Service

Is crazy here.  Crazy in a good way and crazy in a bad way.  The good def. outweighs the bad a million times over.
I say crazy in a bad way but it's not really a bad way, it is just different.  It's different because everyone says yes, Ma'am - even if the answer is no.  The trick is to watch the body language.  Example:
Me: "Excuse me, do you have any more straws?"
Person: "Yes Ma'am" (and then walks away)
Me:  Very confused.

So I tried it out again today and then paid close attention to the body language.  Example:
Me: "Excuse me, do you have any more straws?"
Person: "Yes Ma'am" (SHAKES HER HEAD NO) (and then walks away).
Me:  Ahhhhhhhh.....so that's how it works.

The Filipinos HATE to say no.  So, what do they do?  They say yes - all of the time.  Even when they mean no.  It's frustrating but amusing all at the same time.  You have to repeat yourself OVER and OVER and OVER again just to get something across.  It's just a language barrier though and I need to pay closer attention to the body language.  You also have to learn how to phrase your question so that they have to answer you with something other than a "yes, ma'am" which is a lot harder than it sounds.

I will get it.....eventually.

Now for the good part:

Everyone is SO nice.  Everyone.  I can take my child anywhere.  Anywhere.  It's amazing.  It's important to me that Max is happy so I think that we are going to like it here b/c he seems really happy.
I took him to lunch today - a little Mummy/Max date.   I would never do that in Switzerland.  People jumped over themselves to help us.  They even changed the TV channel to cartoons (while there were only adults in the restaurant) to make him happy.  Workers came out of the kitchen just to smile at the blue eyed boy.  No one batted an eye when he threw his sippy cup across the table.

Max at a local market near our house the day after we arrived:

Meat sitting out in 85 degree heat with no ice or any type of refrigeration.  I think that I will have to specify once we get our helper that she is only to buy meat from a proper grocery store.  NOT a market.  It scares me and I think that we would all die if we at it.

On the apartment front:

We (meaning me, the loud mouth) complained about the state of our apartment.  Today I walk into the apartment to find 3 people cleaning it, and one cleaning supervisor.  No more dust, no more dirt, Max got a new crib, and they even changed the covers on the sofa.  There are still problems though (leaking fridge,  having to let the water run for 5-10 minutes before we get hot water, faulty lights) so we will be moving to another apartment.....as long as I am happy with it (their words not mine).  I will inspect the apartment and once it has my approval they will then clean it from top to bottom.

Now that is what I call service!

Some photos of our apartment (taken before the cleaning.  Needed to explain as you see our stuff all over the place!):

Living room/dining room area

 Foyer

 Max's room

 Kitchen (those of you who have seen our kitchen in Switzerland know that I am hating this kitchen...)

Max playing.  He is fascinated by the windows and the curtains.  This scares the crap out of me.  I am always afraid that the window is going to fall out.  It won't....but you never know.