... leaving tonight.

DAY ELEVEN • Monday, January 10, 2011

It's 8:17am here in Ternate. My flight to the States departs tonight at 10pm. Can't say I'm happy. I'm really gonna miss this place.

Let me recap you on the last few days since I haven't blogged. They haven't been too eventful. On Friday, I went with my Mom and my cousin Shey to a town called Kawit (KAH-weet) here in Cavite. We were going to meet my Mom's former students for a meeting they were having for the reunion that's taking place at the end of the month. We took the public transportation, which is really great here in the Philippines. It's kinda like New York. You can find transportation at any time. The first mode of transportation we took was a big air-conditioned bus. It's called "Ariel Express". It was great... nice and roomy, air conditioning blasting... Until, we got to the other cities and all these other people started PILING in. And, when I say "PILING", I literally mean piling! haha. By the time we got to Kawit, the bus was so packed that people were standing. These are TOUR BUS sized buses, mind you! haha.

We got down at some city I don't remember, and met up with one of my Mom's students. We then get on a waaaay smaller bus - more traditional mode of transportation. Not a jeepney, but, kinda like a mini-bus. Not sure what they're called here. It wasn't air conditioned, but, it didn't matter. It wasn't hot anyway and this bus had no windows. This bus took us to the Jollybee (a restaurant) in Kawit, where the meeting was taking place.

The reason why I went with my Mom to this meeting was because she said they were going to a place called Island Cove - it's a resort here. So, after the very long 3-4 hour meeting, I was told that we weren't going there. BOOOOOO! I was kinda bummed, but it was fine. I had time to catch up with my cousin Shey. We pretty much sat and talked the whole time... :) After the meeting, my Mom asked her student to drop us off at SM (ShoeMart) Bacoor (BAH-ko-or), which is one of many big malls here in the Philippines.

After we were doing galavanting, we hopped on a mini-bus and headed home. This ride was a little less pleasant as I was already super tired! The mini-bus took us to a city called Naic (NAH-eek), which is just 2 towns away from Ternate. From there, we hopped back on the Ariel [Express] to Ternate. What a day!

The following day... Saturday, January 8th, I didn't do too much until the evening. The last pageant and event in celebration of the fiesta was happening. It was called "Miss Gay Ternate". O-M-G is all I have to say! Me and my cousin Marie went to go watch. We kept saying, "daaaaaang, those men look more like girls than we do!!!!" hahahaha. It was pretty crazy! We only got through the introductions - I was too tired to stand there ALL night.

Sunday, January 9th was pretty fun. Celebrating 2 birthdays. My cousin Marie's and my little cousin Adrienne's. In the morning, my cousin Shey came over and asked if I wanted to go visit her dad (the former Mayor of Ternate) - I agreed. He lives in a beautiful place. Huge piece of property with several houses on the lot. It's in a barangay called "Sapang", which is just across the river.

We spent a few hours there, and my Uncle agreed to take me to the Sabong (Cockfighting). It was still early, so I headed home for a bit. My cousin Marie (Mayor's daughter) came to pick me up and we went back to Sapang to meet up with my uncle. Before we left, we got word from one of my uncle's workers that the current mayor (who's doing a TERRIBLE job at being mayor) has shut down the sabong. My Uncle said we should just check for ourselves just in case. So, we head over, and sure enough... it's shut down! Ugh! So, unfortunately, on this trip to the Philippines, I was unable to experience the Sabong! Hopefully next time!

Later on in the afternoon, my Mom, my uncle, 3 cousins and I headed out to Tagaytay to do a little shopping. We also ate at Max's (a restaurant known for their chicken) to celebrate my little cousin's birthday.

When we got home, my cousin Laurel just pulled up as well. We spent the rest of the night talking about family, politics, and whatever else we could think of. THESE are the times I cherish. Time with my family just talking. :)

So, I sit here this morning a little bummed out that I have to leave this awesome place, where I've learned so much about so many things - about myself, about my family, about life in general. I love being in a place that is so proud of their heritage and to sticking to traditions. This is a place where people take time to stop and chat with one another, where work comes secondary to people and where people actually CARE about one another. I really do love this place.

