The Philippines is a great place to live and the Filipinos are an amazing people. As a rule they are very polite and friendly. When we pass people on the street they slightly bow their heads and say 'hello ma'am/sir.' We respond similarly and it's quite nice.
We live in Binictican in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. Binictican is up on a mountain and it is where the American armed forces resided when they were stationed here. The housing is all similar and fairly nice. Some nicer than others but that's to be expected. The people of Binictican would be considered upper class (including us) whereas at the bottom of the mountain, down by the bay (off-base) is Olongapo. Olongapo is a third-world city. Many of the workers in Binictican live in Olongapo.
The workers are the people building an addition to the school, cleaning ladies, drivers, gardeners, etc. They come and go from Olongapo to Binictican as their jobs require. The average wage per day is 350 pisos...~$5. Most of them are hard working, trustworthy individuals. Some, however, are desperate. Some have starving families due to the rise in grain prices and other factors. Theft is not altogether uncommon.
At first we thought we just misplaced our things...as it turns out someone broke the lock on our downstairs sliding door and stole them. It's more of an inconvenience than anything else. They took our camera, my American cell phone, my travel bag which contained my passport and driver's license, Jordon's wallet (which had his driver's license, around $200 american, and a family heirloom opal that he was going to have made into a necklace for me.)
As soon as we realized what happened we let the school know and they leapt into action. The maintenence man went over and put bars in our windows and the sliding door so they couldn't open and changed our locks. They are also going to put bars on our windows on the outside as well.
Inspectors came by, took pictures, and insurance is going to reimburse us for the camera and phone. So that's nice.
We cancelled our credit card and are working on getting me a new passport.
We're kind of poor until we get our paycheck so that's a little frustrating. We went to a large mall in San Fernando with the intention of purchasing a new camera only to discover we didn't have the money for it.
On another note, that mall was insane. It was huge and there were thousands of people in it. And it was exceedingly loud. The shops are tiny and specialized...there was one that only sold CD-Rs... And each little shop has at least as many salespeople walking around as customers.
Anyway, we're getting by until we get paid and we're doing fine. We're really enjoying our coworkers. Different groups of them have invited us to do something every day this weekend.
The dynamics of the school social network is interesting. Nobody really seems to know where we fit in. At lunch we sit with the Filipinos (though they don't really invite us to do stuff.) Then there are the married expats and the single expats. We have been trying to get together with the singles but it has yet to occur. We keep getting invited to spend time with the couples. Which is nice, they're all really great...but they're all at least 15 years older than us. The singles are younger and live about 20 minutes away, walking. We're hoping to play wii with them tonight. We'll let you know how that goes.
Once we get a TV we'd like to invite singles and Filipinos over to play and hang out...one of our coworkers that we'd really like to become friends with is Bam. She's from Manila and really fun. She's a city girl so the same things that we're getting used to (monkeys, bugs etc...) she's also coming to terms with. Anyway, we share similar senses of humor. But we think we need to find someone else so we're not just courting this single girl. It makes me feel creepy...like the Nobles...but not...yuck....pretend I didn't say that.
Anyway, that's one thing we are working on now...making friends.
Also, we finally saw the monkeys! And they were terrifying. I first saw one across a field and of course smiled, pointed, and squeeked in delight. It didn't like that. It stared and behind us we heard scary monkey noises. We quickly moved along without turning back.
The next day we spotted some across the street. There was a whole family, 6 of them. We were so in awe that we didn't mention their presence to the men walking on that side of the street, much to their dismay. One of the larger monkeys lunged out and hissed at them showing its teeth. The men shrank back, obviously terrified. Then they slowly curved out past them to safety. It was pretty scary. I thought there was going to be a rumble. I had my switchblade, er, nalgene ready to use if need be. We told them to 'sit on it' and hurried to school. The Fonz would have been proud.
That's about it. We're at school now to plan for our week. It's a shortened week because today is a holiday Ninoy Aquino Day. And next monday is National Heroes Day so we're off as well. Pretty nice.
