September 3rd

Today, we drove through Manila to get to our resort in Tagaytay.

The Philippines is a third-world country. And largely a part of population is the poverty stricken... The homeless.

It was a bit of a rough drive seeing street vendors walking patiently in hope for the sympathy of it's daily commuters. They sell everything from newspapers to food; and two very young girls sold my parents some beautifully scented flowers, as we sat at a red light.

Many are fortunate to have flip flops, but then there were many who were barefoot.

Kids paced along the sidewalks, two of them were actually walking in the midst of the traffic.

One of the kids came to the driveside window of our car. My parents gave him some pesos.

Shortly after we came to a full stop on a small bridge where sewer water and rain water probably flowed underneath.

And it was underneath this particular bridge that, while sitting at a full stop, we watched families in shanties which were suspending from the bottom of the bridge. I clearly watched a mother and infant laying on a makeshift bed with bedsheets as walls.

It reminded me very much of this documentary I watched about the homeless tunnel dwellers below New York City.

The only difference was that these Filipino families weren't hiding from their inevitable fates... Instead for many or all to see.

------------------------------

I shared this particular experience cause this is the reality of the world. And everything I'm going back to the States to see and witness is an illusion.

All our pains and stresses we worry about on a daily basis at home, is simply overreacting to the rest of the world.

I think I finally realize why everyone hates Americans.

Lesson 3:
Everyone needs to visit a third-world country one day.


///