Day 1
What sustains me in LB is my anonymity. Cite neighbors who dont know my past.
This morning rush.
The innocence of children on the streets.
The stores that open earlier than we wake up.
The white dog whose scabies has now overtaken his fur.
People who clean the road in front of them even if they didnt have to.
The dogs that bark behind the gates of which make me want to have my own. And yet I can’t have one.
The sound of the train which I was never used to hearing and which I once thought were many things. I hear it now as I apprach 7 am. It arrives 7 am and 7 pm.
Sunny days that are rare at this time. But even the brief sunlight of the morning is appreciated. Before clouds come rushing midday and sometimes even midmorning.
People who celebrate their children’s wins through congrats tarps.
Cats. Of course the cats. Too many of them.
And roads that dont have that much cars. Not busy roads.
These students who walk with me. Many do it for their parents and families.
Apartments for rent and the laundry houses near them
The smell of butter
There is this place at Banawe street where a large cage that sometimes is full of cats reside. There are no cats here now. Is this a property of the Cats of UPLB?
Few people walking from work.
Friends and neighbors laughing and joking this early.
Sudden volume of people wlking
I feel a slight change in my mood. From gratefulness to survival. The sun has grown hotter.
Weird looking apartment complex at Pulog. And why is Pulog misspelled?
There are funny things to behold: cut plastic bottle as bulb on a fence light. Bikes with large speakers playing.
Many old people in lb
Fallen twigs
Quiet houses
Write a long ode for water meters. Often left outside alone. And checked once a month. Tell story of your broken water meter. Trash man may just wanted to make money. I talked to a trash man during the pandemic. He said he harbored hate to the mayor who only gave them two days a week to go around. That he said wasnt enough and he isnt voting the mayor again if he runs.
Here above makiling street is an open vacant lot with trees and bamboo. It is elevated. I see below it the roofs of houses. I rest here as a strong cold breeze blew giving comfort to my wet body. From a far dogs bark.
Grateful for students. Save businesses make more.
But there are also dorms that hve been built a while back and yet no students live
The river for its patience
The wayfinder experience is amazing. Magical. Mystical.
Meditation on objects and our intradependence with them.
Mothers waiting for their daughters
A local government that js functioning
9:30 i hear the train again
Side walks thank you
I hear classed going on
I pass by balitbitan trees and the memories of my first weeks here come back.
These long walks are like seiza. You let yourself be sucked by images and thoughts worthy of being written later. But then you remind yourself that you are walking. You remember the main task at hand. It centers you. This is particularly useful when you are starting to feel impatient of the heat or tiredness or boredom.
Theory: right side of Lopez going to UP is made up mostly of locals with lands for long-term use. In the left are mostly rentals.
Drivers who stop for pedestrians
Ghost stories
22332 steps 15.7 km