This season of The Bachelor is nearing its end and with only three contestants left, we are able to get a much closer look at all of the girls. This is certainly true for Italian-Pilipino contestant, Catherine Giudici. On the most recent episode, Sean visited the home towns of the last four girls which gave Catherine time to show Sean the ins and outs of Seattle as well as some knowledge on Pilipino culture. With a middle name like Ligaya (Tagalog for “happiness”) and a mother who’s a Pilipino historian, we were not surprised to see that she was quite connected to her roots.
Before meeting her family, Catherine prepped Sean with a few helpful hints. She taught him to call her grandmother “Lola” which is the Tagalog equivalent. She then taught Sean the polite and formal method for greeting an elder- mano. This gesture is one that is performed as a sign of respect to the elders. The person bows towards an elder’s offered hand and presses his or her forehead on the elder’s hand. After the proper introductions (as well as gestures of Mano), Sean was asked to help make Lumpia with the family- a popular Filipino roll.
In the past, this show has been criticized for its lack of ethnic diversity so we were delighted to see this 26 year old graphic designer bring some of her culture into the mix. To watch full episodes of The Bachelor, click here and be sure to watch the final episodes!
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While Catherine was growing up, I was very close to her Lola and escorted her to hundreds of Filipino community activities (and of course dinners) in Seattle. I served on the Board of several Filipino American community organizations (I’m sure Uncle Fred Cordova is busy building a file on Gaya as we speak), drove a van every week to pick up kids so along with Catherine, Monica and India they could practice traditional dancing routines, and ran for a seat at the Filipino Community of Seattle–didn’t win but got 500 votes! During my visits to the Philippines even tried Balut! So I’m very proud of her many accomplishments, as a Pinay and a wonderful young woman.
By the way Ethel, my name is Italian but Catherine’s non-Filipino background is Swiss and Scottish. Her family line has been traced back 1000 years in both of those countries.
Thanks for sharing her remarkable cultural heritage.