My first Mano po's

As I have mentioned before Filipinos have a respectful way of addressing each other, which I think is really good for helping children grow into adults with a healthy respect for older family/friends.

As far as I understand... any Filipino that knows better can correct me... is that Kuya ( koo-yah) is respect to an older male possibly a brother but definetly someone older than you, Ate (ay-teh) is like auntie although may not be related to you, tito (male) and tita (female) are family friends. Then there is Mano po.. I thought this was a sign of respect to a very old member of your family like a grandfather..... so you can imagine how surprised (am I that old !!) but honoured that 2 of the children did it to me. Mano Po is when a child takes the back of your hand, bows slightly and puts it to his forehead as a sign of respect. I asked one of the parents about this and he said no you don't have to be a grandfather type, it's just a sign of deep respect and that his children do the same to him and he is just 40.
The only people in the Phils that call me Gerry, are people that know me personally and are a similar age as me. So I am always called either, Sir, Sir Gerry, coach Gerry, Kuya Gerry, tito Gerry (actually that one hasn't happened yet) and now the best of all in my opinion.... Mano Po.. what a beautiful gesture.
So May, when I return to the UK, I want some Mano Po from you !!!!! After all I am nearly 20 years older and deserve it. ;-)

I think a lot of other countries would benefit from this form of respect. Can you imagine anyone under 25 in the street in the UK, showing any type of respect for anyone, never mind someone that they don't know.

Anne asked me today in an email if I thought that I would like to live here permanently, the answer at the moment would be yes but of course I will have a better opinion by April. This country isn't ruled by the 16-30 age groups that make our towns and cities an unsafe place to live. Yes the Phils can be a dangerous place in some ways but the basic structure is sound with lots of respect and helpfulness from most people.
The thought of returning to London at this moment in time fills me with dread !!! Big time !!

Sunday was a very quiet day for me as I didn't feel well, I just spent the day sleeping and resting. It's now Monday and am feeling better.

Hope your Monday is a good start to your week.