Sore thumbs
After 2 full days in Manila, I have entered the mainstream here in at least one way...I have a cell phone! It has made a huge difference in being able to track down some of the friends and other people I was hoping to meet here. One thing that's different is that people here use cells almost exclusively for text messaging, which means (you guessed it)...my thumbs are sore! It is awesome to finally get in touch with people, though, and I have a meeting set up for today and plans to socialize both tomorrow and Sunday. FINALLY! I have been missing conversations that extend beyond business transactions or the "Hello, Ma'am!" that I hear about 100 times a day as I walk around the streets.
It is still sweltering hot, but the sun has been less strong than it was the first day I was here. I have been walking all over the place in an effort to get to know my neighborhood a bit--the shopping mall is still a favorite place to cool off and eat cheap meals in relative peace, but I've also explored areas a few blocks in the other direction, which are pretty slummy-looking. If this is a "nice" part of Manila, I can barely imagine what the actual slums look like. That said, however, I've actually seen relatively few people begging outright compared to some parts of La Paz, for example. Lots of pedicab solicitations, though (I discovered that that's what the bike taxi things are called). I've been trying hard to follow instructions to avoid handouts to individuals, but I still feel horribly conflicted every time, like I'm denying the humanity of the very people my work here is supposed to be about. It's amazing how spending time in a developing country makes me feel so alive and so dead at the same time.
With that said, I am actually enjoying a relatively smooth adjustment to Manila and am glad to have many ways to stay in touch. It is free for me to receive phone calls, so please e-mail me if you'd like my number. I'd love to talk to you! :)
It is still sweltering hot, but the sun has been less strong than it was the first day I was here. I have been walking all over the place in an effort to get to know my neighborhood a bit--the shopping mall is still a favorite place to cool off and eat cheap meals in relative peace, but I've also explored areas a few blocks in the other direction, which are pretty slummy-looking. If this is a "nice" part of Manila, I can barely imagine what the actual slums look like. That said, however, I've actually seen relatively few people begging outright compared to some parts of La Paz, for example. Lots of pedicab solicitations, though (I discovered that that's what the bike taxi things are called). I've been trying hard to follow instructions to avoid handouts to individuals, but I still feel horribly conflicted every time, like I'm denying the humanity of the very people my work here is supposed to be about. It's amazing how spending time in a developing country makes me feel so alive and so dead at the same time.
With that said, I am actually enjoying a relatively smooth adjustment to Manila and am glad to have many ways to stay in touch. It is free for me to receive phone calls, so please e-mail me if you'd like my number. I'd love to talk to you! :)
posted by Leah at
10:22 PM
1 Comments:
It is weird that I talked to you TODAY even though I am JUST waking up?? Weird? This whole time change thing never ceases to awe me! ;-) hehehe....
Definitely email me your cell number. How do I call you? Would I get a calling card to the Philippines? Or do you just dial direct and pray that the charges aren't $1.00/minute? ;-)
By
Jenn-ay, at 4:41 AM
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