The more I know, the more I know I don't know

Thursday night, I got the opportunity to spend some quality time talking with someone from the Phillipines. Math Woman (not her real name) is spending her second year here after spending 5 years in Taiwan teaching. She freely spoke of how she was not paid the same wages as a "White" person in Taiwan (because she was not..white). She said that here in Kuwait she is paid for her worth and not based on the color of her skin (that made me feel better).

She also talked about the Phillipine culture and how it there so much of a group mentality. This means that the culture is raised to think of the needs of the GROUP rather than the needs of the Individual (in case you're wondering, America is definately an Individualistic country!)

She was raised to always think of the needs of her whole family. Even today, her grown married brother and sister live with their father, along with their spouses and children. All meals are eaten together. All major decisions are made collectively--including those that affect one person. She mentioned that now she can buy a book and not have to think "will my sister ever read this book?"

Being ignorant (which I freely admit) I told her that the only thing I knew about the Phillipines, other than it was somehow involved in WW2, was a little about the turmoil caused by Imelda Marco and her shoes (it's the truth..okay how much do YOU know about the Phillipines?) Fortunately David was there to help save my face and show her that not all Americans are ignorant. She said that Imelda is now saying that "All Women shop when they get depressed and I was going through a depression". (If you recall, Imelda Marcos had several hundreds pairs of expensive shoes, paid for by the people of the country, while the same people were starving). She smiled when I told her that in America, you can say to a woman "Hey Imelda where did you get those shoes!?" and the person (if they are old enough) will get the joke.

We also talked about how she finally has the opportunity think for herself and live for her self, not her entire family. I don't have any idea how old she is, but I would guess she's in her mid30s. It was an amazing conversation. Oftentimes, we take for granted how lucky we are. I intend to get to know MathWoman better. She might just help me get smarter (at least about the Phillipines. About Math...don't hold your breath!)