The international Pinoy

LILLE, France – What do you do when someone calls you by yelling "Baboy, baboy"? While I have nothing against pigs (on the contrary – I love pigs), in Manila I would have probably given that person a hard slap.

Here in France, I simply yell "Baboy!" back.

No, my Filipino friends and I haven’t gained 50 pounds or anything. (I can hear my boyfriend sighing in relief.) Before we left for our respective host universities, all of the participants of the Junior Term Abroad program attended a talk about studying abroad back in Ateneo. The girl who gave the talk disclosed a simple yet very effective way to find fellow Pinoys when you’re in another country. "Just walk around and say, ‘Baboy, baboy, baboy…’ If you see anyone turn their heads, you can be sure they’re Pinoys." That amused us so much that once we got to France, we started using baboy as our reference word whenever we travel. It’s hard to keep nine people together all the time, so when we get separated from each other, we stop and start yelling "Baboy! Baboy!" until our lost friends yell the same thing in return. In the Philippines, we would have sounded like total lunatics, but we can get away with it here in France since no one understands. We’re this close to making a flag bearing the word baboy and waving it in the air so we can find each other in the crowd.

The baboy call may have worked with the nine of us, but we soon found out that we don’t have to yell Filipino words to find fellow Pinoys here. I never realized how many Filipinos are here in Europe until I kept seeing Filipino faces smiling back at me in the subway. I’m waiting for the next train and see another Filipina waiting for a train on the opposite platform. I’m walking out of the metro station and see two Filipinas walking ahead of me. I’m looking for the bathroom at the Louvre and I hear someone whispering behind me, "Ano daw?". There are so many Filipinos here in Europe that there are actually Filipino masses in some cities, like Brussels and Paris!

Every time we meet fellow Filipinos here, my friends and I get so excited. Even after several encounters with Filipinos in different places, we’re amazed when we find fellow Pinoys. Sometimes we even chase after them just to ask them if they’re Filipino and to say hello. We talk about what we’re doing in Europe, where we’re from in the Philippines, where the cheap restaurants are, what the mass schedules are in the nearby churches. Sometimes we even take pictures with each other. Afterwards my friends and I always feel a goofy sense of Filipino pride and gleefully tell each other, "Proud to be!"

Yes, I’m proud to be Filipino. Even though I’m in a completely different continent, country and culture, I feel like all my experiences here affirm my love for my country. It’s only in another country that you start to notice and appreciate all good (and sometimes, even bad!) things Filipino. You start to miss all the little things you used to take for granted back home, and while you can’t experience the full-fledged Filipino lifestyle just yet, finding Pinoys is the next best thing. We’ve met so many people here from different countries and cultures, but I still love meeting other Filipinos the most.

The great thing is that we can find fellow Pinoys practically everywhere. When we visited Brugge in Belgium, we found a group of Filipinas who excitedly showed us a cheap place to eat, took us around the city, showed us where the Asian store is, and even let us use the bathroom in their house. They told us all about life in Brugge, relationships with foreigners and Filipinos, and then they gave us a pack of Skyflakes to keep us full on the ride home. When we visited Brussels about three weeks later, we found fellow Filipinas taking pictures of the gorgeous buildings, and after talking, we were taking pictures with each other. During lunch the next day, a Filipino approached us to say hello and even apologized for having plans on that day. When we asked why, he told us that he would have wanted to take us around Brussels. On our recent trip to Paris, we kept meeting Filipinos in the subway, and while we were the one who approached most of them to say hello, the others just surprised us by suddenly participating in our group’s conversations in Filipino.

There are even Filipinos in a small quiet place like Lille. One night, my friends and I were hanging outside our dorm, talking in Filipino when a guy stopped in front us and said, "Ano ka ba?" After we recovered from the surprise, he explained how glad he was to find other Filipinos in Lille and asked if we knew how to cook adobo. Two weeks ago, we were lucky enough to be invited by a Filipina lady for a nice home-cooked dinner in her apartment one night. When we opened the door to Tita Jocie’s apartment, the aroma of rice wafted in the air and we instantly felt at home. We had all the elements of a Filipino meal and a French meal. Right beside the adobo and rice were cheese, bread, and wine. We had so much fun talking about the Philippines and living in Lille, from our first glasses of juice before dinner to our last sips of coffee and tea. Tita Jocie even gave us winter clothes to wear as she warned us that Lille was only going to get colder. Just last weekend, we got invited to go to another tita’s house, where we met Tita Juliet and her family, and her friendTita Myrna and her husband as well. We spent the entire Saturday in Tita Juliet’s house, eating, watching The Incredibles in French and playing with their adorable kids. They took us shopping for a while and even drove us home because we missed the last bus home.

Lille really feels like home to me now, but it’s still hard to completely relax in a culture I’m not familiar with. It’s hard to relate or even communicate with people I don’t know and don’t understand. I’m always tiptoeing, making sure I do or say the right thing. Finding other Filipinos reminds me of my real home, where I’m comfortable enough to get off my toes and walk around barefoot. I can be myself. There’s just something so comforting and satisfying about finding other Filipinos. Not only can I talk in native Filipino, but I instantly feel a connection with that person.

It affirms that I’m definitely not alone. When I meet other Pinoys, I know other people are reeling from high prices. Other people are cooking rice. Other people are already feeling cold in October. Other people are using tabos in the bathroom. Even with my posse of Filipino baboy buddies here in Lille, being away from my family and friends can get lonely sometimes. Somehow being with other Filipinos brings me closer to home. That’s the funny thing – I hardly know these people, and yet they’re practically family just because they’re Filipinos. Every Filipino we’ve encountered has been very kind and accommodating to us. That’s one of the amazing things about Filipino culture. We love our families and treat everyone else like family. I’m proud to be a member of the Filipino family.

Yes, there are times when we look at the newspapers and just feel depressed about the state of our country. There have been a couple of times that I’ve done a presentation on the Philippines for school here in France and couldn’t avoid talking about poverty or corruption. Our country’s not perfect. But what country is? I believe there is hope for the Philippines. Our country may go through so much turmoil and difficulties, but all over the world there are thousands of Filipinos working hard in different ways, from taking care of children to taking care of a business. With each drop of sweat and ounce of effort, they help uplift and restore our land. They exude the resilience, hospitality, ingenuity, and thoughtfulness of Filipinos in everything they do. Yes, the best thing about the Philippines is still the Filipino.

Bamboo knew what they were singing about in Noypi. May agimat ang dugo ko. There’s simply something magical that weaves all Filipinos together, and whether it’s in our blood or not, I’m more than proud to be part of that beautiful tapestry. I’m lucky to be Filipino.