kalye

at the last nwfasa conference i talked about my experience in 01 when i went back to the philippines technically for the first time (going when you are under 5 doesn't really count for me). i said my experience was "sterile". its like everywhere you go, everything you see is through some sort of lens or glass, real and imagined. from an ac house to an ac car to an ac mall and back was how it went down. we didnt really go through the 'rough' neighborhoods nor at night so i can barely recall anyone asking for money. you see it but don't experience it. but would i really want to, or could i bear one day in their feet? as much as i may think i know about poverty, economics, etc, i still know nothing.

yesterday i watched shrek 3 in makati greenbelt. hung out for a bit and went home. seeing kids on the streets selling sampaguitas. dodging traffic running through fences. they couldnt have been more than 8 or 9 years old but one cant tell with their malnutrition. on one hand, damn, greenbelt is crazy nice. hella restaurants and bars at happy hour prices, but on the otherhand an obvious indicator of the vast wealth disparities. you cant really enjoy anything and cant help but feel guilty with knowing what goes on outside, with how much you've just spent even though it is not much in translation. once the movie stops life resumes. once you leave the protected complex there is a mix of luxury cars, jeepneys, taxis, and people in the streets. driving through squatter areas attempted to be hidden by 'city face lifts' which are bright colored walls. its no wonder why escapism is the preference. malls and media. but i am not one to judge. i am just an observer for now, and will sampaguita after i'm done with school and settled, which will take about a decade. but who knows what will happen in that time. here people measure time by the power of the peso...."back in my day, it was 8 to 1". in this past month its has gone from 47-45, stock markets have been finishing at record highs, both good and bad politicians are being elected and more transportation and construction plans being executed.

the last time i saw a filipino go up to cardoors in traffic was myself during a change drive for my senior year community service project. but that was in the suburbs, after eating breakfast, for some charity which i dont remember, and not for my own survival.