Angeles, Pampanga,
Philippines
16 September 2009
In the past few weeks we have run into a very interesting phenomenon with young people here in the Philippines. It occurs when we are in a store and happen to make eye contact with a small group of youngsters and we say hello. That is when it starts, curiosity sets in –
MB and NB were in a grocery store in Angeles picking up a few items when three girls about fourteen years old passed us and we smiled at them and said ‘Hi’ and that was the start of about 30 minutes of shopping with a trailing group. As we made our way around the aisles in the market looking for the items on our list, they would magically appear and be interested in the same items. Of course they never purchased anything. We would ask them questions and one or two would try their English and giggle after each word they tried. It was as entertaining for us as for them and it would cause us to ask more questions to get their reaction. Even the shyest of the three would try to answer our questions. We knew we were entertaining our small group as well as others throughout the store who would turn to smile at us.
It happened again this afternoon when we were in a small mall in Tarlac and two boys followed NB into the hardware store and helped find a tire pressure gage for the car. Their names were Dustin and Macho and they were in the fourth grade. As NB found MB in the scrapbook section of the department store next door, these two boys were his companions and helped him find and track her as she made her purchases. Teaching them how to give and take ‘Five’ (hand slap) – it is new to them and it takes a few times to get it right. Questions about English words – days of the week and months of the year kept them thinking and trying to help each other figure out the order and what was next in order.
You have to know that wherever we go in the Philippines, in stores or on the street, there are many, many people and they are very interested in anything or anyone who is different from them in any way. Some then are bold enough to say something so they can practice their English while others just look at you and are afraid to say anything. Even the ones who talk can run out of English words they know and just stop talking. Sometimes it is just fun to smile and wait to see if a smile is returned – 9 times out of 10 it is!
The picture above is a good example of team work at the local water pump.
Elder NB & Sister MB
3 comments:
How delightful! You are enriching those young ones' lives as well as making lasting impressions of you and your friendliness. Do you wear missionary badges? If yes, you're also making friends for the Church. Keep having fun this way.
Those little ones are so adorable! How does NB like being followed around by young ones asking questions? I've seen it a few times in my lifetime--always sweet to see dad answer w/a smile on his face. Luv u--Cams
Maybe they think you are movie stars from the U.S.??
Or is it just that "missionary glow"
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