Captain's Log: Minimal Exposure trip, mostly 3rd Year Immersion and barbecued chicken heads.

Just yesterday we had our exposure trip to Brgy. Bagong Silang. Being from the Ateneo High School interacting with kids from communities like the ones we saw was nothing new to me. We had to do something like that once a year from 1st to 3rd year. Fourth year was every Thursday. Still, I find communicating with the kids kind of difficult because of the awkward language barrier.

The whole thing went by quite smoothly thanks to the expert party planning of Cher and Mico, and of course the wonderful hosting skills of Alvin Cabalquinto. The kids from Bagong Silang were nice enough and really excited to be part of the games. I couldn't help but compare the trip to the things we used to do in high school though. During our 4th year, we had TD sessions every week. This meant lesson plans every week, trying to find new ways of teaching English, looking up the topic on the internet and attaining a rudimentary grasp of the topic (Prepositions...I'm sorry kids). It became really tedious really fast, but the year that I spent teaching them allowed for me to form a bond with them. The kids at Bagong Silang, not so much. That's just because I haven't spent time with them yet.

Two other kids, Jasper and Jasmine became my foster siblings during my 3rd year immersion in Payatas. Rather than writing about it, I'll post the paper I had to do after the trip. I must warn you, it gets really cheesy. And even then coherence and unity were alien to me. Also, I'll be adding comments in absolutely heterosexual and totally not insecure blue.

Immersion Reflection Paper

Getting on the jeep to Payatas I was already pumped up for the weekend my classmates and I were going to spend there. I could see my classmates were too, especially Kim. “Parang tayo yung special ops na sasabak sa giyera!” he would say over and over again. That’s kind of what I thought too. Only a few of my classmates chose to join and that made all of the people there daring and bold (Cheesus Christ). I was glad I joined the immersion.

When we got off the jeep, first thing everyone noticed was the smell. It wasn’t unbearable but it was still unpleasant. You could tell the dumpsite wasn’t that far away from where we were going to stay. The thought of that only excited me more since I wanted to see for myself what I could endure and this was something I was determined to undergo (I was a regular Bear Grylls).

We had the meeting in the chapel and we were eventually separated and introduced to our foster families. That was the time I met Kuya Willy, my foster father for the immersion, and his two kids, Jasmine and Jasper. He seemed very friendly and greeted me with a wide grin. Then, we took the walk towards the house I was going to be sleeping in for two nights. I took that as a chance to survey the surroundings and I got good vibes from the place. People were busy chatting and kids were playing in the streets, everyone knew everybody else and they were generally nice people. After the short trip we managed to get to the house. It was small but cozy and had everything I needed to make it through my stay. There I sat down and tried to get to know the kids a bit more. The formal talk didn’t work and they both shied away (Evidence of the language barrier). Kuya Willy sensed that I was getting bored so he told Jasper to give me a wider(?) tour of the place. Walking around the area I was a bit apprehensive because I heard that there were frats and gangs in some areas and I did not want to get tangled up with them but I walked on. I got into somewhat of a confrontation with some punk teens playing with their skateboard but I think that was just me being easily intimidated (no shit, you little bitch), which I just realized now, but back then it left a bitter taste in my mouth. After that encounter, Jasper brought me to the lugawan and we sat a bit. I asked the man selling lugaw how much it was and he offered me a free bowl. It wasn’t a big deal but it felt really good to get something out of another person’s kindness (Already delicious lugaw is made even more delicious when it is given to you for free). It didn’t end there right after I finished my bowl of lugaw, my classmate’s ate bought me betamax. It was the first time I tried it outside of dinuguan and it was awesome! (Tasted like tofu) After that snack we went back home and had dinner. It was simple tinola but it was good (It was god damn delicious). I was careful not to eat too much because I was afraid I’d leave them with none but I managed to eat my fill anyway with enough to spare for the dog. Then we sat to watch the news and had a little light conversation. When the time came to go to bed, they set up the only fan in the house on the bed they set up for me. It was really touched by this and I found getting to sleep really easy (I did feel pretty bad I took their fan though). That is how I spent my first day.

The second day of immersion Jasper and I met up with my classmates and we decided to walk all the way to the dumpsite and do some sightseeing. It was a long walk and when we got there we were covered in mud and our feet were wet with garbage water. One of my classmates, Dags, even got maggots on his slippers. It was gross but according to the Kuya Willie it’s a lot better that how it used to be. We gladly left the dump and went back to bathe and rest up. After a few kwentos and sticks of isaw later, we agreed to spend our last night singing at Miso’s crib (Videoke style). The night was killer and everyone enjoyed but with it I was reminded that we were leaving the next day. I dreaded the next day since I already got attached to my foster family and the community. I realized how much I was going to miss the sounds of people playing basketball in the street and the amazing variety of food available. I was going to miss playing chess with Jasper and talking to him about everyday things. It’s funny to think how much I connected within such a short span of time but it happened (I hate your sentence construction, 3rd year Rap). The next day when we left, some of us where in tears, I was among them (Not that many tears). Jasper cried too and I gave him something to cheer him up and remember me by. It was one of the few occasions where I gave and it hurt since I gave away my favorite keychain. I doubt I’ll be able to get another one of those anytime soon since they were limited edition (That keychain was so cool...I'm still glad I gave it away though). Emotions won me over that day. We left Payatas as different people, we were all changed. Even though our stay was too short, the lives that affected us and the lessons we learned will never be forgotten.

End.

I didn't get to mention the awesome deep friend chicken heads I tried for the first time. So awesome. Chewy. Juicy. Chickeny. It's chicken deliciousness presented in a neat little chicken head sized mouthful. I had chicken heads for the second time on the exposure trip. Barbecue this time. My god. The deliciousness. I seem to be the only one who enjoyed them as much though... More for me then. :D

On a semi-sidenote, I mentioned before the story of the that Atenean who's essay was criticized because he or she said that he or she was glad that she was not poor. I also said that I would discuss that further. But, since I don't wanna go at it all uninformed (not actually reading the essay), I'll leave that for some other time...again.

Now. Enjoy these photos of the exposure trip in panorama, a camera setting which I love using despite the occasional deforming of people.