Author: ahv1005

A Little About Me

My parents, and their parents, and their parents parents, etc. were born in the Philippines. After my parents graduated from college, they moved to the United States and became U.S. citizens. They first lived in New York and then moved to Florida and had me. Naturally, my parents surrounded my childhood with some of the Filipino cultures, customs, and traditions that they had brought with them to America. Growing up, I learned how to somewhat understand some of the Filipino languages (don’t ask me to speak any of them) and cultures and frequently ate Filipino food, and I still do. I may have been born and raised in America, but I am still and proud to be a Filipina. Of course that doesn’t mean I’m not proud to be an American as well.

The Philippines

Philippine Geography

The Philippines, which consists of over 7,000 islands, lie southeast of China and north of Australia. These islands make up a land area of around 110,000 square miles and stretch across more than a 1,000 miles.

The largest and most densely populated island in the Philippines is Luzon. Luzon contains the capital city of the Philippines, Manila, and the largest city in the country, Quezon City. Mindanao, it’s largest city is Davao, is the second-largest island in the Philippines.

Philippine Climate and Weather

The climate of the Philippines is hot and tropical with temperature that usually ranges between 70 °F and 90 °F. January is the coolest month while May is the hottest month.

Situated in the middle of the “typhoon belt,” the Philippines experience abundant rainfall and, obviously, typhoons. Typhoons can hit any time of the year, but June and August are the most typhoon-active months. Fifteen typhoons can affect the Philippines a year, and five to six of those typhoons are often direct hits.

Philippine History

Not much is known about what the people, cultures, languages, customs, and traditions of the Philippines were like before 1521. Nevertheless, in 1521, Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Philippines and transformed the Philippine Islands into a Spanish colony. The Philippines remained a Spanish colony until America was able to gain control when the Spanish Empire was defeated in the Spanish-American War in 1891. Before America could grant the Philippines their independence, World War II broke out. In 1941, Japan invaded and occupied the Philippines until Japan surrendered to the U.S. in 1945. The Philippines were finally granted their independence in 1946.

Philippine Cultures, Customs, and Traditions

There are so many different cultures, customs, traditions, and even languages in the Philippines because of all the islands. This makes the Philippines culturally wealthy and diverse. I wish I could include all of the different cultures, customs, and traditions in this post, however, this post is already getting too long for most people (I’m sorry).

Because of the Spanish’s control over the Philippines for over 300 years, much of Philippine culture, customs, traditions, and languages has been greatly influenced by the Spanish. You can see the Spanish influence in the traditional arts, literature, dances, languages, currencies, foods, names of the people, etc.. However, it’s not just the Spanish who have influenced lifestyle in the Philippines, American and Asian influences can also be seen.

The Philippine people have over 170 different languages, and I’m not going to take the time to describe them all so you don’t have to worry. The official language of the Philippines is Tagalog. Tagalog, and all the other languages, combine words from Spanish (e.g. the common Filipino greeting kumusta is derived from the Spanish greeting como esta), English, and the original native language.

The Philippine cuisine is mostly made up of tropical fruits, rice, chicken, and seafood. You can see the Spanish influence in the food such as chicken adobo and leche flan. The Chinese have also influenced the cuisine in food such as lumpia and pancit

There are more traditions and customs that I would like to share, but for all of your sakes’ I won’t. However, I will share my favorite traditional dance with all of you.

On A Final Note

I wish with all my heart that I could share more about my homeland, but I know some of you are most likely nodding off. There is just so much about the Philippines that I find amazing! The food, the languages, the sights, the people, the traditions, the history, and so much more are a part of me. Sure, it may be a third-world country, but I still love being connected to it all. Plus, who wouldn’t love to know that they come from strikingly gorgeous tropical islands? If you would love to learn more about the Philippines, you can find extensive information here.