Sleepy Time

Filipinos are adept at sleeping in all sorts of places. On my most frequent form of transportation here, the cumbersome jeepney, half sheet metal, half epoxy, but all love, my fellow riders sleep frequently. Packed like sardines, bodies are rigid, with no space to slump when one falls asleep, sleeping travelers' heads flopping back and forth with the bumps in the road. In a vehicle that just screams out 'inspection flunk,' my greatest concern to date has been the random hands that clock you in the side of the head. People brace themselves for the ride by holding metal rails that run the length of the ceilings of the old death traps, and then, when those travelers start falling asleep, one by one, their hands flop down, losing grip of the bar, usually hitting a fellow rider in the head or face. Jolted awake, the sleepy people look drearily around, put their hand back on the bar for brace, and within 30 seconds, they are asleep again, and repeating the process. It's really incredible, these people can sleep through a 110 degree jeepney ride in a typhoon and don't bat an eye, sleeping right through it. If you've ever experienced one of the jeepneys, they're not too conducive to rest, but somehow, they do it. On nauseating van rides over unpaved national roads and around mountain hills or seaside curves, children and parents seem to be able to simultaneously sleep and regurgitate into plastic bags. Sometimes the whole van will get sick due to the contagious appeal of vomit smell, and sometimes, you will find a somewhat larger, peaked-faced American male in the back corner, nose to cracked window, attempting to fight off the urge to join in the fun.

In addition to sleeping in vans and on bumpy, skull-rattling jeep rides, the people sleep at work, sprawled out on tables, sets of chairs, in the backs of dump trucks, asleep in in their little pedicabs, in swine baskets on motorcycles, on the fronts of boats, on the outriggers of boats, really anywhere. Sitting at the waiting shed just yesterday, quietly reading a book, I was perturbed by a buzzing sound, just to turn around and see a lady, lying down on her nipa hut floor, snoring happily. The house was a good 35 feet away. It was 105 degrees in the shade, and 3:15. Again, this morning while waiting for the jeep to arrive, there she was again, buzzing away, sprawled out on her bamboo floor. I wish I had their skill. It would be useful to be able to sleep wherever whenever, saving energy for the really important things only.