The Reddest Tape

If you don't want to read my rant about third world bureaucracy, this would be an excellent time to navigate away from this page.

We made a trip to Manila on Monday to pick up our I-Cards. We had perfectly serviceable ACRs (Alien Certificates of Registration) but the Philippine government decided we need an ID card too (although they seem to go back and forth on that). We had been to Manila over a month ago, paid our fees and did all the paperwork. The I-cards were supposed to be finished in two weeks. So, we pull up to immigration on Monday, and I walk in with my little claim stubs.

The guard stops me at the front desk and tells me I can't come in because I'm wearing shorts. It's 90 degrees out. I'm wearing shorts, and I packed a pair of shorts. I go back out to the car and send Tiffany in with the claim stubs. She went to the line; there were 2 people in front of her. At least 30 minutes later, she made it to the front of the line. The lady at the desk said, "Did you pull your papers yet?" Tiff said, "I don't know." The lady left for about 10 minutes. She came back and gave Tiff back all the forms and receipts we had turned in a month ago and sent her to the third floor of the next building.

Tiff waited in a short line there, got to the front and handed them her forms. They said their computer was down, so they couldn't check the status of the forms, but she could just hand them in and they would call her name when they were ready. She sat for a while; after a few minutes, they started calling names. Tiffany could see our pictures on the computer, and then they called her up and told her to turn in the stubs, which the lady in the first building had kept.

So Tiff went back to the first building and waited in line again. The guy in front of her took about 10 minutes. The lady gave her the stubs and Tiff went back to the other building.

Once she had her stubs, her forms were signed by the big boss man and she was sent to another table. The man there told her our papers were approved and we could come back on Friday to pick up our I-cards! Tiff explained we were from the provinces and needed them by Tuesday. He said, "I don't know; I'll check with the chief. Are you a missionary? etc." Finally, we were told to come back at 10:00 on Tuesday for the 11:00 printing of I-cards, just bringing the stub.

10:00 the next morning, we were at immigration. First building, wait in line, lady looks it up in the computer, says we're not approved. Second building, wait in line, sent to another desk, "you're approved; go see Esther." Wander around, looking for Esther. Told to redo everything we already did the day before. They look around for the forms, finally deciding they're locked in somebody's desk who will be there at 2:00.

2:00 we return to immigration. Second building, Esther's desk. They look us up in the computer--ready to print. First building, wait in line for a long time. "They're ready to print. Madam, I'm sorry but our printer is [unintelligible]. We can't print right now." Come back Thursday!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

19%

Despite dozens of hours already working on computerizing the school library database, I estimate that I'm only about 19% completed with the task. I set myself back a little today by suggesting to the librarian that we remove from the collection a number of books that I had already catalogued. They were all just portions of the Living Bible, which we already have in our reference section. There were probably more that I could have removed, but that was depressing enough.

The progress is slow, because I not only have to enter the data into the database, but I usually have to make a new spine label for the book, because it either doesn't have one or has one that is incorrect. Furthermore, most of the books aren't in order currently, so I have to shuffle them around as I go along. The library is filthy, too. I think the students cleaned it at the end of the school year, but it started building up dust fast. The librarian came and helped me for a few hours today, and she also did a little cleaning.

preparation

I think it's always a challenge for teachers to stay motivated during the summer, but I did a decent job today, I think. I was able to get a couple of solid hours of sermon preparation in this morning. I'm preaching at college church this Sunday. It's Mother's Day, of course, so I'm trying to do something along that theme. I'm focusing on Naomi, who is more famous as a mother-in-law than a mother, and about whom very little is explicitly said. So, I'm having to infer things about her culture from Ruth's response to her. This is a bit stretching for me, but I think it's starting to come together. Hopefully, tomorrow I can put a little more meat on the skeleton and polish it up a little.

