Von Laura und Paulina
Wenn man mal vier Wochen seine Kleider von Hand gewaschen hat, kann man es als wirkliches Glücksgefühl bezeichnen, wenn man eine Waschmaschine hat!
Dass es keinen Wasseranschluss gibt und man daher das Wasser Eimer für Eimer einfüllen muss, ist daher wirklich nur noch ein Luxusproblem. So wird also der freie Sonntag zum Waschtag und wir haben wohl beide nicht gedacht, dass wir uns jemals so über saubere, gut riechende Kleidung freuen würden!
Arrival, first impressions, orientation of daily things
After a long journey we arrived here at the Fatima Centre on October the first. The Fatima Centre is a foundation for human development and integrates a farm school. Here we stay only in October. After that we go to Naga and work there in a school too. When we arrived at the Fatima everybody wanted to help us. The children showed us our rooms and brought our luggage there. Everybody was very helpful and cordial. After a little rest we asked them to show us the area of the Fatima Centre. My impression was that they were happy with this. So we go around with approximately ten children and see the different places like the school and the farm. We see lots of plants which we haven’t in Germany like bananas or pomelos. The children wanted to share a pomelo with us. It was just a small one but everybody gets a little piece of it. In the following weeks I see the same again and again. It doesn’t matter how small a fruit or something else is, the things are shared with the others. In my opinion in Germany everybody wants the biggest piece and don’t care about the others. So my impression is that the people here are not that selfish like in Germany.
Another different point to Germany is the food here in the Philippines. The people eat to every meal rice normally with cooked meat. Mostly after the meal we eat here different fruits. The fruits are very delicious. For example the bananas. They are very sweet here and I haven’t known that so many different kinds of bananas exist. And also I haven’t known that you can cook with them. My impression is everywhere we put in potatoes the Philippinos use bananas. I think it is a very special taste. At breakfast here they often eat scrambled eggs, smoked fish, roast sausage and fish. I mean it is very solid. When we have here in the Philippines some bread, it is toast bread only. This is very sweet. Also cake is sweeter than in Germany. In this point you can see the influence of the American colonial times.
In kitchen are often ants. All the food is in receptacles. No insects can touch the food but for me it isn’t normal that insects are in the kitchen.
Here in the Philippines they pay with Philippino pesso. One Euro is nearly 50 pesso. The first days when we make little trips I always had not enough money by me side because it was hard to think 50 or 100 isn’t a lot of money. In Germany I would never take 100€ when I go to the supermarket only because I need toilet paper and a cleaning agent for the bathroom. But with the time I get used to the other currency. The most things here are cheaper than in Germany for example food, clothes or eating in a fast food restaurant. We bought some cocoa powder (Milo) for the Fatima Centre. This is one thing which is expensive (one kilo cost around 5€) because they have no or only less (very expensive) cow’s milk here in the Philippines. If the people want to drink milk they normally use milk powder.
The climate here in the Philippines is different. There it has around 25°C and a high humidity of the air. The first days I was sweating the whole time. I think now after one month I’m dealing a bit better with this but I’m still sweating more than in Germany. It rains nearly every day because till November here is the rain period. The rain doesn’t cold the earth that much as in Germany. Sometimes the plenty rain results in power failure.
For washing our clothes the rain is a problem. We can’t hang up them outside and inside there isn’t that much space and because of the high humidity the clothes are not that dry as we are used from Germany but this is OK.
Washing is in general different then in Germany because we have no washing machine. We have to do it by our hands. The children show us how to do it right and which soap is the best. It takes a long time to clean your clothes by hand because first of all you have to clean all with clean water, after that you have to soap und brush every piece extra and at last all pieces again with water. In the end you have to spin the laundry like in a washing machine. The machine does all the same steps and also needs around two hours but I haven’t recognised it because in the mid time you do something else. And another different is that the washing machine in Germany uses warm water and here we normally wash with cold water.
Taking a shower here is different too. You have bucket with cold water then you use a creator take water and put it all over your skin. After a few days it was normal for me taking a shower in this way. To use cold water isn’t a problem because it is always warm outside and in the morning I’m awake after the shower.
