True Filipino Action!!

This weekend, I traveled to a place called Divosoria.  I hadn't really heard what it was, but I figured I should take every opportunity to see the Philippines as I can.  And it was truly a real filipino experience.  I met our "guides" up at school, and we drove into town to catch the train.  We parked in some guy's yard, which I thought was hilarious.  It reminded me of football games when people would open up their yards for parking and charge $5.  Same kind of deal.  From there, we took the train down further into the city.  A round-trip ticket cost about 75 cents.  The train was empty when it approached, but we were crammed in there like sardines because so many people were getting on.  Right after we got off the train, we then got onto a jeepney to take us to Divosoria.  If you aren't sure what a jeepney is, it's bascially the public transportation of the Philippines, and our 10-15 ride costs us about 2 cents.  I recorded the above video to give you an idea of what it's like on a jeepney. 

After we got off of the jeepney,  I was immediately impacted by the smell.  Imagine every possible terrible smell you can think of.  Then combine them all together.  You will be close to imagining what it was like to walk around here.  On a plus side, there were some great finds for great prices!  There are loads of different types of fabrics.  Below, you can see that Kristy is literally searching through rolls of fabric that are just laying against the wall.  Not exactly the most efficient system, but welcome to the Phils, ya know?  And what do you know?  My friend Holly was looking through a 6 foot stack of fabric when she happened upon this wonderful find!  Yes, I bought every yard of Hokie fabric they had.  I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with it, but I am probably going to start by making some pillows for my living room area.  Fortunately, I have already decorated my place in Hokie fashion, so this will actually work!  It was like a little piece of home hidden in this fabric shop!

Overall, we had a great but exhausting day looking around and experiencing another side of the Philippines!

                                                         Yes, this is a bunch of fish. Yum!

 

Small children are constantly approaching you to sell something.  Here, we bought a big bag for all of our things from this little girl and her sister.

It was not uncommon to see a truck like this driving down an already small street that was crowded     with people.  My favorite part is the guy sitting on top.

 

 Kristy and me riding on the jeepney.

 

                                                 Yes, we are already celebrating Christmas!

        It's hard to get tired of this view...this picture was taken on my way home from school.  Love it.