Since being in the Philippines I’ve seen quite a few really weird things, like… people using a spoon instead of a knife to cut their meat. I’ve seen a person hit a dog for no apparent reason (yea that wasn’t ok with me) I’ve seen about 15 people fit onto one Pedi cab (AKA: trikes), drivers moving around streets like maniacs without even breaking a sweat. Security guards that won’t let you in without checking your bag first in front of grocery stores and malls. I’ve seen American men here that range from really old or really nerdy with really young Filipino women. But at the same time I’ve seen something that you don’t see often in the states that is truly strange, Poverty, little children hanging out on corners or in parks coming up to us with a sad face and a hand out begging for money. I haven’t given them money because they don’t get any of it they just take it home where their parents can do what ever they want with it. So the invisibility that you have in the states is very visible in Asia. The poorer communities are much more noticeable here also and it makes me wonder what the wealthier people do about it.
It’s interesting though the strangest thing I’ve seen really while we’ve been here is……ME. I’m the weird one, the person who looks different from everyone else around. How do I know this well because I’m in a different country with different people in a different culture that thinks differently, that’s all I really know about this place. Being here in Asia I’ve never been more pointed at, stared at or waved at by total strangers more in my entire life then I have here in the Philippines.
