Philippine Culture in One Photo

The most typically Filipino thing I have ever been able to photograph

What do we see in this photo?  On the far left, we see a rice field with newly planted rice seedlings.  If you look carefully, above the green rice field, you can see an as yet unplanted field.  In the middle, we see an irrigation ditch that services these same rice fields and many others.  To the right of the ditch, we see dirt dredged out of the ditch with a backhoe.  And finally, on the far right, we see a concrete road.

As you can see, irrigation workers have dredged the ditch and left the dirt in the margin (or if you prefer, on the road shoulder).  In any other place, the workers would have used the backhoe to move the dirt into an awaiting truck, to be hauled off to some place in need of fill.  Believe me, the Philippines has no shortage of places that could use the extra fill.

But as you can see, that is not what they have done.  They have left the dredged dirt in the margin.  Where, because of the road, it can only go one way:  Back into the ditch.  And with the amount of rain we see in the Philippines, that will not take long at all.  It was raining when I took this photograph.

Again, what is this?  Many people consider Filipinos to be lazy.  But that is not true; I see extremely hard working Filipinos every day.  That rice field was planted by hand; back-breaking work.  And believe me, the guys I saw dredging this ditch are not lazy.  I passed them working on this project many times.  But what is this?  I mean seriously.

We are going to all the trouble to increase the flow and capacity of the irrigation ditch, but then we are going to leave the excavated dirt where it can only flow right back into the ditch that we just worked so hard to clear.  Practically immediately.

And how often is this done?  I mean, if the excavated dirt was trucked away, would this need to be done again?  Maybe once a decade, or so.

What is that?

Before we go, one final note.  Look again at that dirt.  That is grade A volcanic top soil.  I know North Carolina coastal plains farmers who would kill for dirt like that.  Just one example of the many natural resources of the Philippines.  Judging by natural resources alone, the Philippines should be a rich country.  But it is the culture that keeps it poor.

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The Unreported Philippines

The delicate art of living in a flighty culture

 

I have noticed that no one tells the truth about living in the Philippines.  I have written about this before.  No one really lies; they just leave stuff out.  And the omissions are fairly extensive.  So here, let me point out a few quirks of living here.  I will skip the obvious, like don't drink the water and Filipino time, and focus on what no one talks about.

Before we start, what do I mean by flighty?  I have seen the modern usage of flighty culture.  While I appreciate the concept, that is not what I mean.  I use flighty in its traditional sense.  Flighty means fickle and irresponsible, frivolous, undependable, capricious, unstable, skittish, forgetful, volatile and excitable, inconsistent, unserious, guided by whim or fancy rather than by judgment or settled purpose.  And that is exactly what I mean when I use the term flighty culture here.  So with that clarification, let's get started.

In no particular order:

• If you see it, buy it
  
  Inventory management is beyond the Philippines.  I don't know if it is a function of the shipping logistics of seven thousand plus islands, or if it is a function of Philippine culture, or both.  But I suspect culture plays at least as large a role as cumbersome logistics.  If it is consumable, buy more than one; in fact, buy all they have.  It may be a while before you see it again.  And you may never see it again.
  
  
  
• Electricity is expensive
  
  I cannot speak for everywhere in the Philippines, but we pay roughly double the rate we were paying in North Carolina.
  
  
  
• The power goes out routinely
  
  And because electricity is so expensive, most Filipinos use very little.  Consequently, when the power goes out, you will notice, but the Filipinos around you will not.
  
  
  
• No traffic law enforcement
  
  The traffic laws in the Philippines are basically identical to those in the United States.  They are just not seriously enforced.  The easiest way to improve quality of life in the Philippines would be for the government to enforce the traffic laws.  But I never see any movement in this direction.
  
  This is not a question of resources; there are an abundance of law enforcement officers who could do this.  Rather this is a choice that the Filipinos have made.
  
  
  
• Chaos reigns supreme
  
  So the roads are chaos just like everything else.  Chaos is a life style choice here.  And yes, it is a choice.  I know it is a choice because I notice places where it does not apply:  Banks, and high end shopping malls and hotels.  But that's the extent of it.  Chaos everywhere else.
  
  
  
• There are no addresses
  
  Just one aspect of the chaos.  Sure there are some addresses, but most buildings are not marked.  Everyone walks around with a smartphone, but they make no attempt to use modern mapping apps available to overcome this problem.  Google Plus Codes and apps like What3Words. No addresses required.  But again, they choose chaos.  More on smartphones below.
  
  
  
• There is no mail
  
  Bills are delivered by hand, and now by email.  There are post offices, but you must go to them because they will not come to you.  No mail also means that you must go somewhere to pay those bills.
  
  
  
• Lack of seriousness
  
  No mail is a great example of the lack of seriousness that you find here.  Filipinos are just not serious people.  About anything.  Traffic, education, medical care, agriculture, sanitation, water systems, just pick any topic and you find something that they are not serious about.
  
  Now of course, there are some serious people here.  And of course, there are plenty of unserious people in the West.  I think it is a question of percentages.  There are enough serious people in the West to make the societies work.  Likewise with Japan, Singapore, etc.  Evidently, there are a lot less in the Philippines.  See Bifurcated Culture below.
  
  
  
• There are no landfills
  
  Well I am sure there are, but there is no sanitation infrastructure.  And because of this, most people either burn their own trash, or throw it in the river.  This is how the Pacific Ocean came to be the primary landfill for the entire country.  And the most common smells in the Philippines are not adobo, lumpia, and lechon cooking, but rather burning plastics.
  
  
  
• Smartphones and smartphone zombies are everywhere
  
  It is difficult to describe this phenomenon.  The smartphones are toys, and never tools.  And the last thing the Philippines needs is a ubiquitous gadget that fosters a lack of seriousness.  I would say that the introduction of smartphones has been a cultural disaster for the Philippines.  Most people use their toys everywhere and without headphones.  Quiet dinner with the wife in a fancy restaurant?  No chance.
  
  
  
• Noise
  
  This brings me to noise in general.  The Philippines is the loudest place I have ever visited.  Noise is everywhere.  And in the Philippines there are only two volume levels:  Off and as high as it goes.  If you are looking for peace and quiet, I urge you to not come here.
  
  One other note about the noise:  Crisp amplification is limited by the quality of the speakers.  And all speakers have a limit to their clarity before the sound becomes distorted.  That is, there is a point at which, it is so loud, that you cannot understand what is being amplified, the voice or the music, etc.  In the Philippines, you can rarely understand the voices because the volume levels are too high.  And it never occurs to them to turn it down a bit.
  
  Ultimately the noise just amplifies the chaos.
  
