jogging on beach today i get soooo many looks and stares and comments from kids. This happens pretty much everywhere around philippines. its constant. they love to see a westerner. they are laughing and smiling and giggling with their friends and pointing and staring and saying, "hey Joe", "hey Joe" (this is a residual from war and gijoe, so they call all westerners joe).
Anyways....why would this wonderful, kind, innocent behavior conjure up irritation ever? They are reacting as any of us would in their innocent situation. Maybe its the fact that I have been feeling like a celebrity for about 3years now of traveling, and i crave to be ignored at times. Or maybe Im upset with myself for being out of balance of some sort that particular day.
Whatever the reason for any irritation i have, its not acceptable for me... I plan to continue to practice love and compassion and understanding and become a master of this.
any other 'vagabonders' have this experience?
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2 comments:
this just made me miss the philippines so much! i recenttly(last summer) was right outside of manila and lived amungst squatters and taught dance at a school. what a wonderful people the filipinos are! kind and welcoming, loving and pure. i rememeber going to the mall or being on the beach and getting those same kind of looks and such from the locals. it makes you feel so differnet from them. at first i enjoyed it because of the attention, but then i just wanted to lend in and be one of them. i get you here. i am looking forward to going back for a month or so in the spring of 2011! thank you for sharing your adventures. i truly love reading your blog! blessings!
Children vs adults, and very slight variations of facial expressions amongst the starers:
I enjoy the children's smiles and stares, mostly, as they are genuine expressions of happiness, friendliness, etc.
There are the other smiles and stares, mostly amongst the adults and sometimes amongst children, which remind me of ugly people, eg philippine scammers, rip-off artists, prostitutes/pimps, etc.
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