We're going home!

Flying home tomorrow! IBM pays for us to go home once a year. So tomorrow morning we get on a couple of plans for 22 hours to go back to Arlington, Texas. Four hours from Manila to Tokyo, four hours sitting in the airport (should be a thrill) and fourteen hours to DFW. I am planning on gaining at least 8 pounds through constant eating at Chick Fil A, On the Border, Abeulo's and Mama's Pizza. I am even wanting Sonic. Weird.

We get to stay for 2 1/2 weeks. Should be fun and should be cold. We are still in the upper 80s and lower 90s here in the Phillipines. I am ready to go! Been five months since we have seen my family and Terri's and lots of friends. I know my parents are very anxious.

Christmas for the poor

We gave each of our workers 2,000 pesos ($40) in gift cards to buy christmas presents. Both Eddie and Butch, our drivers, have little girls. They were so excited because they were able to buy them a simple church dress and shoes. That is all their kids are getting for Christmas. Apparently, most years they don't get anything. Christmas here is more about being together with family than it is about gifts. The top 10% here buy most of the gifts, so there is plenty of that. Like Terri said in another post. But the poor, obviously, don't.

I also found out that Santa Claus is not a big deal here. Most children don't believe in him since they don't get any gifts. Wow! A place where Christmas is about Jesus and family. What a concept!

Manny Pacquiao

Not sure if you know who this is. He is the Filipino boxer who defeated Oscar de la Hoya this last weekend in a pretty big bout. He was the underdog and still won. In the boxing world he is considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world right now. He has won four titles in four different weight divisions.

Reason I bring him up is how hugely popular he is here. In the US we are so used to having "superstars" that are globally known in many categories. So many to choose from and follow. Probably not too many Filipinos you can name off the top of your head except for Imelda Marcos and her shoe collection. So, in a smaller country who has someone who is the best in their field in the world, they become a national hero.

The entire country nearly shuts down when he fights. Most of the theaters turn into a pay per view event. You can see it at malls, churches, everywhere. The paper reported there was no crime in the entire country during the fight.

Certainly interesting to see the pride in the people I work with. Everyone has total faith in him even when he is a heavy underdog. Kind of cool.

We joined a country club

I have never been a member of a country club before. However, we are talking $150 per month for all four of us. Big drawback is this club does not have a golf course. So why join you ask. It has three restaurants (Japanese, Continental and American/Asian), a bakery, four swimming pools, tennis, badminton and squash courts, basketball gym, rock climbing wall, etc. It is really nice and fairly new.

We all play badminton 2-3 times per week. I hear the snickering. But after an hour I am totally soaked with sweat. I am too slow to play tennis anymore, but this has many of the same skills needed. Those that are really good at this hit slam after slam. So it is quite the workout. Of course, it is not air-conditioned. Maybe that has something to do with it.

Our Drivers

I can't believe I haven't introduced you to our drivers, Eddie and Butch.

That's Eddie on the left and Butch on the right. I purchased the Toyota Fortuner on the left and the Toyota Camry on the right from two other expats. These guys are amazing. You never know what you are going to get when you hire someone local that you have never met before. Eddie lives with us. He has a small room downstairs by the gym with a bathroom. Check out the pics of the house and you will see it. Butch lives 20 min away and has his own motorcycle. So I let him stay with his family. Both of them have wives and small children. They each get one day off a week, Eddie on Saturday and Butch on Sunday.

Expat drivers usually make twice what drivers from local people make. But they are well worth it. They speak broken english but are very nice. They alternate between me and Terri. One will take the boys to school and run errands with Terri and pick the boys up, while the other is stuck driving me to work all day. They take me to work and sit in the parking garage for the next 10-12 hours. There are other drivers down there, but it has to be mind-numbing sitting there all day.

Now the great part of this is that they handwash our car everyday. EVERYDAY!!! Actually after they drive one way, while they are waiting on us, they will take out a cloth and clean it inside and out. Crazy. But all drivers do this. They also take care of cleaning the gardens, garage, sidewalk, etc. They don't like to be bored so they will pick up every leaf on the ground.

So we aren't doing this because it is cheap to have them, driving is quite the adventure. We can now figure out how to get from Point A to Point B. The problem is if the road is blocked or closed we would be in trouble. And you never know when that will happen.

We are very fortunate and blessed that we have Eddie and Butch.