We had the luck that we have a toilet with flash. It is typical that the toilet has no flash. In this case you put water im the toilet instead. Philippinos don’t use toilet paper. They clean with water. Luckily you can buy toilet paper so we use it. Sometimes there is no toilet only a whole in the ground. This I seen one time when we stayed at a resort.
Everywhere we go the people look at us. The most time I can ignore it but sometimes it is a bit annoying because in my opinion we are all people. The only different is our skin colour. Some people ask where we are from and what we are doing here in the Philippines. I like this way of acting because German people normally won’t do it and we recognise the staring anyway.
The traffic here in the Philippines is slower than in Germany. Most of the people drive with Tricycles. A Tricycle is a motorcycle with assessor. My impression is that here no traffic rules or most of the people ignore the rules. For example only a few people stop at a zebra crossing. In Germany nearly everybody would do it.
We had a special experience when we wanted to buy a normal shower gel. It wasn’t easy to find one. The most shower gels are whitening ones. In Germany everybody wants to get a browner skin and here it is the other way round.
The first month passed off really fast and I enjoyed it.
By doing my trip to the Philippines I am able to experience the people and their daily life, their culture, their behaviour and their religion.
Upon my arrival I noticed that the way I get treated by strangers is very different than in Germany. One reason for that may be my look: my blonde hair, my height and my white skin. When I am walking through the streets everybody is staring at me. I was asking myself what is separating me from them? It might be my wealth. The average BIP per person here is under 3000. And most people are even more poor, since there is a large inequality of wealth in the Philippines. You can see this in the streets.
For Example, there are many fast food restaurants here but many can’t afford the prices even if it is still cheaper than in Germany. One meal there cost around 200 pesos (is equal to 4 euro). But when you walk to the next corner, you can find the eateries where you can buy a full meal for about 30 pesos.
There is also a big difference in the homes here, most of the people live in very simple little houses while others live in big houses or villas side by side.
Another point that is showing the inequality of wealth is the way of transport. You can see a few cars in the streets, but the majority of the population cannot afford it. So most of them take a so called tricycle where one ride costs only 10 pesos per person.
As you can see there are lots of reasons why I am so different here and even after four weeks I feel of course very welcomed but strange. But in the end, if you think about it, we are all just humans, no matter how we look like, how much money we have or what we believe in.
You can also discover a big contrast in food from the beginning. The essential ingredient here is definitely rice. Rice is a side dish for every meal, no matter if it is breakfast, lunch or even dinner. The Filipinos prefer rice over every other side dish like noodles or potatoes. Even fast food restaurants serve rice instead of fries. You eat it here in combination with fish and meat and a lot of things are fried here. So you can say that the food here is unhealthier than in Germany, they do not eat salad and they do not even have any salted bread. The bread in the bakeries is normally sweet as everything here.
Of course also the climate is very different. It is not just hot here but also is the air very wet. This causes a feeling as if you are in a sauna and you have to sweat all the time. Because of that most of the people are moving and working very slowly. So the climate is the reason why things take longer and people are not that productive. This may also be the reason why Filipinos are normally arriving later. You have to add half an hour or more to the time you have told them till they arrive, this is called the “Filipino time”.
Even if the weather is incredible hot, the Filipinos are very sporty. Because of the American influence in the past they play a lot of basketball here. Sports like handball or soccer are not common here. But imagine that: Basketball is that kind of sport you need very tall people for. But the Filipino population is very small, so their play style is completely different.
The people here sometimes have nothing more but the necessary things they need. But they are just grateful for what they have, for their family and friends, for a roof over their head and something to eat. They are happy and enjoy their life as much as possible. That is what impressed me the most and is also a lesson I learned here in this short time: Do not take things for granted and no matter how hard life can get, just go to bed and be grateful for all the things you have.
Von Laura und Paulina
Schweren Herzens aber auch voller Vorfreude haben wir schließlich das Fatima Center und somit auch Iriga verlassen und kamen dann in unserem neuen Zuhause an. Das nächste halbe Jahr werden wir in Naga City in unserem eigenen Apartment wohnen!
