Loving...

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Pictures: The Week

Fish and rice for breakfast.

Fish and rice for dinner.

Rice and fish for supper.

We have rice 9 out of 10 meals, and fish 2 of 3 meals, which include breakfasts. This is absolute extremity in comparison to how much of it I ate before, but I am already used to it. When I saw fish fried whole in Canada, I refused to eat from it, because the head was still on. But here, they don't fillet fish, and I eat fish as it is. I'm learning to love fish and rice. The bones are still a lot of work to pick out, but I've already learned some tricks to make it easier.

I flew to the Philippines with a one-way ticket. I learned last weekend that it was not customary to give someone a 21-day visa without proof of exit flight. I guess I was lucky at the airpot, because they never checked. Really lucky, because I would have been stuck at the airport until I had somehow bought a ticket. My Philippine VISA expires after this Saturday, and so I went into the city on Monday to buy a ticket for them to allow my extension. I went to the Cebu Pacific outlet to buy an open ticket to Thailand, because I'll need it for the DTS. However, the outlet was completely full, and the sign said "closed" well before scheduled closing time. Completely out of luck, I returned the next day. This time I got in, but after waiting for 45 minutes, they told me they were not selling international tickets. The DTS director recommended I go to a travel agent, so I did. The young beauty behind the desk processed ticket information and proceeded to sell me a really expensive ticket. Oblivious to this fact, I paid a portion of the reserved ticket. Ate Barbie (the DTS director) explained that I was ripped off and should go get refund. So, the plan this weekend is to get refund and book my ticket online. I would have done it online before, but I am unable to get an open-dated ticket that way. I'll just have to schedule it for approximate dates and leave a little late or early. I do have my Visa extension now, so at least I won't be an alien anymore, no matter what happens with flights

Deep down inside, I actually wanted to be an alien here. Unregistered visits to a country strike me as an exhilerating experience, especially when my skin color marks me as a foreigner who should be carrying proof of his visa at all times.

The puppy love I had for this place the first week has gone. Gone is my feeling like I'm in a fantastical dream. But don't get me wrong here, because I still love this place. I speak Tagalog to people in the streets, casually jaywalk through rush hour (because that's how it's done here), and venture out on my own. I'm more comfortable now, even traveling all by myself in the city. My only issue right now is lack of freedom. I'm a free spirit currently within the confines of a DTS, and I want to strike out and experience so much more than I already have. Some of it is understandable, but other parts are kind of ridiculous, for example:
- Everybody has to wear a shirt at all times -- even guys, even when swimming. It is so hot and I'm going to have a serious farmers tan when I leave. You best believe that I'm going to wear almost nothing the day I'm finished here. I already lay in my damp bed each night with only underwear on.
- We go to town in groups, because the ride in is cheaper. This is fine, but the only other foreigner doesn't want to go anywhere by herself, and Filipinos have it in their culture to stay in clusters/tag along. I can't go anywhere by myself on the weekends. Even if I do go somewhere, they want me to meet them at a certain time to share a ride home. This is understandable, but I'm so used to doing everything myself. Nobody wants to go to the beach this weekend, because one of the YWAM staff cancelled his plan to take his family. I may still go, depending on if I have anything else to do this weekend. It's pretty quiet here on weekend, because many of the staff go home to their families.

I cut some of the lawn today with a hand-made machete (bolo). It's hard work, but lawn mowers are for rich people here. America spends FAR too much money on their lawn. I once heard a statistic about how many millions were spent on lawns, and it was enough to make a huge dent in the hunger crisis. I wonder if this place would really look nice with neatly mowed lawns.

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