  
  
• There is little appreciation and little consideration
  
  This takes a while to notice because Filipinos are extremely pleasant on a surface level.  But live here a while and you will see this often and everywhere.  The noise is only the first thing you will notice.
  
  
  
• Karaoke
  
  The noise and lack of consideration warnings absolutely apply to the primary Filipino pastime of karaoke.  I have never understood why karaoke has to be amplified at all, much less at full blast.  But if you cannot hear it half a kilometer away, evidently there's no fun in it.
  
  
  
• Undervalued time and no urgency
  
  As I mentioned at the start, everyone knows about Filipino Time, the tendency of Filipinos to be late.  But where does this come from?  I think two places.  One is the lack of consideration mentioned above.  While some may care about their own time, Filipinos have practically no consideration for the time of others.  Two is the fact that many of them do not even care about their own time.  When you have very little to do, time is unimportant.  And I promise you this, if you do not care about your own time, you certainly will not care about someone else's time.
  
  Similarly, there is no urgency in the Philippines.  For anything.  I have never once seen a Filipino or a group of Filipinos or a business or a government agency do anything with any urgency whatsoever.  It is as if the concept does not exist.  As an example, we once sat in an airport for twelve hours because our flight was moved from seven am to seven pm; of course without notice.  But we seemed to be the only people who cared.  Luckily I had booked our connecting flight for the next day, just because of this type of unforeseen nonsense that is so very common here.
  
  Actually, this is not entirely true.  I once saw a Jollibee gutted and renovated.  This was done in maybe three weeks total.  In fact, there was urgency to get the place re-opened.  But this sort of thing is rare.
  
  
  
• Acceptance and proliferation of the alphabet people
  
  There is a large LBGTQIA+ community in the Philippines.  I do not know if more people here identify as part of this community, or if people here feel more comfortable being open about it.  But either way, you notice more of this in the Philippines than elsewhere.
  
  Gender roles are heavily segregated here.  And I do wonder if this is not a backlash against the mainstream idea of what it means to be a man.
  
  
  
• Breadwinner culture
  
  You will find many families with one breadwinner.  And that gives others in the family an excuse to not work or be under-employed.  Sometimes the money that the breadwinner shares with his or her family is used for legitimate expenses.  But too often it is not.  A sense of familial duty, and often guilt, keeps the money flowing regardless of how it is ultimately used.
  
  
  
• Bifurcated culture
  
  There are people in the Philippines, millions of them, who are serious and motivated and ambitious.  Of course there are.  And many of these people end up leaving to work overseas.  Leaving the people behind who are less serious, less motivated, and less ambitious.  So if you are impressed with the Filipinos you have met in your own country, like I was, just understand that you will not often find that when you get here.
  
  
  
• Bahala na culture
  
  Before coming to the Philippines, one needs to learn the cultural term bahala na.  I have written somewhat empathically about this in Half-Assed as a Cultural Norm, where I wrote about the lack of exposure to conscientious behavior.  But what I have learned, and what we have to accept, is like most things in life, doing a half-assed job is a choice.  And there are consequences to this choice.
  
  
  
• Prejudice against hard work
  
  In the bifurcated and breadwinner and bahala na culture, work is most often done elsewhere, whether overseas, or in Manila, or just in town at the office.  But in the provinces, if you are seen to be working hard or even just generally busy, many Filipinos will have a negative perception of you and your busyness.  Yes, it is odd.  I think it has to do with their belief that if you are trying to better yourself, you believe that you are better than them.  And of course, you are.  You know it and they know it.  And they do not like it.
  
  If you did not believe that you are better than them, then you would loaf around all day like they do.  I mean, obviously.
  
  
  
• Scam culture
  
  I will tell you my first experience with this, but it never ends.  So we cook with propane, and propane trucks drive around all day, and they only take cash.  The first time they came to us, I gave the driver cash, but I needed change.  Response:  No sorry, I don't have change.  He was just hoping to put a few extra pesos in his pocket.
  
  
  
• Other money issues
  
  You will pay a skin tax on any merchandise items that are not pre-priced.  So shop accordingly.  Your Filipina's family will ask for money.  This may well be okay, but it is expected that you will give it to them.  And if you do not, or cannot, that too is okay, but your relationship with them will suffer.  Give some thought to the moral dimensions of this dynamic.
  
  
  
• Limited customer service
  
  If you are used to United States levels of customer service, you will be disappointed in the limited customer service you find here.  But it is really just a question of adjusting your expectations.
  
  
  
• Low trust society
  
  Limited customer service is a function, one of many, of a low trust society.  If you cannot trust people, you surely cannot accept their merchandise returns.  This attitude spreads to every nook and cranny of society.  And coming from a high trust society, it takes some getting used to.
  
  
  
• Pervasive fickleness
  
  I do not know how else to label this.  But it is a cultural phenomenon here that applies to everything.  Filipinos are flighty people.  Very little can be agreed on in advance, because one or more parties will change their minds, often without informing the others.  Dangerous last second lane changes on the highway, usually to make a turn, are epidemic.  I think it goes back to the lack of seriousness.  This leads to a lack of dependability and a lack of predictability and a lack of consistency.  Get used to it.
  
  
  
• Beware questions
  
  It is worth knowing that in the Philippines there is a cultural aversion to questions.  Both asking questions and receiving questions.  At first I thought this was a function of there being something to hide or something shady.  And it is certainly true that some Filipinos will interpret any question as an accusation.  But I now realize that this has more to do with sheer lack of interest.  They have no interest in asking and they have no interest in answering.  Ultimately, they have no interest in knowing.  And I think this demonstrates a fundamental, cultural lack of curiosity.  Coming from the West, which is a curious culture, this is a difficult adjustment.
  
  
  
• Restaurants and utensils
  
  Let me end with restaurants.  Many Filipinos will eat with their hands at home.  But I have never seen this in restaurants.  They will use utensils.  But just know in advance, that it is only the high end restaurants that will give you a knife.  Low and mid-range restaurants will not give you a knife, and if you ask, they do not even have knives available.  So order accordingly.  This is so pervasive that I know of one buffet style restaurant that is so averse to giving their patrons knives that when I order the pork chops, the server will take out a pair of kitchen shears and cut the pork chop up before serving it.  And this is fortunate because like everywhere else, you are only offered a fork and spoon.  I don't get it.

There are other cultural oddities, like skin whitening, that are truly infuriating, but that do not really affect an expat's life and routine.  Further, I have left out political and religious issues.  I will leave those for Filipinos to discuss themselves.  This is a purely cultural list; well as much as that is possible.  I think it is interesting to note that other than my brief comments on money, none of the above are the result of poverty or the third world status of the Philippines.  No, these are cultural choices that Filipinos make.  And I offer this list not to change, or even criticize the Philippines.  I did not come here to change the Philippines.

