Discovering Dumaguete 2

The jeepney ride from Sibulan was typical. Crowded full of local Negros folks, and me a tall out of place foreigner. I was soon put at ease. several passengers helped me with my luggage, and with the info on the proper fare to pay. As we approached Dumaguete, I strained to look out the narrow side windows of the van. I could see very little as we jostled along the National highway, but did notice the diminutive and round faces I came to associate with provincial people. We passed several schools, universities among them, and it seemed Dumaguete was indeed a college town, bustling with students, motorcycles, and tricycles.

I had called ahead to the Bethel guest house, but they had no available rooms. They did recommend an alternative, the OK pension... As I had no idea where to go I asked a fellow jeepney passenger, and they were very polite and helpful, directing the driver in visayan to the pension house. Dumped in front of the hotel with my three bags, I sighed in relief that the long days trip was now over. It was just a matter of checking in, and flopping on a bed in an air conditioned room to relax for a while. I had arrived in Dumaguete, not quite knowing why I was here or what I was going to do. In any event it was a fateful and profound step in my quest to assimilate into the Philippine culture, as much as a foreigner could.

The OK Pension proved in fact, not to be so OK, so after two nights of cats fighting in the open courtyard just outside my room, I transferred to the Honeycomb guest house on Rizal Boulevard. I negotiated a rate for a ten day stay not knowing if I would remain after that or move on. The Honeycomb is an old Spanish style mansion dating to the beginning of the twentieth Century. Converted to a hotel, it was charming but somewhat rundown from lack of routine maintenance, never the less a nice place with friendly young girls at the front desk.

There I was smack dab in the middle of expat central, not knowing this at first, I quickly became aware of the charms and pitfalls of the so called "Boulevard", as it is known locally...