What I miss about America….and what I don’t.

As some of you already know, I just got back from America a couple of weeks ago after staying there for one month and visiting some friends & family.  That was my first trip back to the States after living here in the Philippines for the last six months; and now that I’ve been back here in the Pi for two weeks, I’ve had some time to reflect on what I missed and what I didn’t.

It’s funny, but the first thing that comes to mind is a hot shower.  Here in my Apartment in Cebu, I do not have a water heater, as most people here do not.  It’s usually about 85F - 90F here all day, every day…..with a VERY slight drop in temperature at night.  So, the water sitting outside in the Aluminum tank that is pumped up from a deep well stays fairly warm.  Plus, when I come home from Jiu Jitsu or a Gym workout; the last thing I want is a hot shower……lol  It’s already been holding around 90% Humidity lately; so that equals a Heat Index of about 104F.  Therefore, the water coming out of the shower feels pretty good just the way it is! 

Yet, when I was in San Diego, I would come home from Jiu Jitsu class and found it difficult to get out of the shower because the hot water felt so good……but it was also more like 65F or below there at night…..which is a big difference.  I’ve seen the Electric Hot Water Heaters here at the Hardware stores and thought about buying one, but the need for getting Air Conditioning in my crappy car is of much greater concern….lol  Regardless, I miss a nice hot shower sometimes.

Over the last couple of weeks, Charise and I have been running around the City doing some errands, etc.  We’ve had to go to a few different businesses to drop off & pick up some things; or just to buy something.  I’ve been running into the frustration lately of going somewhere and finding out they are closed for lunch.  Many businesses here will close down from approx. 12-1 pm, so that all of the employees can eat lunch and/or sleep.  I’m just not used to seeing that in America; as a business there will stagger the employees lunch breaks, so that there is always someone available to help the customers.  It’s frustrating, but I understand it is the culture here, so it takes some re-adjusting on my part to know that I have to check my watch before venturing out to run errands.

A similar issue occurred last week, when we went to a store to pick up something.  We arrived at about 3:00pm and there was a sign on the door that read; “Having store meeting, come back in 1 hour”.  I read the sign 5 times to make sure I wasn’t missing something, but there was no information there about when the sign was written.  So, there was no way for me to know if they meant 1 hour from right then, or was it 1 hour from 55 mins. ago and the meeting would be over in 5 mins. or what???  VERY frustrating and very confusing…….especially when you are trying to plan your other appointments and errands.  Wouldn’t it have been simple for them to write the time the note was written?  Or better yet……the time to return?  “Having store meeting, come back at 4:30pm” would have made my life a lot easier.  It just consistently amazes me the lack of common sense or professionalism that some businesses or employees have here.  It really tests my patience and forces me to try and take a deep breath.

On a positive note, my crappy car broke down last week……it just died on the side of the road.  I looked around at the engine for a bit, but I really had no idea what I am looking for on a Japanese Surplus Vehicle……lol   We took a Taxi down to a local repair shop and told the Manager there about the situation.  Five minutes later I was sitting in a Tow Truck with two other guys going down the Highway to go get my car.  They loaded it up and we went back to the shop.  It was now about 2:00pm on a Saturday.  The shop closes at 5:00pm and is not open on Sunday……so it was looking like I would be car-less for the rest of the weekend and hopefully get it back by Monday afternoon.

The Manager told me he would check it out and let me know the problem as soon as he could, so we jumped in a Taxi and went home.  About two-and-a-half hours later, the shop called us and said the car was ready.  We went back to the shop and I was prepared to get bent over and used mercilessly as the receipt was prepared.  My fears were not necessary though, as the total damages were $27.00USD.  Only twenty-seven dollars for a tow truck pick-up, a new fuel pump, all the labor, taxes, etc…..and they also even re-installed a panel that had kept falling off due to some broken tabs, but this time put it on with bolts, so it won’t ever fall off again.  Awesome.  They did all of that on a Saturday afternoon, when most shops would have just let it sit there all weekend and deal with it on Monday morning.  I was happy……very happy.

Other random thoughts…….I miss the convenience of just going down the street to have a delicious meal like you can in California, sometimes I miss the cooler weather, of course I miss my friends & family……  But here, I get my delicious fresh fruit & coconuts for ridiculously low prices, I get to wear T-shirts, shorts & sandals everyday and I have met new friends.  Here, I can get fantastic home-service massages for $3.00 or $4.00 USD for an HOUR.  If I wanted or needed to, I could have a full-time maid here doing ALL of the cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc….. for $2.00 - $3.00 per DAY.  It’s really amazing.  My neighbours are nice, the area is relatively quiet, but I don’t have trash service pick-up, so I have to burn it all.  I definitely miss the cleaner air and smog pollution laws of California, as the Highways here can get a bit nasty, but I’m also not sitting in the 5:00pm traffic on the 5 or 15 North in San Diego. 

Like I’ve said before; there is pros & cons, good & bad………just like anywhere else in the world.  Life is what you make it.

Thanks for reading,

JOHN

This entry was posted on June 15. 2010 at 01:57 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.