I’ve mentioned in passing that I lived in the Philippines for a few years when I was a teen. It seems like every time I do, there is at least one person who comments and asks for more details about my time there. I’ve really only written about it on this blog twice, so I decided to share another little piece of my journey overseas with you today.
It’s hard to know where to start sometimes: The food, the sights, the smells, there is SO MUCH about the Philippine culture to share, but one thing I miss the most is the sounds of the Philippines.
A visitor could easily make it through the food, it’s quite delicious, but even for the pickier eaters, you can find some fast food places that we also have here in the States! The scenery is gorgeous, though depending on where you are, it can quickly go from beautiful to sad and devastating as you see some of the poverty in the nation. Photos can capture all of that to some extent though, so I at least knew a bit of what I was getting into there, but the sounds are something else entirely.
I don’t think I will ever forget my first night in the Philippines. I was 15 and had flown from North Carolina to the Philippines alone. After getting lost in the Japanese airport where we stopped to refuel the plane and then getting lost again after I landed in the Philippines, I finally met up with my group and we headed to where I’d be staying for the next 10 days. We arrived at the apartment from the airport at around 3am. After a long trip I was excited to lay down on the couch and go to sleep. Unfortunately a few moments after I fell asleep the rooster’s outside decided that it was time to begin calling for daylight with it’s obnoxious “ARARARRRRAR”! Now, I would like to take a moment to correct a few popular misconceptions about roosters:
Misconception 1 – Roosters do not, even remotely, say “cock a doodle doo” I heard roosters all night (and all day) long, but never once have I heard a “cock a doodle doo” it is truly more like an “ARARARARRRRAR!” (as written above).
Misconception 2 – Roosters don’t just crow when the sun comes up.
See I would be FINE with a rooster crowing, doodling or ARRR-ing when it is morning time. It would certainly be ideal if they would just do it a couple times when the sun comes up and call it a day. That would be perfect in my humble opinion, but no. These roosters make their racket all the time, at random times, and most noticeably in the middle of the night. Imagine being asleep, and actually getting to lay down for the first time after an over 24 hour commute from the States to the Philippines and then out of nowhere roosters start making a ruckus! Then, as soon as you think they stop and you begin to drift back in to a sweet sleep, as your eyes gently close and you breathing begins to deepen once again ARARARARRRAR! *sighs*
After the adventures all through the night of roosters, be prepared to wake up to another sound, the beloved “walis ting-ting”. What is a Walis Ting Ting you may be wondering? It is a bamboo broom of sorts, made of the hard parts of bamboo, and normally used to beat the concrete in front of one’s home… “beat away the dirt” in a sense. So if you made it through the evening with the roosters, be ready to be awakened by a “FFFFFWAK”…..”FFFFWAK” of the women from neighborhood homes cleaning up around the front of their homes. I am not sure why this is a job that must be done in the wee hours of the morning, but it seems all but required that the women go out as soon as the sun begins to come up, and welcome in the day with the “Fwak” of their brooms.
During the day along with the “ARRARAR”ing of the roosters and the “Fwak” of some brooms we will add in a few more sounds, just to keep things interesting. There are the regular sounds that you would hear virtually anywhere in the world; the chatter of small children, stray dogs barking, babies crying, and of course awkward yelling/arguing in a variety of Filipino languages.
Add to all this a friendly older Filipino man with a bike, a brake drum, and some food in big plastic trash cans. The man rides through the town/neighborhood on his bike with the brake drum somehow tied with ropes to the front of his bicycle. He beats the brake drum with whatever is convenient at the time, peddling his bike down the streets as he drums. he can find When you hear this glorious racket you know that this gentleman is selling whatever food he has in the small but brightly colored plastic trash cans that are attached to the rear of his bicycle (usually one on both sides of the bike awkwardly wider than the bike). He just rides around clanging his makeshift bell and selling yummy snacks.
If you live near the city you will also hear the never ending horns of the Jeepnys (public transportation vehicles). The traffic could be at a complete standstill, but the horns will still be blaring!
You will also hear market vendors shouting out their prices “FRESH FISH!” (which you can quickly decipher by the smell if that is true statement or not) “CHEAP PRICE!” and if I am walking anywhere near the market you’ll hear “Hey TISAY!” (translates to hey white girl). Last of all, in the markets there are always a few overly zealous vendors who are constantly shouting things like “YOU BUY HERE NOW! HEY HEY WE HAVE GOOD PRODUCTS!” (all in Filipino of course).
You will see beggars asking for money or food, and the adorable little ‘street kids’. These kids will chase you and beg you for your money or your food, and at the very same time melt your heart and make you wish you had more to give them! There is nothing like seeing their joy and hearing their shouts as they call to their friends when you do give them something (especially food). It all adds to the joyful chaos of the Filipino streets. As you continue to walk you may pass the ‘tricycle drivers’ (tricycles are another form of public transportation…basically a motorcycle with a sidecar). The Trike Drivers are always sure to shout out to you “TRIIIIIIKE?” in their own way asking if you would like to travel somewhere on their trike. This was always one of my favorite ways to travel, but I’ll have to go into that another time.
As evening falls and you climb into your bed can fall asleep to the sounds coming from the videoke bars. You’ll hear them singing, on microphones hooked up to a karaoke machine. Though slightly less than soothing, these noises can be drowned out as they are not much more than a hum in the distance, but interrupting the songs of the night are yet more vendors walking through the streets still selling their wares. The ones closest to my house there were always yelling “BA-LUUUUT!” they’d pause for a few seconds and then call out “BA-LUUUUUT!” once again. These vendors were selling Balut, a fertilized chicken egg, which is, apparently a great midnight snack. If you can drift off to sleep through all that, enjoy the precious moments of rest, because the roosters will be waking you up before morning comes.
So there is a small taste of what life is like in the Philippines. Oh, how I loved it! What seemed strange or awkward to me at first, quickly became home to me and I grew to love each and every bit of the racket. I still get homesick for my beloved Philippines, the noise and all! My time there is remembered in my heart with joy!
Have you ever lived or traveled outside of the country? What were your favorite sounds overseas?
Yvonne @ Sunnyside Up=Stairs says
Were you in the Philippines for a missions trip or exchange student program, Paula? It’s funny, but many sounds of the Philippines reminds me of Hawai’i, partly because many of my neighbors are Filipino, and well, I am half-Filipino too. Haha. We have roosters on our little dead end street and I agree with everything you’ve mentioned about them. :) When we’d go to the swap meet, hearing the cries of the market vendors was a usual sound for me too. I’ve never been to the Philippines myself, but it is a wish of mine to see my family and my mom’s home at least once in this life. =D
Paula says
It was for missions. I worked in a school and an orphanage and a church! That’s so neat that you are half filipino! I’ve always wanted to visit hawaii some day, and now I really want to, if it’s that similar to the Philippines <3