PCPhilippines Update #38

Slowing Down:  There appears to be an art to slowing one's life down.  Until our Philippines adventure, I was unaware of this art.  I've worked long and hard since I was 11 years old when I started washing & changing oil in company cars and cleaning, buffing, and painting oil field tools for my father's surveying business.

 

It's a common motto that university professors must work unhealthy hours to "publish or die."  In my last job at Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center my motto was "be efficient or get eaten up by adolescents."  These characteristics all served me well in feeding my OCD and overachieving tendencies.

 

I'm slowly coming around to understanding that to survive the Filipino culture I must do just the opposite and learn to slow down.  Efficiency and putting in long hours of work work work to be ultra prepared leaves me bored with big periods of time on my hands before the next project comes around and prone to falling asleep at my desk or in class.  Instead, slowing down, pacing myself, spending long periods of time doing things that aren't related to work, these are the processes that help me consistently keep busy with school tasks I could have done in 10 minutes that are actually taking me hours.

 

The first thing I do when taking on a new project or task is nothing.  I wait for long periods of time to allow schedules to change and my project to become irrelevant or for someone to show interest in assisting me, therefore indicating that it may be important to someone else besides me.  Peace Corps insists that we do nothing without a counterpart in order to build sustainability in our projects. During these wait periods I have plenty of time to help Alana with her projects :-)

 

Here are a few things I do that take up my time so I don't die of boredom:

 

Text in Cebuano:  Alana and I often text to each other in Cebuano.  I will stop on my walk home sometimes and take 20 minutes to compose a correct Cebuano text sentence.  It's fun . . . and good practice.

 

Walk:  I constantly have to be aware of slowing my pace down, especially if it is not blazing hot that day.  I also love to stop on my walks and take pictures or watch or listen to something going on in the community.  Walking places takes up a lot of time. Oh, this would be a good time to scroll down to the "Sweaty Man Walking" video if you want to see how we make our way through traffic here.

 

Leave The Computer at Home:  This has been a great rule of mine.  Ralph is the only instructor who has a computer in the English and Literature Department office and he pulls it out a couple of hours a week to work on.  I would get so much done if I brought the computer to work.  Instead, I work ideas and lessons out on paper and then put them in the computer when I get home.  Not having the computer at work also broadens my opportunity to just sit and talk with other instructors, work on my Cebuano, read whatever books they have lying around on their desks, and just sit, doing nothing, and observe.  I like it.

 

Journal:  I journal a bunch.  I've never written so much in my life.  I enjoy it and it is a nice way to capture some of my random thoughts and pass the time.

 

Read:  I am also reading a lot.  I have cultural books that I read at work and I actually started reading the bible on Thursday mornings before heading out to school.  The greatest book I've read so far has been "Introducing Stephen Hawkins."  Didn't think reading about cosmology, physics, and advanced mathematics could be so fun and interesting.

 

Watch NCIS and Num3ers:  Two detective shows Alana and I have on the computer.  Before any project I'm about to put into the computer at night, I like to clear my head by watching a show.  I usually have hours of time to get the work in the computer so I'm looking for other ways to fill that time.

 

Write PCPhilippines Updates:  Hello, these things take time to input from my journal, re-read, edit, search the thesaurus for nifty words :-)

 

"God Bless Our Ways":  This is a slogan we see everywhere here in the Philippines.  I wonder if they know that some of their ways are slow, inefficient, illogical, and sometimes backwards.  Here are a few things that have become blaringly obvious to me that Filipino's do differently.  Some of these are about Filipino's occupying their time so life isn't as boring as it could be.

 

Lawn Equipment:  In this humidity and heat, everything green flourishes and grows fast, much like in Louisiana except literally all year long.  I see a lot of people on my walks working on their lawns. Lawn mowers, personal weed eaters, leaf blowers, rakes, plastic trash bags?  Forget about it!

 

Filipinos don't use fancy equipment to save time, they are painstakingly doing things by hand with simple tools. Not many lawn services surviving out here; people can't afford it and what else are they going to do?  Sometimes house owners send their "help" out to do lawn work, no doubt because they have run out of things to do in the house.

 

The majority of the people I've seen mowing grass has been with scissors, hedge clippers, or machetes. They are usually sitting on a tiny chair and it looks like it takes hours and sometimes days to do a small yard.  I saw one old, old man take a full morning to pull up a 2x2 foot space of grass near the entrance to his house with a machete.  He was very meticulous in getting the grass out by the roots.  Worked too, grass didn't grow back for a couple of months.

