"We'll come and tell the people, we're going to start a war
We're going to start a riot, bigger better than before."
That refrain was on endless repeat yesterday at school, as the Junior took a part of their batch (grade level) cheer and turned it into one of their standard cheers throughout the day as they dove with high energy in B.o.B or Battle of the Bearcats.
Batch of 2017 getting ready for their cheer
Battle of the Bearcats is a bit difficult to describe to someone who hasn't ever had the ear shattering experience of being on campus for it. It is a one of the few days when our high school students stop worrying about academics and actually act like kids for a while. They complete as grade levels (9 vs 10 vs 11 vs 12) in a variety of competitions for spirit points, which are often earned by the batch that is the loudest, initiates the most cheers, encourages the other batches and has a sustained support through an event. Unless you can picture a exuberant group circled around 8 students that are participating in the final event of the day, speed painting, you will never have a prayer of understanding this school tradition.
The end of speed painting.
How varied are the events? I'd almost guarantee way more than you would predict. Here is the list of activities for this year: batch cheer, 7-second challenge, badminton, basketball, bearcat challenge, bearcat idol, bearcat's got talent, board games, volleyball, capture the flag, chess, cupcake decorating, debate, dodgeball, escape hunt, recycled fashion design show, FIFA 17, graphic design, gym baseball, human calculator, jeopardy, League of Legends, Lip-sync battle, Mario Kart, NBA 2k17, photography, poetry slam, Quidditch, rap battle, robotics, rock climbing, short story competition, So You Think You Can Dance, soccer, speed painting, Super Smash Bros 4, swimming, table tennis, tennis, touch rugby, track and field, ultimate frisbee, water polo, and Whose Line is it Anyway (improv). I honestly think there is something for everyone on that list, which is good as pretty much every student is required to participate in something, and can at most take part in 2 events.
Winning Junior cupcakes (the horrible green color is because of the shade cover we have...
As you can imagine, this also requires quite a bit from the teachers, as we volunteer for activities to oversee/judge, serve as advisors to individual batches and be a presence as they work on their cheer in the weeks leading up to the event. This year I put myself down to judge the cupcake decorating challenge where I was quite impressed by the junior's team who brought in all hand made decorations, including sugar glass flames to go with their batch theme of riot. Along with rap battle, a bit of a disappointment this year, but then I'm always amazed at what kids are willing to get up on a stage and try. I also ended up helping out with the end of the recycled fashion event, where teams were given newspaper and packaging tape to create an outfit out of. It was actually impressive what some of them came up with.
Sophomore recycled fashion design
I do think, though that my favorite activity of the day is the opening ceremony with the entire high school in the gym when each batch gets a few minutes to perform their cheer, and I think overall the cheers were of a much higher quality this year. I manged to record three of four, just to give you a sense of the high energy that persists the whole day.
It is an incredible, almost indescribable day, although I have to admit I'm quite happy to be alone in my quiet apartment today recovering from the over-stimulation that encapsulates B.o.B.
Well so far, I'm doing well on my resolution to visit a museum a month this school year. Month two, museum two. Last weekend I headed out with a friend to visit the Pinto Art Museum. Located in Antipolo, about 11 miles away, it was a half day outing taking about 45 minutes to get there (have I mentioned traffic in Manila is bad?). However, as soon as we walked onto the museum grounds I could feel myself let out a sigh of relief and relax just a little bit. Set on the grounds of a private residence (?I'm not sure about that, it is surprisingly difficult to find clear information about this private collection) that reflects a Spanish colonial style with white washed building covering multiple levels on the hillside, rooftops that have been turned into verandas with seating area, and a lush garden.
One of the six galleries
There are sculptures scattered around the grounds, and there is a very real sense of the outside coming in. The 6 galleries are open to the air, with a few large fans to cool off the space. I have to admit to wondering how in the world this was conserving the artwork, after all the Philippines is an extremely humid place. At the same time I enjoyed the sense of openness in the galleries. Wandering in and out of the building, going up and down stairways to explore each corner of the museum.
My favorite sculpture
The museum is a private collection of contemporary art, all of which I believe are done by Filipino artists. There were definitely some pieces that captured my attention. The metal webbed people, were perhaps my favorite, but I also like the oversized work of a fiber artist who used layers of yarn to create slightly three dimensional images. I also found the full room installation mimicking a bamboo forest with dripping water, an escape to relax, mesmerizing.
Exploring every nook and crany
All in all, I have to say that this museum was well worth being on my list to visit and it provided a great escape from the busyness of the city for a morning.
Pinto Art Museum
1 Sierra Madre St, Grand Heights Rd, Antipolo
Open: Tues-Sun 9 am - 6 pm
Entry: 200 pesos
Mulitperson rocking ball...took them as long to get on as it did to fall off
We've had three long weekends in a row which has given me plenty to think about writing about, but not a lot of time to do the actual writing. The good news is that I have enough to keep me going for a while! Two weekends ago I headed up to Subic Bay with a group of 9 friends to take part in the Amazing Jeepney Race (more on that later, still waiting on the official video to give you a better idea of the day). The race was only one day, so that left us some time to have fun around Subic. Now what to do?
Katie and I before heading out
It turns out that there is an inflatable water park, Inflatable Island, yes it is exactly what it sound like...think of the giant bouncy castles and slides that you see at a kid's party. Except it is floating on the ocean.If you think you might have trouble balancing on a regular bouncy castle imagine how much much more difficult it would be on a wet slippery surface. I'll be honest I spent more time falling off the platforms than I did getting around from island to island. Of course, that is probably why I managed to get so many fun pictures of other people slipping, sliding, jumping and crashing.
