Culture Shock Top Ten

I have been in Manila for over a month now and have been mentally compiling a list of the many things in the Philippines that took some (or a lot of) getting used too when I arrived. I hope I can find ten 'cause that sounds better than Top 7. Somehow I don't think I will have a problem.

10. Jolibee - The Philippine answer to McDonalds. It's just everywhere and has a big plastic bee outside looking very - jolly. You can buy hamburgers, fried chicken or Philippine traditional food served fast-food style.


9. So many malls - just down the road are the following - Robinsons Mall, Mega Mall, Shangri-La Mall, St Francis Square - the list goes on. Everyone hangs out in the malls, you can even....

8. ....go to church in a mall. Yes if you wanted to combine a spot of shopping and a mass you can in Manila. I have heard of at least four malls which have daily mass - sometimes just between the shops they will set up chairs and an altar.

7.Jeepneys, FX and tricycle transport. Getting around in Manila has it's own whole culture. It's easy-ish if you know a few things. Tricyles (usually motorised with a side cab) are quick and are for short distances. In the heavy traffic they can be a hazard to your lungs and general safety. Who needs bungy jumpy when you can risk your life travelling down the street. Jeepneys and FX are extended Jeeps or FWDs - you call them over and jump in. FX have the advantage of airconditioning and cost slightly more. Usually they are packed and you pass your money up the row of people to the driver who will then pass your change back. It works amazingly well as far as I can see - the driver often has a helper to gather passengers and keep an eye on who gets on and off.

6. Food - I haven't tried the 'ballot' yet - a unhatched chick cooked in it's shell or the 'day old chick' fried in batter. Yum! Where I live we eat a lot of rice, meat and fruit. Fish is often served with head and tail on so you can eat the eye if you really want to!! Take out food varies a lot but tends to be a bit plasticy - although Chow King (restaurant chain like McDonalds) does OK Chinese take out and there's always Jolibee. You can eat a lot of Western food here but not always tasting like I'm used to.

5. Traffic - "How will I get across the road??" was one of my first thoughts in Manila. The traffic is a bit crazy and wont stop for you at pedestrian crossings. If they stop at the lights - Thank God and quickly crossly the street. Otherwise step out and hope for the best.

4. Having your bag searched by armed security guards when entering a shopping mall or a metro train station. They also sometimes give you a quick search or 'free massage' as you enter - fortunately there is usually a separate womens and mens entrance.

3. As you walk down the street you may hear 'Hello Ma'am',or 'Good morning Ma'am' from some Philippine men. This is because you're white and a woman. White men sometimes get called 'Joe' after GI Joe.

2. You can't flush your toilet paper down the toilet here, even in your own house - you just put it in the rubbish bin provided. It's a bit yukky but somehow you do get used to it. Also don't expect public toilets (even in shopping malls) to have toilet paper - you must provide your own.

1. Poverty - ah yes the big one. It shocked me when I first arrived and I still find it shocking. The imbalance of wealth is incredible - there are people living in big houses with huge walls and tight security and then there are possibly millions of people living in little more that shacks. There is a middle class I guess - people who look pretty ordinary with normal jobs - the malls (particularly the cheaper ones) are full of people shopping. Manila is a strange place - I'm beginning to think it has more layers than an onion.

4 hours in Jolibee

Ok so most of you are probably wondering what the heck is Jolibee. Jolibee is a Philippine version of McDonalds. It is more popular than McDs here - and you can find a Jolibee resturant just about everywhere. Very handy when you have to apply for an extension on your visa in Manila.
I had hear many horror stories about the immigration department here: the queues, the wait, the heat; so I didn't expect to much when I went down on Thursday to extend my visa.
Even getting to the immigration department involves two metro trains (for which you must pay for separately) and walk to the older part of town in the heat. I managed to find it OK and prepared myself for the worst: queues of 50 people, being sent to 4 separate queues for each part of the proceedure e.t.c. e.t.c. but actually it was not so bad - I was out of there in about 15 minutes (thanks to a few prayers). However that was just the first part of the experience as they keep your passport to put the required stamp in and ask you to come back in the afternoon.
So I had about 4 1/2 hours to waste. It was too hot to walk anywhere and I had done sightseeing in that area last time I was in Manila. Jolibee was the best option.
I had a great time seeing how slowly I could drink an iced tea (about 1 hour at least) and then ordered lunch. All up I was there for about 4 hours! I read and prayed and thoroughly enjoyed my enforced quiet time (sort of quiet as Jolibee is a pretty busy place).
I went back for my visa at 3pm (no problems, not much queue - Praise God!) and headed home.
Well Manila is a crazy place but there are things I am beginning to like about it - sort of. You can eat anytime you want and anything you want really, movies cost about NZ $3-4, the malls are big, air-conditioned and the shopping can be very reasonably priced, the people are very friendly and sometimes there are days where the air is not so poluted!
They do do a few crazy things here though - this week they have been digging the road outside our base and dug a ditch right in front of the our driveway. It was left like that for about 5 days - no planks to cover it, just a ditch. We could not get the van out and eventually when they finally did fill the ditch in (after much asking from us) it was at about 10.30 at night and right below my window. Interesting!

Montalban

For those who don't know I am currently staying with a Catholic missionary community called ICPE (International Catholic Programme for Evangelisation) in Manila.
This community is currently working with adults and children in an area of Manila called Montalban. The people they are working with were once squatters alongside the Pasig river in Manila. The government has re-located them to a semi-rural area and built basic housing for them. Their housing situation is therefore improved however now they further out of Manila, far away from most employment and so without good ways to earn money. Some of them work on the nearby rubbish dump collecting things they can sell. There are schools in this area which are free but the uniform and books e.t.c. are not. Many of the poorer people cannot afford to send their children to school.
ICPE has two ministries here. there is a children's ministry which is like a Sunday School. Sometimes this attracts up to 120 children of various ages on a Saturday afternoon. Today I was there helping.
We sang some action songs, said a prayer and introduced our topic which was 'Saying thank you'. I was amazed at how these children who on the face of it did not have much at all could articulate the many things they were thankful for. Parents, houses, friends, animals, brothers, sisters e.t.c. We finished the session with a 'march' around the small community singing, chanting and making a lot of noise about Jesus and his love for us. It was fun but also a declaration: "God loves you" to the community.
Some of these children are being sponsored to attend the local school. Friends and supporters of ICPE contribute around 4000 pesos (about NZ$120) for each sponsored child. This money covers the uniform, books and extra costs for the child.
The other ministry in Montalban is for the parents of the children who are sponsored and any other adult who would like to come. There are two sessions on Saturday and the aim is to empower them to make good choices for themselves and their families.
Last week I attended these session and it was so great to meet some of the women and men who come along. They really do not have a lot, and life can be very tough but they are just like you and me.