Habal-Habals

My favorite means of travel in the Philippines is riding habal-habal. Americans may not realize it, but most motorcycles can easily hold three people and sometimes four. I actually have seen six people on a motorcycle and was told that the record was seven. ha ha. But what I enjoy is not going for a record, but simply being able to see the scenery. And the scenery in South Leyte is spectacular. It is hard for me to notice much of anything in a tricycle or a jeepney because my legs really do hurt when I am crammed into them. I don't think you could ever get me on a motorcycle in America, but here the motorcycles are going a little faster than a bike so at least they feel safe.

Travel here is much slower than in America. The speed limit is rarely shown, but when I have seen it, it is posted at 80 kilometers an hour which is a little less than 50 miles an hour. And 80 really feels fast. The roads are rarely straight and there are tricycles, motorcycles, pedestrians, and dogs that one has to watch for. The dogs often sleep near the road, and when a bus comes barreling toward them, they take their time moving out of the way timing it so that they get off the road with a few tenths of a second to spare.

Yesterday I walked from Bontoc to Sogod. The distance was less than four miles, but it was one of those days that I dread. The sun was out. When the sun is out, everything may look great, but the weather is as hot and humid as Chicago in August. Oh, those poor people in Chicago who have to live through that weather. On the way, I got the usual number of "Hi, Joe" and "Morning, Sir" comments. One of the people here told me, "For many people here, you are the first white person they have ever seen." This may be true, but the difference between Korea and the Philippines is amazing. The amount of eye contact that Filipinos establish is much, much greater than what I saw in Korea. I wonder if anthropologists ever study such things.

Saturday I am off to Bohol. I will stay with the Calope family in Balilihan, but I will get there a full day before Sterling and Flor and Kaye arrive. Sterling's sister, Belit, will meet me at the port in Tagbilarin. This should be a lot of fun because Belit is as confident or her English as I am of my Cebuano. I told her in a text that I was practicing my Cebuano and she answered with "pag-praktis jod kay arn magkacnabot ta." I think this is a combination of Cebuano and text-speak that means you means "You better practice if you are coming here." Ha ha. The problem is that although more people speak Cebuano than Tagalog in the Philippines there are practically no dictionaries that I can find that go from Cebuano to English. Oh, well, I will keep you posted.