My Philippine Monkey bit another kid this week. A few days ago , the yaya told us that Juliet bit a child. Seems he dropped something and it rolled under her cage. She grabbed his hand and wouldn’t let go, then sunk her teeth into it.
Juliet Strikes Again
Today, I learn the boy’s mother has been by twice to collect money because of the bite. She wanted P100 this morning and I told Jessie to give it to her but tell her to keep the boy away as there would be no more. It made Jessie really mad, she told the boys
mother that if he came back she would report it to the Barangay Capitan. She also said the boy was teasing Juliet.
The boy’s mother first said she needed money for something to do with school but Jessie told her that didn’t cost anything. I didn’t know about that one. It was the same day that it happened. She came back today though wanting money for medicine. She wanted only P100. Jessie said the wound had not been cleaned “they just let it rot!”
I don’t know, I think they should pay me, their boy might have poisoned my monkey when she bit him.
Yesterday, I ran some kids off. They had their hands on the cage. Juliet seemed to be enjoying them as they were feeding her. I suspect that this boy has teased her before and she got her just revenge. I wish I could keep the kids out of here. I enjoy them but I don’t want trouble.
Jessie warns me often, “they see you as an ATM.” I guess that’s the darker side of the Philippines. She would know better than I. She is the one that grew up here, she knows the culture. She knows what Filipino say and do. She has far more insight into Filipino than I ever can so while I don’t follow blindly, I do listen carefully to what she tells me about the culture of the Filipino.
Most don’t treat me like they see me as an ATM. However, I have seen it a couple of times. I had a friend that I grew weary of as every time I saw her she needed money. Or she needed load (credits of her pre-paid cell phone) to text with me. Oddly though, every time I saw her in the street she was texting someone. Why did she always have load when I saw her out but never when I sent her a text. I sent her a lot before I caught on. Her friend was sending me a lot of text messages about my upcoming trip to a resort. When I told her I was already at the resort, the messages stopped. Not another message from that girl since. 🙂 So, these things do happen. That does not mean you should think every Filipino is out to fleece or even beg from you. Most would NEVER do so. If you’re hungry though, what would you do? You might not know how bad a person’s situation is, so don’t be quick to judge harshly.
I tell her to get a sign made, a sign that says monkey bites. She gives me a strange smile when I say that. Well, its full disclosure, in my culture, you warn someone and they stick their hand in there anyway, shame on them. Its there blood spilt, their problem. That’s some of the vanishing American common sense. Common sense is more frequent in the Philippines than in the USA. Seems like some might need to be applied here.
If you stick your hand in a monkey’s cage, the monkey just might bite it! Having the monkey makes it seem more like I’m living in the Philippines.
Tagged with: Filipino • Living In The Philippines • Philippine Monkey
Filed under: Cost of living in the Philippines • Expats Living in Cebu
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I like the whole post! I don’t know if it was on purpose or not but it seemed if you were drawing a parallel between the monkey and Filipinos. Not that you were calling them a monkey, far from it. I believe it is easy to be charmed by a smileing, beautiful face. Like the monkey it is cute and cudley but beware because it CAN bite!
I don’t live in the Philippines yet. I know there will be challenges when it comes to the right way to handle yourself over there.. thanks Rusty
Juliet’s face is not all that friendly. 🙂
She’s a fighter not a lover. 🙂
Nearly all Filipino are good people. At least from my experience and they often treat me like a rock star.
Hey Rusty, Today I sent money to Queenie using xoom from your site, so now would be a good time to see if they credit you for that. Thanks for telling me about them. I saved $10 using xoom and the money was available in just a few minutes. It is a great help using them, I just hope that when I get there I can access my money from there in Phils thru xoom to myself. I believe you do that, right ? Take care Russ, Jerry
They delayed my transaction this time. Or my bank did.
I will be sure to use my US IP address from now on.
The last time, it hit the bank in about 10 minutes. this time it didn’t hit the bank for three days but it saved me $20 to $16. Hopefully it will be ready for me to pick up tomorrow..
I’ll have to wait 24 hours to see the transaction, I think. If it doesn’t show up, then I’ll know something is wrong. Thanks very much!
Well then now you’re having a problem with them ? Maybe I’ll just use them for now then before I come there I will use remitehome.com as I already am setup with them too. I would rather use xoom though since they are the cheapest. I mean I use to pay moneygram $16 and before them I paid western union $20 so $4.99 is the winner all day long, LOL. Let me know if you find out why you have had a problem getting your money this go around. Talk to you later, Jerry
I don’t know if I would call it a problem. It took an extra day this time but my money is waiting for me now.
It will take a day or two if you use RemitHome for the money to show up in the bank way out in Bogo. I don’t think people Manila or maybe even Cebu have that issue.
I think it was the IP. If I had sent to a bank, I wouldn’t be able to pick it up on Saturday at all. I plan to use them again. I can go out to eat four to six times with the money I saved. Plus, I wouldn’t have got it all by now, I would have had to split the payments up over a couple of days.
