The Day Caubian One Stood Still

A surreal experience can be something someone experiences frequently or rarely, depending on who is describing the experience and how they classify it. It can be said that an experience is only as surreal as you choose to make it. However, there are just certain experiences that are just undeniably surreal. They embody every sense and implication of the word.  You are in the moment, your senses tuned in to everything around you, yet at the same time you seem to be a spectator of yourself; almost as though you are watching a movie about your life and living it at the same time. 

About an hour out on the water from Mactan Island, we were losing hope that we would find the right place to shoot the next episode of our show. Looking for the right balance between beauty, isolation and development can be a challenge here, especially when most small island residents rely on the day’s catch and taking advantage of boatloads of Korean tourists eager to shell out pesos for souvenirs and local food for survival. Reluctantly ready to admit defeat, we saw two islands on the horizon. We signaled our boat captain to head in that direction, and after much discussion and the agreement of additional pesos we were on our way. As we drew closer, it appeared as though one island was created in the other’s likeness, as if two twins were born the day the volcano pushed them up to meet the sky and sun above the surface of the water. However, through the years the two twins had matured very differently.

The island of Caubian 2, as we came to know it, was still in its natural state; largely uninhabited other than a few homes and an overpriced Korean resort. It had a beautiful small stretch of unspoiled beach. In contrast, every inch of Caubian 1 was “developed”, with roughly 2,000 people packed into a small isolated space.  Understanding why so many people would chose to call this place home is something I think only a resident of the island could ever understand. We stopped at the crowded Caubian 1 first, hoping that we could find some sort of launching point from where the competitors in our show could race to Caubian 2. However, the fact that our boat could only find one place to land on the island should have been a sign that our scout would be unsuccessful. 

Now having been in the Philippines a while, we are used to our fare share of stares, waves, smiles and the perennial “Hey Joe!”.  This experience blew everything out of the water. You know the climax of a movie, when the protagonist has been telling everyone all along that the aliens are coming and then they finally arrive: this was that moment. 

At first the island seemed almost deserted, other than a crowd of about 20 children watching us silently from the shadows of a tree. Our boat captain, Boboy, then found a local fisherman and asked him how to get to the other side of the island. The fisherman motioned down a small path, never once taking his eyes off us. As we followed the path which was no more than 8 feet wide and lined by small concrete homes and stores, we soon realized we were on the main street through town. For the next 15 minutes as we passed through the island, it was as if time came to a screeching halt. The locals stopped everything they were doing to watch us; no one saying hello or smiling, just completely blank stares.  It was as if some sort of silent religious procession had begun with reverent children and women holding babies following behind us. Their eyes were filled with disbelief and revealed a desire to reach out and touch our skin just prove we actually existed.

We too were just as silent, barely able to comprehend what exactly was happening and where exactly we were. Initial instinct was fear of this alien land as we tried to touch absolutely nothing and breathe as little as possible for fear of what harm foreign objects might bring to us. We passed roosters tied to benches, pigs wallowing outside doorsteps and strange pink seaweed drying in the sun. Each step was swift, but also careful and respectful, so as not to disturb anything. 

Once we made it to the other side and realized we had discovered the island’s trash dump, we moved through the growing crowd and backtracked our steps quickly to the boat. As we disembarked, we found ourselves pinching our legs to make sure we weren’t dreaming, while the residents of Caubian 1 were probably rubbing their eyes to make sure they weren’t dreaming as well. 

There was no “greetings earthlings”, no “take me to your leader” or “we come in peace”. We, the aliens, had landed without really doing or saying anything, but it was still about as surreal as anyone could handle.  

Caubian 1

 

 

 

Caubian 2

All the following pictures were taken in discretion,  holding the camera on my hip