Blogs from Abra, Philippines, Asia

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Asia » Philippines » Abra » Bangued January 1st 2013

In the early morning hours of December the 21st we vacated our room on the seventh floor of the Eurotel and made for a bus station, somewhere in the sprawls of Manila. We boarded the Philippino equivalent of a Greyhound (quite a luxurious mode of transport for the country) and under the overly-powerful air conditioning set off into the night. Krista and I managed to grab the foremost of the seat and had a large window with which to observe the coming country. However, it was night. The downside of nighttime travel is, of course, that you cannot see anything. So, after an hour, I fell asleep with my hod bobbing helplessly to and fro. The scene I awoke to was quite picturesque and did justice to the preconception I had of what my initial glimpse ... read more
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Asia » Philippines » Abra December 29th 2008

How did we end up here? From Manila to Abra took all of ten hours. Our butts hurt from all that confinement in the car. All 7 of us packed like sardines inside a van. We had some stopovers in La Union to empty our bladders and line our stomachs for the next leg of our journey. But the views did not disappoint. Abra is very very raw. Very agricultural. Very provencale. We do not think the pictures did justice. But we have good memories of the place. ... read more
Children of Abra
Simple Folks
It's a Hard Life

Asia » Philippines » Abra October 10th 2008

This is where my hometown is and where I grew up. It's just plain and valleys surrounded by the China sea and the Cagayan river. This town has been a home to a few thousands of pinoy. A quiet and peaceful place that is ideal to bring up kids and a big family. The population is a mixture of Chinese, Spanish and filipino descendants. But all of them are natural born Pinoys. The activities are mainly going to the park, playing tennis, skateboarding, biking, riding a motor bike or surfing and running along the beach. Kids were brought up religiously and go to church at around 4 pm at St. Joseph Church and afterwards, eat out at the most well known gotohan named Macatiag. But I've heard that it's already Jollibee that most people crave so... ... read more

Asia » Philippines » Abra August 4th 2008

In my bi-weekly phone call with Mom yesterday I found myself enumerating the things we have done in the office in the last couple of weeks: we prepared for the State of the Nation mobilization, visited Licuan Baay again, documented an extra judicial killing in Kalinga (a province a few hours away) and monitored two encounters between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the New Peoples Army to make sure that the Geneva Convention rights of the 8 killed rebels were respected. I could hear myself as if I was outside of my own body talking about these deaths as if they were part of a normal daily routine. Sometimes we experience changes without realizing it. And when I wasn't paying attention I became accustomed to the death toll here. Like often happens, I am ... read more
Planting Rice
Planting Rice




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