I’m gong to try to open a bank account, probably on Monday. Last time I tried to do it in my name, I didn’t have an ACR card. I do now as its required of all of us.
You know Rusty you are very lucky the mother of that child who got bitten by your monkey only wanted p100. Do you realize what would happen here in the states if that had happened. Your monkey would probably have to be tested for rabies and the only way they can do that is to examine the brain, which means death to your monkey. I hope you have seen the end of this little episode for the monkeys sake. If you see the lady again or even the kid, I would check to see that his finger is ok and make sure it has been cleaned with peroxide. Just trying to look out for you man. Take care, Jerry
Its a different world Jerry.
I do realize it would be different in the USA.
But in both places, you stick your hand were a wild animal can get it, you might get it bit.
I’ll stick with what I said, common sense. The first time the lady came by she asked Jessie for money from something at school. Something Jessie knows is free. She will be back and if they actually buy medicine for the child, we will pay for it.
Its a different world. Its not the USA, can’t apply USA thinking here, it wont work.
I would love to see her returned to the wild but that’s just not possible. I took her in when she was nearly dead from the abuse she had received. She would die a slow, hungry and probably painful death if returned. That’s where she belongs, with her on kind but I didn’t put her in this situation nor would I take a monkey from the wild.
Thanks for looking out for me! We will see them again but Jessie told them not to let him come back over. This morning he was teasing the monkey. That’s why he got bit in the first place. He had been teasing her.
Yesterday morning, I heard some screams outside. I went out to see and there were kids there with her. I warned them that the monkey bites, in their language. I can’t remember how to spell it. She was very happy with them but I sill worry. I wish we could lock the gate but our landlord welded it open. 🙁
In the Philippines, people often live in what is called a “compound” as we do. It was a family compound with servant’s quarter and such. Now I rent the main house but Filipino rent out the other homes around us.
Hey Rus, I wonder if you could put a sign on Juliet’s cage that says something like you are not liable for medicine if kids (or anyone really) get bitten because they stuck their hands inside the cage?
I want to do that. Jessie thinks it is silly. I think I will get one if we can find someone to make one, can’t be card board, she’d eat that lol
hey rusty,,
u know wat,,there are really people who will take advantage of tht..just to take money..we have our neighbor before hes been bitten by a dog..but the owner didnt do anything about it coz they dont have money..but cant force the owner to pay for it..but now they see that u have money and can afford so thats why they keep on asking..thats it..dont give anything unless they have reciet from a doctor..have a nice day
Thanks Queenie, I hope the child is fine and they took care of the bite.
Rusty, you “compound” your problems if you insist on impersonating an ATM. 🙂
Roy, P100 was pretty light request. She didn’t come back for more.
Yesterday there was a poor young woman, maybe a teenager pregnant and she appeared mentally handicapped.
She was clapping her hand hands and signing “I carol sir” so that was her understanding of carolling for money.
There’s a lot of need here, much more than I can fill. Heck I have needs and even more wants that I can’t fill.. I have so much compared to most Filipino.
“What you do to the least of them, you do to me.” I don’t do enough because I don’t think of those words enough. Jessie keeps a close eye on my ATM slot and keeps it well protected. I should work on giving a little more.
Many Filipino are quite hard on other Filipino that beg. In the USA people make a good living begging. I don’t think anyone in the Philippines is making a good living begging. Some are doing so by scamming lonely heart broken men on the net but these people standing on the side of the road in their tattered clothes they are not getting rich off anyone.
I’ll ask again, where is the Church?
Jerry With xoom i could send money to myself from the philippines but i couldn’t send money to my wife from the philippines (their security rules).. When i move there i want my wife to be able to access my bank account. She is not a U.S. citizen and probably come here so no chance of adding her to my account… Do i trust my wife, she is my wife… I found another site that will let my wife use the account, its $10 fee… i haven’t opened that account yet… I am looking into another way of getting funds to the Philippines, there is a PNB bank in my city… will be looking into opening an account as soon as i get some money to open an account!!! When i leave the U.S. I don’t on this soil again… My biggest money concern is all access to my bank account is done with a Visa card, My card expires in 2014 0r maybe 2016, how do i get a new card? another thing i need to check into….
Then comes shipping my ”stuff”… I can ship everything even this monster Mac i am on right now, but i need to have a place to ship it to….. wife is living with her folks for now, and where she is at its like desolate!!!! A 50 lb computer isn’t something to be carried on a honda traveling down roads that eats up tires at the rate of 2+ a month…. ah the joy of transplanting…
Move, sell your stuff, most of it. If you really want to ship it here, I’m sure the container company can charge you a fee to store it. Most of us can’t do that. Sell it, use the money to come here and buy new stuff. A ref will cost you $200 here same for the aircon.
Use Johnny Air Cargo to ship your pc, that I would ship. I didn’t know about balikbayan service before I cam, I sure wish I had known. I had to leave much behind I would like to have brought.
You will need a mail forwarder to handle your mailing needs.
I can send money to my GF with xoom as does Jerry. Can’t imagine why not a wife. That’s crazy.