American Field Service Exchange Program - Overseaer Yearbook (New York, NY)

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We, the nine students chosen to go to the Philippines last summer, consider ourselves the luckiest of people. All we can do when we hear the Philippines mentioned is sigh. A million words could never express our feelings for that wonderful country. From the time we arrived until the time we left, we never ceased to be amazed at the overwhelming hospitality of the Filipinos. For most of us, our Filipino families were the most wonderful part of the ex- perience. There we found warmth, kindness and love, that could be matched by our own American families. Typical native houses became our homes for eleven weeks. They had nippa roofs and split bamboo floors. Orchids and ba- nana trees grew outside our windows, and there were rice fields in our back yards. We soon learned to eat rice and Balut like experts. Our walks frequently led to the market place which seemed like a scene from the Arabian nights. There we could buy almost anything under the sun, every kind of fruit imaginable, many which we had never even heard of before. Because the school vacation is from March to June, we all had an opportunity to attend Filipino High Schools. We wore the school uniforms, learned Tagalog, the National Language, and sang the school songs. Weekends were our favorite times. We would go on excursions, arranged by different school organizations, where we would ride carabaos, paddle bankas, or swim at a sandy beach fringed with palm trees and nippa huts. The Filipinos love to sing on outings and we learned quite a few beautiful na- tive songs. We also acquired a good many bruises on our ankles from trying to dance the Tinikiling, a lively dance between bamboo poles that are being banged rhythmically together. Since none of the students lived in or near Manila, but rather out in the Prov- inces, we feel that we acquired a much truer picture of typical Filipino life. Al- though it broke our hearts to leave the families we had learned to love so much, all nine of us met in Manila for the final week of our stay in the Philippines. We visited all the points of interest in the Capital City and had a memorable meeting with President Carlos Garcia in his executive office. We also visited the Summer Capital of Baguio. The time to leave came all too soon. None of us likes to think of that mournful day. We would rather think ahead to the time when we will again be with those gay, sincere and wonderful little people.

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