Filipina Soul

Whenever I meet another Filipino, I often get asked the question, “What province are you from?” (Taga-saan ka sa atin?). If they are Tagalog, I would tell them my hometown in Los Banos, Laguna. If they are Bisaya, I would mention my tiny seaside birthplace in Negros Occidental.

It’s important for a Filipino to connect in this way with another fellowman. We immediately connect with someone from our own province, and especially so if we speak the same dialect. Maybe because we’re both so far away from home, from the Philippines, and we’re both hoping that some degree of connection exist between us. Really, I have become good friends with someone because we learned we were only a year apart at the same university. We might actually have known the same people too. In another instance, I discovered a distant cousin of my mother’s through these acquaintances.

It’s good to connect. Who have you connected with in the past year? Did you gain a new friend or acquaintance?

(UPDATE: Actually, I edited it again, for grammar. I wrote this in the middle of the night and somehow my English broke with Cinderella’s glass slipper.)

image: flickr