I'm teaching philosophy this next semester, so I'm reading a real entry-level text to brush up on the basics of the material. The book I'm reading approaches philosophy from a chronological standpoint, so I've read up to the medieval philosophers right now. The text that has been used in that course in the past is arranged topically, so I'm trying to figure out how to integrate the two. I've actually toyed with doing a history of philosophy for half the semester and a more conceptual look during the second half, but I'm not sure I have the time or the skill to make both halves cohesive without being redundant. A lot of my reading done today was done on the move, as I followed Elijah on his wanderings around campus and frequently interrupted by "No. Elijah. No. No. Stop. No." Such talent for cruelty to cats at such a young age!

I think I'm really getting a more crystallized idea of what to do with my Missions 1 course.

vulnerability

This will be a little repetitive of a previous post, but we worked today to distill a list of a few key characteristics of healthy relationships in the Philippines. Here's what we came up with:
1. It is good to greet a person. This is usually done with a handshake, although women may use beso-beso and very close friends may embrace. Asking someone “Where are you going?” or “When did you return?” are just formalities that don’t necessarily require a definite response. However, when someone asks “Kumusta ka?” they are expected to listen to the answer with genuine interest.
2. Generosity is one of the trademarks of a true friend. If someone has the power to help a friend and refuses, that may be considered offensive. Similarly, you can expect that your friend will loan you anything you need.
3. It is appropriate to drop in on a friend unannounced, although it’s okay to call or text ahead. When you arrive, your friend should stop what they are doing and give their attention to you. If they are eating a meal, they should invite you to join them.
4. You shouldn’t isolate yourself.
5. When you are at a friend’s house, you should make yourself at home.
6. You should address even strangers as manong or manang, if they are clearly older than you. It’s okay to use tito and tita with those who have children older than you. You can refer to the very old as tatang or nanang. If in doubt, use the younger term of address.
7. You may offend a friend if you decline an invitation without a valid reason.
8. You may offend a friend by violating their trust.
9. You may offend a friend if you deny them something—if they ask for help and you don’t help them.
10. You may offend a friend if you talk about them behind their back.
11. It is okay to approach someone directly if you have a problem with them, but you should be careful not to hurt their feelings. It is also okay to use a third party, if you don’t feel comfortable approaching the person directly.
12. If there is a sickness or death in someone’s family, a good friend will stay with his friend to comfort him and assist him.
13. When you go on a trip, it is appropriate (and sometimes expected) to bring back pasalubong for your friends, usually food items.

We also did some reading about exposure and concealment of vulnerability. It's hard to really define Philippine culture on that continuum. I think people here generally try not to hurt other's feelings, but in some ways, they can be more blunt than Americans. I thought of a situation where a man came into a meeting and began to present what appeared to be somewhat of an insurance scam. I think the American response would have been to thank the man and dismiss him. The response here was to ask lots of probing questions that revealed that the deal probably wasn't completely reliable. Without specifically demeaning the presenter, they made it clear that they weren't interested in his offer.

Also, Filipinos do seem to be interested in competition at least at some level, and they also seem willing to compete in things where they don't necessarily have a great chance of succeeding. The prime example of this is videoke. I could relate numerous instances of people singing loudly in public despite an apparent lack of singing talent. However, I am curious now. In some societies, students do not take tests if they think they will fail and do not turn in written assignments if they feel that they will do poorly on them. I don't have enough information to say if that's what's happening here, although there certainly are a number of students who fail to complete their requirements.

More interviews

I did some airline ticket shopping today. Our area director wants me to go to India in July to teach some courses. The idea excites me, but it is 3 weeks of missed classes here and, as far as I can tell, a big chunk of change to get there.

We interviewed two more cultural consultants today about relationship issues in the Philippines. Some answers come back with striking consistency, but on other questions, the answers are all over the board. Sometimes, we are so enculturated in our culture that we have trouble identifying its characteristics. We think there's nothing that would interest a foreigner, because we assume they do it the same as we do. So when we ask, "How do you greet a friend?" we get answers like, "Oh, just the same as you do." That's not very helpful, and it's probably not very accurate. I guess that's why we're trying to get various perspectives.

