stay home, share 3 travel photos challenge (day 3) philippines part 3

Woman Selling Seashells By the Seashore

For the first two posts of my Stay Home, Share 3 Travel Photos Challenge, I focused on lovely scenery and experiences in the Philippines. It’s a very different world from life in the United States and I was fortunate to enjoy some candid conversations with the locals. On stage, provincial life is romanticized. Selling curios to tourists all day long in the heat is a lot more arduous than singing and dancing a number on stage. But a certain spirit stood out that is a part of the Filipino people; strength, resilience, and maintaining a certain good cheer despite circumstance.

JNET in provincial costume

I don’t speak the language. I’ve connected to my culture through studying folk dance and music of the Philippines. The economic state of things baffled me. Why are things priced a certain way? My friend briefly lived in the Philippines to build boats that he sold to Australians. He hired folks to help him build and was prohibited from paying them above a certain price. When he tried to, it created an upset. It is odd to find life calibrated at a certain balance where lifting others created chaos. A day at a spa that would’ve cost a considerable amount in the States cost me under $100. I had a body scrub, wrap, massage, and a soak in a bath treatment with flowers among other pamper treatments. I spent such a long day there that at the end, I was invited to eat with the spa staff picnic style outside with them. During my meal with the women, I learned that they make less than $10 a day though they were college educated. I suppose if shopping was priced much less than the States, they were able to afford comforts with a lower cost of living in the province towns.

Child Vendor Selling Sunglasses

I’m all about entrepreneurship and this child was a snappy salesman but I’m not sure if this was his idea of fun. He knew how to command his space. I don’t know if he enjoys enough lazy childhood moments of play. Was this his parents’ idea? Did his family need him to work to help feed his family? His eyes didn’t have the same spark as the woman selling seashells. He wasn’t selling along the waterfront. He was at a busy marketplace on a mountain. I didn’t see any grown up selling alongside him when I took this photo.

Igorot Women Selling Traditional Textiles

These ladies were selling fabrics of their indigenous wear and posing for photos. I’m familiar with their fabrics, culture and costume because many of my favorite folk dances are from their region. Making the connection between what I learn from their dances and music and seeing them in person was a joy for me. I wish I was able to stay longer to see a group perform the indigenous dances that make the people and place unique.

When I next visit, I look forward to taking more photos of the lovely terrain, lifestyle, and unique people of the Philippines. Their life is different from the States and yet the spirit and culture transmits beyond the islands.

I know the pandemic is more challenging for them to bear during our global lockdown. Our standing still will be different from theirs. Are their markets quiet and all the tourists gone? I hope they will be fine and that resourcefulness and their resilience will help them survive.

JNET

Previous posts for this challenge:

Day 2

https://hive.blog/travelathome/@jnetsworld/stay-home-share-3-travel-photos-challenge-day-2

Day 1

https://hive.blog/travelathome/@jnetsworld/challenge-stay-home-share-3-travel-photos-day-1