Another rainy night in Manila

I intended to sit down yesterday and write this blog, but I was interrupted by a little something called a typhoon. Don't worry, I'm alive. Otherwise this blog would be a little eerie and from beyond.

Just to give you a quick rundown of what actually is a funny story from my side (not from others as 14 people died as a cause of the storm)....

The day started out after a night of continuous rain. We woke up and decided to go, where else, but the internet cafe. We tried to do the quick e-mailing and what not before we sat down to write our blogs and newsletters, except that we were being continuously interrupted by quick, brief, power outtages. So the rebooting was getting annoying and expensive (it takes time) so we decided, Martha, Helen, and I, to take a trip to a coffee shop a few blocks away.

At this point it wasn't really raining all that hard, but it wasn't the usual blistering heat and there was an out of place wind. Mind you, at this point we had no idea what we were in store for. So we get to the coffee shop, which is attached to a hotel, and sit down, order some drinks, and start to warm ourselves up (imagine!). About that time, someone draws our attention outside. What we see is a torrential downpour and the obvious effects of huge, fast winds (since you can't really SEE wind). And actually it wasn't a downpour, per se. It was more of a completely horizontal-pour. We were amazed at what, we thought, was a common experience during the rainy season (which we are actually at the end of). So we decided we would wait it out in the shop. We ended up staying through lunch. At about the end of lunch we hear this shattering sound and look over to see that the front left glass door of the hotel has shattered in the wind and the streets have flooded with water. We decided at that point to stay and curled up on the couches with some magazines and books to wait out the storm. About that time our waitress comes over and hands us the bill. We figure she just thinks we're done ordering. So we take the bill...and wait...and she just stands there staring at us. We decided, ok, she just wants us to pay, so we picked up our bags to get out money and hand it to her. She picks this moment to speak and say that basically we have to leave, they're closing. We were a little shocked by this, and a little scared, looking out the window at the five or six blocks of weather we were going to have to deal with. So we paid and bundled up for the run back. We realized a taxi was out of the question and figured, we were just going to have to bear the wind and rain. We ran through shin-high waters and fierce winds back to the house where we find our house in darkness, save for a few candles. It was then that we found out, no, this is not common, it was a typhoon, the worst that has hit metro Manila in 11 years. Boy did we feel dumb thinking this was typical. But we weren't through yet. Becca then sent Martha and I behind the house, a small maybe two foot wide alley to inspect a hole that was in the side of the house and letting water seep in, flooding the room I happen to sleep in. We, in the dying typhoon, were getting help from the atheles from neighboring houses to help us shovel and dump dirt and water to clear out the space. (Please don't think Becca is trying to endanger us, she asked us if we would and the storm had died way down by that point).

To make a long story a little shorter, we were without power or water until about 8:30 this morning (which was VERY unique and lucky in Manila, some of which is still without power and water). We also had to clean up the mess today, which included crawling back behind the house to try and find a way to plug the hole (which we still haven't been able to do since we've decided we need concrete which isn't easy to find).

So to conclude I survived a level 3 typhoon, including running and working in it. Crazy, eh?

(I wrote this blog together, but I'll split it up for reading purposes...I'm inserting an intermission here, sans the music, so you can have a stopping point to come back to...)



****************************INTERMISSION (la de da)*******************************



So I feel like it's been quite some time since I've written in my blog, however I've noticed that I've been on a pretty regular nine day or so rotation. I really thought I was writing more frequently. I guess time is just not a factor much anymore. I can't even tell if times flying or creeping lately. I swear it's been both longer and shorter than a month (one exactly since we landed).

So even though I've recently returned from yet another immersion, I really want to talk a little about the other trips and excursions or little, er, things we've been up to. Also, I realize that I'm talking a lot about specific events that have happened and not really a lot about Filipino life of the everyday sort. So here's my idea...

Give me some questions to answer. I'll be around Manila for about two weeks before we take off for our last immersion and then trip to the beach for reflection and processing before going to our sites (long sentance). SOOOO...write me a comment in this blog entry and ask me a little question and my next blog can be a Q&A. I'll keep adding to the Q&A blog, so even if it seems I've already written it, you can still leave me questions to answer. They can be simple and short or you can throw me some harder ones or opinion questions. Whatever you want to ask.

Well let's see. There are three main excursions I want to hit on. First of all is the little history tour we took ourselves on. Basically Becca gave us some directions and said have at it. We visited mostly sites that were related to the Revolution that happened in the late 1800s. I guess our tour kind of started with the time of the Gomburza in 1872. Basically there were three mestizo priests who were put to death for resistance to the Spanish crown, specifically to "secular priest" (a combo businessman and priest). Their names were Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora, hence Gom-Bur-Za. So we visited the site where they were put to death (I'm trying this whole picture upload thing in the blog, so you can kinda look around and find the marker we saw). So basically that act got the people's attention. It also sparked Andreas Bonifacio to become a part of establishing the Filipino KKK (not to be confused with the klan) which was an honoralbe association of the children of the Revolution, set up secretly to make connections to join together against the Spanish. So a second group forms from the mestizos called the "Illustrados" who were given a chance to go back to Spain. Instead, one of their members, Jose Rizal, a big hero in history for the Filipinos, calls for representation in Parliament instead. So basically jump forward through a lot of things (that you should look into if you're interested, it's basic Philippines history, so it's not hard to find) and you get to where the Filipinos rise up against the Spanish. In Manila they force the Spanish into the walled city of Intramuros where they kind of starve them out. Well the trouble then is that they make a deal with the Americans to help guard the city and even though the Filipinos declare their independence, the US is busy buying the Philippines from Spain in the Treaty of Paris for $20 million after the Spanish-American War.

