This is a typical house in the neighborhood near where we are living now. A home that is resistant to burglary is valued as this picture shows where you see a high gate, barbed wire, and walls surround the house (not shown). In contrast, the filipino people are extremely friendly and gracious. One wonders about that seeming contradiction of crime and kindness. Maybe it has to do with poverty rather than greed.
In the states I really enjoyed good coffee from Starbucks like Verona, Cafe' Estima, Christmas blend......I have yet to find anything that matches that quality here but this afternoon I was told of three coffee houses to check out so hopefully I will get there soon - like tomorrow!!!
Welcome to the Symanzik family update. Having lived in Michigan in the United States all of our lives, living in the southern Philippines is quite different and exciting. Follow along on this website as we let you know what is different, unique, pleasant, hard, and enjoyable.
Note: Due to sensitivity issues, we will not be posting details about our work. This is a cultural/family oriented blog.
Well, I can't speak about all Thanksgiving in the Philippines, especially since it is a US holiday, but I can speak about how we spent our Thanksgiving about 24 hours after arriving from the US. We could hardly keep our eyes open due to jetlag!
Yet, we were treated to a great Thanksgiving meal from some new friends over here, and though we did not fall asleep in our food, we probably came close. But Ben did not even make it through his meal.
Jeepneys are a very common Philippine form of transportation along the lines of the US busline. They each follow a predefined route and for 7 pesos one can get on and get off at whatever point is needed. They are a really cost effective means to get around town as long as the routes take you close to where you want to go.
So far though, I have a tendency to get sick to my stomach while riding them. I suspect that this is a combination of the heat, the vehicle fumes, the low windows which force one to lean over low to see where we are, etc. I have always been an easy target for motion sickness so maybe it is just me.
