I am posting in my blog with the writer's consent selected ethnography penned creatively by my students to contribute to the emerging sub-discipline of anthropology called 'Virtual Ethnography'.
Basically, virtually ethnography is also referred to as Webnography. We cannot deny the fact that with increasing use of technology and the Internet, there is now a demand for online spaces on various ethnographic accounts.
Ethnography by Kristine C. Borja
Photo source: arnoldpadilla.wordpress.com
I’m a commuter. Ever since I’ve been allowed to venture on my own and travel places, I have experienced almost every breed of transportation that the urban Manila can offer- I’ve tried Taxi cabs that are currently mutating into different colors and sizes to rough the roads, I’ve tried the Tamaraw FX’s traversing down Sucat-Lawton, mostly I’m in jeepneys who remain to be the undisputed kings of the road and sometimes, I’m one of ‘em passengers sitting at the back of the bus, shouting my lungs out as if in a roller coaster ride as the driver rages like the king of the jungle in EDSA. Countless, indeed are the modes of transportation in the Philippines: There is the Kuliglig, the ferry boat, the pedicab, the tricycle, the trucks, that carries whether load or man to their next destination; and whether it is progress or pestilence they bring- no one can really tell.
For the past years, however, I have been introduced to the snakelike lines of the trains now plaguing Manila: the Metro Railway Transit or the MRT, and it is my routinary experience taking the train to school that has inspired this ethnography:
Marami-Raming Tao (MRT)
Kailangang bilisan, huli na sa eskwela
Habulin ang tren, makigulo sa masa
Akyat sa escalator na walang kuryente,
kakapagod pero think positive na lang: Ako’y seseksi
Pagdating sa taas- Sus! Rush hour kasi, pagkahaba ng pila,
para kang naligaw sa panahon ng Pasko sa may Divisoria
Tulak dito, tulak doon, kamangha-mangha- Wow!
Binti ko’y hindi ko hinahakbang ngunit ako ay nagalaw
Madali sa pagbili sa ticket machine
sa mga teller na tila ba mundo’y naninimdim
Sabay sa agos ng marami-raming taong sumastampede
Iwas to death sa takot na baka maapakang parang centipede
Ang susunod na laban ay pakikipagunahan
Na makapasok sa loob ng tren at makakuha ng upuan
Ayan na bukas na ang pintuan!
Dali! Siksik dito siksik doon ang labanan!
Wag papatalo, sa stamina at diskarte daigin si Pacman!
Pfft, naunahan pa ni Lola sa karamput na upuan
Sige na nga siya na dun, siya nama’y may katandaan
Ngunit teka, ang babaeng iyon bakit ayaw sa bata magbigay-upuan?
Tsk, nagpapanggap na buntis, malaki lang naman ang tiyan
Hay naku ewan, kakaloka talaga- hanap na ng bariles na pwedeng makapitan
Handa sa bigla-biglang prenuhan at kompetisyon na pinamagatang “Pagalingang Magbalance”
Eeew, bakit basa ang aking hinahawakan? Bakit parang konsepto ng AirCon ay walang katotohanan?
Aray! Super tulak baka mamaya ako pala’y ninanakawan
Hala, sige, kapa sa wallet, check sa cellphone ang drama natin diyan
Ang saya talaga sa MRT parang laging sa Quiapo sa Araw ng Itim na Nazareno na fiestahan
Hay salamat, Quezon Ave na din
Natatanaw ko na ang liwanag, pag-asa, at hangin
Check cellphone, check wallet, check katawan- buo pa
Sabay sa agos ng Maraming-Raming Tao, ako’y bababa, lalaya na
Salamat sa Poon, ako’y buhay pa *Bow*
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