More Philippines
Thursday, April 26, 2012
I. "Caretaker"Having dared my boss’s 17 year-old son to borrow a motorcycle from a stranger, I questioned the quality of my adult chaperon skills. (My boss is not on this trip, only her son.) In my defense, it’s not my fault I keep drinking with the kids. The photographer is my age and he’s the one that keeps buying all the alcohol.
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II. A developing country.
Today, I was told the road to the next village crossed a river 27 times. I assumed this meant via 27 bridges, but that was naive.
Twenty of us crowded together on the bed of a flatbed truck, using plastic patio chairs as seats. 20 chairs arranged in 5 rows, our teenage volunteer team screeched every time the truck accelerated or braked. It would take just one person falling to domino the whole group down..
The truck didn’t even make it through the first river crossing. About halfway through the water, the engine stalled. Local villagers, who were doing their laundry in the river, marveled at the growing cloud of black smoke.
Unable to continue our journey, I jumped out of the truck, and others followed. We played in the water and better yet, jumped on some caribao for a ride up the river.
Eventually, with much effort, we pushed the truck back to shore. Only for it to break down again at the 2nd river crossing. So… we called for a pickup truck, crammed tons of people into the back, and rode back to our hotel. Where, btw, there are geckos on the ceiling, frogs on the floor, and no flushing toilet. It is life in a 3rd world country.
