Since summer of this year, I have been relishing the thought of going home to Manila on February, starting with alimasag, kare kare, lechon, taho & cocktails by the beach. After 7 years, I can now finally go a month ahead of my husband & because in those 7 years, I have only stayed a total of 3 weeks back home. The excitement intensified when I bought our plane tickets two weeks ago & that my summer mcjob was extended just until 2 weeks before I leave. Then a phonecall to home to announce the news kind of shattered a bit my cocktails by the beach panaroma: two months expenses. So I wondered, am I really stingy?
Let's start with our old tradition the pasalubongs. It is the custom of bringing gifts to family & close friends when one has been away. May it be a day to work, a weekend trip, or years of living in another country. Paslubong comes from the word "salubong" meaning "to meet" & "pa" meaning "for," making it a "meeting gift". We bring home pasalubongs to say that we thought about them while we were away. The younger me thought it was a bribe when my parents wouldn't bring me along when they go away for the day. Then it has become a souvenir from places. Now the tradition has become to share the bounty of what seems to be a better life.
The idea of pasalubong has evolved as more & more Filipinos reach more places around the world, and as life back in the Philippines become harder. For being away now is a necessity for many but whatever the reason may be, the tradition of giving gifts has turned into a stressful part of going home. But we still find time to get the perfect gift for everyone & we even have back up gifts for people we might meet. Afterall, we seem to have a better life, away from our families, than they do back home. But the pasalubongs has reached a new level. It's not anymore about souvenirs & tokens. But do they really understand how it us for us to go home? For us, plane tickets has to be planned & budgeted months ahead (note that we still don't have kids). Pasalubongs are better bought a little at a time during months before departure. Then there's the expenses during your stay.
Hearing stories from friends around on being a balikbayan, I'm glad that my family understands. They do forget sometimes but I also forget that life back home is not the same anymore. I asked my nieces & nephews what they wanted, one said she preferred a shopping spree in Makati & when I said that the budget for each was 1500php, they all laughed at me. Although 1500php is now nothing there, 25€ is not really nothing here. And I'm not being stingy nor selfish. It's just that it's easy to get carried away with the euros & I wouldn't want to go back to France with a bank statement on alert.
But to see them all again & the smile on their faces is priceless. The glorified pasalubongs are worth all those years of being away. To share the bounty of your life in another land is part of the reward of your hardwork to earn it. I was never so much of a pasalubong person nor did I expect it before but being away for so long made me understand the pleasure, and the stress, of this Pinoy tradition. Although I will be getting laughs due to their thinking that I'm kuripot, I can't wait to be home.
How do you go about this Pinoy tradition when you go home? Do pray tell.
Let's start with our old tradition the pasalubongs. It is the custom of bringing gifts to family & close friends when one has been away. May it be a day to work, a weekend trip, or years of living in another country. Paslubong comes from the word "salubong" meaning "to meet" & "pa" meaning "for," making it a "meeting gift". We bring home pasalubongs to say that we thought about them while we were away. The younger me thought it was a bribe when my parents wouldn't bring me along when they go away for the day. Then it has become a souvenir from places. Now the tradition has become to share the bounty of what seems to be a better life.
The idea of pasalubong has evolved as more & more Filipinos reach more places around the world, and as life back in the Philippines become harder. For being away now is a necessity for many but whatever the reason may be, the tradition of giving gifts has turned into a stressful part of going home. But we still find time to get the perfect gift for everyone & we even have back up gifts for people we might meet. Afterall, we seem to have a better life, away from our families, than they do back home. But the pasalubongs has reached a new level. It's not anymore about souvenirs & tokens. But do they really understand how it us for us to go home? For us, plane tickets has to be planned & budgeted months ahead (note that we still don't have kids). Pasalubongs are better bought a little at a time during months before departure. Then there's the expenses during your stay.
Hearing stories from friends around on being a balikbayan, I'm glad that my family understands. They do forget sometimes but I also forget that life back home is not the same anymore. I asked my nieces & nephews what they wanted, one said she preferred a shopping spree in Makati & when I said that the budget for each was 1500php, they all laughed at me. Although 1500php is now nothing there, 25€ is not really nothing here. And I'm not being stingy nor selfish. It's just that it's easy to get carried away with the euros & I wouldn't want to go back to France with a bank statement on alert.
But to see them all again & the smile on their faces is priceless. The glorified pasalubongs are worth all those years of being away. To share the bounty of your life in another land is part of the reward of your hardwork to earn it. I was never so much of a pasalubong person nor did I expect it before but being away for so long made me understand the pleasure, and the stress, of this Pinoy tradition. Although I will be getting laughs due to their thinking that I'm kuripot, I can't wait to be home.
How do you go about this Pinoy tradition when you go home? Do pray tell.
