Lots and lots of Filipino traditions…

For the most part, Filipinos are super hospitable and family-oriented. Even though I was an only child, I grew up with a big family — my grandma, grand-aunt, and grand-uncle pretty much all lived with us so it felt like I had multiple parents to take care of me, which was both great and crazy at the same time. In addition, Filipinos all seem to be related. Everyone is considered Tita (“aunt”) or Tito (“uncle”) regardless of whether we are even in the same family. So like my mom’s co-worker Mia? Tita Mia. My dad’s Caucasian boss Bob? Tito Bob.

I think that this is also done out of respect. It may stem from some event in the past in which the Filipino people needed to bond together to overcome greater odds – the American capturing of their island  comes to thought first. One thing I noticed is that the informant does not consider herself to be an “Asian,” but rather just Filipino, and that this spirit is not widely exhibited in the Asian mainland. The Chinese of yore might have some claim to this spirit, but Filipinos exhibit this more widely than any other I’ve seen, in my experience.