Treasures

It doesn’t take 8 months in the Philippines to record the differences in values between this country and the U.S. But since I haven’t mentioned it, I’ll go ahead and do it now.

First of all religion plays an enormous part in the culture here. The majority of people are catholic but you will find Protestants and the Islamic faith without looking too far. Students pray before school and after lunch. Usually God is incorporated into lessons and programs and speeches. People go to mass at least once a week. From what I’ve encountered so far, faith is valued above all else in my site.

Close behind is family. And I don’t just mean family who you live with mother father bro and sis. Extended family is always close and it is rare for a Filipino to move far from his or her birthplace. My site is unique because nearly everyone here has moved here to work their crops, but none will call it home because it is not where their family is. Home will always be where your family is. It is common for aunts or uncles, cousins and grandparents to all live with each other. It’s just one’s assumed duty to care for family and I doubt anyone would give up living in a crammed home full of relatives if given the chance to move to a brand new house miles away if they had to live alone.

Third is food. If there is any occasion at all, there is food. At funerals, wakes, weddings, birthdays, fiestas, you name it, food is expected to be served. Even when planning trainings or school events, if anything takes place over lunch, you had better find a way to feed your guests. At my site a mass feeding requires boiling chicken or pork, and serving it with a heaping pile of rice on a paper plate covered in a plastic bag (handy for taking home leftovers). Plates are then passed down a food brigade until everyone has their meal. The broth from the meat usually arrives soon after in a mug to sip on.

Of course there are so-called material items that Filipinos value as well, but they also differ. They take great care in appearance. Filipinos are very clean and tidy and if they can afford it, they will wear the best clothing they can. My students prize their Levis and Nike shoes. If you watch T.V. commercials are all for either laundry soap or shampoo. It’s  hard to explain what has the highest value because it’s not necessarily a cell phone or laptop. For me, I have begun gather my own collection of priceless items and here are the top 3:

1. My bolo knife given to me by my host brother on Christmas. It has 15,000 different uses such as chopping up a chicken, cutting down a tree, peeling a carrot, and whacking a path through the bushes.

2. My Sagada Bag, or as I like refer to it: my magic bag. This thing is like the Mary Poppins bag. It was hand woven in Sagada, Mt. Province and can carry my entire life’s necessities.

3. My chicken. This thing has proven to be the most frustrating animal I have ever tried to raise. After catching it the first time, it has escaped twice and I have to keep chasing it around the neighborhood. But one day it will provide me enough chickens and eggs to last me the rest of my service! And the money I will raise from selling the roosters for cock fighting will hopefully fund a small project for the school. Are those high hopes for a single chicken? Maybe, but after all the talk I give my students, I need to show them an example of reaching for one’s dreams.