Through the plate glass entrance at the local mall last Sunday, I saw a strange group of young people seated inside, laughing eating lunch- dressed in white jump suits with bands of blue glitter and with bright blond hair.
Through the glass, I thought they might be some weird group of Scandinavian tourists, but once inside, I saw that they were local kids. There were also other groups in uniform, getting ready for something.
Blonds are rare around here, and never native. I didn’t have a camera with me, but this group was so extraordinary- looking that I ran home and got one. I didn’t want to miss a picture of them- and here they are, these two.
By the time I got there, whatever they were doing was already finished.
They were just waiting around, getting ready to leave, and I was lucky not to miss them completely before they were gone. I only found out later who they were.
It seems that all the colleges at Silliman have “Cheer Dance” crews, and they compete with each other annually. This particular crew was from the College of Computer Studies- the “CCS Sirens” as they call themselves.
The event at the mall was the just their preliminary elimination. The finals will be held at the Lamberto Macias Sports Complex later this month. If you want to see white blue and blond people flying around in mid-air, go there and watch.
I didn’t know any of this at the time I took the picture. I only found out about it the next day. I was in the food court at Lee Plaza, when I saw two bright blond heads, like headlights, shining in the crowd.
They were two of the boys from the crew, eating there with family members. One of them was the boy on the left in this picture. I went over and talked to them; they were very friendly, and told me what I needed to know.
As I left, I looked over the rest of the crowd, all with ordinary dark hair, but otherwise extremely varied in appearance. Filipinos have no peculiarly national look.
Overseas, in a mixed crowd, they are hard to identify- unless you already know them by their gestures, body language, and smiles.
To foreigners, some Filipinos look Chinese, some look Mexican, some look just vaguely “Asian”. But these blondes seem to come from outer space.
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