Liam and PeeJay are taking a break from packing Balikbayan boxes for our BIG move in 2013
Our original plan was to move to the
Philippines and after two years, re-evaluate our move and see where
we want to go from there; either stay in the Philippines or move back
to the States. We are 2-months away from our 2nd year of
living in the Philippines and as of now, we have no intention of
moving back to the states anytime soon.
The big question MOST PEOPLE have is...
Why a mixed family of four would ever
want to move from a first world country to a third word country?
We have our reasons, and some may not
agree, but we are all happy living in the Philippines and do not
regret moving here almost 2 years ago. Don't get me wrong, we do
miss our relatives and friends in the States, but our decision to
move here was not an easy one to make. Really good sushi, burritos
and Target Greatland are also on the top list of why I sometimes miss
living in the States. Living in the Philippines is not for everyone
especially someone from a first world country, it's a choice that we
are glad we made. And remember, vacationing in the Philippines is
VERY different than living here because everyday is not a “sunny, beach and pool day.”
Beach Resort in Batangas - infinity pool
Just think, many Filipinos dream of
leaving the Philippines to be in America, and very long ago, that
dream was of my parents. My parents wanted a better life for their
family and in 1993, that dream of theirs became a reality as the
plane from Ninoy Aquino International Airport landed at San Francisco
International Airport with us on-board. Living in California as a
9-year old was challenging at first because I didn't speak English
very well and everything was new; the food, the people and the
environment. But it didn't take long for my brother and me to adapt
to living in the States and started to enjoy it very much. It wasn't
until I was older that I realized how difficult it was to live in the
United States America especially for my parents. The dream they
originally had in mind was far from reality because jobs were not
easy to come by especially for immigrants. Money didn't grow on
tress in America, which many Filipinos in Philippines think. Mom's
uncle and his family helped us for years and I'm eternally grateful
for having them all in our lives. Her uncle gave us a roof over our
heads, jobs for my parents, and even had his children take care of my
brother and me at times. We were lucky, but my parents still worked
very hard.
San Francisco International Airport
As a married adult with children, I'm
not really sure that life in America is much easier and better than
life in the Philippines and I say that because many families work
hard just to make ends meet sometimes. And in the end, people work
many hours to pay bills and save money, but what's money compared to
the quality time spent with family? Yes, I know we need money to
survive and buy necessities, but living in America has taught me that
I need the latest gadget.
There had been times when I thought
about how our life would have been if we were still living in
California; me working full-time as a Preschool teacher and Patrick
as part-time life-guard at a local swimming pool. Patrick James and
Liam Elliot would probably be at a home-daycare center because we
definitely couldn't have afforded putting them in a child development
center. When the boys are home, they'll probably have many hours of
screen time (television and ipads) because both Patrick and I would
be too tired from work to really interact with them. We would
probably just spend Sunday as a family.
Currently here in the Philippines,
Patrick still works 6-days a week, but he's home-based and we are so
blessed for his job with a company who is based in San Diego,
California (USA). He's not making a lot of $$$$, but it's more than
enough to support us, his family. We even have some $ at the end of
the month to put away as savings. But the huge advantage with Patrick
having this job is that I get to be a stay-at-home Mama. It is such
a great thing to be able to spend quality time with my children
especially since they are still both very young. Patrick's job of
being home-based and working hours being at night gives us a lot of
family time throughout the week even if it's just watching PeeJay and
Liam on their bikes outside, taking a walk in our neighborhood,
getting an ice-cream cone and a slice of pizza at the nearby mall and
even being able to take afternoon naps together.
FAMILY is the most important reason why
we are here in the Philippines instead of America. The following are
also some reasons why we've chosen to live our life here...
1. Exposing PeeJay and Liam (and
Patrick, too) to the Filipino culture, food and language.
Some of the boys' favorite foods are
sitaw (legumes) and daeng (dried fish). They can understand and
speak both languages; English and Tagalog.
2. My parents let us live at their
house. It's not a multi-million pesos house, but it's in a decent
subdivision and we have luxuries that many Filipinos do not
including; air-conditioners, televisions with cable, internet
access, and an oven just to name a few. Plus we can use both of their vehicles at anytime.
3. Being able to keep all the money
Patrick makes from his job instead of having the the United States
government take portions of his hard-earned money. We're exempted
from taxes for both US and Philippines.
4. We're not focused on owning the
latest gadget. Our priorities have changed, Patrick and I do not
need to have the latest video game or smart-phone. We go shopping,
but mostly bargain shopping where we can use our wonderful barter
skills.
5. We are able to adopt next year!
Yes, we are looking forward to meeting our daughter. If the 3-year
residency wasn't an issue, we would have probably had our little
girl last month. Though, we know that something so precious is
worth the wait.
This was our social media announcement picture to let everyone know that we are adopting
I'm sure there are more reasons, but
that's all I can think of at the moment. If I do have something to
add, I will edit this post as needed.
So, when will we be in the States to
visit? Most likely sometime in 2017, about a year after our adoption
should be finalized. We really don't want to adopt, then go
immediately to a whole different county different from our
daughter's. Patrick and I want to make sure we give our daughter
ample to to get use to us and close family members first, our current
environment, and slowly introduce her to how it is in the States by
teaching her some English and broadening her palette beyond just
Filipino foods.
Just a random thought:
It is my hope in the future when
Patrick and I get much, much older that the two of us will move to an
island in the Philippines where we can have the view of ocean every
single morning. And Patrick assured me that he'll be able to fish
for our supper everyday, but I just have to make sure our kids send us jars of peanut butter every few months to our secluded island.
