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More Observations!

Posted by on June 26, 2015

I’ve talked previously about the awful traffic here, and there’s no denying it’s bad – the other day I almost got run over on the sidewalk by a chain of motorcycles who had driven up on the sidewalk to try to get around a traffic jam, for example.  But in a way, Filipino drivers are better drivers than Americans.  Accidents due to carelessness and inattentive driving are common in the States, and although I’m sure accidents happen here, I haven’t seen any yet (and I have seen some very risky maneuvers here). American drivers would not fare well here.  Filipino drivers, on the other hand, have to be very aware of what’s going around them, so they’ve developed a quick response time and always drive defensively.

Shaving legs also doesn’t seem to be as big of a social imperative here.  I’ve seen some very pretty women in trendy dresses and heels, hair and makeup done, who have very hairy legs.  That would be such a taboo in America, but here it doesn’t seem to be much of a big deal.

Pharmacies also operate differently (luckily for me).  I found this out the hard way: I forgot to bring some prescription medication with me for something, and I was worried about how I’d contact my doctor to get authorization to fill my prescription out of the country.  Turns out that for most medications you can just write down the name of the drug and dosage and the pharmacist will fill it for you. No doctor authorization required. A hypochondriac’s paradise!

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