One question that's pretty important but gets varied answers concerns our status in The Wesleyan Church of the Philippines. Some tell us that we are on a par with the general leaders, which is what almost seems to be the case in actual practice. Others say that we are on the level of the pastors, which is probably what the ideal situation would be.

places I've been

duckpin bowling

Friday is date day for the Sumpters, so we took off this afternoon to Urdaneta. After lunch at Pizza Hut, we surmised our entertainment opportunities. Wesleyans here don't really go to movies, at least not the Wesleyans who teach at the college. Tiffany didn't feel like going swimming, so that left bowling. Urdaneta doesn't have a real bowling alley, but they do have duckpin bowling. Duckpin bowling uses smaller pins and smaller bowling balls, which makes it much harder. On the bright side, you get to roll three times per frame. Still, they say that any score higher than 100 is a good score. We didn't have any good scores today. The bright side is that it costs 15 pesos a game, so you can pretty much bowl to your heart's content.

Characteristics of a Healthy Friendship Relationship

We conducted an interview with one of our consultants to discover what a healthy friendship looks like in the Philippines. First, we looked at the broader picture of social structure in the Philippines. Power in the Philippines is centralized in the hands of the wealthy and the well-known. The powerful are known by the way they dress, the way they carry themselves, and the way they can easily converse on a wide range of topics. Power can be inherited; often, political leaders are elected because of family connections, even though they may not be qualified for the position. Sometimes, this practice even carries over into the church; community leaders or wealthy individuals may be treated with special honor by the church members. On the other end of the scale, some Filipinos feel that their fate is predetermined. Because they are poor and uneducated, they just accept whatever those above them say. They fill the role of helper, not able to determine their own destiny. It is possible, though, for someone to change in status. Sometimes, the powerful can lose their position because of corruption and “new money” can gain power through hard work and discipline. There is a value on equality in the Philippines, but those of higher status are often given a special place at gatherings, special meriendas (snacks) and special attention; while those of lower status may be ignored.
We as missionaries are free to associate with anyone of any status. While some might have varying opinions on this, generally speaking, we may even develop fairly close relationships with students or with colleagues of the opposite sex. Our status within the church is on par with the general officers of the church. Because of this, church members feel honored to have us visit their churches. Those who have observed us admire that we are “down to earth”—willing to eat what they eat, ride with them, attend events that are important to them, etc. So, we have an above average status in the church (and possibly in society at large), but people respect our willingness to set status aside and live alongside them.
We, to some degree, have been adopted by the Agapito family. They consider us their children and welcome us to any family event. Even their neighbors consider us to be a part of that family. There are no mandatory social obligations attached to that family membership, though.
Admirable qualities in a person in the Philippines are willingness to associate with anyone regardless of their status, willingness to help, and selflessness. In fact, a good person will not say “no” when they have it in their power to help someone. Friends are always available to help each other. When one prepares a viand, she shares it with her friend. They spend an above average amount of time together, playing games with each other and talking. One keeps in close contacts with his closest friends.
Very close friends will embrace as a part of their greeting, and beso-beso is a common greeting between female friends. Even strangers address older people as manong/manang (brother/sister) or tatang/nanang (father/mother). Within the church, we might address an older person as uncle or aunt. When in doubt about age relationship, it is kinder to refer to the person with the younger term of address; i.e. tita (aunt) is safer than lola (grandmother). Friends feel comfortable “dropping in” on friends without any advance warning. They may text ahead—not to ask permission, but merely to inform that they are on their way. When a friend visits, one should stop her activity and give full attention to her guest. If it is time for merienda, she should invite her friend to join her in eating. Friends can feel safe in borrowing anything from each other. If someone has something one needs to borrow, the general philosophy is, “She is a channel of that blessing for me.”

Rate My Life quiz

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	7.4
Mind:	7.8
Body:	6.3
Spirit:	7.6
Friends/Family:	6
Love:	7.3
Finance:	8.2
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

free concert

Sir, anything?