We love you all. Thanks for your emails...they make us happy and keep us from getting too homesick.
Until next time,
The Quattlebaums
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
wow...never a dull moment over there. will pray for your home and that god will provide what you lost.
also, you really need to get the train game. You are at the top of my list of people i think that would enjoy this game. Maybe it could help grow your friendships. It's bringing people together in STL for sure!
love you both. So glad you keep updating and always look forward to the next post!
wow! I'm so sorry, what an annoyance to lose so many important things. I hope that you guys feel safe now and that you can get the passport worked out. You sound like you're just taking it as well as one could though.
we miss you guys. take care
HI Jordan and Melissa! Tim and I are reading your blog in awe and concern, understandably. Tim suggests a lock box, but that would consolidate the valuables and make them easier to carry, but better than nothing I guess. What lengths do you have to go to in order to get a passport? If you need me to vouch that you are you, don't hesitate to ask :) I start school tomorrow at Keysor Elementary in the Kirkwood S.D., about 11 minutes away from my house, as a Teaching Assistant in the COmputer Lab. I find out my schedule tomorrow, but I know I'm part time. I'm also going to start taking grad classes in Gifted Ed at Maryville in STL. Haven't signed up yet but I have direction at least! Tim says he doesn't have an update because he was tragically born without a personality. His words. I hope your classes are going well. You are in my prayers! Good luck with your kiddos. I'm imagining you acting out your instructions so the non-english speakers know what to do. We're thinking of you!
-Melissa & Tim
Hey Melissa and Tim,
We can't go to Tim's blog, so I'll just reply shortly here. Also, if you want to tell me your email address I'll email you back. Because I'd like to respond to your comment in length.
Condensed...I'm so proud of you for getting a job so close to home and taking classes. Gifted is a good idea for you. You're so smart...and good with the smart kids.
Tim has a wonderful personality...would someone who didn't have a personality be into glassblowing? Honestly.
Basically I speak really slow, clearly, repeat myself a hundred times a day and use hand motions when I can think of them.
The kids are great. They are reading at exceedingly high levels and their math is phenomenal...writing is another story though. That's where I'm trying to bring them up to level. They are all such hard workers though it isn't hard to get them excited about learning.
At the moment we don't have any valuables... but when we get some we're going to lock them away...upon purchase of locks...
We're going to import a camera from the states. Electronics are crazy expensive here.
The passport won't be too bad. A rep comes here in a month or two and one of the Admins said it wasn't complicated. They have a copy and they just need to varify my face to my picture.
Alright, this is too long. Please give me your email address so I don't have to comment on my post...it's a little embarrassing.
Love,
Melissa
It's a savage land.. told you to take those kickboxing lessons. You should grab one of those rabid monkies and put it in your basement. And have that be the only door you leave unlocked. The next thief that gets in there will have a nasty surprise. I think you'll find that word will get around pretty fast to leave the Americano's alone.
Jordon & melissa,
So glad that you updated the blog and that you're both doing well.
Sorry about the loss of your goods but these things happen and your stuff can be replaced.
I'm in Gillette, WY for a 2 day workshop. Today I toured the largest strip mine (coal) in the USA. Quite impressive!.Rhonda reports that Jadyn is a big hit at preschool. Her teachers love her and say that she's soooo smart!. Well we knew that!
She's doing well and making new friends. Rhonda is very happy.
Dr. Chalk took her cast off today and she's in a brace for a few more weeks to let her ankle heal up. Jake will be home Friday after his graduation. His train gets into STL at 10:45. He'll be home for 2 weeks before he goes to San Diego for Marine training.
Miss you guys, be safe. Love Popa
Hi Guys,
I just received a voice message from Commerce Bank saying that there's been some unusual activity on your credit card account. Hopefully either the card wasn't among the stolen items, or you've already cancelled it. Unfortunately, I tried to call them, but lacking a PIN, account number, POA, etc, I couldn't talk to them to help. I suggest that you call them as soon as you can to avoid your credit/identity from being destroyed.
I love you,
Dad
Post a Comment