The art of living in the Philippines is learning to endure the cultural flightiness.  Money and experience help.  It also helps, if you can manage it, to maintain a certain degree of separation from the native culture.  But that is my own strategy.  Others might think, but I am going there to immerse myself in the Philippine culture.  That works for some.

So let me offer you a thought experiment, as a sort of test.  You are sitting in a nice restaurant having a quiet dinner with your wife, and the table right behind you has four people, all on their smartphones, and none of them are using headphones or ear buds.  And all of their respective volumes are turned up to full blast.  And it is not just that table, as you look around the restaurant, most occupied tables share this same lack of consideration for others.  So you go find the manager to complain, and you find him, sitting at an unoccupied table having a Zoom-style call with his wife on his smartphone.  Again without headphones.  He's shouting because she is having difficulty hearing him.

That's the setup; here's the test:  Is this okay with you?  And it is not only in nice restaurants; maybe you are in an elevator or on a bus.  Maybe you are in a fancy department store.  Is this okay with you?  But it does not end at the restaurant, when you get home, your neighbors are having a party, on a Monday night, singing karaoke at the top of their lungs, which is not as loud as the over-amplified music, until after midnight.  Because they do not work the next day, and they may well not work at all.  Because they have an overseas foreign worker (OFW) breadwinner in the family who regularly sends them money.  Is that okay with you?

It is worth pointing out that many of your neighbors are in this situation, to one degree or another.  And none of them have all that much to do tomorrow.

Here is another, highly relevant, test.  Many of the above factors will only affect you in small ways, or only every so often.  But it is the cumulative effect of the culture that you must consider and ask yourself:  Is that okay?  Can I live like that?

If so, you might love Philippines culture and want to immerse yourself in it.  If not, you will have to find ways of enduring Philippines culture.  So decide for yourself.  I offer this list to other potential expats thinking about relocating here.  Make of it what you will.

But no one else is going to tell you.

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China is a Scam

Winston describes Chinese EV cars, and the entire Chinese automotive industry, as a scam.  And while this is clearly true, the important point, which he infers but does not come out with directly, is that this is how everything in China works.  It is not an exaggeration to say that everything in China is some sort of scam.

Here in the Philippines, we are seeing an ever increasing number of Chinese branded cars on the road.  I have no doubt that the Philippines is one of the countries where, as Winston mentions, China is dumping cars.

As an aside, recently I saw a new GWM (Great Wall Motor – a Chinese manufacturer that Winston mentions in the video), diesel pickup in a shopping mall.  The list price was almost 40 percent less than the very similar Toyota Hilux.  Sure this will vary by product and features.  But of course, Filipinos are flocking to these brands.

I will add one other thing about the GWM display in the mall.  The cars were lavishly decorated with the most beautiful women, er...product specialists.  When the feminists chased Don Draper out of New York, he fled to China.  And as Don likes to say:  When you place a beautiful woman next to any product, people tend to forget the most important questions.

Because electricity is so expensive here, most of these vehicles are not electric.  But we do see some.  To the best of our ability, we never park near one of these.

No, you cannot avoid all Chinese products.  But we have a strict rule regarding Chinese products.  We do not buy anything made in China that has the potential to kill you.  So, no food, no cars, no lithium batteries, etc.  But yes, the fly swatter I bought last week was made in China.

We will make an exception to this rule if the product is an American brand.  For example, Apple is not going to damage its reputation because of Chinese shenanigans.  So sure, much of their stuff is made in China; but under closely supervised quality control.  I am less sure of some American firms manufacturing in China.  Are Chinese-manufactured Doritos safe?  I would assume so, but why take the chance.

Now if you think this perspective is a bit harsh, here is a Shawn Ryan clip, about six months old.  Really, the whole country is just a great big scam, and often dangerous.  I have written about this before.  So how should we handle China?  We should isolate them like any other pariah state.  Maybe this cannot be done diplomatically, but we can certainly isolate them economically.

The Chinese cannot do anything on their own.  They need to steal, and scam, and cheat.  This is deeply ingrained within their culture.  If we do not allow it, they will flounder.  All we have to do is:  Nothing.  Just stay out of China and stop buying Chinese goods.  The world will be a better place.

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The Entitled

A Culture of Entitlement

I wrote last week about how in the Philippines there is little consideration and little appreciation.  But if these qualities are missing from a culture, what replaces them?

Entitlement.

If you are entitled to something, there is no need to feel appreciation for it.  For example, ordinarily, if someone gives you money, you would be grateful and appreciative.  But if you feel entitled to that money, then you also feel as if you need not be grateful for it.  Or more bluntly, if they owe you the money, then of course, no need to be appreciative.

So, if you have a family member, working overseas for slave wages, and they send you money...are you grateful for it or entitled to it?  What if it is an adult child sending money to his or her parents?  Does the child owe his parents?  In Asia, the answer is usually yes.  Okay, we are not in Kansas anymore.

So the parents may very well feel entitled to that money.  What about other family members?  Well in the Philippines there is actually a law that you must help immediate family with their financial necessities.  You may not have to buy them a car, but they might expect you to help pay for their children's schooling.  So they are also entitled.

Yes, entitlement is such a large aspect of Filipino culture that they have enshrined it in the law.  Your family is entitled to the benefits of your labor.  Question in passing:  What does that make you?

Well in the Philippines, they have a name for that.  The breadwinner.

And this labor need not be overseas.  If you work in any capacity, in the Philippines or overseas, and especially if you have a "good job," then yes, your family feels entitled to the benefits of your labor.  And God help you if you start a successful business.  It's worth noting that, regardless of the reality, many businesses appear successful from the outside.  So you will pay.

We in the West would call this charity.  And the receivers of such charity might feel shame for taking it.  But entitlement wipes away all shame.  It is forced charity and there is no shame.  It is breadwinner culture and there seems to be no incentive to join you as such.  And if you are "providing" why should they provide for themselves?  If there is any shame involved, it can only be the breadwinner's shame for not providing.

Now misguided family dynamics are one thing.  But this family entitlement then permeates through the entire culture.  Entitlement becomes part of every aspect of Filipino life.  It is this pervasive sense of entitlement that leads to the lack of consideration.

People are entitled to misbehave.  They use their smartphones, without earbuds, in public.  They drive without a license, breaking traffic laws, without fear of any repercussions.  They happily skip ahead of you in line.  If the clown next door is loudly playing karaoke late on a school night, well he's entitled.  They'll join you for lunch or dinner, but stay on their smartphone the whole time.  Why are they so rude?  It's entitlement.

