I have a class tomorrow but it will probably wrap up a little early so one of the students can catch his return flight back home. The 3-day refresher program has been a real pleasure--I have one Filipino student and others from Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Taiwan and Vietnam (the south, in Ho Chi Minh City). They are all experienced trainers and have done the training before so it is just a refresher.
It's been raining really hard here for several days now but the sun finally came out this afternoon--just in time for me to leave. No matter, I've really enjoyed my stay and the job here.
Yesterday afternoon, I decided to take the plunge and ride a Filipino Jeepney. I decided on a simple ride--to Intramoros which is directly down the coast from the hotel along the main boulevard. The problem would be catching the right Jeepney for the four blocks to the main boulevard. I asked the front de
sk at the hotel which sign to look for in the front window of the vehicle and they almost freaked out. They kept telling me to take a taxi and I kept saying I wanted to ride a Jeepney. Finally they offered to take me there in the hotel shuttle bus but I stood firm and they told me the name to look for on the Jeepney. They also told me the word to yell at the driver to get him to stop--both were words I'm not sure I could pronounce which didn't matter anyway because once I walked out into the street I forgot both of them.
So I got a pocketfull of small change and wandered out into the street in front of the hotel. I think the bellhops may have been taking bets on me. Since I forgot the name to look for, I just tried to flag down the first Jeepney that came by in the direction I wanted to go. He never slowed down but it looked like he had a full load. I'm not sure but he may have given me the finger as he went by.
The second one slowed down--they don't really stop--and I grabbed one of the back handles and swung into the back of the bus and sat down. Once seated, I looked around and guess what, I got into a Jeepney full of young school girls. School must have just gotten out and there were about fifteen of them sitting there looking at me like I was some kind of foreign monster. It probably didn't help that I was wearing a bright orange Houston Dynamo soccer jersey (I like to try and blend in with the locals).
I handed my seven pesos up to the front and sat there with my knees basically touching my chin in the cramped back of the vehicle. The Jeepney was going parallel with the main boulevard in the direction I wanted to go so all was well....to start with. The going was slow because of the heavy traffic then, about three blocks into the drive, the driver turned right which is not were I wanted to go. First time he slowed down again, I swung off then walked back to the original street and caught another one, paid my seven pesos, and was headed toward the bay and the main street. This time I was in a really crowded one with all kinds of people and they were sitting shoulder to shoulder and some of them had obviously been working outside in the rain all day. At the main boulevard, the Jeepney turned, but the wrong direction so I hopped off again. I crossed back over and attempted to flag one down the other direction but didn't have any luck and finally gave up and walked back to the hotel. I do think the bellhops were surprised to see me make it back alive.
I told my students about it today and the Taiwanese, Cambodian and Burmese students decided they wanted to try the same thing today. If I don't see them tomorrow morning, they're probably circling around Manila somewhere in a Jeepney trying to figure out where to get off.
The Jeepneys so impressed me I've posted a separate post just on them below with lots of pictures.
It's been raining really hard here for several days now but the sun finally came out this afternoon--just in time for me to leave. No matter, I've really enjoyed my stay and the job here.
Yesterday afternoon, I decided to take the plunge and ride a Filipino Jeepney. I decided on a simple ride--to Intramoros which is directly down the coast from the hotel along the main boulevard. The problem would be catching the right Jeepney for the four blocks to the main boulevard. I asked the front de
sk at the hotel which sign to look for in the front window of the vehicle and they almost freaked out. They kept telling me to take a taxi and I kept saying I wanted to ride a Jeepney. Finally they offered to take me there in the hotel shuttle bus but I stood firm and they told me the name to look for on the Jeepney. They also told me the word to yell at the driver to get him to stop--both were words I'm not sure I could pronounce which didn't matter anyway because once I walked out into the street I forgot both of them.So I got a pocketfull of small change and wandered out into the street in front of the hotel. I think the bellhops may have been taking bets on me. Since I forgot the name to look for, I just tried to flag down the first Jeepney that came by in the direction I wanted to go. He never slowed down but it looked like he had a full load. I'm not sure but he may have given me the finger as he went by.
The second one slowed down--they don't really stop--and I grabbed one of the back handles and swung into the back of the bus and sat down. Once seated, I looked around and guess what, I got into a Jeepney full of young school girls. School must have just gotten out and there were about fifteen of them sitting there looking at me like I was some kind of foreign monster. It probably didn't help that I was wearing a bright orange Houston Dynamo soccer jersey (I like to try and blend in with the locals).
I handed my seven pesos up to the front and sat there with my knees basically touching my chin in the cramped back of the vehicle. The Jeepney was going parallel with the main boulevard in the direction I wanted to go so all was well....to start with. The going was slow because of the heavy traffic then, about three blocks into the drive, the driver turned right which is not were I wanted to go. First time he slowed down again, I swung off then walked back to the original street and caught another one, paid my seven pesos, and was headed toward the bay and the main street. This time I was in a really crowded one with all kinds of people and they were sitting shoulder to shoulder and some of them had obviously been working outside in the rain all day. At the main boulevard, the Jeepney turned, but the wrong direction so I hopped off again. I crossed back over and attempted to flag one down the other direction but didn't have any luck and finally gave up and walked back to the hotel. I do think the bellhops were surprised to see me make it back alive.
I told my students about it today and the Taiwanese, Cambodian and Burmese students decided they wanted to try the same thing today. If I don't see them tomorrow morning, they're probably circling around Manila somewhere in a Jeepney trying to figure out where to get off.
The Jeepneys so impressed me I've posted a separate post just on them below with lots of pictures.
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