motto is "To Serve and Protect", just like in America.
My favorite influence is the half English, half Filipino language that many people speak. Someone will be speaking in a Filipino language, then throw in "Go for Gold" or some other English expression to emphasize a point, or completely switch back and forth between the two mid sentence.
That's a massive wave you are catching, Christian
Politics in the Philippines
"I do!" "I do!" "I do!" "I do!" "I do!" "I do!"...
The reason there are so many people getting married here is because it is being paid for by a local politician in San Jacinto, Christian's family's town, 2 weeks before election day. This should give you an idea as to the flavor of politics here.
Mayor Christian I mean Rudy Columbres
Coming back to San Jacinto, we explored the political scene because Christian's family is intricately connected! His Grandpa was Mayor for while, another Columbres was Mayor for awhile, and now his Grandpa's nephew Rudy Columbres presides.
When you are Mayor, you get lots of perks including congratulating your relatives on a banner outside Town Hall!
"Spoiled Ballots"
Elections here are never entirely clean from what we gathered. The most egregious and widespread type of fraud is "vote buying", occuring in every election from local to national. On the local level, each voter collects what is for them a lot of money (equivalent from $2-$15). Whichever candidate pays them the most, they vote for.
We witnessed this political ritual up close as we were lucky enough to be here for elections within our first month of being here. Our host mom was like a kid in a candy shop the weekend before elections, staying out much later than she normally stays up waiting in lines to collect her 100 pesos ($2).
We witnessed this political ritual up close as we were lucky enough to be here for elections within our first month of being here. Our host mom was like a kid in a candy shop the weekend before elections, staying out much later than she normally stays up waiting in lines to collect her 100 pesos ($2).
Almost everyone I talked to about it, from our host mom to Christian's cousins to the staff at our volunteer program had the same interesting reaction to vote buying. They know it is illegal and detrimental to their political process, but they have the same laugh about it and shrug it off. "Isn't that funny?" They even laugh about their own participation in vote buying - taking the money. Underneath this laugh, however, I sense a shade of resignation about the overpowering political fraud that goes on.
Except one woman. She said her brother tried to get elected without the vote buying, even campaigned to his local constituents that this was what he was trying to do - get a clean election. Because he did not give out money, he did not get elected.
In San Jacinto Town Hall
Karaoke in the Philippines
Singing to the videoke machine.You hear about it in many Asian cultures, but here it is decidedly so. Karaoke is King! In Dagupan, a beach town near San Jacinto, we spent our last night with Athena and PJ singing at our first karaoke night.
Now a staple of our social diet, sometimes I think I am addicted to videoke.
Athena the Diva
"Total Eclipse of the Heart", first introduced to us by the Israeli trapeze artists, turns out to be an excellent Karaoke song!
Duck Fetus, anyone?
It is a well known fact in the Philippines that "Balot", a half incubated duck fetus egg, was featured in the US show "Fear Factor", as a "scary" thing to eat. But they pride themselves that they eat it all the time.
When you are out at a bar etc. you usually hear vendors come by offering, "Baloooot!"
It is a well known fact in the Philippines that "Balot", a half incubated duck fetus egg, was featured in the US show "Fear Factor", as a "scary" thing to eat. But they pride themselves that they eat it all the time.
When you are out at a bar etc. you usually hear vendors come by offering, "Baloooot!"
PJ slurps it up
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