Merely Filipino

Basically, this was a conversation between a friend of mine and I (translated into English).


Him: Uhm….Ate Alexis, I have a little question for you, if you don’t mind

Me: Sure, no problem. Ask away.

Him: Well, your look’s very…different. It makes me wonder and want to ask you whether you’re pure Filipina or not.

Me: *chuckles* Actually, I’ve been asked that a lot. Well, the answer is I’m not. I’m, in fact, Filipina, Caucasian American, French, Indian, Hungarian, and Spanish. That’s in different parts.

Him: *rather astonished* Oh! Wow! Cool! Good for you! I wish I had your heritage rather than merely purely Filipino.

Yes, that’s right. That list of nationalities is indeed my bloodline. That roster that seems more like a United Nations delegate list is, in fact, a basic run-down of my heritage. I am indeed an international pastiche. And guess what. I’m not even sure if that’s all that is part of my bloodline. There may be more nations in there I’m not aware of. Mixed is an understatement for me!

According to friends, my being multi-racial is very much conspicuous in my looks. Even I have to agree with them. My Indian side, especially, is very much apparent in my appearance. You could see it from my thick, wavy, dark, jet black tresses, eyebrows and lashes. My high, prominent cheekbones also show that bit of heritage. My big, deeply-set almond eyes also show signs of India, so does my bronzed skin. In other words, no, I don’t look like a Filipina, apparently.

I suppose this is why I’m always mistaken for a foreigner. Anywhere I go, sort of without fail, I would always get questions from people who stop and look at me. Just what question would they like to ask? “So, how are you finding your holiday in the Philippines?”

And it isn’t just limited to Filipinos. Even foreigners mistake me for one of them. One rather clear example of that was that Pakistani jewelry store incident I’ve mentioned in a previous entry (Typical Filipina). It makes me chuckle remembering those “fun with heritage” moments. Oh yeah! It’s amazing to be mixed.

Wait a second. What did my friend say again? Did he just say “merely Filipino”? Merely is a word usually used to downgrade the one next to it. Did he just insinuate that being purely Filipino is not as lovely as being multi-racial?

As I’ve been rubbing in through my entries, I believe that every person in this planet is lovely. Every person has a race and nationality, so, in turn, every nationality is lovely as well. Oh sure. It’s the Caucasians that have the white skin that many desire, but who says only that’s beautiful? Oh sure. It’s the Middle Eastern and Indian people that have the big doe eyes many find captivating, but who says only that’s beautiful? Oh sure. It’s the Latinas who have that curvaceous, sexy body a lot of people work out in some gym for, but who says only that’s beautiful.

The truth is black, white, Asian, Latina or a combination of these ---- all of us are lovely. Why? Because each of us has something lovely we can offer the world. We are different from each other, and that diversity is lovely indeed. It makes the world a lot more interesting and colourful.

What? The United Nations is calling me to be their honourary ambassador? Why not!