Saturday, October 5, 2013

I have not been blogging enough lately. 
(Can I get a "Hello Captain Obvious!)

In my defence...
nope. I dont have one. 
So I thought I would try a fun one today.

"Things I have learned about the Philippines (or, at least Tabuk!)"

1. Women do not shave their leg hairs. They do, however, pluck their underarm hair. This has made my already rare leg-shaving habit pretty hard to break. Not that I was trying to break it, but Im sure my husband would not be against smoother legs. 
(too bad baby, you knew this when you married me!)

2. Dogs are protectors, alarms, friends and dinner. All 4. At the same time. Sorry for you dog-lovers out there. They love dog here too, they just love to eat them as well as own them. 

3. The most common phrase I have heard here is "Lets eat!" This is said whenever anyone is eating. This is said even if they don't have food for you and really don't want you to eat with them. It is said when you are at the market, buying fruit and your mango guy is eating rice behind the counter. It is said when you are driving passed someone who is eating. We were driving passed a group of construction workers, eating their lunches and as we passed, they shouted "Let's eat! Come on and eat with us!" 

4. If you are white (or not-filipino), you are "americano" so don't bother saying "Actually Im canadian!" They don't know, don't care. You are americano whether you are american, british, irish, swiss or african. Americano. Embrace it.  

5. If you are buying something from the store and the till does not have enough change, they will pay you in gum. Or candy. Or cough drops. Smile and accept it. 

6. Filipinos love to laugh, dance and sing. Any reason, any occasion, and they are all over it. In Davao city, theres a store where, every hour, on the hour, the staff pause what they are doing to dance to a song that gets blasted. They have a new song/dance combo that they learn every day. I'm telling you, they are committed! 

7. Sept 1st is the start of the Christmas season. Christmas songs play on the radio, decorations start getting put up and I was greeted with "Merry Christmas and a happy new year ma'am!" at the store. This is totally acceptable here! 

8. When in doubt, bring treats and coke and you will have friends. 

9. You do not speak ill of filipino food. Whether or not you are a fan of fermented buffalo meat or balut (hardboiled, fertilized duck egg) you smile and say "Mmm, interesting". Just don't be too enthusiastic, they may give you a 2nd portion if you are! 

10. Water buffalos are a totally acceptable mode of transportation. 


So there you go, 10 things I have learned. Now, this list could probably go on for days, but I will save some. To be honest, most things are starting to seem normal, so its harder to point out things that are not canadian in culture! Thanks for reading! 

1 comment:

  1. Christmas in September!!!!!! They've got it exactly right!!!!

    ReplyDelete