Faith, Family, and Food

Our journey begins early in the morning as we are picked up by our sweet driver. He does not speak much English , but he weaves through the traffic in the streets with excellent accuracy.

It is Pope Day! The Pope is loved by the Filipino people.

Meeting about Filipino culture with the Filipino teacher and with student representatives. We discussed the gesture of respect mano po. The children touch our hands to their foreheads as respect. Mano or Pagmamano is a gesture used in Filipino culture performed as a sign of respect to elders and as a way of accepting a blessing from the elder. Similar to hand-kissing, the person giving the greeting bows towards the offered hand of the elder and presses his or her forehead on the elder's hand. Usually performed with the right hand, the person showing respect may ask “Mano po” to the elder in order to ask permission to initiate the gesture. Typically someone may mano to his or her older relatives upon entry into their home or upon seeing them. ^[1]

The word “mano” is Spanish for “hand” while the word “po” is often used in Filipino culture and language at the end of each sentence as a sign of respect when addressing someone older. Put together, “mano po” literally translates to “your hand please” as the greeting initiates the gesture of touching the back of the hand of an elder lightly on one’s forehead. The Philippines is the only country in Asia that holds this specific tradition and its origins evolved from the mixture of western and eastern tradition.

They work in groups even more than we do, and the students are energetic and full of life!

Two families took us out for a tour of Calamba. We ended the day with "snack" the fourth meal around 4:30 every day. I have become accustomed to eating the extra meal.