Well, as predicted, there was a brownout today, but we had to stick around here for a send-off chapel and a special lunch with the fourth years. After lunch, though, we decided to take a trip to Urdaneta, leaving Elijah with Manang Edita. Little did we know, the brownout affected Urdaneta, too. While Tiff went to the grocery store, I went to get a massage. Unfortunately, the spa was closed due to brownout. So I walked to the bank. The bank had its own generator, so the aircon was on, but not really keeping up with the heat. After finishing my business there, I walked on to the mall. No luck there either. The only place that offers massages said their aircon was out due to the brownout and I should come back tomorrow. I still had at least half an hour before I would meet Tiff, so I decided to walk through the market.

Now, I've walked through the market before, so I wasn't too surprised at the experience, although there were some new elements added, since I was walking through alone. As always, each merchant says, "Sir, anything? T-shirt? Shoes?" and so on. But today, I was hearing things like, "Sir, anything? T-shirt? Shorts? Polo shirt? Wife?" "I love you, sir." "Ohhh, handsome!" LOL Some were quite startled to see an American there. I'm guessing not too many Americans walk deep into the market (although I'm sure the prices are better there than in the mall next door).

last day of class

Well, this was the last class day of the year. Tomorrow is a send-off chapel, and then I'll give my final exams Thursday morning. The year really has gone pretty rapidly. In some ways, I'm glad it's over. That's mostly just because a new school year means a clean slate and a chance to be a better teacher. This first year, I spent a lot of time just trying to get acclimated, scrambling to put together lessons and learning how to communicate more effectively. I still have a lot of work to do in all of those areas, but hopefully I'll have a little less abrupt of a start to my next school year.

We have a scheduled power outage tomorrow. Usually, we use that as an excuse to get out of town. But we have the send-off chapel, a special lunch with the fourth-year students and Tiff has a final project to collect in the afternoon. Plus, we need to get this place cleaned up; Mom and Dad arrive in the Philippines on Friday night.

Invasion

For the second time in a month, our home was invaded by some insect, maybe termites?

Johari me!

Okay, so here's what people think of me so far. Have you weighed in yet? If not just go to this site, and let me know what I should know about myself. Some (all) people seem to consider me logical. Am I Mr. Spock? Or have you caught me slipping into ad hominem attacks or some other fatal error of logic? Let me know.

Arena (known to self and others) bold, intelligent, knowledgeable, logical, self-assertive	Blind Spot (known only to others) able, complex, dependable, helpful, introverted, nervous, observant, religious, responsive, searching, self-conscious, tense, wise, witty
Façade (known only to self) extroverted	Unknown (known to nobody) accepting, adaptable, brave, calm, caring, cheerful, clever, confident, dignified, energetic, friendly, giving, happy, idealistic, independent, ingenious, kind, loving, mature, modest, organised, patient, powerful, proud, quiet, reflective, relaxed, sensible, sentimental, shy, silly, spontaneous, sympathetic, trustworthy, warm

Dominant Traits

71% of people agree that sumpteretc is intelligent
57% of people agree that sumpteretc is knowledgeable
100% of people agree that sumpteretc is logical

All Percentages

able (28%) accepting (0%) adaptable (0%) bold (42%) brave (0%) calm (0%) caring (0%) cheerful (0%) clever (0%) complex (28%) confident (0%) dependable (14%) dignified (0%) energetic (0%) extroverted (0%) friendly (0%) giving (0%) happy (0%) helpful (14%) idealistic (0%) independent (0%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (71%) introverted (14%) kind (0%) knowledgeable (57%) logical (100%) loving (0%) mature (0%) modest (0%) nervous (14%) observant (14%) organised (0%) patient (0%) powerful (0%) proud (0%) quiet (0%) reflective (0%) relaxed (0%) religious (14%) responsive (14%) searching (14%) self-assertive (42%) self-conscious (14%) sensible (0%) sentimental (0%) shy (0%) silly (0%) spontaneous (0%) sympathetic (0%) tense (28%) trustworthy (0%) warm (0%) wise (14%) witty (14%)

Created by the Interactive Johari Window on 27.2.2006, using data from 7 respondents.
You can make your own Johari Window, or view sumpteretc's full data.

