The other day, an American friend came over to my house. He is not a close friend, in fact, I had only met him once previously, but had exchanged a few e-mails with him since meeting in person. He’s a nice guy, I met him at a meeting of foreigners who live in Davao that […]
Having a driver
When you live in the Philippines, do you intend to have a driver? Generally, I have always liked driving myself, although I’ve had a driver twice during my time of living here. The first time that we had a driver, it was in 2001, after I had been sick (I had a stroke in November […]
My first visit to Patag
Not many people would be excited about going to Patag, Sarangani. It’s a quiet little place full of coconut trees, corn fields, and a big population of Carabao. But, for me, going there was special. Why was it so special for me? Well, because that is where Feyma is from. She was born there, grew […]
How to know you’ve adjusted…
You know, over the past couple of years that I’ve been writing on this site, I have commented many times that living in the Philippines requires adjustments. Not everything is the same here as it was “back home,” so you have to make changes in the way you live. Before you’ve made the changes in […]
Living out
I am considering doing something a little bit different. I am thinking about “living out.” What’s that? Well, I’ll explain it in this column. As anybody who reads this column regularly knows, I have been studying Bisaya (the local langauge where I live) for some time now. I started studying in August 2007. I am […]
A learning experience
Learning is not always fun, but it is almost always beneficial. Even though I have lived in the Philippines for over 8 years now, I learn new things about life in the Philippines regularly. Sometimes I learn the same lesson many times over, because I forget what I learned previously. Forgetting lessons is not a […]