Hier dürfen, oder müssen wir wohl oder übel, selbst kochen, putzen und waschen. Als Entschädigung dafür haben wir aber beide ein komfortables, eigenes Zimmer und außerdem Küche und Wohnzimmer!
Von Paulina und Laura
Die Zeit vergeht hier wie im Flug und unser erster Monat ist schon vorbei. Das heißt wiederum, dass wir das Fatima Center verlassen müssen um nach Naga City umzuziehen. Natürlich passiert dies nicht ohne großen Abschied und passend dazu einem Festmahl deutscher Art: Schnitzel mit Spätzla!
Anfangs wurde noch zögerlich der Reis den Spätzla vorgezogen, doch nach und nach wurde dann doch probiert und es hat geschmeckt!
Von Paulina und Laura
Der Zelt Bau diese Woche war nur der Anfang und wir haben direkt weiter gemacht ein richtiges Haus zu bauen. In einem kleinen Ort namens San Andres soll eine Farm entstehen und die Arbeiter dort brauchen natürlich auch eine Unterkunft. Die Sache lief hier um einiges professioneller ab was man auch an den Konstruktionen sehen kann!
Als kurze Anmerkung: Hierbei wurden keinerlei Maschinen benutzt! Also auch nicht beim Zement mischen für den Boden des Hauses. Man kippt einfach alles auf den Boden und schaufelt so lang bis man nicht mehr kann.
Und dann geht die Sauerrei erst richtig los! Alles wird ausgeleert und glattgestrichen solange bis es annähernd eben aussieht.
Von Paulina und Laura
Diese Woche war campen in der Schule angesagt. Für die Kinder der größte Spaß und ein richtiges Abendteuer! Anders als die faulen Deutschen, die einfach ein gekauftes Zelt aufbauen, ihre Isomatte und ihren Schlafsack auspacken und den Campingkocher benutzen, wird hier alles selbst gemacht.
Mit Struktur und Planung haben die boy scouts die tollsten Konstruktionen hervorgebracht. Die Jungs waren Feuer und Flamme, haben Bambus gehackt, Möbel gebaut und Dächer aus Kokosnuss Blättern geflochten.
Zusehen und lernen war also angesagt und die ganze Sache hat wirklich Spaß gemacht!
Während die jungen Männer voll den Durchblick hatten, gab es bei den girl scouts umso größere Schwierigkeiten. Die Planung war eher fragwürdig und es ging mehr darum das Zelt schön zu dekorieren, was auch um einiges wichtiger ist als ein stabiles Dach gegen den Regen zu bauen.
Von Paulina und Laura
Sport ist ja bekanntlich Mord. Aber Sport bei 30 Grad und circa 80 Prozent Luftfeuchtigkeit ist nahezu unmöglich. Um uns trotzdem irgendwie sportlich zu betätigen (und natürlich für das schlechte Gewissen), sind wir morgens um fünf aus dem Bett um joggen zu gehen!
Nach einem einstündigen Jogg/Gehvorgang haben wir dann den sogenannten Eco Park (auch bekannt als Hügel) erreicht und hatten eine unbeschreibliche Aussicht auf ganz Iriga und den Mount Asok.
Von Paulina und Laura
Klamotten für 8 Monate mitnehmen erweist sich als ernsthaftes Problem, die Lösung dafür ist auch bekannt als „Waschen“. Leicht gesagt! Aber was ist, wenn man keine Waschmaschine hat und außerdem kein heißes Wasser?
Dann heißt es ganz einfach schrubben, schrubben, schrubben. Es handelt sich dabei nur um Stunden – also alles halb so wild.
Von Paulina und Laura
Mit was kann man Kindern eine richtig große Freude bereiten? Richtig, mit Pizza! Also haben wir den Entschluss gefasst für 80 Personen Pizza zu backen, was sich als komplizierter herausstellte als erwartet, wenn man weder die richtigen Zutaten, noch ein Rezept zur Hand hat.
Unterstützung hatten wir mehr als genug, die Kinder waren mit Feuereifer bei der Sache, haben Gemüse geschnitten und alle möglichen Sachen hinzugefügt.
Man kann sagen das Ergebnis war überragend! Alle waren begeistert und die ganze Aktion hat sich wirklich gelohnt.
