Lets Take a Drive

Since this is not my first time in this country I realize there are a few things I have taken for granted that you may not realize I am blessed to encounter. I will grace you now with the revelation of what my trip looks like to the market.
I live on the bottom of a very steep hill that is covered with medium to softball size rocks. This is always my first challenge as I keep my balance on my motorcycle. About three times a week I have a bag of trash to dispose of half way up the hill. I come to a quick halt while holding the back break with my Right foot I attempt to balance my bike at an upward angle as I hurl the bag of trash to the garbage barrel. Only once have I not succeeded in this endeavor but luckily it was the one time someone seemed to be watching as he quickly came over to rescue the bag from the grasp of the ground and place it safely in its bin as I attempted to gain balance of both feet and give exactly enough gas to push myself the rest of the way up the hill without spraying rocks or tipping over.
I then drive past the students who always seem to be out in the court yard of the school no matter how early and I attempt to sign either good morning, noon, afternoon, or evening depending on the appropriate time.
This is proper in the hearing and Deaf culture here to great anyone you encounter with those words/signs.
As I come to the bottom of the paved hill I slow my speed and make a quick right turn while making sure no one is coming from the left and at the same time making sure no on is standing right in front of my right hand turn ‘lane’. (there are no lines on the roads.) Your lane is where ever your vehicle can fit. I have learned to use that to my advantage on a small 125cc motorcycle. As I make this first right turn I am greated with the first group of older Filipino men inquiring what my name is, phone number, where I am from. Sometimes it is just, “hey joe” or “where are you going”

On the right hand side of the road there is a mansion of a house that I would love to tour at some point, however I doubt I will ever meet whoever it is that lives there. Nearby there is a small shack of a home where a large family and extended family lives. Many men are involved in harvesting and drying out coconuts. Almost every day you can see them breaking open new coconuts and laying them out to dry in the sun. This appears to be very hard work. (side note, there is a teacher here whose father is the one who climbs the coconut trees to harvest the coconuts. He used to tell his children his job was a Coconut Pilot because he went up so high to get them. I thought that was so cute as she is still so proud that her father would give her children a sense of pride in him.)

There is a short cut I sometimes take, but it is limestone. When it is rainy it is impossible to drive on with out sliding everywhere and when it is not raining it is so dusty that my contacts begin to scream at me no matter what speed I attempt. I only take this road on special occasions.

The next right I take is infested with about 10 men called Hubble hubble drivers. They own motorcycles and they wait there for people who do not have a way to town except through them. Even though I have been here for so many weeks each time I drive by they all have something to say. It is never appropriate and usually entails the ‘Whit Whew’ whistle an occasional marriage proposal. When I do not feel like being harassed by these men I take my inconvenient short cut.

This last time I was able to witness a tradition here. The snakes are considered to have some kind of spirit or evil attached to them. So when a snake is found they usually kill it and throw it on the road for people to run it over. Well… I didn’t run it over but another truck did right as I was nearing it. Did you know that when you run over a big snake it sounds like a firecracker! Me either. Now we both do.

There are many groups of people along my trip who upon noticing my skin will yell or become excited. I still have not become used to this. I try to ignore them and keep my attention on the road.

Anyway…. It is an adventure each time I sling my feet over my bedside. And I am blessed to be here.