Email One

This is the email we sent home after our first day here. Thought I'd post it as it makes interesting reading. Also just a note that the keyboard is crap, which might explain weird typos.


Hi Everyone, Thought we'd get everyone to write some first impressions of the Philippines. We've been here almost 24 hours now so it'll be interesting to hear what they all have to say...
- Sarah

Right, I'm guessing that I've been made to go first because I seem to have become the resident Champion Writer of the group, having already written five-and-a-half pages in my travel diary and not even reached the part about Manila, currently focusing on the murky region that is Brunei Airport. Well, my first impressions about the Philippines were all sensory: It was nowhere near as hot as I thought it would be, though it was still quite warm. At the airport I could wander around outside with my cardigan on. (Sure, I took it off after a bit, but hey, it was bearable.) Another thing I noticed was the smell, which was a mixture of petrol fumes and decomposing rubbish. Although not the most pleasant of scents, I found it also was quite bearable. But thus far, my most impressive impression is about how INCREDIBLY people drive here. To get to the guest house where we are staying we hired a van from the airport. I have since realized that this van is among the more fancier and safer forms of transport, despite the dirty seats and lack of seatbelts. Our driver careered around the Manila streets, quite often drifting in the middle of two lanes. We had several near-misses, including one near-miss involving both a car and a motorcycle. He tailgated excessively, and once we nearly crashed into a safety barrier. But the BEST thing about Philippine travel would have to be the jeepneys. These are long, van-like contraptions designed, I suspect, to resemble juke boxes. The fancier ones are lined with chrome and daubed with various slogans, many religious, although there were are few other interesting ones. The very first jeepney I was priveleged to see was covered in blessings invoking Mother Mary and Pac-Man. We caught a jeepney to get to the Tay-Tay markets today. Inside there were long, vinyl-covered seats onto which about fifteen to twenty people can cram onto. It looked very smart and flash, the walls painted with various graffiti-like images. This gangster-like feel was reinforced with the rap music the driver had blaring at full-blast. And Aimee has begun to complain about how much I am writing, and has instructed me to write a concluding statement: The Philippines, while I suppose they never can really be called beautiful, are certainly interesting and full of life.
-Zara.

The things that have caught my attention most or as soon as we got out of Manila airport was how colourful things looked alot of Christmas lights and ever so many bill boards, fast moving traffic and not seeming to have any pattern or keeping within the lanes. Some people having built their homes right on the side of the roads and markets on the side still open after 9.00pm on our way to Cainta Rizal which was about an hours drive east of Manila.
-Margaret

The first thing that I saw when I looked out the window on the airplane was colourful lights of the houses and building and fireworks! It was so beautiful. We have met alot of people around the guest house and been to an orphanage. The children there looked really happy. we've also been to the Taytay market and it was huge and DIFFERENT :) We saw a pig's head in one of the shops too.
-Alice

I just had a wonderful day today. I can't believe that it's only the first day in Philippines and I cannot wait for tomorrow. The most amazing thing I've seen today was the children's heart. It's just so amazing how they accept their circumstances without any complaning or unhappiness in their faces and talk to the strangers like us with smiles. Thank you =)
-Tracy

My first 24 hours in the Philppines has made me aware that this is a city unlike any I have ever been to before. The flamboyance of the jeepneys, quaint trikes and the generally crazy driving style. The colourful decorating of the houses and the hovels that so many live in. The multitudes of ragamuffin children who are on the streets and in the markets. I am reminded of the amazing diversity of Gods creation and that God loves each one of these smiling people.My prayer is that each day there will be at least 1 person who I connect with in a special way. Yesterday it was a lady and her son on the plane that we befriended. Today its a small boy begging at the market who trailed around after this foreign white woman waiting for her to make a purchase so she had some change and a coin to give him. His persistance paid off. Greetings and love to all at home. Glenis.

