Exploring the Filipino Psyche Day 14B:Little Things Pinoys Do

This is the English version of my entry. Content will not be translated in verbatim, but the examples will be the same. In this entry, I will write about the little things Pinoys do,  those little things which  we may have overlooked and hardly noticed since it is part already of the Filipino culture, and Filipino life. With the help of good friends and family, a stand up comedian based in the United States and a very keen observer--Rex Navarrete--plus that famous writer who outsold the Harry Potter books and Twilight Saga--Mr. Bob Ong, I was able to gather a few things that makes us...us.

The first I shall write about are the towelettes flattened on the back of the little children. And as they play with their friends and cousins 'chase' and 'hide-and-seek', you will see this little towel sticking out from behind the child's neck, like a cape of a super hero. It always seemed to me that they were like super kids, trying to hide their real identities by putting a shirt over their capes. This way, our little super heroes will be able to experience a normal and regular life with us mortals. Their shirts were like Clark Kent's glasses, making them able to blend with us. But seriously, I thought of this, and I have two conclusions: 1.) There are moms who do not like sweat sticking on the shirts of their children, so they put a little towel on the back of the child so the sweat is absorbed there instead. 2.) A way to economize--by putting a towelette, the child does not need to keep on changing shirts. Thus, the family can save on laundry soap and of course water.

So now let us go to water. In the Philippines, brown-out is a regular thing. With all the typhoons and storms our country has in a year, electricity needs to be turned off often to prevent and avoid casualties to happen. And no electricity usually means no water because the water companies are unable to pump the water into homes. Thus, many households have their own tanks and of course...tabo  and timba. What are these two things: tabo  and  timba? First we go to timba, this is a plastic pail that usually comes in different colors. Most of these plastic pails are bought from 'Orocan', with the tagline Ang Plastik na Walastik! (Plastic that is Fantastic!).  And this is where we Filipinos store our water. Now one cannot have a timba  without its plastic scooper, the tabo. The tabo also comes in different colors. It has a long handle and the main part where the water is scooped is fairly deep. With the absence of the plastic tabo,  one can also replace this with a tin can.

Many homes have this famous duo, tabo  and timba, that when I asked a few if they had this, I got a resounding answer. "Of  course!" they said, looking at me as if I just asked them a stupid question. This duo is very common in dwellings of Pinoys that even my spiritual guru, when she told us a story about herself...hmmm.... I'll just call it taking a bath even if it wasn't a bathtub she used for washing herself, since I've never heard of someone taking a  timba  before. That will sound weird. Someone who has a shower shouts, "I'll take a shower first!" And someone who uses the bathtub would say, "I'll go take a bath!" So what do we Filipinos do then? "Wait for me. I want to take a  timba?"  Okay, since that has never been said before, let's stick to bath. So as my spiritual guru was telling us a story about  her, taking a bath, she suddenly made a movement  with her right hand. Her wrist folded her right hand inward, while her fingers formed in a fist, as if she was holding a tabo  in her hand. She then moved her hand up to the top of her head, twisted it, and poured. The English lady in our group wondered what she was doing, so she asked, "Oh. May I ask, what are you doing with your hand?" Our spiritual guru explained then the tabo  and timba, and that many homes in the Philippines have this duo.

So now I go to body language. Many Filipinos use body language to support a story or emphasize a certain situation that happened to them. Little movements or grand dance steps are made at times. A step back, a move from side to side, hands doing a somewhat Hawaiian flow, and many more. But one most common is an action that shows what mode for communication one used to contact someone else. For example, "Hay naku... I asked her awhile ago, 'Are you joining us?' " And while this person tells her story (both genders do body language, but I am using only one for this situation, only because it's easier), one may notice that maybe her one hand forms into a semi-fist while her thumb starts folding repeatedly, as if she were texting someone--that is if she used her mobile phone to communicate the message. Now if she starts typing or somewhat looks like she is playing the piano in the air, most likely she sent her message using the computer, I assume through 'Facebook'. And if she puts her hand beside her ear, forming a fist with the thumb up and her 'pinky' out, then she talked to that person on the phone. 

