So imagine a huge room. For you college students, imagine a large lecture hall, not unilike the size of Moore 100 at UCLA. For others, think of a basketball court and the lower section of the stands. Now imagine hundreds of people gathered and stuffed in that room, it’s hot and muggy, there are fans situated all over the room but you’re still dripping with sweat, and there are so many people that others are waiting outside.
That’s Sunday mass at Antipolo for you.
Imagine a train, BART for the Bay Area folks, and the Red Line for those of you from Los Angeles. Imagine being stuffed arm to arm in that train, non-airconditioned and Dunkin Donuts commercials playing on repeat for the whole ride.
That’s the MRT rail transit in Manila for you.
Imagine driving through a neighborhood, with hundreds of people walking on the streets, little tricycles driving in and around these pedestrians, markets selling fresh produce in rows, homes with open doors, friends and children playing in every which direction, and others simply standing and staring at all the life that passes them by.
That’s a neighborhood street in Quezon City.
I lost the best videos that would help you visualize what I just described, but I managed to record driving through the neighborhood, on a quieter part of the day in Pembo, Makati:
And that's a quiet day.
Seeing and experiencing and living that for a while made me realize that American streets are nice and quiet, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But that also makes them kinda lifeless. It’s still slightly strange to me right now to be sitting near a window, and to not hear the putters of a motorcycle or jeepney pass by, the voices of hundreds of children and the occasional firecracker go off.
Ah what am I saying. Living there and hearing all that for a few more weeks would have probably driven me crazy.
I’ll adjust back soon.
"Gas goes down, pan de sal goes up"
-The Manila Bulletin
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