Fun in the Philippines: Mga Bagong Kaibigan

Tagalog translation: New friends!

Apparently the other MSU students studying abroad arrived last night, but I was asleep. Jessica is rooming with one of them, Violeta. The other two, Kenny and Jose, are rooming together. That leaves me in a single, but I'm fine with that.

So Jessica and I decided to try doing laundry for the first time today, except the washing machines here are nothing like the U.S. ones. It's about half the size, and has the washer and "spin" drier combined (two compartments). So here we are, two engineers, trying to figure out this contraption, when this girl near us who was also doing her own laundry offered to show us how to do it. Her name was Ana. We had some small talk, and she found out we were from MSU. Then the coincidence of all coincidences: she actually was good friends with the a Filipino exchange student, who we knew, that was studying at MSU last semester! She was really friendly after that, and we asked her were to get groceries, and she actually offered to show all of us where the good places were at for eating and shopping...and so our day began.

We met her a few hours later in the lobby, and we took our first jeepney ride to the front of campus. I now know how to ride a jeepney. It may not sound like a big deal but there's lingo and signals to make everything go smoothly and I'm glad I learned it. Also it only costs 8 pesos for one ride anywhere along that jeepney's route (right now 43 pesos = 1 dollar), so the only trouble is finding exact change.

We took the jeepney to the front of campus where we met up some of Ana's friends: Ayo (ah-yoh), Doms, and Dre. It was about lunchtime, so we decided to eat at this place called Bonitos, and they serve authentic filipino food there so I was pretty satisfied with my meal. I think the other students were too, and I know Ana and her friends were. We talked a lot, about school and the differences between life in the U.S. and in the Philippines, like what shocked us the most or what seemed most different. For me, it was the traffic, and not necessarily how congested it is, but how people drive crazily here. Shockingly, I didn't see a single accident. I know if people started driving like that in the U.S., there would be no end in sight of pileups.

So after Bonitos, we went to the Robinson's mall-supermarket (another jeepney ride) and we got some essentials and I bought some longaniza to cook and some rice for dinner in the future. After shopping, we went back to the dorm to drop off our groceries, then took a short trip to the Office of International Linkages to get some class schedule stuff, then it was back to our outing.

Next up we went to Chow-king, which was a fast-food restaurant, but we weren't going to eat a meal. Everyone wanted to try halo-halo, which is a traditional mixed fruit shake type drink. I think everyone liked it, but I know Jessica LOVED it. See demonstrational image below:

I didn't get one though. Ayo and Ana said they were going to buy some Kwek-kwek, which was breaded quail eggs. I was intrigued, so I went to eat that instead. None of the other MSU students wanted to try it (well, Violeta did, but I don't think she liked it), but I thought it was delicious! A nice little snack and for only 12 pesos.

After that, we sort of decided to wander around to a more rural area around UPLB to find more "street food" so-to-speak, but we didn't end up eating any more (just yet) and just walked and talked. I practiced my tagalog with them, which was fun for me. I don't ever speak tagalog at home and I'm surprised I picked up so much just from it being spoken to me by my parents. We seem to share a lot of interests too, and I think they are all pretty hyped to see the last Harry Potter movie (which is good for Jessica). We ended up stopping at a coffee shop and a few of us ordered some shakes/lattes just so we can have a place to hang out and talk some more. Someone made a good point about how we, in the U.S., have an in-and-out attitude about anything other than a sit-down restaurant. Filipinos, even in fast food restaurants, will eat and sit for maybe 20 minutes or more just talking and hanging out. I got the feeling that they just enjoy hanging out and relaxing together which is nice, and I don't mind it at all.

After the coffee shop, we went back to the SEARCA dorm and bid our farewells to our new friends, ang mga bagong kaibigan namin, and everyone kind of just went to their rooms. Jessica told me her roomate is already asleep, and I think Kenny mentioned something about passing out soon, haha...I'm just here in the lobby finishing up this blog.

All in all, it was one of the best days I've spent here already, and I'm really thankful that we met these new people. I'm looking forward to meeting more and making the most out of our semester here in the Philippines.