April 15, 2005: Headlines: COS - Philippines: Blogs - Philippines: Personal Web Site: PCV Patty in the Philippines writes: I have been here for about two weeks, there is so much to tell. People are very friendly and helpful, always smiling; except for the jeepney drivers.

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Philippines: Peace Corps Philippines: The Peace Corps in the Philippines: April 15, 2005: Headlines: COS - Philippines: Blogs - Philippines: Personal Web Site: PCV Patty in the Philippines writes: I have been here for about two weeks, there is so much to tell. People are very friendly and helpful, always smiling; except for the jeepney drivers.

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-245-37.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.245.37) on Saturday, July 02, 2005 - 2:18 pm: Edit Post

PCV Patty in the Philippines writes: I have been here for about two weeks, there is so much to tell. People are very friendly and helpful, always smiling; except for the jeepney drivers.

PCV Patty in the Philippines writes: I have been here for about two weeks, there is so much to tell. People are very friendly and helpful, always smiling; except for the jeepney drivers.

"I live in a house that is about 1 mile from the school I have to go to, so I have been walking, they think I am nuts. But we have been getting no exercise and they feed you incredible amounts of food, so I said I must walk. People all along the road call out good morning, they think it is interesting to see an American walking down the road with a backpack. Sometimes they call out 'hey, Joe' All Americans are Joe."

PCV Patty in the Philippines writes: I have been here for about two weeks, there is so much to tell. People are very friendly and helpful, always smiling; except for the jeepney drivers.

4/15/05

Hello to everyone,

Today was the first big rainstorm we have had since I got here, it really poured for about 2 hours. I asked if the rainy season is beginning and they assured me it was still the dry season, but sometimes they get rain even in the dry season. We had to come into Santa Cruz for lunch and the streets were a lot cleaner, but the gutters were full of water.

So...
I have been here for about two weeks, there is so much to tell.
People are very friendly and helpful, always smiling; except for the jeepney drivers. I have yet to see one of them smiling, but just watching the stress of their work I am not surprised. A jeepney is a bit like a stretch jeep without windows, there are benches down either side and anywhere from 10 to 15 people cram inside with all their packages and bags, then someone (usually a young man) will 'back ride'; they stand on a little rail and hang on. John, one of the volunteers in my barangay (neighborhood) was riding with all of us on a jeepney and an older lady tried to pick his pocket. I never expected it to be a woman doing such a thing - and an older one to boot. But the jeepney drivers are not smiling because they are contending with incredible traffic, collecting fares, watching for passengers flagging them down, making change, honking their horns; it is amazing and scary. I got on a jeepney that was hired by Peace Corps to take us to our neighborhood and the tires were totally bald - I don't think they make much money for all the work they do. Jeepneys seem to run all hours of the day and night. I know this because the house of my host family is right on the highway, and they seem to be always there.

Now cycle drivers are a slightly different story, they often are smiling - not always, but often. In the bigger towns the competition is intense so they are less friendly, but in the neighborhood they will talk to you as they take you along. A cycle is a Yamaha or Honda cycle with a sidecar attached. And they cram a lot of people into those sidecars too. Jeepneys and cycles are all decorated and painted with names and sayings, they are extremely colorful. Most of the jeepneys have phrases painted on like 'Jesus save us' or God protect us' and with the traffic and the tires and the craziness of the drivers, you need all the help you can get.
The best way to travel is a pedicab. That is a bicycle with a sidecar. It is quiet. (You cannot imagine how much I miss quiet.) The drivers will often talk to you and you can really see the countryside as you go along. Of course the pedicabs are just for very short trips. The Filipinos all take cabs everywhere, even just a few blocks. So there are little tricycle stations every few blocks up and down the road. They just go out to the street and yell for a cab and one of them pulls up, you climb in, and off you go.

I live in a house that is about 1 mile from the school I have to go to, so I have been walking, they think I am nuts. But we have been getting no exercise and they feed you incredible amounts of food, so I said I must walk. People all along the road call out good morning, they think it is interesting to see an American walking down the road with a backpack. Sometimes they call out 'hey, Joe' All Americans are Joe.
Yesterday I got to school a little early and went into the rest house to study. This is a little nipa hut with built in benches. I was working on my Tagalog when a little old man came in and asked what I was doing. Thinking he was a janitor or in some way connected with the school, I began explaining myself, he spoke good English. He started right in with questions like; how old are you? Are you married? etc. personal questions. When he found out my husband was dead he suggested I marry him, it would be a good thing, I should think about it. I got my books together and headed for the classroom as quickly as I could, he followed me right along, where was I going? Like I said, they are a very friendly people, but that is a bit more friendly than is good.
We have had to interview local officials as part of our cultural training. We have met the mayor, the assistant governor, the school superintendent, district supervisor, and police chief. The police chief was like a stereotypical small town cop from a movie, it was rather surreal. Would only tell us his first name, Roberto. He was pot bellied, wore sunglasses, and gave us the suspicious what do you want stare. Everyone tell us that corruption is the number one problem in the Philippines, maybe that is why he is was suspicious. Are we Americans investigating something?
Literally everyone names corruption as a huge problem, from the pedicab driver to the ambassador. But no one does anything about it, it is just accepted.
My time is up at the internet cafe. I have not proof read this e-mail, so if there are errors please forgive them. I meant to give you my mail address, but forgot to bring it with me, so I will do that next time. In the meantime I love getting e-mails, even though I can only get them once in awhile.

Take care,

(take care of the country too, I have no idea what is going on over there, I am quite literally in another world)
Mom / Patty / Ms. Verwiel





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Story Source: Personal Web Site

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Philippines; Blogs - Philippines

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