Filipino time, though widely accepted as a cultural idiosyncrasy, is a clear lack of consideration.  Entitlement.  I've written about chronic lateness before.  The Filipino skin tax?  They are not grateful for my business; rather they are entitled to overcharge me.  With no shame.

I would argue that it is the entitlement mentality that is the genesis for the lack of appreciation and consideration.  They don't appreciate, they are owed and thus entitled.  They have little consideration, they are entitled to do as they please.

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Rose-Colored Philippines

Beware of expat YouTubers in the Philippines

Evidently, for American expats in the Philippines, YouTube provides a great way to make some extra money.  I know that before coming to the Philippines, I watched a great deal of YouTube content of this variety.  You know, an American expat living in the Philippines can provide a ton of insight for other Americans considering a move.  The good, the bad, and the how.

But we should always remember that the goal of these YouTubers is to make money.  And providing accurate and complete information does not always contribute to that goal.

I rarely see flat-out inaccurate videos.  But I do see many videos which leave out a lot.  Little details which will trip you up in the Philippines.  And sometimes these details are not so little.  And if you comment and point out their errors, more often than not, your comment will be deleted or shadow-banned.  That's fine; they have a right to run their channels as they see fit.  And to include only comments that align with their narratives and goals.

But the problem is, there are very few channels which give Americans a full and complete picture of what it's like to live here.  Precious few.  In fact, I constantly ask YouTube to Don't recommend channel for this very reason.

I do watch PhillyinthePhilippines and The Filipina Pea.  Philly keeps sort of a video journal of his life in the Philippines; straightforward enough.  And Pea is a Filipina YouTuber whose audience is largely foreign men.  But she is pretty honest about Philippine culture.  Let me give you an example.  The Philippines is supposedly over 85% Christian.  So she walked around asking her fellow Filipinos simple Bible questions:  Who built a big boat and loaded animals onto it?  What were the names of Adam and Eve's children?  How many of the Ten Commandments can you list?  Let's just say that the answers belied their supposed Christian beliefs.

Yes, there is an argument to be made that only a Filipino can legitimately criticize the culture this way.  But my point is, if you are an American Christian thinking of moving to the overwhelmingly Christian Philippines, this is good information to know.

I will try out new expat channels as they pop up.  And for a while my attitude was:  Well take them for what they are worth, and leave the rest.  But the longer I live here, the less patience and tolerance I have for their dishonesty.  Or worse, their feigned honesty.

Which brings me to Calvin Roach.  When I was still in the US, this must have been in 2019 or 2020, don't remember exactly, Calvin made a comment in one of his videos that I found outrageous.  He said:  In the Philippines, there is no appreciation and no consideration.  My then girlfriend, now my wife, was Filipina and we had lots of Filipino friends in the US.  And Calvin's comment did not ring true to me.  It certainly did not comport with the Filipinos I knew.  And the more I thought about it, the more I found his comment to be unfriendly and untrue, and even ugly.  In short, it made me mad enough, that I quit watching him.  Washed my hands of the guy.

Then in 2021, we moved to the Philippines.  It was not immediate, but I'd say over the next couple of years, I came to realize that Calvin was largely correct.  As unfriendly sounding as his comment was, it was in fact largely true.  I would only temper it a bit; my personal opinion is that, in the Philippines, there is little appreciation and little consideration.  And the fact that this does not hold true for the Filipino diaspora is testament to the type of people who leave the Philippines and the type of people who stay.  The Philippines largest export is Filipinos.

Needless to say, I started watching Calvin again.

The point is, I find him to be a pretty straight shooter.  I know nothing of his reported conflicts with anyone else.  I do know that there seems to be something about Youtube which brings out the inner teenage girl with all her drama, in the content creators.  Maybe it is just about clicks.  But getting true and complete information about living in the Philippines is rare.  Calvin does a better job than most.

In fact, I would submit that this lack of appreciation/consideration aspect of Filipino culture is a dead giveaway for the channels that are less than fully honest.  This is such an obvious part of Filipino culture that if a YouTuber does not address it, ask yourself:  What else are they leaving out?  I remember one YouTuber, from California, who I've long dismissed from my feed, making the argument that Filipinos are more respectful than Americans (as I recall, it was because they are polite and call him Sir).  My comment was something along the lines of:  Only on the most shallow level, but if you dig a bit deeper you will find little appreciation and little consideration.  And how do you find any respect in that?

A couple of other topics to watch for:  The Philippines complete disregard for the environment and its use of the Pacific Ocean as its national landfill.  I know this sounds harsh, but there is very little effort here to deal with waste, particularly plastic.

Also the very popular trend among Filipinas to whiten or otherwise lighten their skin in order to look like Korean, Japanese, and/or Chinese women.  And their methods can be quite effective.  Today, the Philippines is a tropical paradise inhabited by raven-haired apparitions of tropical beauty.

If anyone brings this up at all, the bien-pensants will blame it on the Spanish occupation (which ended in 1898).  This only means that they have not actually spoken with any of these women on the topic.  You want to be white like the Spanish?  They could not care less about the Spanish.  No, they want to be white like the Koreans, who they believe set the Asian beauty standard.  It is sad, and never discussed by expat YouTubers. But what Americans need to understand is just how widespread this is.

Now I do understand why YouTubers leave these issues out. They fear, perhaps correctly, that negative information will lead to less viewership. And perhaps even displease the Philippine government. But whatever the reasons, it's a grave disservice to unsuspecting viewers.

So beware of the expats' rose-colored Philippines.

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Paradise Lost

Smartphones have ruined the Philippines

The Philippines suffers from a serious lack of seriousness.  I am really not sure why this is.  But I suspect that, if pressed, Filipinos will likely blame the Spanish occupation.  But no one does press the issue; it is part of their culture.  I would say lack of seriousness is their culture.

Just to give some examples.  Driving is a mess in the Philippines.  Why?  Many drivers are not licensed and there is little serious traffic enforcement.  They are predominantly Christian, but have few serious (actual practicing) Christians.  They are a nominal democracy, but vote buying is common and openly public.  Many people own dogs and cats, but serious (responsible) pet ownership is rare.  We are surrounded by rice farmers, yet the Philippines still must import about half of its rice needs.  It's a topic for another post, but a little seriousness applied to farming would go a long way.

Pick any topic or cultural dynamic, and you'll find something Filipinos are not serious about.  In fact, I challenge you to find anything they are actually serious about.  Well there is Jollibee.  Filipinos are quite serious about Jollibee; and rightfully so.

