After I wrote the title, I looked at it and thought: Is this really my home? The answer is a big "yes". And that kind of answers another question that might, and probably is, a on a person's mind if they are thinking of moving here. Can I ever feel at home in a foreign country, where I know no one and no one also knows me; where the customs are different, the first language is different, and the people even look different.
Maybe there are places in the world, and even in the Philippines - like the Muslim-dominant parts of Mindanao - that wouldn't be quite so hospitable to a white foreigner who doesn't know the language or the customs. But here in Ginatilan, Cebu, life is easy and pleasant and the locals love foreigners. I honestly feel safer here than in any place I've lived in the U.S. And it is my guess, with input from many friends here, that life anywhere in the Province, outside of the city, is just as friendly and welcoming.
Cities are cities, anywhere. There is always the danger of being accosted by someone whose intentions are not favorable to your welfare. Cebu City is dirty and crowded with smog where the traffic is heaviest. Crime is standard fare.
I really enjoy shopping in Cebu City. The streets are filled with a clutter of small shops, crammed together and harboring just about anything you could want. The malls are modern and a joy to peruse. SM mall is where we always go to buy computers for our internet cafe, or stock up on supplies. The grocery store there has just about everything a modern grocery in the U.S. would offer.
But there are seedy and dirty and smelly parts of the city I would really not want to frequent, let alone live anywhere near. Shanty towns known for drug involvement are visible from the main roads. Poverty sucks but it is particularly nasty in the city where the environment induces children of the poor to become panhandlers, prostitutes and drug addicts.
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