“Untitled 1” by Charlie Parsons

A language that I have a connection with would be Filipino. Both of my parents are from the Philippines, thus it would be the language that I am closest with. A large majority of my encounters with the Filipino language would be in my household or in the Philippines itself. One particular encounter that has stuck with me for many years now is the time I had gotten sick in he Philippines and needed to go to a doctor. Something that I should say now is that I don’t now how to speak Filipino even though I am surrounded by it on a daily basis. This story begins in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. I was eight years old, and had eaten a bad egg. My stomach was in shambles, and I was in disarray, so off to the hospital I went. All the nurses and doctors spoke Filipino and English, but with their accents it practically meant nothing to a young confused child who only spoke English from the states. Neither my mom or dad was with me on the way to the hospital, I was accompanied by one of the maids from my grandparents house where I was staying. When we arrived at the hospital we checked in under my grandparents' healthcare. Something that people should know about the Filipino healthcare The system is very organized, if you are from the Philippines. The heart of this story comes when me and the maid become separated for a brief period of time, that somehow felt like forever. The issue was when I had to answer the nurses questions before I met with the doctor. To this day I honestly have no clue what she was asking me, but the emotions I felt, I certainly knew. I felt scared, then mad as time progressed. Question after question, I kept shaking my head. I remember something about numbers, my height, my age, I had no clue. Finally, it was my saving grace, the maid had returned from the bathroom after what felt like being frozen in time. The maid was helpful in translating my physical feelings, and so off I went on my merry way with some laxatives. This story continues each and every day I have encountered with Filipinos in the Philippines, but I have slowly learned how to adapt and pick up on small things That helps to understand what is going on in the hustling and bustling world of the Philippines. A short side note about me and Filipino, my mom once attempted to teach me how to speak the language in hopes of me being able to communicate with her, and the rest of my family. However, I was very reluctant to accept the idea. That has since come to bite back in the butt because now whenever my parents want to talk behind my back they can whenever they want. Especially when it comes to things I usually want to know about. So that is just my short story about me and an encounter with a Filipino as a child.