About traveling in the Philippines: It's very very different than traveling in the US. We've been the equivalent of less than 250 miles and it probably took 10-12 hours to do it. You take tricycles for short rides, jeepneys or vans for longer rides, and big buses for long rides. No one drives fast (except for one totally insane bus driver we had) because about every 5-10 minutes someone is trying to get on or off your bus/jeep/van/trike. Plus, buses only go through certain cities at certain times so you usually have to do a lot of intermediate steps to get to where your going--loads of trike/bus/van/jeep transfers. So, Anna, Jeff and I unfold ourselves from the mass of people also on the trike/bus/van/jeep, make sure we have all 4-6 of our bags, and then figure out if/how we've paid the driver. Kind of crazy--and if Jeff wasn't here I'm sure I would have forgotten about half my stuff by now on one motorized vehicle or another.
About Filipinos: Incredibly nice, incredibly poor people. They love to hear that you find their country hospitable, and believe me, it is. Way more than the US. Trike drivers, security guards, etc. go out of their way to help you with your bags. People offer you food all the time, or make sure you get on the right trike, or really help you out almost however you need. Very hospitable.
About shopping in the mall: Its weird. We were just in a department store and there was probably 1 employee for every 5 shoppers. Way different than in the US. And all of them wore these strange blue dress uniforms and followed us around as we shopped. I was trying to pick out some things and there were like three people hovering around me, I guess just making sure I was finding everything ok? And every one would just flat out stare at us. It kind of gave me the creeps at first and then I just decided to ignore them and I managed to get my shopping done just fine, thank you.
About noises: Its weird staying in Anna's house now for some reason. Its made me realize that all of the noises which are usually hidden in US houses are completely out in the open here. For example, her kitchen sink doesn't even have a pipe on the drain. The water just falls strait to the ground, and you hear it fall on the clay in the yard. When someone is using the bathroom, you hear every single sound. And you hear your neighbor's sounds as well. Anna says she sometimes wakes us when her neighbors sneeze. Or drop a dish or something.
Anyways, still having a great time, going to go back to Anna's now to continue doing so.
2 comments:
THAT IS SO FUNNY...YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SLEEP THROUGH ANYTHING WHEN YOUGET BACK HOME....SO YOU ARE RIDING BIKES I SEE...DONT COME BACK ALL STICK FIGURISH LOL!!! I KNOW YOU ARE NOT WEARING TENNIS SHOES JUST THOSE SANDALS AND YOURS TOES ARE ALL EXPOSED TO THE ELEMENTS....LOL!!!! MISS YOU GIRLIE...tasha
You want to know why there are 1 employee to 5 customers... they are making sure no one was shop lifting. We don't have those wonderful RFID alarm thingies you know.
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