Mabuhay!
For this blog post I’m gonna bring it waaaay back to the days I felt culture lonely in Philadelphia.
But first, here’s a small backstory for any new readers. I was born in the Philippines and moved to Long Beach, California, when I was 10. I spent my entire childhood and majority of my teen years constantly surrounded by Filipino culture. So even though I moved and my physical environment changed, I never thought that aspect would change. It was an ignorant way of thinking, but I just assumed that my culture would be present in my new life in Philly like it was in Long Beach.
California is like a melting pot of culture, especially Los Angeles. Many different cultures are present and intermingling. Filipino culture, in particular, is very evident. (Fun Fact: According a survey done by American Community Survey, Tagalog is the fourth most common language spoken in American homes and Tagalog speakers tend to reside in the West: California, Nevada and Hawaii*) Filipino food is not limited to Filipino homes. There are tons of Filipino-owned markets and communities and I always felt like I had my culture with me. I was also surrounded by family members and Tagalog speakers and I was constantly immersed in the culture.
When I moved to Philly, I had just turned 18 so I was very excited to do what I wanted whenever I wanted. I was so glad to be on the other side of the country away from my parents. But within a week, I was giving them a call. I missed California but more so, I missed my family and my mom’s cooking. I experienced culture sickness for the first time. I barely saw any signs of Filipino culture around me. There were some Filipino eateries but they were located in New Jersey. Barely anyone spoke Tagalog so I found myself internally smiling whenever I hear it, but it just made me miss everything more.
However, slowly but surely, Philly’s Filipino scene has been increasing. Over the past few years I’ve discovered more Filipino culture presence in Philly. In a previous blog post, I talked about Perla which opened in 2016. It is a restaurant that serves Filipino inspired cuisine such as Sinigang and Nilaga. There were no Filipino food anything when I first moved to Philly. The owner recently just opened a sister restaurant Sarvida, which I'm very excited to try and write about! I hope the Filipino presence continues to increase in Philadelphia! I’m excited to see where we will be a few years from now and I hope you guys are too!
Hanggang sa muli!
Nicah
*Reference:
Tamasi, Susan; Antieau, Lamont. Language and Linguistic Diversity in the US: An Introduction (p. 241-242). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.
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