Philippines, why do I love thee?

1. God-loving people. I've seen a bunch of Pinoy TV shows the past weekSSS because I am longing for home for I don't know how long now. Every time someone is interviewed about their success or in the case of a reality show, when winning something, ALL of them attribute their win/success to God.

2. Overall happy human beings. Kahit anong laki ng problema, nakakaya paring ngumiti at tumawa. I remember one time we were driving to Honolulu, there were 5 of us - one Japanese and four Pinoys. E was driving and with no warning at all, the brakes gave out! Of course it was real scary but I don't know why we just started laughing! All three of us! Our driver was not very happy with the situation so he wasn't really going to join our laughs. haha. Anyway, when we got to safety, our Japanese friend was so perplexed that we were the way we were despite the situation. It made her less scared though, she said. That wasn't the goal but I am sure glad we kind of helped her that way. And no we weren't high. We just happened to be 'trained' to laugh despite the problems we go through. Intentional or unintentional.

3. Respectful. Paggamit ng 'po' at 'opo.' I've been in the company of many nationalities and nothing compares to how Asians respect their elders. Minsan nga nasosobrahan pa! One year nalang tanda sayo, gusto ka na nga ligawan, pino-po parin! Hay nako. Arte. But with all seriousness, I think respect comes out of love or at the very least, admiration. If we love someone, we tend to respect them. I truly appreciate the importance we give our elders. In elementary, I would always think that honoring our elders were part of everybody's common sense kasi nga nakakatanda sila. But I was wrong. This value doesn't come innate to most people so it really needs to be taught and be reminded of.  Ibang usapan na nga lang ang respeto pagdating sa kalsada. $%#@&

4. Family oriented. Yung tito ng tita ng lolo ng kapatid ng pinsan mo kilala mo pa. Or something like that. I don't even know if that made sense but you get the point. You know your third cousin. Or you may know of them and at least aware of their existence. Cheryl Esplin said, "Families are the Lord's workshop on earth to help us learn and live the gospel." And not necessarily just the gospel is taught. If we are lucky enough, we learn everything inside the walls of our homes before we get to try it on our own. May it be something positive or negative, the root of that something can be traced directly on how someone was inside the home. That is why the family is central to the Creator’s plan.

5. High level of gratitude. I would never forget Christmas 2013 I spent back home. It was the day of Christmas eve when I saw two kids, I think ages 8 and 10, collecting bote and dyaryo so they would have something to share the night of. Pinipigilan kong maiyak pero sobrang naaawa ako. My mom gave them 100 pesos because that's all the cash we had. I wish we had more! Wrong timing! I wanted to invite them to our dinner that night. If only. After my mom handed the 100 peso bill, they were grinning from ear to ear. 100 pesos lang yun! But not to them. They were so grateful! I wish we can be more like them!

Side note: How heroic is this kid?! I hope all the other brats kids can see this.