Reflections on the Philippines

Adam-November 27, 2008

So three weeks in the Philippines and I’ve formed some impressions and opinions, now they are quite strictly my impressions and I’ve seen a relatively small cross section of the Philippines (the Northern Luzon region), so they probably aren’t too valid but they are what they are. First, a few things that have jumped out at me during my stay here, starting with differences in the bathroom…or as it’s called here the comfort room (CR). Several of the houses we’ve visited had showers but they are never used. Instead every CR is equipped with a large plastic bucket (probably 10 gallons or so) and a scooper pail. The scooper pail is used to pour water over yourself and this is called taking a bath. I’m honestly not a huge fan I guess I’ll always be partial to showers but there are worse ways to bathe. Still on theme CR there have been certain areas we’ve visited that don’t like toilet seats. Its not that they break or the toilets don’t come with them because the seat is often sitting on the ground removed from the toilet. Alright done with the CR so let’s work backwards…food.

Food in the Philippines revolves around one thing and one thing only…rice. Every meal involves rice; in fact it seems that every Filipino home has an endless supply of cooked rice waiting to be eaten. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are pretty indistinguishable in the Philippines. Breakfast could be sautéed vegetables with some sort of meat while lunch might be fried eggs; the only think that can be depended on is rice will be present. Seafood is also very common and usually pretty salty. Most meals contain some sort of vegetable in a mystery sauce. I’ve yet to determine what exactly most of the mystery sauces are…but most of them pretty much taste the same. Bread in the Philippines exist as either a sweetened from of wonder bread, or some breakfast rolls sprinkled with sugar. Needless to say we steer clear of the bread. A few oddities and Filipino specialties worth mention, the first foremost being Balut Bolute is fertilized duck egg allowed to develop for a few weeks boiled and served. When you crack the egg open you suck out the soupy goodness at the top and then proceed to eat the rest. The chick is just developed enough that you can start making out what you’re eating, it’s actually quite tasty. Other Filipino specialties include a wide range of fruits you could only find in a tropical country (one of my favorites being Jack Fruit). Buko (coconut) pie is a classic desert, garlic peanuts, fried pork fat, and sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves are perennial bus favorites. Filipinos are also epic eaters, they are always eating and they eat a lot…but most of them are still skinny (this will probably change obesity rates are climbing and diabetes is a big problem here). Their fast food institution of choice is Jollibee, one of the most disgusting food experiences of my life. Any food that isn’t traditionally Filipino has a cup of sugar added to it…imagine sweet Mexican food???

Wandering though the Philippines is a little like wandering though cities that have been abandoned…if it weren’t for the millions of people. It seems like people have grand visions of things here and then forget after you build something you have to maintain it. This is true of just about everything (except maybe the shopping malls more on that later) from personal homes to government and corporate buildings. The skyscrapers which were pearly white when built have been turned a permanent shade of gray from massive amounts of particulate pollution and no regular cleanings. The walls of houses are chipped and badly in need of a little TLC. This condition seems to know no economic bounds. The insides of all the homes we’ve visited are very well kept and clean, but the outsides which were clearly nice when built have since fallen into disrepair. The one exception to this is the malls. The metro Manila area is full of malls sometimes with two right across the street from each other. The malls are always well kept, air conditioned (a big deal around here) and extremely popular. This seems to reflect the broad effort of the Filipino people to become more modern.

This trend towards modern can be seen everywhere, but at the same time it is resisted on the most basic levels. Kitchens are a prime example of this. Most families have a kitchen for looking at inside their homes, but all of the cooking gets done on burners outside the back of the house. The malls are springing up everywhere but people still do most of their actual shopping at local markets. Similar contradictions can be seen else where the fast food restaurants have guards with automatic rifles while the national museum has no guards. The female guards in the malls are seen wearing skirts and two-inch high heels while carrying pistols. On the subject of gender relations the president of the Philippines is a woman and the Philippines is well known as a place where woman can achieve on the same level which men can, but they still play a subordinate role on the home front. Corruption in politics is the standard, not the exception, senators and governors are renowned for having many wives (the male ones) and retiring to sprawling estates. The largest export of the Philippines is overseas workers. Over 10% of their GDP is brought in from Filipinos working over seas, many of these working in domestic service jobs. As with some other former Spanish colonies the catholic religion is an ever present force, statues of the Virgin Mary are common place and it seems religion worms its way into the strangest places (i.e. the picture of UN Day banner with 10 commandments right below). Over all, my time in the Philippines has been a wonderful experience, the people are great (except when they are trying to sell you something, every time you walk into a store prepare to be bombarded by at least three different people), and the culture and land is something very different from anywhere else I’ve visited. I’m excited to go explore India (and escape from the heat).