HI!
Well we're in teh Philippines and there is so much to catch up on and so little time.. I have been keeping a journal, but one I can write in before I goto bed.. so that when I get home I'll be able to recount how I felt. UNfortunately, now my internet time is also limited, but I'll try to keep updated or you could always look up someone else in the groups blog as well.
Anyway.. Yesterday we went to Quiapo, a financial district in Manila.. It was so crowded with people selling so many different things in hopes of making some money. It makes you wonder how so many people selling teh same thing can have enough to take home. There were also mothers and children beggin for money. On the staircase there was a mother with her two kids.. and one kid was laying on a piece of cardboard, with this head on the floor next to teh feet coming up the staris and his own feet up in the air. This sight struck me with a great sadness, seeing that although the family was covered in scars from bug bites, and dirty from the muddy streets that was left from the rains, there was still an attempt to be off the floor completely. Other children were picking the lice out of their father's head, and pregnant women stood out in the rain trying to sell us Sambiguitas.
The Basilica of the Black NAzarene was another sight. When we entered the second time, I was amazed by the traditions I saw practiced. There wa a procession of prayers from the back all the way to the altar, moving along, .. but on they're knees!.. G explained that on Fridays, this church was well know for coming to pray, and people would pray on they're knees (the rosary or other prayers) and go around to teh beginnning and start again until they were complete. It was in a sense a beautiful sight to see all tehse people's devotion.
Later when the rain began to fall harder, we left and went to a shopping center called Rockell Power Plant.. and it was as if transported back to some mall in beverly hills. The contrast betweent he two areas was incredible. We had basically gone back to the US.. the stores included: Lacoste, Nine West, Anne Klein, Guess, DKNY, Cinnabon... It was crazy. HOw can there be people who shop in these incredibly fashionable expensive stores, while just beyond the gate, Quiapo was roaming with people in hopes of making some money off of theyre goods. Now as I think about how shocked I was, I realize that much of the US is just like this. Unfair.
I know this is only beginning.. and there is so much more to see.. to realize...
I don't think I even know how to imagine what to expect
Anyway.. Yesterday we went to Quiapo, a financial district in Manila.. It was so crowded with people selling so many different things in hopes of making some money. It makes you wonder how so many people selling teh same thing can have enough to take home. There were also mothers and children beggin for money. On the staircase there was a mother with her two kids.. and one kid was laying on a piece of cardboard, with this head on the floor next to teh feet coming up the staris and his own feet up in the air. This sight struck me with a great sadness, seeing that although the family was covered in scars from bug bites, and dirty from the muddy streets that was left from the rains, there was still an attempt to be off the floor completely. Other children were picking the lice out of their father's head, and pregnant women stood out in the rain trying to sell us Sambiguitas.
The Basilica of the Black NAzarene was another sight. When we entered the second time, I was amazed by the traditions I saw practiced. There wa a procession of prayers from the back all the way to the altar, moving along, .. but on they're knees!.. G explained that on Fridays, this church was well know for coming to pray, and people would pray on they're knees (the rosary or other prayers) and go around to teh beginnning and start again until they were complete. It was in a sense a beautiful sight to see all tehse people's devotion.
Later when the rain began to fall harder, we left and went to a shopping center called Rockell Power Plant.. and it was as if transported back to some mall in beverly hills. The contrast betweent he two areas was incredible. We had basically gone back to the US.. the stores included: Lacoste, Nine West, Anne Klein, Guess, DKNY, Cinnabon... It was crazy. HOw can there be people who shop in these incredibly fashionable expensive stores, while just beyond the gate, Quiapo was roaming with people in hopes of making some money off of theyre goods. Now as I think about how shocked I was, I realize that much of the US is just like this. Unfair.
I know this is only beginning.. and there is so much more to see.. to realize...
I don't think I even know how to imagine what to expect
posted by Tiffany @ 6:32 AM
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