After school, when I get home, I always have to "mano po" with my Grandma whenever I go inside the house. No matter what you ALWAYS have to do it. The phrase "mano po" is a gesture where you take the person's hand and put it against your forehead. This is mostly done for elders and your parents. This gesture basically means that you respect them, and that you're home. "Mano po" isn't really just between my family, but it's between us Filipinos.
My Grandma said she's been doing it ever since she was 5. She would do it to her elders, just like what my mom, dad, and I do. My sister hasn't really started doing it yet. We forget to teach her how important it is to do "mano po," and she's at the right age to learn. I know that most people in the Mainland don't really do it. Some of them just forget what it is because we're in the "states" and no one in the states has a clue what it is.
I was taught to do "mano po" when my parents showed examples. My dad would always do it first, and then I followed. When I got used to it, I just started doing it daily and my Grandma would be smiling, because I learned to do something really important. We never stopped doing this gesture because it's like we're stuck with it. No matter what we do, we just can't let go of it. We've been used to it for so long, we can't forget about it.
Since I didn't really know if I always did it as a child, I asked my Grandma. She said,"you would always do it after school when you get home. You do it to me, your mom, and all of your aunties." I was a little shocked, because I don't really remember anything like that, but I guess I was a smart little kid to do it. I lived in the Philippines when I was little, so I had a lot of cousins and aunties. Had to "mano po" every single one of them. I guess it just carried on here in Hawaii.
To this day, we still do "mano po." We still do it every day, to my Grandma, and she never got tired of it. Not many families do this gesture, because they don't know what it is. From what I've heard, only Filipinos know this tradition, and it would be great if everyone knew and did "mano po." For now we'll continue doing this tradition, and we won't stop. Maybe in a few years, everyone else will catch on.
I loved your ending sentence! It really wrapped up your whole essay and was a great concluding sentence. You had a couple of errors like in the sentence, "Since I didnt really know if always did it as a child, I asked my grandma" There should have been an I after the "if". Also, you had a little run-on sentence, but other than that, your essay was good.
ReplyDeleteI like how your whole family uses the word mano po. You did a good job on your sentences. You just have to work on shorter sentences and i like how you honor your family by putting their hand on your head
ReplyDeleteMS(3-) GREAT SPECIAL WORD CHOSEN. ONE THING YOU NEED TO WATCH OUT FOR IS SPEAKING FOR OTHERS "BUT IT'S BETWEEN US FILIPINOS" YOU DON'T KNOW THAT FOR SURE. YOU CAN'T SAY THAT THIS IS USED BETWEEN ALL FILIPINOS BECAUSE IT ISN'T. YOU CAN SAY THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT ORIGINATE IN THE FILIPINO CULTURE. ALSO YOUR ENTIRE ESSAY YOU SPEND TALKING ABOUT DOING IT (WHEN YOU DO IT, HOW IT IS DONE, HOW LONG YOU HAVE BEEN DOING IT FOR). BUT THERE IS ALMOST NO REFLECTION ON HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT DOING THIS FILIPINO CUSTOM. YOU NEED TO REFLECT, WHY IS THIS SO SPECIAL TO YOU, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU WHEN YOU DO IT, IS IT SOMETHING YOU WILL DO TILL YOUR OLD AND TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO DO. THERE IS ALMOST NO REFLECTION.
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