Concept of saving face

The idea of hospitality is one of the strongest moral obligations that native Filipinos hold sacred. With in this more is the concept of "Saving face." A Filipino is keen on this idea. When you walk in the door of someones house they will always offer you food and clear a place for you to sit. They will go as far as to rearrange their schedule to make sure that they are meeting some one's needs or expectations I have found this to be very true during my time in the communities that i have started to call home. The family that i am currently assigned to in San Jose are some of the kindest people i know. Almost no one works yet they let make me feel like guest every time i come home. Sometimes my bed will be remade and my room cleaned (even if it did not need it). Food always seems to be closer to my plate than the rest of the families. Not to mention the way they cook has changed to suit my more American need to veggies on my plate. One morning i woke up early to get to another part of the province only to find that Germin (my host mom) was up much earlier and she would otherwise be, cooking on the stove. I asked her why she was up so early and she look at me with a puzzled look and said "I am making your packed lunch for the trip." This included friend chicken, mango, rice, pineapple juice, and an assortment of bakery goods. The reason for this is two fold. One again is hospitality, but underneath that is the saving of face. They do not want to be seen as not taking care of a guest (more so for an out of county guest). In the eyes of a native country person if I or any other guest was not taken care of to the standards set by the culture at large shame will be brought on their family. If we as Americans set up an event at a place that was found not to be conducive to the event as a whole even if it was someones home we would move it to a new location without much hesitation if the opportunity arouse. Even this would be seen as losing face. "My place is not good enough," or "I was not a good enough host." An American perspective might be and i say might be "I understand that there is a better place will be good for this event'" or " that is OK maybe we try a different event here in the future." I am not saying these are the responses of every American but this might be a typical response to the situation at hand. This is a concept that many of us struggle with because we want to be a part of the commuity and a guest. ----------------------------------- I am now back on Negros and am about three weeks away from finishing PST and the begining of my two years of service in Maria, Siquijor. Yesterday the remaining members of our cluster had one on one time with the Country Director Karl. I really enjoyed my conversation with him as it ranged from the training to Memphis Blues in the early 40's. I have alot to do in relation to my language skills and therefore that will be the primary focus for me during the remaining weeks here in San Jose. Spending the time that i did on Siquijor was good but i also saw where my challenges where going to come from early on. Maria is somewhat isolatated. Transportation stops at about 4pm and the other citys are not easily accessable. It takes about 90 minutes to get to one of the main cities on the island and for a city boy like me that will be very very hard at frist. But that is ok because i did not join the easy and comfortable Corps i joined the Peace Corps. The name invokes Challenge and personal dsicovery, and Maria is going to offter that challenge. I hope everyone is doing well and i still miss each of you. david lumsden