Every time someone asks me "What are you here for?" I have a different answer. Fun. Adventure. To "find myself". For the experience. For the mangos. To escape the heat. Just because I wanted to, and had the money from selling The Beast (the love of my life, my 1968 Ford Galaxie). I have a different answer everyday, and a different answer for every person. It is freedom from reason that brings me to the wonderful places where I meet interesting people. Simply put, my reason for being here is that I don't need a reason, and that reason is good enough for me.

I spent the last weekend in a hammock on the beach. It is a hard life but somebody has to live it. I had a lot of time to read, reflect, pray, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. I ate crab stuffed with coconut, fresh shimp with lime, and an interesting dish made from liver and lung...

Now that I am back in the jungle (aka metro Manila), I can truly appreciate certain things that we take for granted back in the States. Here are some of them...

-Speed limits.
-Maximum Occupancy levels in public transportation. Being a head taller than 99% of the country, I have been in some unwanted awkward situations in super crowded trains. I am reminded of a Chris Tucker line from Rush Hour 2-"Who touched my butt?!....do it again".
-Taxis that don't refuse to drive you. Here in Manila you must ask if the driver will be so kind as to take you where you want to go. If he doesn't want to go that way, he will just look for another customer. I was under the impression that they take you where you want to go. I guess not.
-Bathrooms with toilet paper. Be prepared. Enough said.
-Toilets that flush. No comment.
-Sidewalks. Many areas were designed as if there was no design.
-Actual coffee. No, not instant. I think the UN should have a summit about the international banning of instant coffee.
-Lack mistranslated things/places No, I would not like to eat at Kiss King of Balls, and what is an "emergency door cock" anyway?
-Ps and Fs. Here in the Pilippines, feople mix the Ps and Fs. Yes, I have visited many "non-fropit organizations", and yes they are "berry berry pun". Did I mention I went to a Pish Port?
-City planning.
-Security protocols. I am constantly asking the security guards, "Wow arent you going to take me to dinner or buy me a drink first?" No guns or bombs right there...
-Clean air. Between the pollution and the cigarette smoke I can understand why some people walk around with masks or rags covering their nose and mouth.
-Garbage collection. Trash, especially those stupid plastic bags, has become a terminal disease for the environment (a perfect example is how the rivers have turned black and in some areas have a smell so bad that your nose hairs get singed).

Now, normally I am very understanding when it comes to the different or strange quirks in every culture. But there is one thing that I can't understand, and maybe I never will, and that is the love that Filipinos have for karaoke (and my favorite recipe for a fun night=karaoke+reverb). This weekend I woke up at 4 am to catch the sunrise on the beach from my hammock. I was being lulled to sleep from the lapping of the waves, and woken up from the drunken serenading of a heavily accented tone deaf man's "artistic interpretation" of all the top love songs from the 80s.
Shakespeare once wrote, "If music be the food of love, play on". What many people don't know is that the next sentence is "and if music is the food of love, then karaoke is food poisoning".
Just kidding. Ish. Or as many Pilipinos would say after a sarcastic remark, "Jokes!"

The Vanilla Thrilla in Manila

-13 hour flight to Tapei. I sat in bulkhead, about 20 inches away from a bigscreen tv (40+ inches). I was so close I practically had to watch Twilight crosseyed!

-China Airlines has outstanding service! The ratio of flight attendants to customers is almost 1:1 (not really, but if you even THINK to yourself "I want some tea.", then they are there serving you)

-Getting off of the airplane I was blasted with the relentless combination of heat and humidity.

-The plus side to coming here in the hottest time of the year is that it is mango season! You have not had a mango until you have had a mango from the Philippines. What you were eating was an impostor.

-When I arrived I played basketball with some guys in the neighborhood. I am staying with my aunt and uncle in Malabon (the northern part of Metro Manila). They are wonderful hosts. My first night here in Manila I was served balut (a fertilized duck egg with a nearly developed embryo inside). It tasted better than it looked, but you wont be seeing balut on the shelves of King Soopers any time soon. Imagine peeling an egg to find a baby duck inside...and then sucking the juices out and eating the baby duck. That's balut.

-I have eaten horse meat, wild boar, and many kinds of fish.

-I have witnessed the global phenomenon of malls. They are everywhere! If you want to transfer from one train to another, you have to walk through a mall. It is interesting to witness an entire generation slip into the drone-like meander of window shopping. Chalk one up for globalization!

-Being in the Philippines for Holy Week has been an interesting experience. Neighborhoods around the country hold "pabasas", a 24/7 ceremony where a rotation of volunteers sing into a microphone for the entire neighborhood to hear. Imagine waking up at any time of the night to the angelic combination of reverb and Tagalog hymns...
Another part of the Filipino Holy Week experience is the "flagelantes". These are men who whip themselves in a Christ-like procession in the streets. First, they cover their faces with a t-shirt or a bandana. Then, they cut their backs with sharp razors, creating rows of dripping blood. Finally, the men walk down the street while whipping their backs with bamboo whips. As a sort of spiritual finale, I witnessed 3 men actually get nailed to crosses (for about 10 minutes). That was an extreme experience, partly because of standing in the brutal heat for several hours, and partly because I saw a Roman centurion pull out a pink cellphone and snap a picture of Jesus. I dont remember reading that part.

-I visited the Death March Memorial, where they were holding an event remembering the victims of this brutal event in the history of the Philippines. It was an honor to see the veterans who are still living, Filipino AND Japanese, in a time of reconciliation and rememberance.

-I hiked to Mount Pinatubo and stood knee deep in the blue sulfuric waters of the crater lake while eating a mango and watching Japanese tourists stereotypically pose for pictures.

-I have spent a substantial chunk of my time at an Aeta village, hiking, playing with the children, and reflecting

-Being in between trips to the Dominican Republic and Kenya, I find it ironic that the coffee here in the Philippines is instant (People ask, "Do you want some '3 in 1'", the type of "coffee" with cream and sugar already in it). The coffee in the DR is so strong, black, and pure that it is called hair dye. The coffee in Kenya is so good that they serve it at Starbucks . Here in the Philippines? Well...

-I have spent most of my time here in Manila traveling around with different community based NGOs, experiencing firsthand the hope and pain of the communities here. The rapid urbanization has left many areas in metro Manila to the rapid spread of unplanned squatter areas. They have no land rights, and the government is always evicting them without plans of relocation. On the taxi ride from the airport, on my very first day, I witnessed the eviction and demolition of a road side squatter community.

-This weekend I am going to the beach to try an escape the heat!

This has been just a simple review of what I have been doing in my time here. My next entry will be more of a reflection...