 

I've also seen a few industrial size Weed Wackers that are operated by young Filipinos that can do a huge yard in a half hour.  Weed Warriors I call them, they take down everything!  Hired killers no doubt and usually working on lawns in front of businesses.

 

Saw my first lawn mower last week, a riding lawn mower!  The lawn in front of the capitol is about the size of two football fields and the grass grows fast.  I usually see a team of Weed Wackers going after it every month or so and that seems to take a few days. It looks like the governor finally invested in a lawn mower . . . hey, let's see if this catches on with others.

 

After the lawn is cut, or after the leaves have fallen off the trees, they usually rake the grass or leaves up into a pile and then burn the pile.  The rakes they use are interesting and seem to work very well.  Most of them don't have long handles (most Filipinos don't need handles because of their lack of height) and they rake the yard the same way and with the same rake they used to sweep the driveway, front porch, or the trash from the street outside of their business.  I saw an old, old lady (just a few doors down from the old, old man) doing her big yard the other day on my walk home.  She had a line of leaves raked in her yard that was about 30 yards long.  Big job!

 

Laundry:  Done by hand by the majority of Filipino people with buckets and soap bars.  We see tons of clothes hung out to dry everywhere.  Just like sari-sari stores, there are also tons of little shops that do laundry.  Big business out here because not many people can afford a washing machine and if the female of the family works, who has time to do the laundry?  Plus, if you can afford a washing machine, you usually can afford the "help" to do the laundry and vice versa.

 

It seems like those are big jumps in this culture; from doing your own laundry to having help that can do your laundry, to having a laundry machine run by your "help."  And who are we fooling, I only see the mothers of the family doing laundry, it doesn't seem to be a family affair.  From personal experience Alana and I know it takes a lot of work and skill to get clothes clean by hand.

 

Cooking:  Many families make it to the market nearly daily (again, mostly the women).  We know that our host mothers went every day because they were usually feeding at least 7-9 people three meals a day.  That's a lot of food for a household that has an abundance of ants and bugs living in it and no refrigerator.  Filipinos take a lot of time to shop, prepare, cook, and eat.  It is a characteristic of their cultural.

 

Most Filipino homes we've been in don't have more than a few cutting knives, a cutting board, something to stir with, and a few pots and pans; no fancy, time saving kitchen, state of the art kitchen utensils or appliances here.  Many families we see, especially the poor families, even in the city, cook over wood because they cannot afford a gas or electric stove.  Cooking in the Philippines can take up most of a person's day.

 

Transportation:  Can't tell you how many people I see walking everywhere.  Old, young, workers, students, families, couples, professional, and of course the homeless.  Many families have at least one scooter used as their family vehicle, which is why we probably see multiple people riding them.  Bikes seem to be popular.  Most look like they are bikes from the 50s so they are barely put together and moving slowly.  I rarely see children riding bikes, mostly adults and the elderly using them to get somewhere.  Filipino people take a lot of time getting places.

 

Technology:  People out here do a lot by hand.  Write projects, draft proposals, put together activities, manage money and businesses.  Technology is used a lot for gaming entertainment and socializing.  The wide majority of Filipinos don't have general access to comfort technology like refrigerators, air conditioning, home security (this creates lots of work for security guards), kitchen appliances, massage chairs (can't wait to get one of those one day), grooming tools, etc.  Lots of these are replaced with tools and processes that just slow people down and occupy a bunch of time.

 

Fixin' Plumbing/Electricity: This was something that took me a while to figure out.  There is very few people making a living as a plumber, electrician, or mechanic.

 

Ralph's brother showed up from Dubai a few months ago and bought Ralph a little min-van.  It was a hoot watching Ralph drive around town for the first time in his life, he has only driven his scooter up until now.  Ralph was very nervous about where to keep the van because he lives in a boarding house.  He ended up keeping it at a friend's house in the neighborhood he lives in.  He has had the mini-van about 4 months now and has driven it about 15 miles.  I asked him last week if he would every take it to Bacolod (6 hours drive away from Dumaguete).  Ralph immediately responded, "No!  If it would break, I wouldn't know how to fix it."

 

There are very few mechanics in the Philippines because there is very little work, people can't afford them.  When cars break, when plumbing breaks, when electric things break . . . they tend to stay broke.  It seems like anyone working on new buildings who are confident enough to take on the jobs get to be the plumbers and electricians.  That's why many bathrooms (or comfort rooms as they call them here) in the Philippines are out of order.  That's why the wall sockets and fans in our classrooms don't work.  That's why there are not many cars on the roads, everyone knows how to "jimmy" their scooter back into existence.

