My trip to the Philippines was special because I not only explored the Philippines for the first time, but I also had friends there even before setting foot on the land. It was possible because of knowing foreign languages and being a part of those languages' communities.
The benefit of being part of language communities is the possibility of meeting the members in other countries. On this trip, I met two friends from the Chabacano and Esperanto communities. Neither of them knew each other, so I had separate days to meet both of them. Another reason is that I would definitely be speaking Chacabano and Esperanto. I know both languages, and they don't.
I really enjoyed the time with them, speaking both Chacabano and Esperanto. We talked about each other's experiences learning and living with the languages and their development. The Chabacano friend is a book author, she gave me her Chabacano book and a fridge magnet as souvenirs. The Esperanto friend works in the Information and Technology department, and he gave me a local calendar as a souvenir.
Chabacano is a Spanish-based Creole language spoken in the Philippines, making it the only Spanish-based Creole in Asia, with distinct varieties in Zamboanga, Cavite, and Ternate, blending Spanish vocabulary with local Philippine languages like Tagalog and Cebuano.
Esperanto is the world's most widely spoken constructed language, created to be a neutral, easy-to-learn international second language for global communication and peace. Its speakers are spread around the world with formal communities united under the membership of the largest Esperanto association, called Universal Esperanto Association.
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