So you may have been wondering why my blog is entitled “Why are You so Tall?” I am tall, but not ridiculously so or anything, well not by U.S. standards anyway! In the Philippines, though, I am on the taller end of the spectrum. (Although there are tall Filipinos too – I don’t want to generalize!). Anyways, I titled my blog as such because of something Neemai said to me. We were at Eden Nature Park and Resort and had finished lunch, over which she had really opened up to Chernor and I. We had just played with her on the zipline and the playground and had had a deep discussion about American pop singers and Disney characters. As we were heading over to the swimming pool Neemai looks (far) up at me and asks, “Why are Americans so tall?” It was so adorable, but sadly I had no real answer for her. Any geneticists out there want to help me out? So this question has become representative of the many questions I will ponder and ask (or be asked) during my time here in the Philippines!

Being “so tall” in this country, however, does bring me to another point. If you weren’t already aware I am a bit of a self-conscious person. I try to not get into others way or disrespect anyone. I worry what people think of me and I’m not a big fan of group discussions. Although I can put on a good face, I’m not necessarily the most confident person in how to be an extrovert. I also try not to be self-conscious, but then I’m self-conscious about being self-conscious! Ugh! There is no way to win! But in a foreign country where you blatantly don’t belong, you just have to get over being self-conscious because everyone looks at you. Sometimes I go to the mall right near our house and I just walk around like I’m at any other mall and all of the sudden I see someone looking at me and I realize – oh that’s right you’re the one who is out of place here and all eyes are on you. And in terms of size, I feel a bit like a giant sometimes. When I ride the jeepneys I am usually the only one whose head hits the roof when we go over bumps, and I feel like all arms and legs when I crawl out the short opening in the back. And I am always worried I will offend someone if I do something that unknowingly actually trespasses on an important social or cultural norm. Now that I have met some people here and have started work I have felt as though I understand the norms and “belong” a bit more – “yes I have a reason for being here!” In any case, I have to just toughen up, act like I am here for a reason, and accept the stares. Hopefully if I can work on being less self-conscious in a completely foreign place, I will be all the more confident back in a place where I was raised and understand the cultural customs thoroughly!

On a completely unrelated note, this post may have raised a question for you -- what is a jeepney?

Jeepneys are the main form of public transportation around here. Jeepneys are extended jeeps that have two long bench seats in the back -- it may look like a lot of people can't fit in them, but trust me when you squish together -- you'd be surprised! Like public buses in the U.S. jeepney's follow certain routes and pick up people and drop them off along the way. There are signs in the windows of them saying which route they are going at any given time. Unlike public buses in the U.S., however, to get on a jeepney you just wait anywhere on the side of the road until a jeepney passes you that has the route you need posted, you flag it down and hop on (although, now that I type this out, that is actually quite similar to how the buses work in South Bend ;) When you get to your destination you alert the driver and he stops wherever you need. Here are some pictures that I found online of jeepneys.

Taken from http://marcelopaniago.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/meios-de-transporte/

Taken from: http://vzone.vn/Resources/StyleOld/2009_04_05/2277/jeepney.jpg

Every morning to get to work I take a jeepney down the highway, then a tricycle (a bike or motorcyle with a seat attached) through the neighborhood streets, then walk up the hill to my office. If I don't know where I'm going though -- I take a taxi!