Bagabag, Philippines (or, as a friend calls it: Philly *grin*)
Prelude:  I arrived in Manila Sunday night, meeting up with some friends and hoping to pick their brains on report writing.  I was promptly sick Monday and most of Tuesday (a direct result of too little sleep over the last month), and we headed out by bus from Manila to Bagabag on Wednesday morning.

Manila:  Manila was like many Western cities--regulated traffic, driving on the right side of the road, traffic signals, stop signs.  "The roads seem so empty..." I sighed.  "Where are you from?" one of my friends from Malaysia said, as if the highways were packed with life.  "India," I sighed again.  I missed the chaous*. I don't know why I read about globalization and still keep expecting all these exotic places to be wildly different from one another, but I do.

The Inanities:  Today, I learned all about clear writing and proper headers.  Aren't you impressed so far? *grin* I also learned: a lot of names, we eat supper at 5:30 here (Isn't that absurd?  It's unnatural. hahaha.  I miss dinner at 9:30 pm. Seriously),  and that all linguists talk about when they get together is linguistics.  We are a nerdy, nerdy lot and really need to get over ourselves.  But we can work on that when they let us out in public.    

Noteless particulars: We traveled by bus from Manila up into the "mountains."  Living in the country which boasts at least a good chunk of the Himalayas, and coming from a region which calls the Ozarks "mountains" when their highest point is 350 meters, it's hard for me to judge what is qualified to bear the name or not.  But, the Philippines are breathtakingly beautiful once you get out of the city, especially as monsoon has started here and everything is lush and green.  According to all the over-romanticized tales of settling the West, I am supposed to feel closed in by mountains and crave the openness of the plains.  But I love mountains. They feel good and right and proper, and the vast un-ness of the plains appears simply dull in contrast.

Prologue to the ending: It rained today!  I had fun taking pictures, mostly to spite whatever shapeless person in my past said, "You can't take pictures of rain."  I am fiercely peeved at my digital camera, though, and have stretched it to the end of its capabilities. (It still works... it just doesn't do what my film camera can. *pout*)  It's realm of usefulness does not bleed over into capturing the hugeness of tonight's sky after the rain finished its tantrum and cried itself off to sleep.  (And I absolutely refuse to edit this and take out all of the high-flying romanticisms that will sound silly and droll in a more sober moment).  I'm still sad monsoon didn't really start before I left India, which means I will probably miss most of my first monsoon in India... but I wouldn't have made it to some remote jungle place with palm trees and wild elephants, anyway, so maybe I wasn't supposed to ruin it with a half-hearted Bangalore tempest, not until I can enjoy it properly.    (See pics included in last blog... I don't know how to make it show only the ones I want without tons of albums going... )

Loose End:  This evening, we girls played with each others' hair.... Learning to twist it up into all sorts of quick and fancy dos.  I, of course, was the lame duck and had three women twisting and preening my hair before it was done properly.  Sue says, "There. You look beautiful."  Karin cocks her head, looks at me, and says (completely serious), "Do you think so?"  I laughed for a solid five minutes.  Karin is very, very German, by the way.  *grin*

*Nestled in the mountain-hills, with tonight's rain still in the air, and more trees than concrete, I don't miss Bangalore much just now.