Remembering the Philippines

As our unit on the Philippines drew to a close last week, I asked only the oldest children, those who stay for the afternoon, to tell me their recollections of all that we had learned. Imagine my surprise when Ezra began by suggesting that there were a lot of snowplows in the Philippines! In fact, there are not! We had, however, been recently discussing how our school district closes down with only an inch or two of snow whereas in other parts of the country, they have snowplows, de-icer and superior driving skills and do not shut down unless there are feet of snow. Maybe that's where his impression came from.

The remaining impressions of the Philippines are as follows:
Dhabih - There are a lot of floods.
Madison - Rice is eaten at every meal.
Ian - People can grab spiky sea urchins with their bare hands.
Dhabih - Only 1/3 of the population have refrigerators.
Ezra - Tarsiers are cute.
Hazel - Tarsiers are also known as bush babies. (I haven't verified this. Could be, though!)
Raine - A bowl placed in a pan filled with water and buried in the ground keeps meat fresh.
Ezra - The Philippines are a really big archipelago.
Eliason - Many people do not own cars.
Madison - Many people do not have electricity.
Dhabih - Most people ride bikes.
Madison - Old jeeps from World War II were turned into buses called jeepneys.
Maggie Rose - The children greet their teachers by placing the teacher's hand on the child's forehead as a sign of respect.
Ian - Many children have jobs.
Raine - Many children live in a group home in a city from Monday to Friday, work or go to school and then visit their families on the weekend. This seems to be a good idea because children in Mexico sometimes do likewise.
Ezra - "Mabuhay" means hello.
Raine - The response is "mabuhah ma ha."
Raine - Many houses are built on stilts to avoid the flood waters.

We also really enjoyed the folktales of the Philippines that we read to the oldest children. It seems that no matter what continent they come from, these tales all place a very high value on a woman's physical attractiveness. We had a discussion about what other qualities might be important for a woman to have that are even more valuable than beauty. The children thought of kindness to animals, being smart, being helpful and having a good job. I asked them if their mothers just sat around being beautiful all day. They said no and listed many of the tasks their moms accomplished during the day. I think it is good to combat all the cultural pressure our girls are under to be beautiful. Sure, it's good work if you can get it! But the rest of us will have to explore our other strengths, too!

Best regards,
Doni