Divisoria: This corner of manila feels to me like the circus. It feels like a roped off area devoted to an insane merchandise extravaganza. Besides the ropes, I guess that I'm not far off.
I went here with Noli and Ate Baby to get some supplies. As Noli explained to me, "it is cheaper here." There are vendor stands lining the outside of the sidewalks. From walls roll back doors to expose the shops that hide behind the pollution-stained walls. Baby has to wait for some products at a office supply outlet, so Noli and I go "window shopping" for an hour.
Its funny what phrases get passed through the English language. "Window shopping," meaning to look without buying, is obviously from a western shopping experience of having shop "windows". I explained this orgin to a Filipino friend when they asked. Divisoria certainly does not work off the "shop window" set-up.
Noli and I walk inside a building that is full with a cross-section of tables piled high with products imported from China. Divisoria is pretty close to the North Port, so I guess that a lot of the merchandise comes right off the boats and into the markets. "Cheaper here," Noli re-instates.
We walk past piles of accessories of random selection; helmets, hats, push scooters, tools, purses, wallets, watches, toys... It all went by in a blur. In some corners there are actual shops. One of them has mannequins sporting dresses.
"Cheaper place to get wedding dresses" Noli chuckles.
"This is where we came to get my wife's."
We walk into another mall that is closer to what one normally thinks of when they hear mall, but is still packed with vendors in the middle of walk ways. Another mall yet is built inside a huge, once train station. Its arches and pillars bring grandeur to its crowded stores.
On the street again people congest a clothes market. T-shirts and jeans are sold for a fraction of the price you find them for sale at in regular malls, and a smaller fraction than that of North American malls. Given, my guess is that a lot of these cheap imports- clothes or otherwise, aren't made to last. They will fill a temporary need and then be disposed of when they can not be re-used or recycled anymore. But Noli is right: they are cheap.
We collect Baby and catch a Jeepney from the middle of the street where a train track seems to have used to run. The place where the track was is now covered up, littered with garbage, providing space for a few more vendors, and smelling awful.
As we drive away I don't know what to make of Divisoria; the congestion, confusion and chaos. How about I blog on it and leave it there?
Now, to balance out the chaos, you may be glad to hear that after this event, i spent the next two days working with youth leaders at the peaceful location of a convent.
Have you ever been to a convent or a monastery? If you ever have time to kill in the Mission BC area, find a map to the "Westminster Abbey" there. Its a great place.
A convent in manila, sadly, does not boast the serenity of a mountaintop away from traffic- but that is partly what makes it special. In the middle of a city, places of refuge that do not recoil, but remain become something like hope.
We rent a part of the convent for our skill building sessions with the Youth Leaders. The nuns like our ministry. They recently gave us some stuffed fish. Have you ever had stuffed fish? They are, on the whole, much better than regular fish.
The last night we were there we ate in their dining hall and watched a movie in their mass hall. Who knew a convent would have a TV? We invited some of the residents to join us, and they did.
In short, it is a peaceful place. I like it and can see, in a sense, why someone would want to live here. I can see why the monastery in Mission is often visited by those who are not of the order (like myself) or even those who do not profess Christian faith. Some of our lives look more or less like Divisoria; Chaos, Confusion, Congestion. We all could use a little Convent/Monastery Peace sometimes.
At home I would be surrounded by stretching surf and lonely mountain tops. Those are my places of peace. Here peace might necessitate more of an internal choice.
It is worth though, asking is it not? When was the last time we got out of the chaos and into places more peaceful?
For the record, none of the photos on today's post are my own. They are borrowed.
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