On our drive home from Kawit the other night, I was looking out the window, looking at all the "shacks" built from bamboo. I got sad and felt bad for them because they had to live in those conditions, and thougth about how lucky I was to be living in America where we have showers, cars, electricity, and all the other luxuries we have... After a few more kilometers, I realized how truly IGNORANT my thinking was. Who am I to say that my life is better than theirs, just because I have the luxuries that I have? I realized this after I saw a father with his children. They were happy. The father was sitting, watching his kids playing and laughing. They're perfectly happy just the way their life is. Instead of them envying my life, I found myself envying theirs.

Until next time, Philippines!

fiesta!

DAY SEVEN • Thursday, January 6, 2011

So, the last few days I haven't blogged because they were seriously uneventful. and... I was sick. So, I was pretty much lying around all day trying to recover for today!

Today is our town's fiesta. This is the day that all these other days were leading up to. Basically, our town is celebrating Santo Nino or the "baby saint". In other words, baby Jesus. like I've mentioned before in another blog, it's a time where the ENTIRE town pretty much just has a huge celebration! Everyone's off of work, and it's a day of eating, drinking, and just celebrating! Super fun.

The day started out pretty hectic as I knew it would. My nephew, Tristan, chose me to be his daughter's godmother. So, I had to head to our church in the morning to be there for the baptism. Here's the bad thing... It's very special to have your child baptized on the day of the fiesta, so, needless to say, there were at LEAST 50 babies waiting to be baptized today. The church was PACKED!! But, at the end of the ceremony, I became a godmother to my 6th godchild. :)

After the baptism, my Mom and I headed back to the house as her and my uncle were cooking to prepare for all of the visitors we were expecting... On the day of fiesta, people pretty much go from house to house and just EAT. haha. So, on this day, you'll find every house cooking food to accommodate all of the guests that just happen to stop by that day. Pretty cool tradition, if you ask me.

At around 4pm, the Karakol finally arrived to our house. What's the karakol? It's a huuuuuuuuge celebration in the streets of Ternate. Everyone's in the street dancing and they do this all throughout the town. It starts at the river, where there's boats of people dancing in their boats celebrating Baby Jesus. Once the boats get to the shore of San Juan (a part of Ternate), everyone gets out of the boats and start dancing on the streets... Soooo much fun! I didn't get a chance to dance too much this year as I was busy taking pics of all the people having fun - including my Mom!! I got a little dancing in though...

After that hype died down a bit, there's another ceremony that happens at night. Basically, everyone in the town meets at the church. Here in Ternate, there's 2 main churches. The Aglipay (ahg-LEE-pie) and the Romano church. The Aglipay church is less traditional and the Romano is the very tradition Roman Catholic Church. Anyway, whatever church you're from, you meet at that church with your candle... and basically, walk through all of the streets of Ternate with your candles lit, blessing the entire town. It's a really cool tradition. It's called "The Procession". What's cool is... the way they tell you where the procession currently is, is by setting off fireworks. This tells the people at home, where the procession is - in case they didn't get a chance to meet at the church, but still wanna join.

I really enjoy how everyone just gets together here. Doors are flung open, dining room tables are set, food is cooked, all to celebrate Jesus. Really, really cool.

I'm only here for a few more days, then it's back home to the States. I have mixed emotions about heading home, as you can imagine. I really learned a lot on this trip to the Philippines. A lot about my family, a lot about my culture, and a lot about myself. I've been humbled, to say the least. I do miss home though and the comfort of my own bed - but, I sure am gonna miss my relatives here, and just the "life" in Ternate. It's so simple, so laid back, and nobody's in a rush. People take time to stop and talk to each other... I love this place.

uneventful and eventful all at the same time

DAY FOUR • January 3, 2011

Got some MUCH NEEDED sleep today. Slept in, lounged pretty much throughout the day since 2 out of 3 of my little cousins were in school today. Took another nap sometime in the middle of the day and then lounged again. See... uneventful, right?

