Culture Shocks!

Even though it feels so much longer, only six weeks have passed since I arrived in the Philippines.
Still everyday I am amazed by the beautiful surroundings of the endless rice fields , the rows of palm trees will always look ultimately tropical and I can gaze for hours to the shades of the mountains in the end of the horizon.
The planting season has begun, the farmers are in the fields, bending over to plant the seeds, or ploughing the land with their carrabows and soon the brown coloured fields will become fresh green again.
Ploughing the rice fields with a carabao, the special rice field cow
Now the elections are finally over, I'm full time working on my research again, spending more time in the communities. I've visited many farmers now, and still every time I am surprised how warmhearted they are, how despite their very very poor situation I am always welcomed with so much hospitality, interest and cheerfulness.
Its so strange that always, before I enter a new home, I feel this moment of awkwardness.. This feeling that I am so different, that my world is so different, how would it be possible for me to communicate with a farmer living in a hut in the Philippines, sometimes in circumstances I never imagined people to live in, how can I ever come across sincerely?
But with every new peasant, no matter in what circumstances, after the first words of introduction, we smile and we talk (ok.. I have a translator of course). The awkwardness glides off, and I realize we have much more in common than we are different, we are both human beings, both with minds, interests, worries, feelings....
Where does this awkward feeling, this fear come from? Is this what constitutes the layers in society? Why all my friends are from the same, highly educated background? And I know it is not the other who makes me feel awkward, it is my own mind, my own over-self awareness..
I will tell more about the results soon, which unfortunately are not very bright coloured...

There is something else very odd in this country, something that strikes me no matter how far off rural we go: the ever presence of the west in tropical temperatures...

You arrive in the Philippines, on the other side of the world, its hot, tropical hot as you can imagine. Outside you see palm trees, bananas, mango's and papayas growing. The people look Asian, with brown skin, black hair and black eyes. Finally away on vacation, far away in a tropical country! But after the 25th Catholic, Jesuit and Jehovah church you start to wonder... You look around to ask someone for directions in broken Tagalog, and they reply to you in perfect American accent. You enter a supermarket to buy the local specialties and realize that its filled with western products! Come to think of it...everything is written in English in the streets...
Its so crazy to be confronted with the ever presence of the west here, on one side the neo-colonial presence of America everywhere (in the language and in the culture), and the other the western multinationals' domination of the market.
Even 2 days walking from civil society you will find Coca Cola and Nestle in the small local shops and a tv (even in the poorest rural houses) with 5 American channels and every 5 minutes commercial breaks.

This is not the welcome sign to a special international school, this is the usual text written outside all public elementary schools throughout the Philippines

The American influence is still ever present in the street today: American pre-war trucks (Jeepneys) are the vehicle in the street, the small Filipinos all play basketball, watch American fake wrestling 24h, schools are "English speaking communities", from grade 3 theres even 5 peso fine for children who dare to speak Tagalog or Visayan (dialect of Mindanao). Hamburgers are the favorite snack, tv is dominated by American programs and films and any tiny event in America is shown here on the national news. The American dream is the final fulfillment for many and not few Filipinos leave after their university graduation to work there (so called BRAIN-DRAIN)

Bilboards along the Edsa (the main highway ring) in the center of manila I always taught multinationals would not be very interested in third world countries because the consumers there don't have the financial means to buy their products.. But truly, its flooded here with commercials and products of Nestle, Unilever, Coca Cola, Pepsi and different Vitamin pill suppliers. The market is completely dominated by these products, leaving no room for local or smaller brands.
Even in the rural areas the choice is limited, especially nestle is everywhere with coffee (even if there are coffee fields in the community) and especially breast milk(even though it is much better for the baby to get real breast milk, most women prefer powdered milk thanks to the successful nestle healthy breastmilkpowder-campaign). Real milk is non-existing here, you can have a nice cup of nestle-powder and water.
Even in the far off comunities you will find western brands, especially Nestle is everywhere

I'm seeing the outcome of the golden dream of every multinational and the biggest nightmare of many alter-globalist: schools are completely sponsored by companies; even the chairs and the blackboards have brands. The main national basketball teams literally go by the names: Red bull, Coca cola, Pepsi etc. Commercials are everywhere, in the national soap operas subtitles advertise for vitamin pills during the show and in the soap opera itself brands are shown in close up. Even the radio-soap operas have clear mentioning of brands.
Basketballmatch on tv: team Red Bull vs team Coca Cola
I really wonder what the effect of this brand-bombing is in the rural areas. Especially the introduction of television in the far off areas (even the poorest people will take a lone and a long term downpayment to get one) is really food for anthropologists.
With the many American programs and soaps, they are being confronted with something so far away from their normal simple life's. Especially the extremely escapism commercials with happy warm families of bleached-Filipinos (the beauty ideal is to be white) really make me wonder how far the spectacle society can go with creating an extremely deceiving image of the ultimate dream of somehow reachable happiness.

Commercials show how whitening soaps will literally spread the whiteness over your body

wow... its been long again... sorry.. hope it makes sense.. so much I want to write about, so little internethours.. :)
Hope everyone is doing fine, feel free to comment!!! (feel more then free: please DO :))
many hugs and kisses,
mabuhay!