I lived in the
philippines when i was younger. I
loved it there. Life was exciting then like it can't be where there aren't
rainforests,
volcanos and
tropical beaches.
Part of the excitement was when our
maid, Leema, would take me with her to the
market. The market always smelled horribly of
fish and was filled with
stooped
crones amazingly balancing huge bags of
rice on their heads.
Once a year there was a
parade of jeepneys called the "
Jeepney Jamboree" that went through the market. they were painted in blinding colours, made all the more
blinding by the
generous applications of
mirror and coloured
glass bits, often covering the entire jeepney. Bright
feathers and cloth
banners and
flags were necessary accessories.
Miles of them, it seemed, and all filled with 30 or more
people, piled inside and using any available hand or foot hold on the outside.
The market was always especially exciting during the jamboree. The
smell of the
food stands filled the air, and there was always a
bazaar where
strange and
exotic things were sold. I would always come home with new
toys and
puzzles and full of
lumpia.
On a less nostalgic note, the original
WWII derived jeepneys are all but gone, but it seems that there is a jeepney movement in the phillipines similar to the
riceboy phenomenon. Information about building a jeepney and aftermarket accessories is big
business.