When Alana and I moved into our place in May we noticed that our upstairs sink was leaking onto the bathroom floor every time we would use it.  The problem was in the drain. Our landlord had this little old man come and look at it and he said it was fine.  He showed up with a little wooden toolbox with about 7 tools in it.  When we showed the landlord how it wasn't fine she sent the little old man over again and he taped the pipe near the wall.  It still leaked.  The third time I had to lend him my flashlight and leatherman to work on the problem.  Heck, I wish I would have just fixed it myself and honestly, as simple as it looks, sometimes their plumbing doesn't make sense to me.  He finally got the sink drainage to stop leaking.

 

Traffic Accidents:  While having our weekly Wednesday lunch date last week, we saw a trik (the taxi motorbikes with the sidecars) run smack dab into a guy on a scooter.  It was a loud and uncomfortable sound.  The scooter dude ended up on the ground and took many minutes to get up.  A few people went over to help yet many more went over to just look.  The trik driver mostly helped the scooter dude up, brushing him off and turning his scooter upright for him.  The scooter was just banged up a little.  The scooter dude limped around for a bit, then got on his scooter and everyone drove off.

 

No exchange of information, no tickets, no policeman, no offer to fix broken parts, wasn't he supposed to check for spinal injuries before helping the dude up?  Not even an exchange of blame or an admission of responsibility!  They just shook it off and went on their way.  What about litigation?  How are lawyers supposed to make a living out here?  What is wrong with these people!?!

 

Applause:  It is the funniest thing here for Alana and I to experience people not applauding for public performances, not even really great ones.  After someone or a group of Filipino someones sing, dance, play instruments, perform athletically, there is rarely applause.  When students present in Ralph's classes and I am facilitating I constantly have to ask the audience to "give them a hand" after their presentation.

 

Last November we went to the Miss Dumaguete pageant because Emelia, Lola and Amadore's granddaughter whom we were living with, was one of the young women competing in the pageant for the title.  It was a trip to see this event.  There were very important Dumaguete people judging and awarding and a few even had their daughters in the pageant.  The energy was awesome as they pageanted for about 40,000 people in the Lambert Sports and Cultural Center.

 

What floored us was during one of the costume and stage changes a 12 year old girl dressed in a gown and 12 year old boy dressed in a suit performed an amazing duet.  They were phenomenal; amazing ranges, powerful voices, exuberant personalities, dynamic stage presence.  Alana and I both were floored by the maturity and professionalism of their performance and when they finished not one person in the Cultural Center clapped.

 

Respect For Elders: (mano po)  I think I'll leave this one for another update.

 

 

John Baybay (Ba-bye) Update:  I continue to take stats on my "fist pound" student.  He is now 5 on time, 1 late, and 1 absent.  He wasn't really absent.

 

On Monday of last week, as the class continued to practice in the shade and nice breeze of Freedom Park, across the street from the NORSU gates, it appeared that John Baybay was going to be late.  Then it looked like was going to be absent.

 

Then I saw him hiding behind the tree on the sidewalk on other side of the fence.  I decide to go over to him for our "fist pound" and just as I started over Ralph started taking roll.  John scooted through a hole in the fence and skillfully joined the class just in time to call out "Here sir!" as his name was called.

 

He had missed the whole class and obviously had no problem making it look like he had been there.  I mean, what did he really miss, choral reading.  It is normal in this culture to do what is necessary to get the certificate or diploma or letter of recommendation from the right person, that ends up being more important than what one knows, can do, or even the ability to learn or be trained.

 

Filipino youth have learned this from their elders.  Skills and work characteristics do not seem valued much in the work force because leaders don't seem to all allow subordinates to do anything innovative, creative, efficient, or even empowering unless it is the bosses idea.  What is valued is keeping your mouth shut, doing as you are told, and being around to attend to the leadership's bidding.  Then, when a Filipino becomes the boss, it appears to be too risky to be progressive and creative and safer to perpetuate mediocrity.

 

I walked up to the class to get my "fist pound" from Baybay anyway and maybe just to let him know I knew what he was up to.

 

Give Me Your Water Update: After last week's update I was halfway home and saw the "Give Me Your Water" guy down the road walking towards me.  It was a road that didn't have any turnoffs for me to avoid him so I felt our running into each other again was inevitable.

 

I watched him walk about 70 yards to me and every dog he passed barked at him.  The last dog that barked at him he turned and yelled at.  When he finally reached me he smiled and said, "Give me your water man!"

