Thanksgiving Day: Thankful for Filipino culture

[Kuya_in_Tejas]

I wrote this a few years ago and updated it after our second visit in 2016. Happy Thanksgiving to all

A Thanksgiving Tradition: I wrote the following tribute to my wife's homeland and culture a few years ago, and added to it in 2016. Like the Macy's parade and cheering for the Cowboys to lose, it has become a tradition with me.

 

After spending three whole weeks there this year, and really getting to see the country, (as in getting out of over-crowded Manila, which in many ways is no different than any other mega-city on Earth, like New York or Paris) and exploring it's wonders, I think the romance is growing. So to add what I am thankful for, how about a year that gave me the good health, the financial resources and the time to: see the perfect cone Mayon Volcano.......get my 51 year old carcass on a surfboard......wander the streets of Vigan, which is like the New Orleans of the Philippines.....be able to travel with Leila and all her siblings, the first time the four of them have been together in almost a decade......enjoy the varied geography of the islands, from flat plains to winding mountain roads and the island of Catanduanes that looks like somebody put West Virginia on an island .......exploring the history of the Intermurros in Manila......the list goes on. Still here and able to write about it. So here's my blast from the past

 

I am thankful for....................

Filipino Culture: Yes, I am thankful for my wife's family, and her cultural heritage, in general, for taking me in, getting me to take my metaphorical shoes off, and relax awhile. I absolutely love the loud and colorful, living and enjoying life to its fullest traditions that have descended from that messy archipelago in the Pacific. What a mix and what contradictions! Roman Catholic Asians......the only Spanish colony where most of the... people DON'T speak Spanish today...a cuisine that utilizes finger foods and well-cooked meats, yet a knife and a decent napkin aren't part of the standard table setting...a language that doesn't have gender pronouns (firmly convinced Leila will only confuse he and she when it is funniest ...a blend of Asian stoicism and Latin emotionalism.......

 

I love all the family relationships: Kuya, Ate, Manong. I love when Cousin M's three adorable daughters greet me by placing my hand on their foreheads for "blessing" and how I am affectionately "Tito Bob" to them. I love the dinners; those wonderful overdone spreads where my Dad's axiom of "Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it" seem to be part of the planning. Everyone gets a plate to go and there is still enough food to cater an army brigade in the field for a week. I am finally getting used to "Filipino Time" where a 7:30 invite means everyone may roll in by 9. And family and friends, I am still working on the Karaoke obsession. I really am trying! Really!

 

Salamat Po