pinoy food, pinoy humor, pinoy christmas

Last night Obet, Sherry and I attended the UPAA (University of the Philippines Alumni Association) UAE Chapter Christmas Party. It was sooooooooooo much fun! We thought we'd stay in a corner, turn in our required gifts and just eat Pinoy food, then eventually sneak out without saying bye to anyone.

But we actually MET people. We had chats with them, played games (pokpok palayok and Pinoy Henyo, which we lost), and exchanged business cards. There were loud cute gay people who were of course the life of the party.

And so I ate a bunch of Pinoy food, check these out:

And I also did my monologue, to heed Obet and Sherry's forceful request, and it turned out fabulous. I promoted SAMASKOM and even promised them a DVD, which I have no idea where to get now. I'm glad they could relate to the piece. I guess everybody can relate to a provincial girl who goes to the city to work in a call center, never mind the fact that she was magna cum laude in her university, and once a year she gets her scheduled gang bang with a bunch of nasty men whose names start with J.

The villa was nice. It had a nipa hut in the garden, which sooo reminded me of the Philippines. The big Christmas tree in the living room, the baby grand, the altar, the Gary V. version of Pasko na Sinta Ko which Obet decided to sing so emotionally it was almost gay. And everywhere I went I engaged in a nice intelligent (but never without the green jokes) conversation with someone who more or less knew where I was coming from. I love UP.

I love people like them. They're happy, and NOT in a yuppie way. And they were really just what I needed to brighten up the holiday season in a Middle Eastern country. A small community of some of the best Filipinos in the world.

Sherry, Obet and I were so happy. And I was ashamed that I bought candles for the gift giving. Candles. You'd think a UP alumna could give a little more effort or at least creativity into this kind of thing. Well, a dildo would be nice to give, especially if the recipient was a lonely single woman in her early thirties, but the problem is, I'm not a whore. I didn't know where to get a dildo here.

Oh and it was a costume party! The theme was Filipiniana. I went as a Muslim native in Mindanao. I wore a nice Asian-inspired wraparound skirt and a necklace of wooden beads. Plus my Aldo slippers. Hehe. I was nominated for best-dressed. Wow! I actually wear that outfit in the mall.

And you know what? They have big hearts. The arrozcaldo that we didn't finish, they brought to the Philippine Consulate, where some troubled Filipinos stayed. If that's not enough to convince you that we're one of the best Filipino communities in the world, we'll figure out a way to save souls from going to hell.

Last night made me proud. Of being myself. Of being a woman. Of being a UP student. Of being there at the party, with my friends. Of being a Filipino. Of being an OFW.

Looking forward to more UPAA activities.