Katie flying off
Perhaps the craziest thing you could do was to go lay down on the end of a giant pillow, and then have someone else jump off a platform a floor up and launch you in the air. When our group decided that they wanted to try, the workers at the park decided to send two of their guys up to jump down together to make sure the ladies got air. By the time I watched the third person get launched and end up heels over heads (literally!) I knew this was not going to be something that I tried. I wasn't looking forward to the crash landing.
Ari getting flung off a giant pillow
So what is more my style? A few obstacles perhaps? Oh, a large rocking chair thing, perhaps that is more my speed....well, as long as I can actually get up on it? I feel like I spent a lot of my time trying to pull myself up, at least my arms have gotten stronger while I've been in the Philippines, so I actually had a chance. Although after an hour and a half in and out of the water I was definitely getting tired.
Rocking water toy
But, wait, it is a giant narwhal...I've got to at least give a shot at getting myself up to ride it. (If you don't know when I was teaching in Paraguay my students used to draw random narwhals all over their tests, starting a bit of a fascination with this long toothed fish - really, you should do some reading about them if you've don't know much, they're fascinating). It was a probably a good thing that our two hour time slot was all but up. It was fun playing around like a little kid, but two hours was plenty of time for me to feel it in my legs. The addition of the storm rolling in brought our wet and wild experience to an end.
I remember when I was younger and my birthday was still in the middle of summer. It was hard to find enough friends in town to have what felt like a birthday party. The celebration was always a pool party with some crazy decorated cake that mom had concocted based on my request. Now, I find my birthday is at the start of the school year. This year, I'd already completed a week of in service as well as the first week with students. I have to admit that a Friday full of classes doesn't exactly feel like a celebration! On the plus side there are people around and I was able to gather a small group to go out for some lighthearted fun on Saturday.
It took about an hour for the five of us to get to Quezon City, about 5 miles away - have I mentioned that traffic is bad in Manila? As soon as we arrived at Art in Island, we knew it had been worth it. After all, who wouldn't enjoy giant works of art that are painted in such a way you can get into them and be a part of the story? And Art in Island had two floors of a warehouse full of this.
I was relieved that I had talked several people into coming with me, as it was a lot more fun being able to stage pictures with more than one person - the problem with just having two people is that you always need to have someone to take the picture. And we were even luckier that Katie had come prepared with a bag of props - definitely something that I would expand upon if I go back again someday.
It was definitely a lighthearted 2 hours filled with lots of smiles, visiting a museum that is not what you would typically consider a museum being. To top it off, I got in free for my birthday! A real treat.
It's a new school year and I'm back in Manila for year 2. It was so nice to return back to my apartment that feels like home with hints of all the places I've lived before. There are so many things that are already better, not being the new teacher - just knowing how things work, and having a better idea of what I need to do and where I can go to get it done makes a huge difference. Not being sick this year, also gives me a bit of a new lease on this experience, and so I'm going to start over in so many ways. Start over trying to make this experience more what I want. Start over with trying to get myself into a routine, one which hopefully, this time around will include writing a bit more and sharing what my life here in the Philippines is like.
My wall of masks welcoming me back home.
In the meantime I'm glad that I have made it through my first week of school with students with no issues. My classes are a bit smaller this year, my largest at the moment is 19, although that may change a bit in the next few weeks. I'm already a few weeks ahead of where I was last year in terms of learning names. It is always helped when you have at least a few kids in each class that you already knew. I'm more relaxed and able to focus on teaching, instead of just trying to survive. As I've said many a time there is definitely a reason that contracts are for two years! The second year is almost always so much smoother. Stay tuned for more to come about what life here in the Philippines is like, both the exciting and the mundane.
It is the little things that make me stop and realize I really am in another country, even though from day to day it doesn't always hit me. But one thing that has shaken me out of the bubble, has been watching some of the motorcycles that go by. One long weekend, the most interesting thing I saw was a couple of motorcycle gangs that were out enjoying the roads - complete with some additions to their helmets - inflatable dreadlocks flapping in the wind, and the extra addition of spikes for some of them.
Then a week or so later, I was stopped at the corner waiting to cross the street, and almost missed my chance when a mini motorcycle gang rolled up. No, I don't mean a small number of riders, but that they were riding mini motorcycles. Small enough their feet, or even their knees, could touch the ground. I had to wonder how they were actually riding something that looked like a toy. And then I saw them playing around, and realized that the small ride had the distinct advantage of making it easy to pop a wheelie when they were stopped.
Just goes to show, that you never know what you will see when you are paying attention.
This week for me, when not at school, has been all about finding unexpected art in my neighborhood. Last weekend I was enjoying some of the murals near the coffee shop where I had gone to grade.
On Thursday I noticed a little upset Snow White at the bottom of a light post. I don't know what it is all about, but it made my walk to school that much happier.
Today I headed over to do some more shopping (that seems to be what the first few months is all about when you move overseas) at one of the near by malls (seriously - two blocks away) and came across Manilart - an exhibit that was done completely by all Filipino artists. It was so much more interesting than shopping, and felt like a reward for getting myself out of my apartment. The pamplet says the goal of the fair is to "create more awareness and appreciation for Filipino Art," and I must say that I definitely have more of both. The large variety of styles - from movable art, glass pieces, statues and a variety of paintings - meant that everyone could find something that they appreciated.
It is days like this that I'm happy to be living in a neighborhood that offers so much within walking distance.