Now let us go to what Mr. Rex Navarrete, a Filipino who is a stand-up comedian in the U.S., has observed. In his 'Hella Pinoy' video, he demonstrated the culture that is what I would call 'pilitan', which means 'to force'. In the Filipino culture, when one visits another in his or her home, the owner of the home shall invite the guest to eat with them. "Kain tayo (Let's eat)!" he says. "Hindi, sige. Kumain na ako (No. It's okay. I ate already)." : The first refusal. "Sige na. Kain ka na (C'mon. Let's eat)." The owner of the home invites again. "Hindi, sige. Okay lang ako (No. It's okay. I'm okay).": The second refusal. "Sige na. Likha na. Kain ka na dito (C'mon. Come here. Let's eat)." Finally the owner of the home pulls the guest to the table, or puts down the cookies and juice for the guest to eat. On the third, or maybe fourth, the guest will finally eat.

I suddenly remember the story of my father when he went to an acquaintance's house with his friend. They went in and their acquaintance invited them to eat. " Tara, kain tayo  (Come. Let's eat)," he said. "Hindi, sige. Kumain na kami (No. It's okay. We ate already), " my father's friend said. So their acquaintance sat with them in his living room and they started to talk. When my father and his friend left, his friend whispered to his ear, "Hindi man lang tayo pinilit (He didn't even force us)." Maybe we can be a little shy, or maybe that is really how many of us see it--that the polite way is to refuse first before we say yes to the invitation. That's possible.

There are numerous little things that Pinoys do, or have. One would be putting leftover food in different ice cream containers. For some reason, even as a kid, I would always notice these containers to be from 'Magnolia', and that they were blue. Nowadays, I have also seen in different households the red 'Selecta' container with the flavor '3 in one ',  and Vhong Navarro on the cover. Mr. Rex Navarrete, in one of his shows, told the audience once that he was so happy when he saw so many ice cream containers in the freezer, but when he opened them, to his dismay, they were leftovers of adobo, menudo, giniling and the like, to be heated and eaten on another day. Another one would be putting plates over the food once the food is on the table. I guess this is done to protect the food from some wandering fly that may suddenly appear and join in. The next one would be making glasses out of the 'Lily's' or 'Ludy's ' peanut butter...well...glass. It is really a glass anyway. I think that was part of the marketing plan of 'Lily's' and 'Ludy's ', it is a 2 in 1 for us Filipinos. You get to eat peanut butter, and in the end you are left with a new glass--not bad. Bob Ong, the writer, said you are definitely a Filipino if you have seen toyo (soy sauce) rings on the table more than a few times in your life.

Now when it comes to many homes, since most Filipinos are Catholics, a lot of homes have altars with different Saints, the Virgin Mary and the Sto. Nino. The little things my friends and I have noticed  are the paintings or pictures on the walls of many Filipino homes. One would be a painting, a picture, or a mat of 'The Last Supper'.  Another  picture common in many homes, which would be in a frame, or with lights, or a painting on a mat, would be the horses, usually brown, running in the open field with their hair being blown by the wind. And the last one, which is usually on a mat hanging on the wall, is a picture of dogs playing billiards: one is smoking, the others watching, and a bulldog that is ready to hit the ball. One other photo I have noticed in different homes are the dogs playing poker, also in a mat hanging on the wall.

Finally, a thing we do that I really find cute is when we Filipinos do not want to bother others as we pass them. It seems like the last thing we want is to invade other people's space and/ or conversation. So for example two people are talking, and someone has to pass between them, the person passing will bend so low, hoping that he or she could be invisible enough so that the two friends will just continue with their exchange of stories. And as this person passes, a very soft "iksskss..." will be heard.  This means 'excuse me'.

 These are the little things many of us Filipinos do. There are still so much more that we do which are distinctly very Pinoy, distinctly our own. And as this journey continues, let us see what else is there, let us see what else is to be revealed, what else is ours, and what else do we share with the rest of the world. 

Till next time...


Here are links to Rex Navarrete's 'Hella Pinoy': 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABU9GTFEXos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzkePde9MpY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoPNsS1EiFo