 

He was clearly joking now, I offered him a bread roll I had just purchased, and he just kept walking and wouldn't take it.  I continued my walk . . . and you know . . . not one dog barked at me.

 

A few days later I talked to him a bit more as I was watching classes practice in Freedom Park.  My understanding of his story changed; he lives in Dumaguete in the neighborhood behind NORSU and his mother works for the Tanjay Courts. Now I'm wondering why he just hangs around so much, this guy needs a job!

He appeared to mostly be disgruntled, continued to talk to himself, never takes his earphones out, and refused to tell me his name.  I did manage to get a pic of him from behind as he sat on the curb and watched life go by for a half hour or so.

 

 

The Ventriloquist:  I try to read the NORSUnian every week.  It is the 4-page student publication put out by the all student writing and editing staff at NORSU.  They usually have very interesting articles and insights into what is important for Filipino teenagers.  Here is one I found interesting.

 

Schooled yet Uneducated. 

 

Jeepney, 7:15 a.m.: Passengers rushed out like ants marching away from their anthill.  Out came government employees, teachers, construction workers, and students, all wearing a funeral parlor expression on their faces after realizing that they were already late.

 

Just then, the flow was interrupted with a human barricade.  An old woman struggled to get up after something unknown sent her down to the floor.  Thought she sought for help, no one dared to lend a hand for they were so occupied with hailing a tricycle.  A college student then stepped on her foot but instead of saying sorry, he looked at her sternly for blocking his way.

 

University Grounds:  Around 4 o'clock in the afternoon.  A group of three uniformed students make their way out of the comfort room (that is what they call the bathroom in the Philippines) when their teacher in Mathematics 112 passed by. They greeted him with sheer politeness and continued their walk to the canteen (cafeteria).

 

Another familiar teacher later crossed their way.  Knowing that she is not their teacher in any of their subjects, they just looked at her blankly and trotted off.  She did not know them anyway and if they will greet her, she might not respond, so why bother pay respect to a teacher who does not even contribute to the make-up of their grade?

 

Busy Thoroughfare Somewhere In Daro, Saturday:  The tricycle carried four passengers, two of which were students.  The 2:30 p.m. sun scorched the asphalted roads when an old woman in her late 60s (that is old for the Philippines, life is a bit tougher here and wears people down quicker) flagged the same vehicle.  The driver did not hesitate to load her in but she had no choice but to take the back ride (sitting on the back of the cycle behind the driver instead of in the cab attached to the side of the trik).

 

None from the young people offered their seat.  As one of them reached his destination he gave the old driver only seven pesos, an amount that cheated the poor old man who bathed in his own sweat.  The driver tried to call the lad back but he was too late.  The guilty party was long gone.

 

Now, these are three scenarios with different groups of people showing diverse behaviors.  However, they share a common denominator.  What do you think could that common denominator be? (I bet she's gonna tell us)

 

In elementary, we were taught by our teachers some values to live by.  There was even that section in our report cards where a list of values is catalogued and rated by the teacher based on the conduct of the child.  The pupils back then behaved as expected of them - projected respect, honesty, politeness, and the like - maybe except for some who were just meant to be bullies and juvenile delinquents.

 

But now that these kids have grown-up, have gone to college, and have acquired decent jobs, where have all those values embedded in them gone?  What happened to the respect, honesty, and politeness, which were once the reasons of their pleasing personalities?

 

It does not mean that when we have moved up to another level of our education, we will just set aside those things.  The application of these values make up our character as a person, and our character will tell us what kind of person we will be in the future.

 

We might be in school now; staring at the teacher, taking down notes, and getting perfect scores during the examination, but that will not guarantee our brand as educated young people.  A real educated person will only be determined according to how far he has remained true to the values inculcated in him a long time ago and to how he has applied these things in his pursuit of a better living.

 

Of course I have my two-cent opinion about what this young lady is struggling with.  I believe that the Filipino youth are not taught values yet bullied into them.  I see it used all the time here in families and in school.  Adults use fear.  Again, I believe fear is a temporary solution and only a useful skill for the omnipresent, and eventually not even them.

 

What I observe actually modeled for Filipino youth by Filipino adults is to be respectful to those who can get you things and those who are your superiors.  It is their culture, it is their way.  Filipino youth are barely acknowledged by Filipino adults who are not family.  So when the fear of obeying is not in their faces, well, you read the article.  Again . . . not right or wrong . . . just different.