One thing we noticed about the poverty in the RP is that it can seem overwhelming, but it isn't entirely that they are so poor, it's that they are happy with what they have. They work enough to take care of their family and aren't going to spend hours a day away from their family just to afford a nicer house, another car, etc. It's really more complex.

My mother was born in the Philippines and moved to America in her teens. When she went there to visit again as an adult (I was around 12) she came back with some shocking stories. It was too much for her to come to terms with. I actually lived in Southeast Asia (Thailand) for a few years but never went over to the Philippines. I was young and my grandma warned me never to go because I might get "kidnapped" though she never really explained why - she was adamant about not wanting me to go there, 

Growing up in America I found that 1st and 2nd generation Filipinos fell into opposite sides of a spectrum - either they assimilated completely and tried to leave their roots behind like my family or they held firmly and proudly to their culture

Now I'm also obsessed and planning a trip there, so finding such an honest open reflection from this blogger was really touching and helpful, thanks so  much for sharing!!

I see this reflected in the stories of a lot of Filipino families living in the US. First generation-ers tend to be very eager to completely assimilate to American culture that by the time their children become more curious about who they are or at least find out more about the cultural background from which their parents came, it becomes difficult. This is in contrast to other immigrant families like those from China, India, Bangladesh, etc. who tend to have stronger cultural ties, that children in these families still experience the culture strongly while growing up. And I think more and more second generation Filipinos want that, that cultural link. And I feel for them. The rest of the world may not allow them to see themselves as completely American, but they don't see themselves as Filipino either. I can only imagine how difficult that is.

P.S. I'm born and bred in the Philippines, if anyone's curious.

Exactly! I was born and raised in New York where every one proudly calls themselves some kind of hyphenated American. My grandma and mom were brought to NY by a man who was a 2nd generation Italian-American and that's the cultural influence that totally defined me. My father is also Italian-American and so my last name was a very Italian "Filippelli" but because of my mom, I was called Filipino Filippelli all through elementary school as if it was an insult. In HS my sister found a Filipino heritage group and was so excited to join and learn about our culture but they completely rejected her for not being Filipino enough. Now that I'm don't live in American anymore everything became so much easier because now I'm just American :) 

And as our HOT article today, we shared the love on FB :)

https://www.facebook.com/Outbounding.org/posts/673551396008748

An enlightening article that echoed with me in small doses, I only spent a month there which is not sufficient to make may own full assessmen, his was very well written!