Some people have called the Filipinos the Black Asians. I noticed a few similar generalities between the two cultures, some of these are a stretch but here it goes in no particular order:
1) they like to hoop:
- They hoop, and they hoop hard. A common excuse to not being able to play well in the U.S. is not having good shoes. It is not uncommon to see Filipinos playing basketball in flip flops on dirt roads. One kid was even hooping with an unripe coconut; talk about dedication to your craft. They really love the game.
2) play oldies music/ Erykah Badu:
- I was surprised to hear the oldies music they played in some of the stores. I'm not sure who the artist was, sounded like the Temptations or something. I also heard Erykah Badu and similar soulful songs from Black artists.
3) Darker skinned:
- From my limited observation, I noticed that some of the Filipinos are typically darker than other Asians. However, I noticed many skin whitening/ lightening parlors in the malls we went to, and various billboards advocating for lighter skin. In some ways similar to the black culture and actually most cultures around the world. In most cases, lighter skin is considered preferable.
4) Babies:
- Some of the healthcare professionals claimed that there are many jobs in pediatrics or ob/gyn because of the increasing pregnancy rate in certain areas of the Philippines. Similarly, blacks are increasingly having many children at an early age.
5) Like to sing/ dance
- There were usually dancers at halftime of our basketball games
- Filipinos love karaoke, and I had the pleasure of listening to some really gifted singers
- Similar to black functions where you're likely to have singing/ dancing
6) Black Nazarene
- They had a church with a Black Jesus on it!
- One legend says that during the Spanish missionary colonial period they brought a statue of Jesus along, however it was charred after one of the ship caught fire
- I think they got tired of seeing only white Jesus figures so they just painted it brown lol.
- The procession of the Black Nazarene is the largest ceremony in the Philippines.
7) Similar church services
- I really enjoyed the church services and sermons. It reminded me of the old baptist church I used to go to. The praise teams were super lively and the Spirit really flowed throughout the service. The pastor at the church in the Philippines also liked to go on tangents as led by the Sprit, similar to the old baptist churches. During those times you can forget about an outline, notes, or a schedule. Likewise, these pastors are long winded. Church starts at 10 and ends when the pastor has either lost his voice or passed out from lack of oxygen.
8) Chicken
- They go in on the fried chicken in the Philippines. They even served it at McDonalds along with spaghetti; known as the McDo or McDoo-Doo, as one of the players who didn't like the dish referred to it as.
- Most days we ate chicken on a stick and rice, either at Inasal or at the hotel.
9) They sold FUBU at one department store we went to and RW/ Phat Farm/ Jordan shoes
- We saw a store selling FUBU, yes the 90's clothing line with the jerseys. Platinum FUBU was awesome, the Muhammad Ali shirts were dope. They also sold Rocawear and Phat Farm.
- On the street they sold retro Jordans, they looked official from far away, but up close they looked fake. They also had various street shops selling Nikes. I actually considered buying a pair, but I didn't have pesos on me at the time. I surely would've been roasted by the players and the Jordan connoisseurs in the U.S.
10) They start everything late
- The scheduled time is more like a suggestion; our games usually started late. No problem for me, I'm used to scheduled events starting late among Black people.
- We're both on colored people time
11) Mom is center of the household
- In both cultures, the mother is revered as a pillar of the household. Unfortunately, many times this is because the father isn't present in the household.
- In the Philippines, the mother is generally highly respected and handles many of the household decisions and responsibilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment