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63  It was eleven o’clock at night, and for members of Bibingka, all of whom are first-generation Filipino Americans, their Friday night fellowship had really just gotten started. They had been praying the Rosary, singing, and sharing their thoughts on scripture for over three hours. As the final prayer closed with a resounding,“Amen” and one last song was sung, they all made their way to the kitchen to prepare “a little midnight snack,” as Janis put it. More like an extravagant buffet, the kitchen was filled with dish after succulent dish of Filipino cuisine, including Jun’s famous pancit (Ta) noodles.1 Taking the last few dishes out of the oven and microwave, the members of Bibingka gathered around a large breakfast table adjacent to the kitchen. “Let us bow our heads and give thanks.” After making the sign of the cross and blessing the food, they began to pass the dishes around the table. Some took their seats at the table and began eating. Others stood and ate throughout the kitchen or sat around the coffee table in the living room. Energized from their fellowship, the group began to talk more casually over food, and loudly at that. While it was difficult to keep up with all the discussions , furiously floating in and out of Tagalog and English at the same time, some form of community politics appeared to be on everyone’s mind at our end of the table. Rose, for example, asked the group, “Have you heard that Bicol has split again?” Responding, Lyn stated,“It’s not a surprise . . . with the election and everything else that is going on you knew it was bound to happen, right?” She then explained, “It is not like it is the first time it has happened and it probably won’t be the last either.” As other members gave their own thoughts while some remained rather silent, Janis, clearly upset, questioned, “Why can’t we get our community affairs together? It’s embarrassing and just makes me sick.” Interjecting, but curiously laughing, Stan announced, “Well those Filipino Lions have gone off and split again too!” Continuing, Stan stated,“I am not even sure how many of them there are now? Hey you guys, how many Filipino Lions c h a p t e r 4 COMMUNITIES IN CONFLICT 64 Faith, Family, and Filipino American Community Life make up a pride? No one knows because there aren’t enough of them left in any one group to fill this den!” Almost everyone laughed but I felt as if I had missed an inside joke. I understood the intentionality of the joke and its cleaver play on words. I certainly knew a great deal about the history of contentious politics in the Filipino American community in Houston, yet I also knew from interviews with members of Bibingka that many of them were currently involved in some of the very groups they were laughing about or groups and associations such as Philippine American Masons Association of Texas (PAMAT) and the Tagalog Association of Texas that are very similar to them. As we continued to talk about community politics, Cheryl stopped her own conversation and stated, “[Our] associations have not made a dent in society at large.” Disagreeing with Cheryl, Ernesto interjected, “Our groups, like PAMAT, can and do make a difference.” Agreeing with this statement but raising her own complaint, Janis told me,“I really admire a lot of Filipinos and their associations because they do a lot for the Filipino community but I expect more from them.” Janis went on to explain that she feels as though the Filipino community could do so much more,“but politics always gets in the way.” Clearly, not everyone in the group that was a part of the discussion agreed with the relative success or impact Filipino associations have made or are making in the community, but most seemed to be concerned about unity on some level. Chiming in on our discussion, Adler explained, “You see, with Filipinos there is political talk, there is whole lot of organizing, and then maybe a little action.” He then stated, “We have so many associations, like Cheryl said, but it’s always a matter of unity talk and we never have unity, at least not in most of the Fil-Am associations; nothing but our faith really brings us together.” When I asked if there is a difference between Bibingka or devotional groups in general...

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