A Filipino Family Dinner
Filipino Student Association's family dinners cook up memories of home
For more than 20 years, BU’s Filipino Student Association (FSA) has been promoting Filipino culture and traditions on campus. Each Saturday and Sunday, the group gathers to practice native dances, members perform in cultural showcases each semester, and efforts are under way to offer a class in Tagalog, the main language spoken on the islands.
The students in FSA also get together on Wednesdays for dinner and fellowship at one of BU’s residence dining facilities. And once a semester, members gather at the home of one of the club executive board members for a special family dinner of traditional Filipino cuisine, such as lumpia (an eggroll-type dish), pancit (a noodle dish), adobo (a chicken or pork dish made with soy sauce and vinegar), and sinigang (a sour soup made with chicken, pork, or salmon). The food is prepared by the eight board members, and planning for the meal begins weeks in advance.
“BU’s dining halls don’t serve Filipino cuisine, and the only Filipino restaurant in the area is in Quincy, so this is a chance for us to bring a taste of home to our members,” says FSA president Arvin Agas (SAR’15), who hosted a spring semester dinner for 45 club members.
In keeping with club tradition, seniors eat first at the special family dinners, followed by juniors, sophomores, and freshmen. After everyone has eaten, the group watches either videos of past dance performances that they’ve posted on YouTube or a Filipino movie.
On March 28, FSA hosted its annual spring multicultural show at the Tsai Performance Center. This year’s show, titled Isa: The World Is One, featured performances of traditional Filipino dances. The event included performances by BU’s Japanese Student Association, the BU Belly Dance Society, Dheem: Indian Classical Arts Association, hip-hop dance troupe Fusion, Christian a cappella group Mustard Seed, and dance group Soulstice among others.
Agas says that the FSA is open to anyone interested in learning about and celebrating Filipino culture. Currently, there are about 70 active members.
“The Filipino Student Association is an organization that’s given a lot to every member,” he says. “It’s a home away from home.”
Bill Politis can be reached at bpolitis@bu.edu.
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