unwanted attention...

...is something I'm not sure I could ever get used to while I'm here in Butuan. I can't go ANYWHERE in this little city without getting stared at. I have seen other white people ("foreigners") here, but they've all been men over 50 and that's another story for another day probably better written by someone else.

It's not just staring, it's having people stop in their tracks to drop-jaw look at me; following me down the street asking me my name and if I'm alone; trykes and motorcycles honking and asking for a ride. It took me a few weeks to stop wondering if I had a spot somewhere I hadn't noticed, or makeup smeared or something out of place to make people stare - and to realize that my height and eye color alone was out of the ordinary...

When I go to the store, the clerks follow me through the store and grab co-workers for a looksie. People walk around the other side of the aisle to get a second look. Even our weekly hospital outreach turns into a stare contest and I notice people peeking into whatever room I happen to be visiting in.

Ok, this does have it's advantages. Yesterday it was pouring rain and the line outside my bank's ATM machine was almost a block long. When the bank's security guard saw me, he broke into the line, and had me cut into the next spot to use the ATM (yes, it was a little ackward).

I must admit, the attention from the kids is fun. These girls live in the neighborhood, and as soon as they saw me get off the tryke yesterday to walk down the lane to the compound, they came running after me:

They wanted to "come to my house" for the day. Now this, I could probably get used to~