Ok, this history lesson is poor and disconnected, hard to follow, and doesn't really do a good job of explaining what happened. Then again I can't write a whole blog on this whole section of history and am once again encouraging you to either look it up for yourself, e-mail me for more info, or ask a professional.

What I'm trying to do is give you an idea of the sites we saw. We visited a lot of Rizal monuments and memorials including a really cool wall of a bronze relief of his life and a huge wall with his writing in about four languages. We also visited Intramuros where they held the Spanish which was actually really cool and a lot of fun. I've *tried* to include some pictures to look at and I'll try to start giving you a few visuals to go with the stories.

The next thing that was really awesome was getting to participate in a protest ralley on the anniversary of the Declaration of Martial Law under the dictatorship of Marcos. So why would anyone want to "celebrate" something so heinous? Basically it is "observed" in order to remember what life was like under his dictatorship and strive to never have that type of rule repeated. Unfortunately in recent years this striving has turned into protests against the current presidency of Gloria Arroyo (referred to as GMA). Not only is her presidency oppressive, as you can probably already tell from past posts which don't begin to name what's happened under her government, but more people have died from political killings under her already than occured during Marcos's Martial Law declaration. She is also trying to do something called "Charter Change", referred to as "Cha-Cha". Basically she's campaigning for a change over to a Parliamentary system so she's not kicked ousted from office at the end of her term, which she is only allowed to serve one of. In case you can't figure out, this means she can be in power for much longer, as long as her party is in power. If you need more evidence to why that's scary, there is evidence that she, in essence, rigged the last election so she would be sure to win.

So we marched with groups amassing from the surrounding provinces and helped carry a sign protesting the political killings. We all gathered outside of the main Post Office building and waved banners and listened to many voices (alas in Tagalog) cry for rights, freedoms, and justice. Banners waved with protest slogans and there were placards everywhere with Marcos and Arroyo's pictures with the words that translated to "yesterday/then" and "today/now" on them, comparing the oppressive regiems. It was very moving to be a part of that experience. Part of the reason we were there was because it means a lot to have foreign, white faces (which are almost always assumed to be American) at this protest. Regardless, I didn't feel used, as some people queried, I actually felt really empowered. Not so much for myself, this isn't my battle. But I felt empowered for the people we were with, who surrounded us, and shouted as loud as they could in a language I'm not sure I'll ever understand (it's tough!).

The last thing that's been really important to me was a very simple experience I was so greatful to get to share in. Becca tries to schedule for us not just trips to visit people to learn about different parts of the Philippines and Filipino life, but also to help us process and reflect on what we're learning. And as my luck, or as grace, would have it, we got to visit a Filipino artist community as one such excursion. The intention was simply to get us to be able to express ourselves through art and be able to use such an expression to process and reflect on what we've experienced. We used simple art supplies and were encouraged to draw an image of what we'd experienced or learned or what we were feeling. Not to sound arrogant, but this wasn't so much a learning experience as it was a refresher and exercise in an already explored medium of processing. I was so comfortable (for once!) amongst this group of Filipinos as artists, surrounded by paintings and art supplies and just listening and talking about expression of a different half of the brain. The great thing is the lead artist in this community is acutally a very successful artist who has showed all over the way. He's currently leading the group in organizing a showing of work with the theme of human rights in the Philippines that they hope to take internationally. I was so happy to get to sit and talk to him for a good few hours about not just art in general in technique and theory, but about religion and social justice and life in general. I got a special tour of his house to see some of his own pieces of work (which he didn't have downstairs in the studio we were in). They were quite moving and spectacular. I didn't take any pictures. I don't like to take too many pictures of art, I apologize for not being able to visually share it with you. I didn't realize how much I've missed the art world and being around artists until I got to re-enter that world. HUGE sigh of relief.

So there you have another amazingly long blog entry, and I didn't even make it to this past immersion, which was actually a lot of fun and a lot less trying on the soul. I will write another blog soon specifically talking about that. I'm still trying to learn how to be brief in my blogging, but I just feel like I have so much I want to share and say. I do promise that they will get shorter as life becomes less varied and more a part of a routine when I get into my work in Cebu. Until then, you'll just have to bear with me.

Tomorrow we go to a theater workshop group. Another exciting trip that I'm sure will be a much needed return to something I love and miss.

Peace, I hope