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When I first came to Manila for college, I was the typical promdi.
I remember I am often lost finding my way home.
I couldn’t seem to remember street names and it’s as if
FEU-Morayta and Espaúa is too complicated for me.
I’d like to state some of the things that awed me:
- Jeepneys here do not have their conductor; in my province they have one for each jeep.
- When you want to get off the jeep here you say, “Para” or “Sa tabi po”; in my province you knock the jeep’s roof or in my case they know where to drop me off (hehehe).
- In my province, local fruits (such as banana, guava, durian, rambutan, singkamas, etc) are for free. If they do sell it, it’s like 3 for 100 for durians. (for the sake of selling it instead of letting it rot on its tree) But here, I had to buy 3-piece durian seeds for P170++ (with my eyes closed)
- In my province asparagus are grown on the side of the road. You can actually stop over and pick up some if you like. Here, I have to buy it!!!(it’s too much for me.)
- White sand beaches at not so far flung towns are free. Although you are also free to be kidnapped. (hehehehe)
- Neighbors do care. Sometimes they care too much. Here, I don’t even know the people living next to us.
- There’s no word such as traffic in my province. Here, need I say more?
- Do you actually know Rattan? And what’s it made of? It’s from Kawayan and most of the time it’s made into furnitures. In my almost 10 years here, I had yet to see a rattan.
- Back home (then) I can taste different cuisines at the comfort of my own home because my mom would cook for us one cuisine each week. But here, I had to actually shell out moolah to eat it.
- In my prov, I had to watch a movie 3 weeks later on its actual showing date.
All in all, it is fun being a probinsyana. I had to learn things and discover even more. Until now, deep inside me I still used to compare here and there, now and then. =_=