Q-tip catastrophe

Yes, there was a mudslide in the Philippines lately, and yes, the President declared a national state of emergency yesterday, but what concerned me most this morning struck a little closer to home. I got a piece of cotton stuck in my ear. They have some cheap cotton swabs in the market, and Tiffany bought some when we ran out of the good kind. Since then, we've bought good ones and had others shipped to us. But . . . I was trying to use up the old ones and, lo and behold, I pulled the swab out of my ear and found myself staring at an empty stick. Apparently, the cotton was well inside my ear. Tiffany tried to get it out with tweezers and a flashlight but wasn't making much progress. I was already late to pick up church members in Casanicolasan, so I went ahead with my route. Tiff did some online investigating while I was gone and felt safer about going back in, so with a little digging around and pulling on my ear, she was finally able to retrieve the pesky bit of material.

We had a good crowd in church today. It seems to fluctuate a bit from week to week, but I think, all in all, the church is growing numerically. The youth group had a love fellowship yesterday, and I think more than 60 attended.

Not too much else out of the ordinary today. When I picked the students up in Imus, Joel told me that they had been invited to eat in the home of one of the church members but that Syrel and Arlene were too ashamed to eat. I'm not really sure what that means, (and I'm not really sure how to find out).

When the doctor needs a second opinion

This picture is really apropos of nothing. It's a couple of chickens that were roosting in our jackfruit tree this morning. I just have never posted a picture on my blog before, so I wanted to see what was involved.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Manila with Pastor Rheynil and Pastor Alex. We're going to attend the 2nd Annual Theological Forum, coordinated by Asian Theological Seminary. The topic is something along the lines of "Naming the Unknown God." I don't think I've heard of any of the keynote speakers before, but some of the breakout sessions look interesting.

At any rate, I've been hurrying around trying to get ready, since we need to leave at about 4:00 tomorrow morning. Registration is at 8:00 and the first plenary session is at 9:00, so that should give us enough time. Pastor Alex told me tonight, though, that there are supposed to be 20,000 protesters in the street tomorrow, so we may have to avoid EDSA, which will almost certainly complicate things. I'm not sure how I'll do going to a new place without my regular navigatrix (Tiffany). My GPSr doesn't do me any good when I'm going someplace I've never been before.

Getting ready has mostly consisted of copying some songs from CD to cassette, because our car doesn't have a CD player. No, actually, it's mostly been trying to get the smell of vomit out of the car. Elijah didn't do too well traveling up Kennon Road to Baguio on Saturday. I think it's maybe only the second time he's had motion sickness, but he did it up right this time.

There was an interesting discussion at faculty prayer meeting tonight. One teacher was requesting prayer for a man who is having some stomach pain but the doctors haven't been able to discover the cause. Another teacher jumped in, offering, "Oh, I know someone else who had that problem. And they did an endoscopy and X-ray and everything and found nothing. Then they cut her tummy open and found out that half of her intestines were--what's the word?--rotten." Ugh. Not too encouraging. Then she went on to tell how the doctors invited the patient's mother in to see the problem for herself. I think, if I were the mother, I would take the doctor's word for it. Tiff said it's like when a mechanic points to some thingamajig in your car and says, "That's your problem, right there." Personally, I think intestines always look wrong, so looking at "rotten" ones probably wouldn't help me too much.

After prayer meeting, we practiced singing the WBC hymn, since we're supposed to sing it at graduation. It's even clunkier than most school songs, but we change the words a little bit at each practice. With a few more weeks practice, it will be completely unrecognizable by the original author.

Johari window

Okay, let's see what you really know about me. Not what my favorite soda is or the last movie I saw, but my personality. Actually, this isn't a quiz to test your knowledge. It's an exercise to help me learn more about myself. So, if you think you know me, have at it.

late notice

After chapel, I went up to Manang Becca to ask her about the JS fellowship, specifically about the financial status of the students, and whether we needed to sponsor some of them. Now that I think about it, I never really got the answer I was looking for.

