Everything I Heard

June 28, 2012

When we first arrived to Manila there were a collection of different thoughts going through my head. I was very excited, anxious, and didn’t really know what to expect. As a Filipino, this was my first time going to the Philippines. So I was definitely trying to bring everything I’ve heard about it to life. On the car ride from the airport I was observing everything around me the people, the buildings, the buses and jeepneys. Everything I heard about the Philippines was not exaggerated. If anything, it was more intense than I thought. We were able to experience the crazy Manila traffic. It took us two hours to get where we needed to be when it really only takes twenty minutes to get there. Although it was a very long time in the traffic my teammates and I were able to bond and get to know each other a little better, as well as sharing our first time reactions being in Manila.

During our Filipino orientation the following day, we learned a lot about the culture, the do’s and donts, what actually means ‘yes’ and what actually means ‘no.’ As we were going through some of the cultural aspects of the Philippines, I thought to myself "Wow, I can really relate to this". Prior to our orientation in Manila I was having thoughts of how I lost sight of who I was as a Filipino. Before we arrived to Manila we were doing some activities that really brought up a lot of things about our culture and how we were raised. My parents were born in the Philippines, they moved to America, and then I was born. I was raised very westernized and my parents drilled into my head that I was American. So I had that mentality all my life. But during the orientation in the Philippines, I realized I’m more Filipino than I thought I was.

Ever since we’ve arrived, I feel like I’ve embraced more of my identity as a Filipino more than I ever did in America. I find my teammates asking me for help when practicing their Tagolog, and even then I didn’t even realize how much Tagolog I actually knew. I guess hearing my parents speak Tagolog growing up I picked up a few things. They never spoke to me in Tagolog though, just to each other. To be honest, living in America, I felt really ashamed of my culture and sometimes even embarrassed. It’s really sad to admit, but being raised very westernized instilled that into my mentality. I still don't know what it means to be a Filipino-American but I’m praying that God will reveal that to me during this trip. God is definitely present here and I can see the love he has for the Filipinos.

My teammates and I are so happy to be here. We know this is exactly where God needs us to be and we can’t wait to see his love shine in the Philippines. Also its so amazing to see how willing my teammates are to sacrifice a lot of things back home to do God’s will. Just seeing how much our team loves God, makes me want more of him. I feel so incredibly blessed to be around such strong women and men of God. We don’t have a lot this summer, and when I mean a lot I mean what were comfortable with in America. But my hope is that the Lord puts us in uncomfortable places and that we depend only on God this summer. I can’t wait to experience more of Him these next following weeks!

Princess Reyes