After getting thoroughly sunburnt yesterday, I thought this would be a good day to stay in the shade and read - all day long. The only thing I wanted to do was to buy a ticket for the morning ferry to Coron on the next day. When I got to the pier, however, nobody seemed to know the company that was supposed to run daily ferries, and neither did any of the travel agencies in town. There were two other companies that each had three boats a week - leaving uncovered exactly the one day I wanted to travel on. With gritted teeth, I bought a ticket for the day after and went back to find something - anything - to do tomorrow.
Since there was nothing else to report today, I'll share what I've observed about language and culture in the Philippines so far. The Philippines are a very young country. They started fighting for independence from Spanish colonization only at the very end of the 19th century, and were soon after occupied by the Americans. Their occupation lasted until after World War II, and only then did the Philippines gain independence. Both Spanish colonization and American occupation have left strong traces in the Filipino culture. The area where this is most obvious for me is the language.
There are eight official indigenous languages in the Philippines, the most widespread being Tagalog - a language that I don't speak. However, when I listen to the radio or to people talking, I can understand a few bits here and there. On the radio, especially the advertisements, there is a lot of English thrown into the mostly Tagalog speech. Big numbers - like possible winnings in the lottery - always seem to be in English. Listening to people, they often sneak in the Spanish word 'pero' (but). I can't be sure that that isn't a Tagalog word with a completely different meaning, but the intonation and placement within speech is the same that people would use a 'but' for. Also, smaller numbers, like the amounts you can expect to pay in a shop - are always said in Spanish. There are Tagalog words for numbers, but as one Filipina explained to me, they are much longer than the Spanish versions and sound terribly old-fashioned to modern Filipinos. I can also understand when somebody talks about days of the week or months in a year; these are also said in Spanish.
The mixture of languages is even more pronounced when it comes to printed signs. I'd estimate that as many as two thirds of all the signs I've seen - from restaurants to advertisements to shops - were done entirely in English.
Apart from this crazy mixture of languages, American occupation has left another language-related trace in the Philippines: most Filipinos speak reasonably good English. You can approach pretty much anybody and speak to them in English - and they will not only understand, but also be able to answer. I don't think this would be possible in Germany - and it most certainly is not possible in Latin America.
