It’s funny what you get accustomed to, in just 6 weeks of
being in the Philippines. Being the only non-Filipino
at church, being one of maybe 4 women out of 100 people in the Hong Kong
airport lounge, being stared at by children (and adults) and just
generally being a novelty because my hair is not dark and my eyes are blue
instead of brown. In some ways, looking
different is an advantage. I often get
preferential treatment here, rightly or wrongly, and I am somewhat concerned to
find that I am getting accustomed to it. Before leaving Cebu, I went to a touristy
shop in a mall to buy the prerequisite gifts to take home to Canada. Touristy shops are, apparently, accustomed to
Caucasian foreigners and I was a little surprised to not receive the excellent
level of service to which I am now becoming accustomed!
This is a poster in the public area of the 12th floor of our building, where our office is. It's advertising office space for a new building in the area and it makes me laugh every time I see it. Note that the proud fellow in the picture is caucasian...
