Smiles Around the World: The Newark of the Philippines

If you never make it to Ormoc, Leyte, Philippines you should be okay. It is a port city with the main industries being pineapple, sugar cane, and rice. One interesting fact is that Ormoc has geo thermal plants that produce energy from the steam from the volcano, which supplies the islands of Leyte, Samar, and some of Cebu. I have absolutely no guess as to how many people that is, but I can tell you the island of Cebu has the second largest city, Cebu, behind Manila.

The city is crowded, polluted, and dirty, but I hear it is nothing compared to Manila or Cebu. I understand the crowds. I understand the pollution with their diesel engines and no mufflers. I don’t understand the dirt. These people are sweeping every time I turn around, even the floors made of dirt (which I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand). It’s almost as if they have a perpetual circle of dust they are passing around by sweeping so much.

The city is somewhere from 85,000 to 200,000 people. The flash flood in 1991 or 1996 killed anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 people. I find it interesting how hard it is to get basic information around here. I am guessing when you are worried where your next meal is coming from you could care less about the population.

The city lies on the Gulf of Ormoc, but has a sea wall so beaches are limited close to the city. Even if there were beaches I’d be hesitant to swim since you’d probably grow a third eye from all the pollution. I have, however, discovered a couple hotels that have swimming pools that overlook the water and the mountains that surround the city where I can spend $2 to swim at for the afternoon. Heaven!

I only volunteer in the morning so many afternoons I’ll just walk down random streets to see what more I can discover in Ormoc. Every street has a sari sari (convenient store), vulcanizing shop (tire repair shop which makes so much sense when you see so many people on the side of the roads with flats plus all of the times I have gotten to experience it first hand) and a Xerox store (which I am still trying to figure out who uses other than me for lesson plans). There are only a few chain stores which makes it that much more interesting. Although going into a chain store is always entertaining since they play jolly little jingles that I can never quite catch the words for (no different than me catching the words to songs in the US). With the lack of commercialization also means a lack of advertising. In fact, when they use the word marketing it means a furniture store (or at least that is what I have gathered so far). Coca Cola, Tanduay Rum, and Smart Cell Phones have definitely cornered what little of the market there is because they have posters plastered everywhere. For my U.S. Cellular friends, did you know that the Philippines are one of the top countries for text messaging? It is because of the inability to get landlines in the country and text messaging is so inexpensive (less than a penny per text).

Luckily I ventured further than the corner Eugene recommended on my first day and found an entire block of everything I could dream of (other than a sari sari, vulcanizing shop, and a Xerox store of course)! A fast, relatively speaking, internet café with an air con that works (if you sit in the right spot) and keyboards that don’t stick, a café with a terrible menu I have to order from for the only wi-fi I have found, the mattress “store” where I got the boys mattresses, a $4 massage place, my favorite diner, Ikea, where I stop at least once a day for a shake, and the random hole in the wall where the “boys” hang out. The “boys” are all the random foreigners that have found themselves in Ormoc for whatever reason, but mainly because of the admittedly easy time it is to get women here for a little cash. Most of them are in their 60’s, drunk, and pissed off at the world. I have to walk by the “boys” to get to all my favorite spots so they are frequently my entertainment.

Outside of the city is really where I love exploring though. Often I’ll just hop on a multi cab and see where it takes me. Multi cabs are labeled with the city they are bound for and will stop anywhere in between and getting back is just as easy. I’d compare it to jumping on the “el” and getting off at a random stop. The charisma of the homes and all the smiles from the curious people I meet along the way really gives the island its charm.

Every day I discover something interesting and new so I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings…