Lately I've been trying to decide what makes PC Philippines so difficult? It's definitely not the aspect of having to rough it, and yet, maybe that's it. When I was back in the states, I had all these expectations of what it would be like in service, I mean, who goes into a situation like this without doing some research or trying to have a heads-up on what's to come. Of course, expectations are shot out the window as soon as you leave your familiar surroundings of home. Anyways, back to my expectations. I figured that Peace Corps definitely meant roughing it. I imagined hauling water, no electricity, and bamboo houses. Yeah, if anything, I feel incredibly spoiled. I have running water, electricity, and Internet. You're thinking, what's the problem complainer?
But here's where the difficulty comes. The running water gets shut off for 12 hours at a time, brown outs happen periodically, and the Internet is dial-up style that shuts down unexpectedly at least twice everytime I use it. I know, you're thinking, seriously, this girl is complaining because she has all those things, but in a weird way, yes.
I think what gets to me is it's so similar to the familiar surroundings of home, that the expectations get raised, and are not met in the same way or fashion that they are at home; stupid expectations. It's so similar to America in ways, and yet, it's just not America, it's just not home.
You'd think that after 10 months in country, I wouldn't get hung up on things like lateness or lack of air conditioning, and yet, I constantly catch myself thinking of back in high school when they ran the air so low you had to wear a sweatshirt during the summer... oh the good ol' days. :)
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I think the way you put it is just right. It feels like home most of the time, but it's not. I'd rather be in Africa, in a mud hut, eating grasshoppers, with no English around me, than having it be so close to home, with minor irritating changes.
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