Pass The Quilt

In the larger metropolitan cities, there are areas that celebrate a certain culture - Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Little Italy, Filipinotown…

Fili-what?

Yes, Filipinotown. It exists. I’ve seen (the green signs) that it exists. If you don’t believe me, see Historic Filipinotown on Wikipedia.

My ignorance of its existence reminds me of how Filipinos seem like the forgotten people. Filipinos are one group of people that just want to come to the states and assimilate.

In my experience, my parents came here (yes, Dad was in the Navy, but no, Mom was not a nurse), had kids and didn’t teach the kids the Native language. Instead, they perfected their English (nearly accent free) and settled down in an area of San Diego that comprises mostly Filipinos.

Some may even wonder why we need a Filipinotown. After all, if you’re a fellow San Diegan, all you need to do is take the 15 and take the Mira Mesa Boulevard exit and bam - you’re in Filipinotown.  Or for the southsiders, take the 805 and exit Plaza Boulevard.

There is a need for a Filipinotown if it will teach us second generationers and beyond about our culture, the culture that our parents don’t want us to know about. Apparently, a new tour just launched last year.

If anyone has been there, let me know what you thought. I just looked on Yelp, and the whopping three reviews just aren’t sufficient.