Episode 1:
On my way to work:
As soon as I go out I notice that many people are looking at me as if they had never seen a white person before. You may even hear them murmur or say that I am an American (meaning from the USA) which makes me feel uncomfortable because I am not one.
If you don鈥檛 have a car and need to get to your work on a daily basis and you need to take a taxi: as soon as you enter the car, the driver starts acting mysteriously (he is uncomfortable and tempted to overcharge you), if he doesn鈥檛 then you must be aware of the route he is taking or he will tour you around the city resulting in you time and money being wasted.
If instead you make up your mind to take a jeep, if you succeed in stopping one because some will not stop at you assuming that you are not supposed to ride a jeepney; you must give the driver the exact fare otherwise he will not return your change or your change will not be complete (this is especially annoying if you notice he is giving the right change to a Filipino sitting beside you). You鈥檒l also notice that the people inside the jeep behave like (I guess they are thinking: 鈥溾€渨hat is he doing here?, he doesn鈥檛 belong here鈥濃€? the weight of their sight over you might make you feel uncomfortable at times. I feel that way all almost the time, by the way.
In my case I need two rides, so after the FX or jeep I have to take a bus to Makati and as make my way to my seat inside the aircon bus I feel like a lab mouse. Then you鈥檒l notice how nobody will sit beside you unless there鈥檚 no other seat available on the bus.
All I want is to be treated as a normal person.
My life in the Philippines, a never ending torture: I am too paranoid?
The same thing happened to me. I understand exactly what your talking about. Other people posting don't have any idea of what you're talking about. I went through a similar situation. They make my stay unpleasant in every aspect of my life. No matter how many years u spend there they will never assimilate you as equal.
Advice: Just do your things and as much as possible try to avoid those annoying scenarios. You'll feel better once you have your own car and if you live a life that matches what locals expect from foreigners. Keep away from locals as much as you can and create a small circle of selected friends and join people from other nationalities of your own... for locals you definitely are a rarity and whether they admire you or not that's not the point. Just live in your own world apart form them. that will prevent you from unpleasant moments.
My life in the Philippines, a never ending torture: I am too paranoid?
Accept the reality. Take it or leave it ....
%26quot;You are a stranger in paradise!%26quot;
Just create a blog and write...
.
1. It is normal for a Filipino to stare at a white person, just like a Filipino would get eyed if he were in Alabama.
2. Yes some (a lot) of taxi drivers are tempted to overcharge white people because they think they are naive and has more money than commuting Filipinos.
3. If a jeepney driver doesn't give you change, it is either he wants to cheat you or he is just not comfortable speaking in English, if you don't give the exact fare he is then forced to ask you where you are going and seeing you're white, he'll come to the conclusion that you only speak English.
4. No one will sit beside you in the bus because Filipinos are a generally shy people and will be apprehensive being close with a white (black, arabic etc.) person.
You are a normal person but white people living in the Philippines is not the norm, you have to adjust , not the Filipinos.
Wow, I think I understand your situation. To fix your problem, I think you may have to speak some basic tagalog to help make people feel comfortable around you.
I am usually never by myself. I do have a black american friend who travel around manila by himself everyday. According him, he does not have any problem. He enjoy his stay here in the Philippines. He is very friendly and sociable toward anyone but he is not foolish either.
He have made many contacts and built a network just by travelling around manila himself for one year. He is retired U.S. military.
He is single and searching for the%26quot;right%26quot; filipina to settle down with.
He is well adapted to the culture.
He blend in well with the environment by the way he dress. He dress like most everyday filipino's sandols/slippers and all. You might want to try his method. It worked for him very well.
when I went to Norway, who do the white people keep on staring at me and keep on murmuring while I was walking down the streets of Oslo? It's not like they've never seen a Filipino before... Why is that I am being treated unfairly there, I was working there as dining room server in an American restaurant, why is that they wage me the lowest of all the workers?
Am I too paranoid?
Welcome To The Philippines, pal !!! Well, you may not be paranoid but you are exaggerating the events. So it may be true that since you look foreign, jeepney drivers may tend to cheat you but hey, you're not alone. A lot of passengers taking public transportation are being cheated out of their hard earned money, local looking or foreign looking. This has become a lifestyle and you just have to keep your eyes and ears open.
And so as not to be cheated of cash, be sure you have enough and in change and keep them in a pocket (not your wallet - pickpockets abound everywhere) so you'll know where to dip to cash when you pay your fare.
As for the attention because you look foreign? Enjoy the stare .. believe it or not, they probably find you handsome and they just want to look good as you do. I'm not kidding you ... I grew up in the Philippines and I know how the locals think. I have a cousin who is meztisa (American-Asian) and she was young, she looked like an American and everytime she was at our house, we always had a crowd on on-lookers are our gate.
Have a pen ready, who knows? someone might pop up and ask for you autograph ...
Old news. Hint: White people don't ride jeepney in Metro Manila area for a reason. They probably think, you MUST be armed with a machine gun and a bazooka and have brass gonads. If that's not the case, then you better stick to the cab. It's just a matter of time something bad will happen to you.
Another hint: Stay the hell away from Manila. They really really hate foreigners there.