Anyhow, she asked if we would be attending. I asked if the rest of the faculty were coming. She said, "Yes, please come." As the conversation proceeded, she informed me that I was scheduled to give an exhortation on Friday night and the topic was "Because of Love." So, they had already scheduled me to preach without knowing if I was attending.

Manang Becca said, "Didn't the students tell you that you were supposed to give an exhortation?"

I said, "First I've heard of it."

"Oh, I told them last night that they should go and ask you, because I was busy finalizing my sermon for today."

Hmm. My reluctance was pretty obvious. She said, "The students decided it must be you or Madam Tiffany. Anyhow, it's just a short exhoration."

"Like 10 minutes?"

"It can be more. 15, even 20 to 30."

"That's longer than I usually preach in chapel or church."

"It's just up to you."

"I'm trying to prepare to preach in chapel on Wednesday. I've never preached a sermon on love before."

"You can do it."

"Let me think about it."

In the course of the conversation, I also discovered that we are leaving at 4:00 AM on Friday ("to maximize the time"), that I will be driving my vehicle (and carrying some faculty members with me), and several details that didn't really interest or concern me regarding the schedules of other faculty members.

We went home and sat down to lunch. In a few minutes, some third year students came to the door with their best marketing hats on. Tiffany got the door.

"Because we like you so much, we are inviting you to be a part of our JS fellowship this weekend. Will you be able to attend? Oh, you will? Great! Will you be able to speak to us on Friday evening?"

Tiffany agreed to take the responsibility.

"And you will drive your car? And you will take some faculty with you so that you can have greater fellowship with each other?"

Oh, brother!

Monday: The Day We Lost Contact

It seems like I have almost no contact with Filipinos on Mondays now that I resigned my position as church core group coach.

I walked to the bakery this morning to buy pan de sal. I didn't really say anything to the girl, except "Good morning, po." She put down her paper and went and got 6 pan de sal. I said, "Thank you." End of conversation.

And I think that was about the only conversation I had with a Filipino today, other than telling Manang Edita that it was 6:00, so she could go home.

We did get the minutes of the disciplinary committe today. Permit me to share:
MINUTES OF THE DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE
February 5, 2006, 3rd Year Room 2:00 PM

OFFENSES OF ROBERTO MENDEZ* AND JULIA LATRINIDAD* even after they were sternly warned to be suspended they deliberately violated rules and regulations of the school.

1. Roberto and Julia LaTrinidad met at the SM Mall 2 times last Semestral break and the other was when both happened to be home for weekend, they decided to meet at the Mall by sending text message. They watch movie together, play together at the play station and eat together, which they should not be doing since they were warned not to have communication of any form as a disciplinary measure given to them when they first violated the social rule and the fact that they are not qualified yet.
2. They met at places like the classroom where Roberto first embraced and kissed Julia on the lips, then at the attic of the dining hall 2 times at the wee hours of the night and did the same thing, embracing and kissing each other.
3. Exchanging messages through the mobile phone.
4. Julia going to the house of Roberto on December 25, 2005 and the same thing happened, embracing and kissing.
5. Deliberately teling lies and denying to the Committee of the things they have done even when what they have done have reached the Committee already.
6. Receiving gifts in the form of a stuff toy and an identical ring, without informing her Dean.

DISCIPLINARY MEASURES:
1. They will be suspended from school for 1 week, from today February 6, 2006 until February 12, 2006. In the time of suspension, They are expected to do their requirements in the different subjects and review for the Comprehensive . . .

I couldn't make this stuff up.


*Names changed to protect the guilty

Democide

We hear a lot about the death toll in Iraq, and those deaths concern me. But I came across this site today that tells an even scarier story. Soviet Russia, particularly the Communist Party, murdered more than 61,000,000 people, more than 54,000,000 of them Soviet citizens. The People's Republic of China has been responsible for more than 76,000,000. Even in our fallen world, how can a nation become so callous?