isa, dalawa, tatlo....mahla naman...salamat

So I have absolutely no idea what I wrote in my last post, so if I repeat any of it, forgive me.

So the title translates "one, two, three....that's too expensive....thank you" (oh, and as a side note, avril lavigne's song "sk8ter boy" just came on the radio, I am not too far from American pop as you would think). That's about all I remember from yesterday's "crash" course in Tagalog that is helpful when riding the transportation available around Manila. Of course after we learned it, we got to "implement" it and ride around on all of Manila's finest vehicles. For a rough run down of the forms we rode the LRT, an above rail train; a kalesa, left over from the Spaniards it's a little carriage driven by PONY, not horse; a jeepney which if you saw anywhere else you would think its some kitschy, eclectic tour bus type thing, it's a steel bus, decorated to its liking where you climb in the back, sit on benches facing each other and pay by passing your money forward and saying "bayan ho [number of people] sa [destination]"; a bus, five seats long and CROWDED, we had to chase it down; and a little side car attached to a little bicycle which you have to haggle to work out the price of. The only other thing we rode (which I saved until now for a reason) was a pushcart. A pushcart looks like a picnic table that you sit on the table of and it rides on the train tracks. The sad reality of these are that they run the train tracks, which are government land and the only place that many of the poor can live on. They live in little sad houses made of wood and siding scraps. The children play next to the tracks, dangerously close because there isn't much room. They make little fires and sit around. Every once in awhile we would see rosters for cock fighting and the random piece of luxury like an old karaoki machine or pool table. I have never seen such poverty. Whats worse is that the government is proposing redoing the train system and widening the tracks, displacing tens of thousands of people for a good 12 hours worth of tracks. The trains have to go very slowly through the area because of the people and the pushcarts (you might have to stop on your ride to have the pushcart moved over to make way for the train) and so instead of the people, they pick speed. It's the hardest thing I've witnessed.

But on a lighter note, I'm glad that the program has actually started. We had a few days of just hanging around Manila because of difficulty scheduling with the German program that joins us (we have one German co-intern named Deborah who is 19). We haven't done much besides the transportation tour. We did get the opportunity to go to church today. I was surprised how very familiar it was. The church is acutally Presbyterian and very much run like one of our typical Presbyterian Sundays. The only slight differences, which are not strictly Filipino were the use of power point to the point that it coincided with what the pastor was saying (she would make a point, say a line, etc. and it would appear, animated on the screen) and the communal reading of the scripture. Luckily this Sunday was a communion Sunday. I'm glad we got to start that way.

The strangest part of it all is being stared at all the time. We get called things like "Americana" and there are a lot of "ma'ams" (which is very cultural). We've been called "Snow White" and the like and people are always screaming "ma'am, sister, come buy...". A lady in the market last night asked us why we weren't married yet because we were so "beautiful" and made a motion with her fingers indicating that our noses were not flat, something considered more attractive. It's odd to experience. You can't really look people in the eye without them swarming towards you; it's like an open invitation. We've also had a lot of young children come up begging to us. I never know what to say or do. It's heartbreaking, but still difficult to give everyone of them money. It's tough and something I'm struggling with.

Well my time is running short here in the internet cafe. We have to get back and fix dinner in time to go to a movie. Yes, my sad admittance is that we are going to see "The Devil Wears Prada" tonight. Just as a time to relax and breathe a little.

Later this week we're having more language lessons (which is weird becasue the island of Cebu doesn't speak Tagalog they speak Cebuana, I think that's spelled correctly) and a trip to climb a volcano. I'm insanely excited.

I love you and all miss you all. I enjoy getting even small little messages that let me know you're there reading or thinking about me. If you get ambitious, here's where you can write me for the next six weeks:

Rachel Morris
c/o Rebecca Lawson
PO Box EA47 Ermita Post Office
Ermita, Malate, Manila
PHILIPPINES

Peace, I hope