Day Three. Today I want to talk about a couple of things. But first let me clear something up that I hadn't properly explained in the first post. Jema and I decided to travel separately for about a month. She is somewere in the Philippines. We will meet up before Christmas at a chosen location and time.
Because today is Sunday, it was a day for more exploring. I wasted quite a bit of time at the mall again looking for a damn disposable camera. Apparently the digital age has taken over to such an extent that I can't find a camera that uses film at all, let alone one that I can throw away after using. Between yesterday and today I've spent nearly six hours stopping at every camera shop, then every shop that sold electronics, then every hardware store. Nadda. So, unfortunately, as of now my travels will be documented only with this text. Which is a shame, because I visited two very interesting but very different cultural locations today.
First let me say something on the heat. It is hot here, and humid. At first I had forgotten about how necessary it was to drink loads of water, until I got my first headache. Now, I carry my water bottle around after filling it up with drinking water at the hostel, then I buy cheap bottles of water off of street vendors when I'm feeling parched. I've also been walking nearly everywhere, exerting myself, so that adds to the equation. Hopefully I will acclimate to the heat soon. If not, I'll speed up my departure to the highlands up north where it is supposed to be cooler.
My first cultural destination today was the Manila American Cemetary and Memorial. In lieu of photos, visit this link: http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/ml.php. The cemetary contains over 17,000 graves of US servicemen who lost their lives in WWII, mainly in the Philippines and New Guinea. It is striking to see all those crosses, and a few Jewish Stars, lined up neatly on a manicured lawn. What is even more moving, however, are the large walls which have names etched into them of the Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airmen who are Missing-in-Action. Over 36,000 names, along with rank and home state, are found on the tablets. I was very impacted by the fact that so many hadn't been recovered. To die in war is one thing, I believe, but to die and never be found is something much more tragic. When filling out the guestbook I could not at first think of something to write in the "comments" section. Finally I wrote what I felt "sadness, pride, awe".
I realized, during my visit to the cemetery, that I had been quite ignorant regarding the WWII Pacific Theater. I had always assumed that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and we went to Japan, fought them, and won. But at the cemetery there are detailed descriptions of every battle, the units that fought, and the strategy that helped the US and allies win. Immediately after Pearl Harbor, with the US momentarily stunned, the Japanese took the opportunity to invade and occupy nearly every South Pacific country, island, and atoll that existed, including the Philippines. However, the first offensive battle for the US was Midway, and it was a turning point (among others) of the Pacific Theater. Attacking and defeating the Japanese at Midway gave the US forces a much needed morale boost after the devastation at Pearl Harbor. Well, the US, with Allies, went on to fight in Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, the Philippines, and other major battles. By the time the US got close to the Japanese mainland, the Manhattan project had produced what it had been created to produce, and the rest is history.
Now we'll talk about the second cultural experience I attended today. Cock fighting. Visit the Wikipedia page to see photos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockfight. Cock fighting is not only legal in the Philippines, but it is practically the national sport. Truly. According to the Wikipedia article, the Philippines is the mecca of cock fighting. The "Olympics of Cock Fighting" is held here twice a year. Now I certainly am not in favor of animal cruelty, but thought that because it is so big here, I should see what all the fuss is about. My guidebook recommended a place to go and watch if one was so inclined, so I went off to find the Pasay Cockpit. Stepping off the train, I started walking down a busy street that was lined with pawn shops. Standing in front of every pawn shop was a guard armed with a pump action, pistol grip shotgun. I wasn't sure whether to feel more in danger or more safe, so I just kept walking, hoping to quickly find the aforementioned cockpit. After a lot more walking, I was getting nervous, and thirsty, so I stopped at a roadside vendor to discretely check the map and purchase a Gatorade. The map didn't tell me anything, so I mentioned the cockpit, and, lo and behold, I was right there. Just around the bend from the roadside vendor was the Pasay Cockpit. I strolled up, payed my 200 peso entry fee, and walked into a new world.
The building resembled a basketball arena, only scaled down to a tenth of the size. There were bleachers with seats, an AstroTurf ring with three foot high glass walls, referees, judges, betting facilitators, and, of course, the owners who were holding their...ahem, cocks. Because I'm a giant white man the betting facilitators quickly noticed me. They urged me to sit close to the ring and start gambling. I politely declined both offers, taking a seat near the back and telling them I had no money. Here's how a cockfight works: an elderly bald man gets into the ring and talks to the crowd through a microphone. Because he was speaking Filipino, I'm not sure what he was saying. While he is talking, the two gamecocks (as they are known) are brought in by their owners. A third cock, the aggressor cock, is also brought in. The aggressor cock is held near to and pecks each gamecock, separately, to rile the gamecock up and get them ready for the fight. Once the old bald fellow is done speaking, the shouting starts. Everyone in the arena begins screaming at the top of their lungs and waving their hands in the air like a demon is being exercised. They are trying to match bets. If I want to bet 3000 pesos on the white gamecock, I hold three fingers up, shout the white gamecock's name, and attempt to find someone else in the crowd who will bet the same amount against me. It is truly a sight to see this display.
After the betting is through, the protective coverings are taken off of the razor sharp spurs that each gamecock is wearing, they are set down on the AstroTurf, and everyone holds their breath. I watched probably six fights in all. Four ended very quickly, one went on forever, and the last (the reason I had to leave) came down to a draw, when both gamecocks had mortally wounded each other. Sad. Usually the victorious one is whisked off to be patched up by a surgeon, and the loser ends up in the stock pot. From asking the betting facilitators for more details, I learned that a gamecock usually fights once a week. And this career continues until it loses, or is wounded in such a way that makes it unable to fight again, such as a broken wing or eyes gouged out.
Well, that's cockfighting. I have to say its pretty tragic to watch, yet fascinating at the same time. Every time a fight ended I kept saying I'll stay for just one more. But I kept staying because while the cruelty was unsettling, its hard to tear yourself away from such a foreign spectacle.
The end of my day was spent eating a shwarma (middle eastern meat dish, which I first discovered in Iraq), whilst talking to a 50-something Scottish fellow. The conversation was going well until he asked me if I had met any lady-boys yet, and then invited me to come to a show later on tonight. Sorry, can't make it. Apparently these transvestite shows are a big thing here. I can handle the cockfighting, but not the trannies.
Lastly, let me say that this computer I'm working on only recognizes Korean. So, the spellcheck doesn't work because the Korean spellchecker can't check my English spelling. The point is, there may be a few misspellings and grammar mistakes that I missed. So be it.
I hope everyone is well in other parts of the world. Take care!
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