Enter the smartphone.  First introduced by Apple in 2007, and followed by numerous competitors, today these devices are ubiquitous.

For what?  I mean, for what purpose is everyone using these devices nonstop?  Have you noticed?  It is all nonsense.  While they have any number of possible productive uses, for most people, smartphones are sophisticated toys.  This is certainly true for the people who use them the most.  In fact, I would argue that there is an inverse relationship between device usage (time) and device productivity.  This is simply the world we live in; clearly true for both the United States and the Philippines.

So problem number one is this:  The introduction of smartphones has been devastating for the Philippines.  A less-than-serious society inundated with relatively cheap sophisticated toys.  Can you imagine?  These toys are a national distraction.

Which brings us to problem number two.  The Philippines has a unique smartphone usage habit:  They use the bloody things everywhere, but no one uses headphones or earbuds.

Okay "no one" is too strong.  But earbud usage is maybe one in a hundred.  Everyone else inflicts their smartphone noise on their surroundings.  And of course, it is the kind of noise that reflects the nonsense they are using their smartphone for.  Utter stupidity.

And they do not even try to do this quietly.  I mean hey, if you are going to forgo earbuds and inflict this on others, you clearly don't care enough to try to keep the sound down.

In fact, noise in the Philippines, any kind of noise, comes in two, and only two, variations.  Off and full blast.  In passing, it is worth pointing out, that noise, mostly but not exclusively, outrageously loud music, is just another sign of the cultural lack of seriousness.  I read recently that "culture is what a society tolerates."  Filipinos tolerate inane noise everywhere which is a primary contributor to the lack of seriousness.

And smartphone noise is omnipresent:  Public transportation, elevators, doctors' waiting rooms, restaurants.  Yes, fancy restaurants.  In fact, it has become impossible to have a nice quiet dinner with your spouse.  Some clown, or group of clowns, will be seated near you, and immediately pull out their noisy toys.  And it will not stop until they leave.  We mostly get takeout for this very reason.

But it is not just others.  If you go to dinner with a group of people, there will be multiple people in your group who will blast their smartphone throughout the meal.  Don't bother asking why they are there?  My advice:  Don't go.  And for God's sake, don't pay.

If you are walking around, do not be surprised if the clown in front of you just stops because he or she has been so captivated by their phone that they cannot move.  Happens all the time; particularly at doors and the top of escalators, which require some minimal level of their attention.  But it is too much for the smartphone zombie.

And all lines.  If the grocery line is not moving and the clerk is just waiting for the next customer, it is because the customer is buried in her smartphone.  It seems that her smartphone nonsense is more important to her that getting through the line and on with her day.

So this brings me to the final point.  A question:  Do Filipinos know that this is rude?  My personal opinion is they do know.  It is simply that in the Philippines there is another cultural dynamic at play:  Little consideration; little appreciation.  They know; they just do not care.

So is it still paradise?  Only if and when you can avoid the culture.

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Tales From Baobaoan

Part Three:  How to be an idiot in the Philippines

So one day last week, we are out for our morning walk.  It's the same everyday.  Three and a half miles through the rice fields.  This is what it looks like.  We walk up to the National Highway and back again.

The thing about rice farming in the Philippines is, it is farming.  When someone says I am a farmer, he means rice farmer.  Any other crop would make him less of a farmer.  Maybe even, less of a man.  The other thing to know about rice farming here is that all the farmers grow rice on these tiny plots.  Anywhere from, say, a quarter of an acre to maybe ten acres.  And ten acres would be an extremely large farm here.

Needless to say, they don't make any money.  I mean, year in and year out, they don't make money.  There's just too many farmers growing rice on too many tiny plots.  So none of them benefit from any economies of scale.  For all their efforts, the rice is expensive to produce.  And the worst part of it is that the farmers don't seem to understand this.

But rice farming is not just an occupation here, it is identity.  The farmers have a familial and intimate attachment to the land.  It is what and who they are.  Further, their cultural conviction that rice is the only crop worthy of their efforts borders on Stockholm Syndrome.  So naturally, the economics don't seem to matter.

Anyway, on this day we ran into a group of people all wearing the same logo shirts.  So I asked what kind of a group they were.  One of the leaders says:  We are an organization encouraging organic farming (sponsored by the government).

Me  You mean organic rice farming?

Leader  Well yes.

Me  Why not organic vegetable farming?  Say onions.

Onions have recently been very expensive here.  The leader mumbled something about how onions don't need a lot of organic material to grow.  And hey, what do I know?  I do know that all vegetables are generally expensive here.  It's a question of limited supply and limited demand.

Me  So where is all this organic material going to come from?  I mean, I never see any livestock here.

Leader  Yeah, we have to import it.

Me  Well wouldn't it be a good idea to encourage the raising of livestock here?  Then you could make your own organic fertilizers.

Leader  No, we don't have room for that here in the Philippines.

I scratch my head.

Me  Well, how about right there?

I point to the rice fields across the street.

Leader  No, no, it would be impossible to raise livestock there.

Me  Why is that?

She looked at me like I was an idiot.

Leader  Well obviously...because those are rice fields.

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Philippine Beauty Standards

The High Demand for Filipino Porcelain

For an expat living in the Philippines, Roger & Ismi Rupuesto have an informative Youtube channel.  But here, I think they are a bit off.

It's an interesting topic; one my Filipina wife and I often talk about. No doubt Roger and Ismi are correct about how Filipino men view Filipina beauty. But in my opinion, they are way off on the foreign men. Well, at least the American men. I can't really speak for the others. But for Americans, Filipina beauty is not new. For Americans, it is not a question of "newness" or "uniqueness." Rather it is a question of access and availability. Because I can assure you, there are many beautiful women in the US. By any standard of beauty. Remember, America is a nation of immigrants. It might be worth pointing out that more Filipinos live in the US than any other country, other than the Philippines itself. In any case, in the US there is no single ethnic standard for beauty.

The American men who come to the Philippines just don't have the same access to beauty in the US that the Philippines offers. So while Filipino men may turn up their noses to the "common" beauty all around them, the American expats know better than to be so cavalier with what is right in front of them.

However, an increasing number of Filipino women have come to believe that Korean and Chinese porcelain paleness is the ultimate standard of beauty. And then they try to mimic the porcelain dolls with harmful Michael Jackson style skin bleach and worse, dodgy pills, and you may not believe this, a weekly intravenous solution of glutathione. Of course, all of this just makes them look pallid and unhealthy. In the US, when we say someone looks "pale," we mean sick.