There were some spurts of excitement throughout the day though. Since it's fiesta time in our town, there's lots of happenings going on throughout the week. Today was our barangay's (barangay is a division of the town, based on where your house sits.) parade. It was pretty cool to see. I'm sure I've seen it before, but... I never took the time to appreciate it in the past.

My Mom and I spent some time with some very close relatives today. We usually would've visited on the FIRST day we were here, but... my mom tries to build up her strength before going there these days. These are my mom's first cousins. She grew up with them. Our families were so close that during WWII it was my grandparents that made sure their family was safe while they were running to the mountains during the Japanese Occupation. I like to believe that THIS tragedy brought the family as close as it is. Anyway, the reason why my mom needs to build up her strength to go there is because there's 4 of her cousins that live in that house, and all 4 have suffered from a stroke. 2 are in wheel chairs, 1's entire right arm is paralyzed, and the other one is kinda immobile as well. It's just a bummer. We used to go there every time we'd visit the Philippines and it was a house full of laughter, energy, and life. I can't say that those things are no longer there, because they are. We spent our time there today laughing and reminiscing about the past. But, to see them in that state... is really hard - most especially for my Mom. Family man... I'm tellin' ya... I have a new appreciation for each and every one of them.

It's about 2:00am here and I just got home from a new festivity that my town has. It's called "Ginoong Ternate". Basically, a beauty pageant for dudes. haha. The pageant directors are our relatives, so, they reserved seats for us in the very front. Pretty cool, huh? We got to the place at around 7:30pm and didn't get done until close to 2pm. My butt was numb by the end of the pageant. I spent most of the time making fun of the guys up there. I know... mean. But, it was so corny and lame. haha.

Tomorrow is the "Mutya Ng Ternate". The female version of what we experienced lastnight. I will NOT be attending that. lol. I think I've reached my quota of pageants for 2011. lol.

family appreciation

DAY THREE • Sunday, January 2, 2011
Today was definitely a fun-filled day! Remember yesterday's post where I mentioned the "bulong" thing and how my Mom and I got there too late and missed it? Well, this morning, my Mom and I go back and I got to see it go down first hand. It was pretty cool. Here's how it works... The fisherman comes and brings his "catch". All of the vendors get wind of this and start heading over... In literally a few seconds, it went from 5 people in front of the house to about 20 people. It was nuts! My aunt stands there, and vendors start whispering in her ear what price they would like to offer for the "catch". The person with the highest bid, wins! Pretty cool!

It's kinda cool that we're related to them too, cuz whatever my Mom wants dibs on, they hook her up. If she wants it, they'll give her whatever she wants before it goes to auction to the rest of the vendors. It's pretty PIMP. haha. So, this morning, my Mom scored some FRESH squid, and we ate that for breakfast. YUM! Sorry, no pics of this morning's meal... Scarfed it down before I could grab my camera! haha.
At around 1:30pm today, we headed to a place called Tagaytay. It's a beautiful place where you can catch a glimpse of the Taal volcano. My nephew got married at this awesome hotel overlooking Lake Taal where the volcano sits. It's also many degrees cooler there... So, while all of the people at the wedding were FREEZING, I was enjoying the weather! haha.

I know I've said this so many times before, but I'm really enjoying this trip to the Philippines. I've learned so much about my family over the last few days and have met some relatives I have never met before. On the way home from Tagaytay, I was thinking about how as the generations are shifting, I may NEVER know people I'm related to. I walk around with my Mom and everyone's saying hi to her, and she introduces me and always tells me how we're related. I can't help but think that if my Mom wasn't there, I would've passed them right by without thinking twice. FAMILY has never seemed so important to me until these past few days. So, in honor of my family... here are some pictures of my beautiful relatives here in the Philippines...