Today is my first official day in Catarman alone. I woke up at 4:30, but “snoozed” until 7 or so. I went to the Jollibee for breakfast and took my first pedicab. I had Lonaggassa for breakfast, which is essentially a spiced sausage and an egg with garlic rice. I had the option to get a full lunch however, with 2 pieces of fried chicken, a serving of spaghetti and red sauce and French Fries… I couldn’t bring myself to it at 8 in the morning though… maybe tomorrow.
After I ate I decided to walk around Catarman and get a feel for the city/town (see detail on Catarman in additional posts). The city is nice an, as stated before, the majority of the people working there have their own businesses. These businesses range from pedicabs to small boutiques (which include soft drinks and phone cards and snacks) to various food vendors. All of the people are very nice and, unlike Manila, they do not approach you to try to by something, but greet you with a smile when you approach their stall. Lucky for me, their English is good enough for me to complete a trasaction (hand guestures help as well).
I walked around and looked at some shops and smiled at the passersby. Many of the children are engrossed with what they are doing (which I am not sure what it is)… I wish I could elaborate, but they are focused on something, I just don’t know what… it’s like they are standing there looking and talking with their friends, but there are no cards or balls or anything… maybe I will ask one day. Anyways, the children will be talking in Filipino and then all of a sudden see me and say, “hi” and some ask me my name. I keep walking, but will probably find the courage to talk to a 5 year-old some time in the near future. I don’t know why, but I am typically awkward and I am not sure how to approach this subject. I am sure they just want to ask me some questions… we shall see.
I went back to my abode and decided to try to catch some shuteye. It turns out, I was so tired that Richard the Rooster didn’t even bother me. After a couple of hours of sleep, I was ready to go back at it (after typing some of this). So, I decided to go the other way out of the branch office and tour the other side of town. Much of the same. I did go to the park and see if I could find the basketball court… I couldn’t, but that is something that is huge here, basketball. Everyone has a team that they root for and everyone loves it. When talking with Shan (my contact in Grameen Australia, who set me up with this Branch), he said that that would be the best way for me to socialize with locals… through sport. Anywho, I went to the park, which was covered in puddles (it rained all day) but could not find a court. I will ask Bembooy to show me on Monday so I can school some local Catarmanians… who am I kidding, I am horrible at basketball. I was thirsty after my walk, so I travelled to a local boutique.
One thing to note: When you purchase a soda from a vendor, you usually finish the soda at their store and give them the bottle back, as there is a 10 peso deposit for the bottles. One lady, very nice, sold me a Coca-cola (don’t say Coke, they don’t really know what that is) and asked me if I wanted to drink it there or pay for the bottle (I didn’t know the rule yet), so I said I would pay for the bottle. I could tell she would rather me drink it there, so she offered “plastic” for it, so I could drink it and walk. Se was very nice and went to the back to grab “plastic”. Turns out, the plastic was not a plastic cup, as I thought, it was a plastic bag (like a sandwich bag). She poured the coke into the bag and I proceeded to have a Coke (in a bag) and a Smile… that was a first… but I may adopt it back home… a new business idea!
On my way back to the residence, I stopped by the local coffee shop (Coffee Hub) and wanted to see about the internet connection they had. I had heard that this is where to go if you have your own computer. I ordered a sandwich and started talking to the manager to see if I could use it. The manager’s name was Paul and the first thing out of his mouth was, “for you… it’s free!” Paul was a very nice man (do I need to stop saying that… cause it is a given?) and the second thing out of his mouth was, “Are you American? (I nodded) You have a new President!” Paul became very excited. He handed me Barack’s book “Dreams of my Father” and asked me if I had read it. Seemingly flabbergasted that I had not read my own President’s biography, he insisted that I read it. “You can borrow it while you are here! When I first purchased this, a year ago, it was 450 pesos, but now it is worth double!” Paul said jokingly. Paul was very nice and the other people in the shop wanted to know more about me and why I was here. I told them I was a guest of Grameen and they commented on the previous people that had come and frequented the Coffee Hub while they were there. I will be going there quite often while I am here.
I went back to the branch and read a little. I went to the same place as I had been the night before for dinner and had the Sizzling Seafood Mix for dinner. It was extremely good. It was a mixture of seafood… no, seriously, it had shrimp and squid with carrots, peppers, tomatoes and mini-corn (like the ones from “Big”). It was cooked in a red sauce that reminded me of sweet and sour sauce, but less sweet and more spicy. I also had a Pepsi with dinner (only place I have been that has had Pepsi). I did have a Virgin Cola in the Manila airport and was rather impressed. If you didn’t know, Coca-Cola has somewhere around 70% of the market share worldwide for soda sales (that is a rough number) and the closest competitor is Pepsi at 20%. Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Records and Virgin Airlines, thought that it was ridiculous that Pepsi could not tap into some of the market share of Coca-Cola, so he started Virgin Cola, and this was the first time that I had seen one, so I got an Orange Virgin Cola. I digress.
After dinner I read a bit more of the Grameen Bank book “The Price of a Dream” (link posted to the right). It is a fascinating book and I have learned a multitude of things about microfinance and some of the obstacles to overcome. The book is very well written and gives a great picture of the work and views of the Grameen Bank (both for and against). Many of my references in the “Grameen Information” posts will come from this book as well as other books that I received as gifts from Haley and family members for Christmas (Thanks!).
I was supposed to go to the cock fight today, but it was pouring rain for the majority of the day. Maybe I will go to the beach tomorrow. I am still a bit tired, so I am looking forward to anything that involves relaxing, including being in my house.
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