And yet so many Filipinas are now doing this. I mean, did they behave this way a generation ago? I'm not sure. But personally, I think it is an unnatural cultural contagion. No doubt heavily fueled by a pervasive and pernicious social media. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that social media has reached dystopian levels in the Philippines. The smartphone zombies and their attached devices are everywhere. But the saddest part of the advancing Philippine zombie apocalypse is the ubiquitous pageant of porcelain dolls. It is a travesty.

But it doesn't end there. Once a Filipina achieves this porcelain doll status, because it is status and not beauty that she is seeking, she then turns around and looks down on other Filipinas with a more natural beauty. Authentic natural beauty; read brown skin. Filipinos call it morena. The doll says: Oh, she looks like a nanny. And what she means is, she looks lower class. It's similar to Chinese culture, where they look down on darker skin tone as a sign that someone works in the fields. My point is, this is not even about beauty so much as it is about class. Or at least striving to appear higher class. That's what it's about: Striving.

And these Filipinas are so very proud of their paleness. Just like an American or European might like to show off a nice tan, Filipinas like to show off their paleness. Short skirts and short shorts, with legs whiter than an Irish grandmother's. It seems really twisted. I would go so far to say that Filipinas are willing to sacrifice their beauty in order to appear higher class. To an American, the contrived paleness and associated haughtiness just seem sort of...sad and pathetic. I am embarrassed for these women.

But twisted is the correct word. I mean, here we are in the tropics, eight degrees above the equator, and these women look like they could be from Edinburgh. So today, the Philippines is a tropical paradise inhabited by raven-haired apparitions of tropical beauty. The Filipinas create this dissonance themselves and at the same time seem casually oblivious to their very real sacrifice. Dissonance squared; it is surreal.

Again, it doesn't end there. No doubt there are social and professional environments that discriminate against dark-skinned Filipinas. For instance, if you go into my bank, all the tellers are women, and they all have unnaturally light skin. So whoever makes the hiring decisions, simply does not hire morena Filipinas. I mean, they don't want tellers that look like nannies, right? So yes, it is definitely striving, but sadly, some may feel an element of necessity – At least if you want certain jobs. Or perhaps to fit into certain social settings.

And so now Filipino men and women no longer recognize their own innate beauty. Which is terribly ironic, because everyone else in the world does recognize Philippine beauty, Philippine natural beauty. Yes, I understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But still. Plus, the Philippines has an above average number of men who identify as gay or some other LGBTQ+ variant. End result: Below average western men flock to the Philippines for ready access to beauty. Of course they do.

It is said that when Cecil Rhodes first got to South Africa, he could pick up diamonds on the beach. The natives did not appreciate what they had. But that did not make the diamonds any less valuable.

And one natural Filipina is worth more than all the diamonds in the world.

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Half-Assed as a Cultural Norm

In the Philippines bahala na yields half-assed results (for everything)

The New Oxford American Dictionary defines half-assed as:  Done with little effort or care; incompetent or inadequate.  There do not seem to be any really good synonyms.  I wish there were; I'd be happy to use another term.  But, for example, unserious just does not seem to convey the same level of complete disregard and utter indifference for sufficient care and due diligence.  It just doesn't.  Apathetic may be closer, but it does not capture the inferior results.  Halfhearted and lackadaisical are good, but they lack the proper vigor.  No, it's a half-assed attitude which, of course, produces a half-assed result.  There really is no substitute.

So what is bahala na?  The video above explains it very well, and I prefer to leave it to a Filipino to explain anyway.  She deals with the issue with good humor, and I think that is exactly how it needs to be addressed.  Though I'm not sure that I can agree that the Philippines should blame the Spanish for this.  The Spanish left over a century ago.  A point she acknowledges at the end of the video.

A while back, I met a Filipino seaman.  As an island nation, many people here work in commercial shipping.  This guy worked as the second officer on a cargo ship.  He told me that mariners from other countries do not like working with mariners from the Philippines.  I asked why and he shrugged and said they are prejudiced against Filipinos.  At the time, I just accepted that as true.

But today, I'm not so sure.  Could it be that the foreign mariners just do not like working with people who consistently do a half-assed job?

And that is not all.  Bahala na breeds genuine contempt for anyone who wants to and tries to do a good job.  They think these people are just plain stupid for making the completely unnecessary extra effort.  There is an element of peer pressure involved.  Forget pride in a job well done.  In the Philippines there is no shame for a sloppy or unfinished job.  The only shame seems to be for the poor sap who puts in the extra effort.

In America, we have an expression:  Perfect is the enemy of good.  Well in the Philippines, adequate is the enemy of just barely enough to get by and not one bit more.  It is a cultural phenomenon.  I think it is worth pointing out that, expression or not, many many people in the West strive for perfection, or at least as close as they can get to it.  Certainly, you also see this in Japan.  Of course a Japanese mariner is going to dread the idea of working with a Filipino mariner.

So if we reject Spanish responsibility for this attitude, where does it come from?  One is tempted to blame sheer laziness – Everywhere you turn, there is a noticeable lack of industriousness.  And while that is certainly part of it, I don't think that is the whole story.

No, perhaps I am speculating, but I think it is a question of exposure.  Exposure to quality, craftsmanship, precision, durability, diligence, completeness, consistency, accomplishment, integrity, fidelity, etc.  And even things like excellent customer service, critical thinking, openness to change, self-improvement, learning and curiosity, attention to detail, punctuality, organization and planning, etc.  The list could go on and on.  But if you are not exposed to these hallmarks, you cannot possibly understand and value them, and you cannot possibly know to strive for them.

For instance, not all Filipinos share this attitude.  Many of the most ambitious and hard-working Filipinos leave to work in other countries.  Countries where the bahala na attitude will quickly get you fired.  And I notice that people who return to the Philippines after working long stints overseas seem to have lost the attitude.  Why?  Again, I think it is exposure to these qualities.  Even here in the Philippines, there are people who seem to have moved beyond bahala na.  But they are pretty rare.  I would guess you find more of them in the cities.

In any case, I would call bahala na the dominant cultural attitude of the country.  And it is crippling.  Economically, financially, culturally, socially, politically.  It spans all aspects of Filipino life.

As she said at the end of the video, the Philippine people must decide what kind of country they want.  This is the most important point:  It is a choice.  Not only as a society.  But also for each individual.

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Crazy Times Demand Principled Choices

Compliance is always a choice

Yesterday we made a trip to the Philippine Bureau of Immigration in order to extend my visa.  While our local office is never particularly busy, naturally one does tend to run into other expats.  Yesterday this fellow walks in behind me and he looked American or European.  He was late twenties, early thirties.

