*Please see facebook for pictures
Spain meets Asia and well, lets just say they liked each other. That's what the Philippines is like to me. Asian countries, people and culture are very unique and when you mix it with the Spanish flair, things get all sorts of fancy.
I arrive in Clark airport, just north of the capital of Manila and meet my friend Erin who is waiting for me. It's 4 am but we are so excited and have tons of energy. We hop in a jeepney, which is the main mode of public transportation here. Apparently the Philippino's made these bad ass trucks out of the jeeps left by the Americans. They snazz them up, paint them, hang streamers, you name it...but at the end of the day, no 2 jeepneys are alike. So we hop in one to go to the bus station to catch a bus to Manila. Immediately, I feel a sense of ease as everybody speaks English. We make it to Manila and head to a fast food place for a bathroom break . On line, you can tell the employees are excited we are in their restaurant. One young man of about 16 y/o comes up to me and says " good morning mum". I say good morning back but im a bit startled because I think he just called me mom. I think maybe they use the term of endearment mami/papi that the Spanish use. Well, everybody was super friendly and saying " good morning mum" all day and so I'd joke and say " good morning pop" until Erin told me they are saying ma'am. I got a good laugh and was officially in love with the people of the Philippines.
Anywho, from Manila we hop in another bangin jeepney to go to the port. We really have no idea what we are doing but we knew we wanted beaches first and that Cebu province was a good start off point. We walk a lot to get to the pier, end up walking all over the place to find the ticket booth for the boat ride we had both heard was 13 hours. It felt hotter than it ever felt in thailand but we were too excited to care. Yet, you can imagine my surprise when I was told the boat ride was 22 hours on this enormous ship that left in 15 minutes. Making the quick decision to go for it, Erin and I find ourselves in this little room in which the man escorting us said " this is where the Philippino's sleep". Erin and I were the only 2 non-Philippino's on the boat (with the exception of 2 white men with their Philippina wives, but i don't count them) so we never were sure what he meant by that, but we rolled with it. Mats were set up on the floor, as we liked to call it, refugee camp style....giving no offense to refugee camps. We later found out we got the "last chance ticket" meaning they were sold out and gave us another chance so they threw us in this room with other passengers. Erin and I actually loved this set up: it was big and spacious and there was air conditioning in our sleeping refugee camp....things we consider luxuries. Perfect.
We spent the afternoon walking around the boat and relaxing when we came across the island fiesta room where we enjoyed some karaoke and discovered our meals were included....this boat was getting better and better!! I met a really special young artist while looking at the brilliant sunset. He was a deep thinker who was extremely insightful and it was apparent in his art work which he showed me. We got into interesting conversation about the western influence that asithe Philippino's have embraced which make them a unique people and culture, but mainly about authentic Philippine culture and the preservation of it. It was a wonderful welcome to the openness and warmth I would become accustomed to over the next 3 weeks. English is so widely and fluently spoken that it was the first of many meaningful conversations to come.
We met many people on that boat trip who were curious about us and not all that intimidated to approach us and start a conversation. What was most startling to us was that they were all men, and not in a creepy way. Coming from Thailand where men and women did everything separately and a man would never approach us to talk, this was refreshing. We left our new friends heading for the island of Bohol, causing us to immediately hop aboard our second of many boat rides, excited for what Bohol would bring
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