Last week I had spoken of a Fiesta that I was going to attend for the daughter's birthday of the President of NSCAP. Let me tell you about a little thing called "due-dilligence". First of all, I was a bit caught off-guard by being invited to the party in the first place. So, I was a little absent-minded in the first place. Second, when the father of the children was spouting off ages of the children he was going through their ages (16, 14, 9 and 7). I was under the impression that the girl's birthday was for her 9th birthday... I was waaay off. She was the one turning 16. This would have not been a problem if I was to just show up to the party and have a good time (which I did anyways), but I brought a gift... for a 9-year-old. It is a good thing that I am clueless about gifts becuase it turns out what I got was pretty universal (although maybe more geared to a 9-year-old), a diary and some colored pencils. So, you could say that I was making an impression! This is why I retired from auditing... not really, but still funny.
The party was very fun and I made multiple observations regarding the party (or Fiesta). Fiestas here are very similar to fiestas for people of Hispanic cultures. The entire family is invited and the honored guests are always the eldest of the party. The party cannot start without them being there. There is food everywhere, including, but not limited to, Lechon (a whole, and I mean whole, roasted pig), noodles, rice, sweet pork, fried chicken, sweet potatoes, shrimp, crab, etc. It was a feast at a fiesta. I had my lot of food and then had more. It was fantastic food and the company was very nice. I know that it can be tough for people of different origins and languages to converse and find things to talk about, but the people of Catarman and NSCAP have been very nice. One of the relatives of Juneth and Sir June (President and Husband of the President) had spent substantial time in Australia and Amsterdam studying so he was quite fluent in English. He and Bembooy kept me company for the party as well as frequent appearances from Mme Juneth and Sir June. Another thing to note was the responsibility of the hosts.
The hosts of the party are very involved with everything. They ensure that everyone is having enough to eat and conversing and, more importantly, drinking enough. The hosts (at least in this case) are of the utmost hospitality and courtesy. It is the same in the U.S., but here it is done with much more care.
One thing that must be mentioned is that Bembooy, who had stayed out with me earlier in the week for an inordinate amount of time (which I am thankful for), was unable to stay at the party too late (still pretty late however) because he was in the "dog house". In this regard, Filipino women are the same as American women... very protective and the price on redemption is quite steep... including, but not limited to, doing the dishes, cleaning the house, cooking, baby sitting, etc. However, one item to make a point of (Shannon) is the duration of the stay in the dog house. Bembooy had said the longest is a week and typically he can come out and play after a couple days... this is a lesson for all of you back home (sorry Haley... this is also one thing to note, I am never in the dog house, or maybe I am always in the dog house... I'm not sure).
Other than that, my Saturday prior to the Fiesta was uneventful. I was working on some items for NSCAP among other things... it rained too.
2 comments:
FYI- comments that might put you in the "doghouse" would be to say that he (the father) was babysitting when they are his kids. Not a good phrase.
funny... I will take mental note of that, but that is a good point... but really it is... right?
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