I absolutely loved the Philippines. Our hosts were awesome, our ministry was varied, the food was delicious, and the scenery was gorgeous. There were a lot of people that were very friendly, and many spoke at least a little bit of English. By the time we were saying our goodbyes on our last day of ministry, it hit me that we were leaving soon and I felt sad at the thought. I definitely want to go back one day.
One thing that I experienced while in the Philippines was a sense of community. We were living in a little town up in the mountains. This is the type of place where everyone basically knows everyone else in the area. Many people had some type of governmental job, and so we would see the same people at the government center whenever we were waiting for a jeepney. People were friendly and would wave, and some people made the effort to learn our names and would call them out whenever we would pass.
This wasn’t even limited to the area where we lived. We would often go to Cubao, which is close to Manila, which was a good two hours away, depending on traffic. But since we would always go to the same areas and wait on the same line at the end of the day for transportation home, there were people that would remember us. A little girl that sold candy would always come up to us, often giving Grace a huge hug. Or people working at the pharmacy or at the 7-Eleven would strike up a conversation and remember us the next time we would come.
People seemed very genuine about wanting to learn more about us. And it wasn’t like in Africa or in Indonesia where people wanted to take pictures with you just because you were American. They wanted to know what we thought of the Philippines, what we were doing there, and where we had gone so far.
I felt like if I was in the Philippines for an extended period of time, it probably wouldn’t be that hard to get to know a lot of people. It reminded me of a documentary my first team had watched in Côte D’Ivoire. It had a lot to do with actually getting to know the people in your little corner of the world. Back home, I don’t know my neighbors. I don’t know the people at the stores I frequent. Everyone I know is spread out all over. Watching that documentary made me want to actually make that effort when I get back home. To get to know the people that are located geographically close to me. And this time spent in the Philippines gave me a small taste of what that would look like.
Jessica
