Rusty Ferguson: My Introduction

Welcome to Live in the Philippines and welcome to my space on it.

I’m quite honored to have been asked to provide my outlook and experience in the Philippines and living as an American Expat in Cebu Province. It is smart on Bob’s part and it is good for me as well. Working together on the net is extremely important but it is often hard to get others to see that. I’m glad Bob is not one of those!

Who am I? My name is Rusty Ferguson but that wont tell you much about who I am. Who I am is a pretty complicated matter as it is with all people. First a little only how I see me. I am a contradiction. I’m a liberal Christian. I’m a gun totin’ fan of the ACLU! And if you haven’t already figured it out from the contractions, I’m a southerner. I have always marched to the tune of a different drummer which isn’t always pleasant. I don’t like staying on the surface, I like to go deep, beyond the obvious. I’m an explorer, always have been and I love to learn. I’m an American expatriate that is living the good life in the Philippines and trying to grow in the process.

I was born in 1959. I grew up in Jackson, Ms. Some say that gives me the inherent ability to tell a story. My English teachers, especially those from my college days might say you were wrong. I went to Millsaps College and earned my bachelor in Business Administration with my major in accounting. From there I worked as an accounting clerk at a bank for a short time and then on to the IRS as a revenue agent. Most people refer to a revenue agent as a field or business auditor. We are often confused with revenue officers who are the tax collectors and probably have the hardest job in all of the IRS. After 10 years or so I became a computer analyst, again with the IRS. In part, I took this position as result of being diagnosed with lupus around 1993. The travel required of revenue agents became a bit more than I could handle.

I finally got tired of the politics of working in an office so I walked out the door. Also, the illness had progressed making it harder for me to be at a given place at a given time. I was missing a lot of work so I finally decided it was time to file for disability in 2002 and it was approved. I had learned there was potential to earn a significant income on the world wide web. That was appealing to me as I could work when I wanted or am able too. I’ve had some smashing success at times. At other times, it can get pretty dry. Now, I’m concentrating more on slow but stable earnings from the web.

I’ve been building sites on the web since 1988 or so. You might say there was no web in 1988 and you’d be correct. What we had then was Fidonet. The only web was the phone lines we used to call individual computers but it was the birth of bulletin boards or computerized communities. These early bulletin board were far more local though, not world wide like the web. The early web didn’t have much interaction, instead the web gave the user information. Now, websites need the interaction of users, like you.

My flexible schedule also made it easy for me to move to the Philippines. I made the move in February of 2008. While some people come here do so without any income, I’m one of the lucky ones that come with a solid pension provided by my Federal Employment. My health is not great, but I’m well enough to get out there and have some fun. I’m limited in what I can do, sometimes more limited than others.

As I learn about the Philippines, I’ll share what I learn here. I want and need for the reader to challenge me in my positions or just add to my positions. Just cause I say it, doesn’t mean I’m right. It is okay if you express you’re disagreement. In fact, that’s the best way to help me. I’ll either defend my position or I will change. In most cases, both will happen, I will adapt and learn. You might find the same is true of you.

I’m often asked why I came here. I came for two major reasons, the major reason is the lower cost of living. Though I give up some things here, I gain much more as my income from my pension is staggeringly higher than what most Filipino earn. Secondly, I came for the ladies. I had one female friend for a couple of years and she’s stunningly beautiful, even by Filipina standards. Things have worked out very nicely for us. I’m very happy with her. Careful though, I wouldn’t recommend coming to the Philippines for one specific woman. That’s a big move for that reason. I think you should be coming for other reasons and prepare yourself if that one romantic interest may not work out. You might get lucky and have things work out but most are not so lucky. Many leave here broken hearted. That can only happen if you count on that one person. Now if you have that one person you can trust, that can ease your transition a great deal.

This was my first trip to the Philippines and it is quite a different world. I had never been to a developing country before. I really had no idea of what I would find here. My first few moments were amazement, I couldn’t believe the people drive like they do. I was surprised at the beauty I saw amongst the poverty. The poverty being much greater than I had anticipated. I was also surprised by all the roosters crowing and the cock fights even on Philippine Television. You’re coming into a different world so be prepared and I believe it is up to me to adapt to their world, not the other way around.

I started my stay in Talisay City near Cebu City. After three months, we moved to Bogo City in the northern area of the Cebu Province. It is about 80 miles or 120 Kilometers north of Cebu City.
Bogo City is a beautiful fishing and agricultural city. Things are changing though, the Bogo just became a city in June 2007 as opposed to a municipality. This change should bring about growth, so things will be changing here in Bogo.

My biggest hurdles are the language and medical issues. I’m greatly limited by not knowing the language. On the other hand, because I’ve done so much walking around the city and going to local eateries, I’ve learned more than many others would in the same time period. Certainly more than the casual tourist.

I often walk through the city and take pictures. On one of those walks, I stumbled upon a Filipino home selling mostly birds but they also had a tame Filipino Monkey. His name was George. He was one of the coolest things that ever happened to me and he symbolized all the changes I am trying to make happen to me. I was coming to this wonderful land, I’m unknown and I can be anyone I want to be. I can re-invent myself and that’s what I’ve been trying to do. My illnesses can slow me down but I’m getting out in the world. I’m exploring. Trying to communicate with others as best I can not knowing the language. George my Filipino Monkey symbolized everything that was happening to me here. We lost George at the end of July in a mysterious death. It is still hard to accept. My girl and myself miss him a great deal. Until you’ve had a wild primate accept you and look up to you for care and protection, it is likely impossible to fully understand what it is like. I will get another Monkey when the opportunity is right. I’m not going to support taking one from the wild, George had been rescued. I wrote an article celebrating his short time with me and my new Filipino Family that you can read at Cebu Experience.

I’m looking forward to getting to know all of the regular visitors here, I hope you’ll offer help as I learn and perhaps, I can share a few things new to you or even better yet, cause you to rethink some of what you already believed.

One thing that is really hard for me is the expats that talk smack about the Philippines. I understand that there are some reasons to be critical at times but even during those times, I hope you’ll be respectful and remember that we are visitors here. What may seem odd to us may be the Filipino way and if your constantly putting things down, maybe you should go back to where you came. The Philippines is a different place but not a lesser place.