So I asked him:  "Hey brother, where are you from?"

"Russia."  I did not expect that.

"Oh" I said, thinking that he was definitely conscription material, "well, I'm glad you're here."  He smiled and gave me a knowing look.  I think he must have instinctively known I was referring to Putin's war in Ukraine.

After a bit of chit-chat in perfect English, I learned that he was waiting on his Russian (not Filipino) wife to join him here.  How interesting is that?  Then he asked me:  "So why are you here?"

I thought about giving him my customary answer to this question:  "My wife is from here."  It's true, but essentially evasive.  Instead I said:  "Well, the US has gone crazy."

He did not miss a beat:  "Yes...Russia too."

We both nodded knowingly.

By this time I was done, and he was being called to the counter.  So I left wondering how many of his contemporaries are here?  And in other countries?

I wish them good luck and long life.

It is one thing to be patriotic, and fight for your country.  It is quite another to risk your life for the whims of a corrupt political class.  Clearly this applies to Russian conscripts in Ukraine; just as it once applied to US conscripts in Vietnam.  Some people, especially in the US, especially during the Vietnam War, viewed conscription as a no choice situation.  Or worse, a patriotic duty.

But looking back at the Vietnam War, can anyone explain the US interest?  Of course not.  It was not about patriotism, much less fighting for your country.  No, it was about a corrupt political class and their self-serving misconceptions.  Remember, these are the same people who let Cuba go, but decided a poor country on the other side of the world, was worth dead Americans.  No, no, Cuba may have been worth war, but certainly not Vietnam.

I think it is worth noting that even George Kennan, father of our containment strategy, thought involvement in Vietnam was a preoccupation and a mistake.  But Johnson and McNamara, and Nixon and Kissinger, did not care about poor dead midwestern farm boys anymore than Putin cares about young dead Russians.

Here's a rule for you:  If you give corrupt politicians the tool of conscription, they will use it to further their corruption.  Every time.  And they only get away with this with our sanction.  Just don't give it; always question everything.  And just like with the Covid vaccine, there is always a choice.  Unpleasant though it may be.

Compliance is always a choice.

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The Islands of Misfit American Men

What type of American man comes to the Philippines?

I used to eat lunch in a small Filipino-American cafe.  Everyday, for years.  It was owned by a Filipina-American who became a friend of mine.  She had quite a few Filipina girlfriends who would also frequent the place.  Pretty ladies, all married to American men.  The owner had met her husband when he served in the Philippines in the US military (I forget the branch).  This was also true for some of the other Filipinas.  But a good number of them had done the penpal, and later internet dating, thing to meet their husbands.

At some point, the future husband had traveled to the Philippines and returned home with his bride or bride-to-be.  Well over time, I also met a number of the husbands.  Like I said, I ate lunch in this place for years.  I don't remember any of the husbands specifically; they were all pretty unremarkable.  But I can tell you that, and this was only my personal sense, they were all a bit awkward, socially awkward.  No big deal, and at the time, I did not give it any thought whatsoever.

After a few years, one of these ladies introduced me to one of her single Filipina girlfriends.  I'll skip the details, but ten years later, this gal, now my wife, and I, moved to the Philippines.

There's a lot to notice living in a foreign country.  I've written here about some of it.  But one thing I noticed for sure was other Americans.  All men.  They do stand out here.  Why?  It's not what you might imagine.

There is something odd about these men.  All of them.  Let me give you the rundown of the typical American man in the Philippines:

• He is socially awkward.  This is the primary characteristic of these men.
• He is not handsome, certainly not in any western sense.
• He is not financially successful.
• He is low status, socially.  Broadly speaking (job, education, family, background, etc.)
• He could not find a wife in the US, or his wife left him.  Basically American women did not want him.

Yet here, these same guys can find a well-above-average looking (by American standards) wife who is kind and loyal.  She is most often younger than the man, sometimes quite a bit younger, and occasionally obscenely younger.  The poor Filipinas don't know any better.  I am not saying they're stupid; they just have no basis of comparison.  That's why the men come here.  They don't have to compete with above average American men.  They don't even have to compete with average American men.  Some of these guys will return to the states with their brides.  But a good number of them stay here.

Look, none of the above make him a bad guy.  I'm not saying that.  But this is such a noticeable reality that there's no sense in denying it.  And there's so many of them.  Yet needless to say, nobody talks about this.

Sure, sure, this cannot apply to all American men in the Philippines, right?  Well when I meet one who does not fall into this stereotype, I'll let you know.

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Tales From Baobaoan

Part Two

In the aftermath of Typhoon Odette, we were without power for two weeks, including Christmas.  Here in Baobaoan, that was really the worst effect of the cyclone.  Since this immediate area is fed by natural springs, lack of water was never an issue for us.  Other areas of the Philippines were not so lucky.  A category five hurricane does not hit an island nation without areas of complete devastation.

And no electricity is really a non-event for most Filipinos.  Most people do not use air conditioning.  They are also used to small refrigerators without much capacity.  But, at a mere eight degrees north of the equator, I found both of these issues rather disagreeable.

To be fair, temperature and humidity-wise, it did get somewhat comfortable between three and six am.  And we simply went to the market almost daily.  So all-in-all, it was unpleasant, but not terrible.

One mistake we made was that we failed to elevate our water pump.  Well, we did elevate it, but just not enough.  And the thing was flooded.  This is a big deal because there is no water tower here in Baobaoan.  So you need a pump to move water into and through the house.  I thought we needed to replace it, but a few days after the electric company restored the power, Mira's nephew, Kim, Neng's oldest son, got the thing working again.  But first, we made a new, higher platform for the pump.  I'm sure it will not flood that much again, but we are now prepared for the worst.

Third World Country, New World Malls

There are two open markets within five miles of here.  And in Butuan City, there are several large markets, for meat and vegetables & fruit.  We shop at all of these.

But to be honest, we buy most of our groceries at the supermarket.  Yep, just like Kroger.  Okay, they do not have a deli, but otherwise, you'd think you were in a Kroger.  Here in Butuan, we have three to choose from.

And you know where to find the supermarkets?  At the malls of course.  Three supermarkets; three malls.  Here in the Philippines, the malls are not anchored by Macy's, but rather by the supermarkets.

And when you walk inside one of these malls, you leave the third world behind.  Inside, you might well be in Pasadena.  These things are as American as you can get.  And they are packed.  There's a Levis store on the first floor and an Ace Hardware on the second.  And just like in America, Filipinos go not only to shop, but also for entertainment and restaurants.  Movies?  Theater on the third floor.  Hotel?  Attached.  McDonald's?  Right where it is in America – Out front in an outparcel.

