We've been in Manila for 5 weeks now. I still can't believe its ben 5 weeks. Its not quite enough time to decide a true love or hate for the place, but I will say it is definitely a love/hate kind of place. I was always told to start and end with positives. So, that is how I'm going to go about describing my first 5 weeks.
Loves: The cityscape sunset
This country girl never knew it was in her to love a cityscape sunset. I had read many times of the famous Manila sunset but it was breathtaking. The pictures do it no justice. I unfortunately don't think I've seen the best of it. I have a feeling I need to head to Roxas Blvd to fully experience it. Roxas Blvd lines the ocean.
Another love: the people. You couldn't meet nicer people. Filipinos and Filipinas are honestly some of the nicest people I've ever met. Last night with the flu one of Brian's classmates from West Point who is in the Filipino Army drove over an hour through the terrible traffic (stay tuned for more on that in the hate section) to deliver me a homemade by him and his wife chicken porridge, also known as arroz caldo here on the island. Here is a picture of the yumminess that made me feel better instantly.
Hates: The noise. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like noise. But I prefer the noise of rain hitting a tin roof, the waves crashing in the back ground, my old neighbors the sea lions anything but the noise here. I can't imagine getting used to the honking of horns. Someone told me that the horn honking is for your safety but man alive! These drivers appear to honk their horns for no apparent reason. Just honk, honk, honk. In the smaller Barangays, a village within a city, they have signs that say no horns. I will try to get a picture soon. I love those Barangays. I wish I could park myself on the street there and just sit. I'm telling you from 12 stories up I can still hear the horns. Okay, enough of that or that will be the rest of this post.
The traffic. I don't even know how to begin to describe the traffic but here is my best effort. One night we have a dinner party to attend. Its 15 km away, roughly 10 miles and the party starts at 6pm. We plan to leave at 5pm. I mean, that has to be plenty of time, right? WRONG! 2.5 hours later and 500 lane changes or so we finally make it to the dinner party at 7:30 pm. It would be okay, I guess, if we just sat in traffic, but that isn't how traffic goes here. At most points along the road, there are approximately 3 lanes of traffic in each direction, but somehow here it turns into 6 or 8 even. I still can't figure out how that many cars actually fit on the road. And let me be the first to tell you it is imperative that no matter what you never ever stay in the same lane, ever at any cost. You must switch lanes as many times as possible. There are no actual traffic laws here from what I can discern, except for one. That one rule is whichever car is ahead of the other, whether it be by an inch or a foot has the right of way.
One last love for now and then I need to rest this flu ridden body. This beauty that I experienced one day, when it wasn't raining ( a hate for another time). I was laying by the pool and just happened to look up directly at the sun. This is not advisable as here in the Philippines we are very close to the equator, only 15 degrees north, but it was calling to me. I look up and this is what I see:
And with that beauty I leave you until next time.
