I step into traffic that is driving by bumper to bumper at 30 miles per hour and I feel a power trip coming as I hold my hand out to drivers left and right beckoning them to stop. Somehow, it works and the cars stop within inches of my white body and I cross the road safely once again. Some days my street crossings feel like I am in a fog, but it dissipates as the diesel powered vehicles drive off leaving a wake of black clouds. They call these vehicles "belchers" for good reason.
It has taken me some time to adjust to the busy pace of Manila. I thought California's freeways were overcrowded, but they can't hold a candle to Manila traffic. Just today I was crammed in a jeepney with more people than a college fraternity can fit in a phone booth, and the driver decided that our direction of traffic would flow much better if we had an extra lane on our side. So he skillfully converted the opposing traffic's lane into our own. This gave us an advantage of having three lanes in our direction and only one in the other direction. Our driver was still not satisfied with going twice as fast as everyone else, so he proceded to make lane 4 thus leaving no lanes for oncoming traffic. Our driver was very thoughtful to the oncoming cars, however, and he turned his headlights off so that he wouldn't blind them as they watch him approach their windshields at break-neck speed. Or maybe he just didn't want them to see that he was there...
Traveling here has been quite an adventure for me, but the longer I am here the more it makes sense. Signs are merely suggestions and every trip you take is a "free for all, no seatbelts, rollcages, or helmets, required" race. If your car can fit, go for it. If the other car has time to come to a screeching halt without hitting you, you can pull out. Mirrors are only there for parking, and if you don't see a car out your windshield then you are clear to change lanes because "it isn't really there." If a person honks at you, you're going to hit him, so stop merging. If a person holds their arm out the window motioning that they are coming over you'd better watch out! The arm out the window is far more powerful than anyone's horn or blinkers. The arm means you are serious!
One last detail I have learned is that pedestrians are a nuisance, but don't worry. If you don't make eye contact you don't have to stop.
So if you come to visit us here in Manila, be prepared for some exciting rides in the city! There aren't any Six Flags amusement parks here, and I think it is clear that roller coasters are just far too controlled and safe to be any fun. I guess this is the kind of excitement you get in a city where they have crammed nearly 107,000 people into every square mile!
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