The Philippines is also the second largest predominantly Catholic country in the world. And when Filipinos spoke English with us, the accent was just as familiar вЂ“ I felt like I could be listening to a speaker from somewhere in middle America. This was a unique feeling after being in completely unknown linguistic waters in all the other countries weвЂ™d visited. Even though I couldnвЂ™t, I felt like I SHOULD understand at least some words here and there, like I do with Spanish. To my naГЇve ears, the language called to mind Spanish with its cadence and lilt.

Over 170 languages are spoken across the islands, but we mostly got to hear Filipino spoken. вЂњMalditoвЂќ is definitely Spanish as far as IвЂ™m aware After adjusting to cultures so different from my own over all those months, it was a bit of a shock how familiar the Philippines felt by comparison while feeling at the same time equally exotic.ДЄ jeepney вЂ“ the ubiquitous form of public transport in Manila.

The countries we had visited, while welcoming, always definitely had an air of the exotic and foreign for me. ItвЂ™s a pretty eclectic mix and helps to make the Philippines and the Filipinos a country and a people like no other! (this site has some really interesting perspectives from Filipinos on the topic in case you want some extra reading: this article in particular provides an interesting overview for folks who are less familiar with the countryвЂ™s history)ДЄrriving in Manila felt like entering a completely different world after all the months we spent in Southeast Asia and China. Comidienne Lisa Lampinelli lovingly described Filipinos as a вЂњweird mixtureвЂ¦ the Swiss Army knife of minorities.вЂќ I suppose itвЂ™s understandable when you look at the major historical and cultural influences on the archipelago: Indigenous, Malay, Indonesian, Chinese, Spanish and American (of the United States persuasion). (What looks to me like) a Chinese-style statue in front of the exterior of a Catholic church in Manila Technically itвЂ™s a part of Southeast Asia, but it sure feels like unlike any place we traveled in that region. I didnвЂ™t know it before we decided to travel there as a respite from all the cool, grey weather we endured in China, but the Philippines has a cultural mix to rival the best of them.

Places like this are fascinating and captivating to me. Xinjiang, today the province in China that over ten different вЂњminorityвЂќ groups call home, where you can walk down a street and see signage in four different scripts: Arabic, Chinese, Roman and Cyrillic. Xinjiang, where historically disparate regions flowed into each other along the Silk Road. India, with its exuberant jumble of Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Sikh temples, holy places and practitioners, with traditions of Jain, Zoroztrian, Judaism and BahaвЂ™i faiths thrown in for good measure. Visiting locations where dramatically different cultures, histories, languages or traditions have been thrown together (voluntarily or otherwise) and have stewed (sometimes at a pleasant simmer, sometimes a roiling boil) for long enough to produce something that still tastes of the original elements yet still is different, new and unique have been among my favorite experiences of the big trip.

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