It's fair to label the Philippines a third world country.  But it is more accurate to call it a developing nation.  A quickly developing nation.  Want evidence of the emerging Philippine middle class?  Just head to the malls.

Find Part One of Tales From Baobaoan here.

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Tales From Baobaoan

Part One

We arrived in Baobaoan (pronounced:  Bab-ō-wän) on Saturday, July 24, 2021.  This was after spending eleven days in quarantine in Manila.  And we were required to spend six additional days in home quarantine before our local Covid test results proved negative.  Believe me, eleven days locked in a third class hotel room is just one step above jail.

Welcome to the Philippines.

To be fair, one can quarantine at the Hilton.  And there is even a Peninsula.  We just did not have the budget for that.

Baobaoan is my wife, Mira's, hometown.  It is a small village (barangay) of, I'd guess, around 1,500 people, northeast of Butuan City.  Surrounded by rice paddies, it is a provincial farming community, three kilometers off the main highway.

Mira's family had fixed up a small house right next door to one of her five sisters.  Fresh paint, new water pump, and most importantly, a new air conditioner.  It was pretty amazing:  We settled in with no issues.  Though with home quarantine and all, Mira's sister pretty much had to feed us for a week.

Robert & Neng

She still feeds us regularly.  Her name is Maria Theresa Seno Avilla.  Sobriquet:  NeNeng, but most often just Neng.  She and her family run the barangay's only carinderia, a small food stall.  It is really the only place to get prepared food in the whole village.  Needless to say, it is a busy place.

Her husband Robert does something with the farmers – He's a bit like an agricultural extension agent.  He also serves on the barangay council.  Given their roles in the village, Robert & Neng are pillars of the community, and as such, have really helped us settle into life here.

Junjun

Angelo Auman Seno, Jr. is one of Mira's four brothers.  He and his wife, Mae, and their four children split their time between Manila where she works, and Baobaoan, and nearby Magallanes where her family is from.  Junjun is really the entrepreneur of the family with a duck egg business, a coconut oil processing business, and a new recycling venture.  Duck eggs, or balut, are a popular Philippine delicacy.

Junjun's day job is working as assistant to Congressman Lawrence Fortun, who represents the First District of Agusan del Norte, and is currently running for vice mayor of Butuan City.

Wendy

Mira has another sister, Wendy.  She and her husband own one of the local rice farms, and she runs a small sari-sari store in front of our house.  The literal translation of sari-sari is assorted, sundry, or diverse.  But the best way I can describe a sari-sari store is as a Philippine convenience store.  They sell snacks and soft drinks, beer, and staples like flour and sugar.  Wendy is there everyday from 5:30 am till well after dark.  The problem is that every third house seems to have a sari-sari store up front.  I'm not sure how they all stay in business.  Wendy's store benefits by being on the main street and right next to Neng's carinderia.

In a community with only a few automobiles, and the nearest market about five miles away, the sari-sari stores provide a vital service.

Andrew

Andrew is Mira's nephew, the son of her eldest sister, Angelita.  He's young (21) and smart and ambitious, and always ready to take a walk with me.  This gives him an opportunity to practice his English.

Now what you need to understand is that the Philippine people are among the least judgmental that I have ever met.  But there is one area where Filipinos do tend to judge each other harshly:  Command of the English language.  So Andrew wants to practice his English, not only to help him in the job market, but also so that other Filipinos will respect his language skills.  It's a real thing here.

This is such an issue in the Philippines that I have found that people with moderate to even very good fluency will not attempt to speak English for fear that others will look down on them.  As an American this is very frustrating because almost everyone here can communicate in English – They are just too embarrassed to do so.  They never seem to understand that their English is always better than my non-existent Bisayan, and as a typical monolingual American, I can only judge them positively.

Hanna

Hanna is Wendy's oldest daughter and has just received a degree in math education from Caraga State University.  CSU is about five miles south of here and has a well-regarded College of Education.  She'll probably get a position teaching high school math.  The problem is she looks like a high schooler, herself.  But she's smart, tech-savvy, and she and her contemporaries represent the future of the Philippines.  She'll go far.

JR

JR is a family friend.  He works for the local egg cooperative surveying chickens.  Now, I have no idea what surveying chickens entails, but I presume that it has something to do with estimating egg supply.  He is married to a quiet, reserved young woman, who also happens to be one of the most beautiful women in Baobaoan.  They have a toddler named Harrison – Harrison, after Harrison Ford, JR's favorite actor.  Unlike many folks, JR is always happy to talk with me in English, and here, let me thank him for it.

Odette

On Thursday, December 16th, Typhoon Odette slammed into the Philippines.  JR evacuated his young family to the next barangay about three kilometers away, on the main highway.  They spent the night in the barangay hall.  This was extremely smart, because the rest of us endured a night of flooding not seen in this area in more than a generation.  In fact, Odette hit the Philippines as a Category Five hurricane.

Now, living all my life in eastern North Carolina, I've endured my share of hurricanes.  But I have never personally dealt with flooding.  We were told to expect, and prepared for, six to eight inches of water.  We got 18 to 24 inches.  That's in our house.  Some had a bit less, some had quite a bit more.  We had elevated our refrigerator about eight inches when we bought it.  When the water came, we realized that was not enough.  So we rounded up some help and raised it to about twelve inches.  A few short hours later, we rounded up yet more help and put the thing on the kitchen table, which luckily is sturdy enough to hold it.

Then we evacuated ourselves next door, to Neng and Robert's one second floor room, their oldest son, Kim's bedroom, where we spent the night.

Now about 6:30 that evening, when the water was really at its peak, Neng appears with a wash basin as an umbrella, and announces that she is going to cook dinner.  With her kitchen flooded the same as ours, she went around the corner to her parents, my in-laws.  You see, they had only about fifteen inches of water in their kitchen.  I have no idea how she did it, but about an hour later, we were eating hot rice and fresh, crispy spring rolls (lumpia).  And she fed the whole family – easily more than twenty people.  It was worth traveling halfway around the world just to meet this resourceful woman of quiet competence and genuine fortitude.

And that seems like the perfect place to end this first installment.  I hope to bring you more tales from Baobaoan soon.

At one time, the United States was teeming with grit.  That is, people with grit.  Yet, today's average college graduate looks down on people with dirty fingernails.  Yeah, they don't even know what the word means.  You'll not find it in Cambridge or Stanford or Chapel Hill.  They don't know what the word means, and they surely do not aspire to it.

I am sure that there are any number of places in the world today where you can find true grit.  But if you are looking, you could do a lot worse than the Philippines.

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