`Three Little Sprouts’ Philippines (A study of the country and its people through the eyes of a non-Filipino)
Recently, on July 6, to be exact, I returned from Manila. I had gone there to launch “Sundays in Manila,” my travel memoir of my visits to the Philippines. When Filipinos say “book launch,” they really do mean launch, like the christening or launching of a new boat. It was a party: a lovely buffet, live music, lively conversation. And, of course, some brief speeches.The first two speakers were Jose (Butch) Dalisay, director of the Institute of Creative Writing and Maria Louisa (Malou) Camagay, director of UP Press, both at the University of the Philippines Diliman (UP). Next came the author, me, with strict instructions from my wife not to exceed ten minutes. Here are a couple of light excerpts.
“When my UP Press editor suggested some time ago that I might say a few words about travel literature in general at my book launch, I had a couple of reservations. Number one, I am still a novice, this being my first travel book. Number two, the topic sounded not very exciting, maybe boring? But then something happened. My editor’s words were like seeds that germinated in my head and grew into three mental sprouts.”
“SPROUT NUMBER ONE. When I looked at books by other travel writers, I had discovered that they fitted into two general categories: 1) Those that focus on the writer himself or herself in a foreign setting; 2) Those that focus on the people who are actually in their natural setting as seen by the foreign writer.”
“Two examples will help. A writer that focuses on himself in a foreign setting would be Paul Theroux in a book, such as The Great Railway Bazaar. Theroux describes his reactions, his likes and dislikes, as he travels by train from London to Tokyo. The reader comes away with entertaining insights into Theroux’s lively personality at work in different foreign settings.”
“A writer that focuses on people in their natural settings as a foreign traveler is Bill Bryson. My favorite Bryson is In a Sunburned Country about Australia. Reading it is like walking along with the writer and seeing just what he sees, people (and kangaroos and koala bears) being themselves in their home surroundings.”
“Bryson became my model. I wanted to observe and try to understand people being themselves, without dwelling so much on my personal reactions.”
“SPROUT NUMBER TWO. Travel writing, the variety that attempts to understand other people and their customs, lends itself naturally to humor. The traveler makes more than a few blunders along the way. I have concluded, for example, that “Filipino Time” will forever be a mystery to the non-Filipino, certainly to me. I have arrived at events so far ahead of my Filipino friends that I thought surely I had come on the wrong date, only to be flagged down and welcomed as I was leaving. I have also been picked up and personally escorted by Filipino friends to make sure that I would not embarrass them by coming late for an event.”
“Or the traveler tries to carry on as usual in quite unusual circumstances. I once tried reciting line from the Old English epic Beowulf with heavy monsoon rains beating down on the roof and outside the closed windows (yes, the room was hot and stuffy). I ended up shouting the lines at maximum volume, with the smiling students huddled around me as though they were trying to hear the quarterback calling the play.”
“SPROUT NUMBER THREE: The traveler ignores local customs at his or her own peril. In my first week at UP I couldn’t fathom why departmental offices and the university library closed over the lunch hour. I skipped lunch and continued doing research outside in the noonday heat and nearly passed out. Lesson: observe lunch breaks when the temperature is in the nineties under the Acacia Tree.”
“Speaking of which, it’s time for refreshments.”
Bob Boyer loves to hear from you at Robert.boyer@snc.edu.
