The events of this afternoon and evening, and the feelings that accompany them, were something I feel I've been missing out on in my time here in the Philippines. I've only ever voiced this one other time--to a couple of my closest PC friends--and it's something I thought I would never admit to again, but now that I've experienced the thing I've been lacking, I feel more comfortable admitting it...
In Dinalupihan, I had a good host family, but because of the flooding and subsequent evacuation, I was only with them for a couple of weeks. A couple of weeks isn't an ideal amount of time to create deep familial bonds; it barely even lets you get to know someone.
My host family situation at site (Lola Melba) was great and met all the basic requirements of hosting a PCV. However, except for when she had house helpers, she was just one person--who couldn't always hear what I was saying anyway. (Doesn't matter what language you're speaking when the person you're talking to isn't wearing her hearing aids.)
I've been jealous about the fact that I've never had the 'big Filipino family' experience like a lot of my PCV friends have. Some of my friends live(d) with big families who really grew to be second family to them. They gained new siblings as they became close with their host brothers and sisters and attended lots of family events throughout the months: christenings, graduations, reunions, birthday parties, etc. I've had some of that, but to be completely honest, sometimes I feel like I missed out on that aspect of Peace Corps service.
Today and tonight, I got to experience all of that for myself!
Last week, Lorena and Christhan (the Dela Cruz boys' older brother) invited me to attend Christhan's Recognition Day program because he was awarded 3rd honors in his class and was to receive a medal. Lorena and I left my house around 1pm for the program which was supposed to start at that time, but ended up starting around 2:30 instead. When we arrived at the school, she led me directly to the Principal's Office to meet the Principal before the program. Even though this is a practice that still kind of bothers me (I always think "I'm not special enough to have to be introduced to the high ranking professionals everywhere I go."), I went along with it and waited outside the office after the assistant told us, "Nagbebeautify siya. Wait lang."/ "She's beautifying herself. Just wait.". The awarding program took about three hours, but the short version is that I met the Principal, we chatted, she greeted me individually as she was acknowledging the presence of her special guests and making her opening remarks to the 1,000+ crowd (again, in my eyes, there's no need for that), Lorena and I watched the program, and I escorted Thano on stage to receive his medal!
Thano asking if I would escort him on stage was the first thing to happen today that made me feel like I was a part of the family. I was a little shocked and definitely surprised, but of course I accepted.
After the program, the three of us went back to where Thano lives...
Side note: I finally understand the situation here. Thano is for sure Lorena's child, but lives with another family in Naga because that family "sponsors" him to go to school. Lorena used to work for this family and when she was having trouble supporting all four boys and Thano expressed serious interest in schooling, this family offered to sponsor him and make sure he gets his education. Thano's been with them for three years now and is going into grade 5 in June.
... because there was to be a celebration for "the sponsor's" eldest son's high school graduation. Lorena joined some ladies in the kitchen to make lumpiang shanghai and other things for the feast and I spent a couple hours playing with the kids and chatting with the adults. Another thing I felt I had been missing was socializing with fluent English speakers, so I was happy to socialize with a couple ladies who were great in English! We actually understood everything we said to each other!
When I first arrived, the grade 5 daughter was incredibly shy and wouldn't even answer my questions when I asked in Tagalog. After a while, and after I took her side when she and Marlon were picking on each other, she LOVED me. All of a sudden she wanted to sit on my lap, put her arm around my neck, play with my hair, take tons of selfies on my camera, etc. etc! I LOVED it. I wish she could have been my host sister all along.
The socializing and the playing and the eating all made me feel so incredibly included in their family. If you know me, you know that family time is one of my ultimate favorite ways to spend my time, and I'm so thankful to feel like I have that with a Filipino family now, too. To top it off, they invited me to go to their family reunion with them next weekend!
This makes me smile!
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