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Filipinos. In the Philippines I met Filipinos. Well, actually I didn't really meet them personally, I didn't introduce myself, never bantered, or make any acquaintances or even go away with any names... but more observed. Im passive, things typically have to come to me... so naturally observing is more my thing. But what you watch is actually kinda sometimes better. Because these are types of Filipinos I've never met before. Some of which I never imagined I would. And by that, I mean not all together at the same time. Welcome to Boracay, the biggest mix of filipinos from every socio-cultural-economic background. Good times.

What we got: the overseas rich Filipino, the super yaman (rich) local Filipino, the poor local Filipino (throw a rock and you can hit one 99% of the time), the middle class local filipino, the balikbayan filipino (like my parents... ones that moved away and live abroad), Fil-Am and Fil-Can twenty thirty somethings from all over the US and some Canada who cant speak tagalog (ones like me, my brothers and sisters), the spoiled kid versions for Fil-Am / Fil-Can, the gorgeous halfers ( soft spot for the female variety of this group), the not so gorgeous halfers (like what the? how? 90% of mixes are good looking... never really considered the 10% that arent), the rich young Manila super maarte Filipinos speaking in a wierd Manila-style English, the middle class young Manila even more maarte Filipinos speaking in an even worse Manila-style English, the filipino women with old white husbands (throw a rock and you can hit on 99.999% of the time), the filipino men with blonde girlfriends (my brother... and thats pretty much it) and of course the French Filipinos going to the International school in Manila, of which one Manny said he thought looked like Jessica Biel, but happen to suck in Volleyball. Those ones were disorienting, because there was like a big group of them, they all looked part Filipino, but they like had French accents? And swore by saying yelling 'Merde'? But told us that the out of bounds lines was by the tsinelas? Who are these people...

As gorgeous as Boracay by itself is, one of the truly most beautiful places I have ever been, this mix dynamic was probably the most interesting aspect of it. To me anyways. It blew me away that there were all these Flips from around the world that you could probably relate to so easily, only if I pipped up and talked to them more than I did. Oh well. More photos coming soon.

Glossary:

Maarte (tagalog)- Overacting / Overly Dramatic.
Tsinelas ( tagalog) - Flipflops
Merde (french) - Shit