First Few Days In Our Second Home... Pasadena, Texas.

Like any other family who just transferred to a new place, we needed to fill it (our apartment) with the basic things.  And since it was already furnished with the most needed appliances and furniture (which was a convenience on our part), all we had to buy were stuffs for our consumption, hygiene/well-being, bedding and a rice cooker.  Well, they may not be concerned about rice around here, but for most Filipinos, a meal without rice is insufficient.

We went to Walmart (which was fortunately very near our place) and bought the things in our list.  And my, I still couldn't help myself convert to peso.  Why won't I, most of what we spent were still from our savings and separation pays we got from the Philippines.  Our bill was like Php8,000 plus with that day alone, and we still just bought some of the necessities (there were a lot more we hadn't purchased yet).   I know, I need to let go of this habit of converting... it's stressful and not good.

The positive side: 

• People here are very courteous, most especially those who are working.  "Hello, how are you.", In an elevator, "Sorry, I need to stop you at 2" (upon pushing the 2nd floor button), and "Thank you, have a nice day."  Were just some of the things I commonly hear from complete strangers I met here.  It's like its in their nature to be polite to people around them.
• Love their apartments here.  It has a fireplace (at last), fully carpeted, hot and cold faucet and shower (water here can be freezing cold) and aside from the air conditioner, they use heaters here. There is even a playground and a swimming pool as well as a tennis court and a gym within the compound.
  
  
  
  
  
• Products are top of the class and health conscious or are they?  Their foods are of the best quality, the fruits are fresh and crisp, meats are tender and they have the top brands in the market.  We kind of think that the food they serve are not as tasty as ours, even their salt and sugar are not as salty and sweet, respectively (LOL).  But the ice creams, chips, meat products and chocolates are abundantly available and even at discounted prices.  So, moderation needed.
  
  
  
  
• Easier traffic condition due to strict implementation of rules.  We just got our family a car, it's a necessity here.  The traffic here (compared to ours) is a lot easier to drive.  Just need to have their license here before the 3 months period where I can still use my Philippine license.
• High concern on children, elderly and disabled people welfare.  Children younger than 8 years old who are shorter than 4 feet and 9 inches must have a car seat or booster seat.  Elderly have reserved seat on public transport vehicles.  And facilities are designed to be user friendly for the disabled.  These, among others, show that they give priority to the safety of these people and they make sure the rules for them are followed.
  
  
  
  

I know there's a lot more things I could say to praise this city.  But as the saying goes, "there's no place like home". We miss our first home, our country.  We miss our comfort zones, the familiarity, the company of our love ones...  Here, we are on our own, in which we are the foreigners.  But, we are still blessed, we have our whole family, the source of our strength... the reason why we will get through.  Truly, the Lord is with us...