Field Work!

Finally! I had my first day of my field work.

KAKAMMPI, care of Ms. Fe Nicodemus and Ate Juliet, has so kindly arranged my field work schedule for me. To Ms. Nicodemus and Ate Juliet, you have my unending gratitude!!!! I will repay this kindness someday, somehow. My field work would be in Barangay Malanday in Marikina.

Mental note #1: Matuto ka na magcommute!
I knew, knew in my heart, dapat nag commute nalang ako. But no, nagpadrive ako kay Manong gamit yung Trooper. Konting sensitivity naman tayo dyan Mia! Iniisip ko kasi, anlakas ng ulan! Nandito naman si Manong, nandito may kotse naman kami... siguro naman pwede ako magpadrive? Tsaka di ko alam kung san ang Malanday, baka san pa ko mapadpad. At mas nakakahiya naman kung ma late ako diba? So on that rainy Thursday morning dinayo namin ang bayan ng Marikina.

Mejo naligaw pa kami but we ended up parking in front of Ate Juliet's house. Pucha hindi man lang sa malayo layong lugar at nilakad ko nalang sana ng konti noh? Doon mismo sa tapat ng bahay ni Ate Juliet pumarada yung Trooper. Sa tapat ng bahay nya at sa tapat ng lahat ng mga iba pang maliliit na bahay don. Pagdating ko, kitang kita na ni Aling Juliet yung kotse kong napakalaki. "Eto ba ang kotse mo? Ang ganda naman..." Parang gusto ko nang magtago sa kahihiyan. It's not like I feel as if I have to apologize for having these luxuries. Ewan, issue ko lang talaga yan and I'm just really uncomfy when it comes to those things. So... sorry na! Di na mauulit. Aayusin ko na tong sarili ko.

Incidentally, my cousin Tish goes: "So how was your first day on the field? Dun ka talaga sa mga poor, as in poor?"

"Dun talaga ako sa mga poor, as in poor."

Shet swear to God I am such a product of my class and so are the people around me.

Mental note #2: Magsuot ng rubber shoes!
Anlakas talaga ng ulan so nagsuot nalang ako ng closed shoes, pero yung white, because I forgot meron pala akong rubber shoes. So okay napakagaling. Pagdating ko don, somesortof baha. Hindi naman pinasok yung sapatos ko pero mejo nakakailang maglakad lakad kasi ang daming lugar na maputik and I had to cross over huge puddles. Good luck.

I've done community visits before and I guess I should have been a little desensitized by the poverty by now. Still, everytime I go to the areas, I get reminded of how much poverty there is in this world and how much I hate it.

I hate poverty! I hate it with all my heart. I hate its ugliness, its squalor, its depravity. I hate the stench of shit and urine, I hate its narrow passageways where all these goddamn underwear hang in all their goddamn glory. I hate the small houses where everybody is in everybody's faces all the goddamn time. I hate the dogs that run after me, I hate the roofs where rain leaks, I hate the heat. There is NOTHING romantic about poverty. There is no beauty here and whoever said there was is just shooting crap off his ass.

I remember a scene in one of my favorite Maricel Soriano flicks, Kaya Kong Abutin ang Langit. "Ayoko ng tinatapakan ako, ayoko ng masikip, ayoko ng mabaho, ayoko ng walang pagkain, ayoko ng walang tubig, ayoko ng putik!" Maricel so emphatically says. Hay ako rin!

Mental note#3: Record the conversation if possible, or just take more notes
Ibang klase mga storya nila. Yung isa, iniwan na ng asawa na nagtatrabaho sa Saudi. Nagpakasal na daw sa Arabo. Kay saklap! Yung isa naman, 19 years old palang sya pero may asawa na! Kala ko pa naman kapatid nya yung kasama nya. Dyosme!!!! 19 years old. They have so much more to share and I'm just excited to record them all. I actually have pictures pero konti lang. I took them clandestinely hehe. After the Trooper incident, mejo nahiya na ko ilabas yung digital camera ko so I just took pictures while we were walking around the community, para di masyado halata.

I just noticed: Don't migrants rake in billions? All of the houses in that community are so shoddy, the houses so dilapidated. There has to be a way for all that money to make an impact on the communities and the families.

While I was walking around, going from house to house, I found myself in a bit of a panic mode. Kaya ko ba to?!?!?! Lord, di ko kaya to magisa! How do I pull this off! How do I pull of a MASTER'S THESIS?!?! It just hit me right there and then, omigod, THIS IS IT. You're on your own man! Kayanin mo na to because if you don't finish this, talagang pag pinalpak mo to, you have no one to blame but yourself. Acck!

Next week, field work again! Game na!

Barangay Malanday in Marikina. That shot in the middle, yan pa yung okay na part ng Malanday. Yan pa yung ok na mga bahay. And that shot on the right, ugh, yan pa yung mejo malapad na eskinita. Hay buhay.