Yay, here we are in phili. The plane really knocked it out of us. But were all good now I think. When I try and make my impressions of the country I automatically compare it to Thailand. And it feels odd to do so, because asthetically it looks similiar, but I know culturally it is completely different. And its hard to make a jugment on the culture yet because our only contact with it is walking to get coke in a bag and the market place, Where we met a man who was very interested in selling fire works which were "very safe for our fingers" for a reasonable price of course. I also had a run in with the drivers seat being on the wrong side of the car. Ill get back to you on my analyses at a later date I guess.
- Izak Flash Man

In a word, WOW!! I have been quite overwhelmed by s many things. This is a country of such massive diversity and t's all packed into a tight package. The density of Manila is about 60x that of Auckland. Everywhere there are so many people, vehicles,etc. Another word that comes to mind is MADNESS!! Driving on the roads is an experience. There are lanes and some traffic lights & controlled intersections, but these are only a guideline. There might be 4 vehicles wide on a 2 lane highway. Indication is rare. You just squeeze into a gap or create one. Imagine a 70cc motor trike with 5 adults on the seat and a great pile of supplies burying the sidecar. Or another with a 3-seater lounge suite on top of the sidecar. Such flamboyant poeple. Kind of like the french or italians of the south asia region. Yet for all that, very endearing and approachable people. I can see this is going to be an amazing learning curve. Really looking forward to what is ahead. Cheers, Gordon.

Crikey. This place is crazy. There are roosters on leashes and vehicles have no concept of personal space on the road. Everything in this country is different to what I'm used to back home. There are dogs and kittens and goats and vehicles everywhere. We've only been here a day so far and the experiences are too much to really put in words. The people here have a way of life that I've never seen anything like - the marketplaces, public transport, housing etc. These few weeks look set to be an enormous eye-opener for me, and I hope to be able to make good use of this when I am home again.
Chris.

It's been a whirlwind 48 hours. It feels like an eternity ago that we left NZ. Many things we've seen so far have been just as they were described by so many who have been here before. People, animals, jeepneys, general chaos on the roads. Extreme poverty and yet happy faces. Big guns on security outside the banks. It's hot. Loving it!
Sarah

Its weird to be back in my second home. There's not many people that I know that I've seen yet. Not a lot has changed but I have forgotten quite a bit. I've noticed malls are still popping up like a rash. I was a little disappointed when we weren't allowed to go inside the Faith Academy gate but we'll get inside somehow! Its cool to see how everyone is reacting to things which are just so normal to me. Seeing the work that the people here who run the guesthouse and the orphanage are doing in the poor community outside our gate has been a highlight.
Phillip.

For the record Zara, I wasn't complaining. Just encouraging. It is good to be home. I was worried that I would feel out of place here or that having New Zealand friends in the Philipines would be strange. Neither has been the case. My mental map of Manila no longer exsists but thankfully Phil remembers things quite well, Jonathan Rickard drew maps and Sarah is good at reading maps, so I don't think we will have many problems. Although I still remember the layout within Taytay market and most of the malls. Maybe my priorities are wrong. This city is still growing at a rampant rate. There is now a Jollibee immdediately outside the Vally Golf enterance and builings and squatter houses line both sides of the main road right up until the turn off to the guest house where we are staying. I remember that space as green fields.

So far I have laughed when:
Izak tried to get into the driver's seat in the taxi and was laughed at by a large crowd.
The first 20 times Zara screamed at five stars (fire works) exploding.
Sarah and Margaret anxiously grabbed my hands during their first tricycle ride.
When Gordon said, 'So there seem to be poor people everwhere.'
The excitement and confusion over the rifles security guards carry around and the bomb checks under the car.

I have been touched by:
The extreme consideration we have been shown by our hosts in the guest house.
Phil being greeted with a hug by a woman who used to cook in his dorm.
Gordon speaking to a boy in an orphanage we visited and we when returned two hours later, the boy ran up to him and hugged him.
Tracey's delight in the babies at the orphanage.
The open sharing between members of the team. (Long may it last.)

It is now 10:25pm Pinoy time which would be 3:25am in Auckland. So good night and God bless.
Aimee