The Compound and the Emphasis on Family

I came to find out after my trip that the area in Davao our friends lived in had a high crime rate. While our friends were wealthy, they were surrounded by a lot of poverty and felt it necessary to protect their personal space from the dangerous public space. There were two houses on the compound. My dad’s friend, Fe, owned the biggest house. She and her husband owned one of the largest banana company’s in the Philippines at the time and had built such a huge compound to house their entire immediate family. Fe’s daughter, her husband, and her two small sons lived in the big house with Fe and her own husband, along with the couples two adopted children. Fe’s biological son lived in the second house on the compound with his two daughters, his girlfriend, and his best friend. There were 6 dogs, all of which were pets, a pond with 20 fish, and a turtle. The compound was landscaped magnificently with a large outdoor eating area, two pools, a tennis court, a basketball court, and a field to play soccer on for Fe’s grandsons.
The first thing I found similar to my own life at home was the emphasis on family. The entire family lived together, dined together, went out together, etc. They were each other’s best friends, just as my cousins had been my best friends growing up. 30 people sat at the dinner table each night, you had to go around and kiss all of your elders before you could seat yourself: it’s the respectful thing to do. First lesson: Family is the most important thing in the world