hello good observations and conclusions.about the brown santo nino, its not a saint. santo in spanish is holy and not a saint so that it is the "holy child" jesus. the reason why it is brown or to some dark its because it use to be white when portuguese explorer magellan landed in the country and gave it the queen of cebu. i guess 40 years later, another spanish explorer landed in the islands to successfully colonized the country as it actually did. they returned to cebu and waged war with the natives. the natives went to the uplands leaving their houses behind. the spaniards burned their houses and afterwards a spanish soldier found an image totally charred amongst the ashes that was believed to be among the images brought by magellan in 1521. to the natives it was a miracle that the image of the "holy child" was not destroyed to the point that they never dare clean the image but still adore it just as it is today. you don't have to worry that your skin is like jesus' skin because we all know that jesus was born in israel and not a malay colored-brown skin. filipinos don't stare you basing from "religious perspective" because of your skin that matches to jesus but because your skin is rarely seen in a country that tourists (whites) don't frequently go and bec. the country is so americanized attributing to the fact that it was a former US colony, anything US is "perfect" for them.
Thank you :) Nicole,
Thank you for this entry :) I know you are an amazingly strong person but we worry about you here at home. You are experiencing so much and I konw you care so much about the people around you and are very empathatic. This on occasion worries me as I would not want you to be sad or feel lost. I thank you for this entry becaus eit lets me know that you are ok :) I love you and miss you. I am so very proud of you!!!
<3 Amy
Symptoms of a much deeper problem Maybe if the western corrupt banking systems condone all or a considerable part of our foreign debt then maybe our government will have something to spend on our people for poverty alleviation. I mean if you were to spend three quarters of your revenue on debt service just to pay the interest alone and not the principal is it any wonder then that our country is so poor. This is the major reason and not necessarily corruption in our country although it is also a major contributory factor. You should read this article to give you a different perspective on why the other Asian countries overtook us and what and continues to happen to our country. All our problems are but symptoms of a much deeper problem that was imposed upon us by the west. In a way we are victims of these manipulation and treachery. Here's the link;
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2004/site_packages/econ_hitmen/3150philipp_coup.html
I can't even conceive of the intensity of going through this sort of thing. It's one thing to read about it safe in your apartment in Canada, getting stirred up about it and thinking you understand. Anyone not overwhelmed by being in the thick of it, well... there's something not quite human about that. It takes time.
I really admire your guts, you know! Even when you feel lost or want to cry uncontrollably, this has taken some real courage. I know you'll get things in hand, you always do in the end. :)
I Couldn't Contain my Admiration Nicole, you are a whiff of fresh air in a travel site populated by jet-setting people whose main concern is to see the place. But you are more than that. You really have 'lived' in and I know that you are 'feeling" the place more than anybody else. I could boldly tell that you've got more balls than a lot of men. Your posts have given this site one more good reason for its existence: social responsibility. It is something that everyone, not just tourists/travellers have to be aware of. Please take good care of yourself.
Bravo Your letter is very well written. Hopefully more people follow suit.
I work with the daughter of the Chief of KI, and this whole situation hits home in a personal sense.
Thank-you...
hi there nicole!
enjoyed reading your blog--insights and all. indeed, you are now part of the cordillera indigenous peoples' struggle for right to self determination and an ancestral lands :)
abie (here in the other room at the CPA office ;)
Promise... no Lonely Planet... EVER!!!! Hey, You totally convinced me. I swear no more Lonely planet entries, books, or anything else to do with them will ever become a deciding factor in anyplace I travel. As a matter of fact, I won't even put it on the short list of emergency reads for information before I go somewhere. It's funny I read your blog when I did actually. I've been looking into going overseas to teach and was looking at some lonely planet entries about different countries so I could refine my search and pick a place I'd like to go. I found many entries and a lot of them were fairly negative. I was getting disenheartened about the adventures I wanted have in these places. Now I can just write off these entries as an example of some yuppy, psuedo bourgeoise, snobbery and decide they just weren't enlightened enough to appreciated the beauty and unique culture of these places.
LOVE the idea of having a list of corporations to hate! I think I definitely need to start one of those!!!!
Luv ya and miss ya chica!!!! Glad your having such a great time!
Seriously..who reads Lonely Planet? Don't believe in everything you read, especially from Lonely Planet.
Nice pictures, by the way. And hope you enjoyed your trip to Sagada.
Only in the PHilippines You have had a wonderful experience in the Philippines. Being a FilAm myself I enjoy reading your experiences of an amazing country the Philippines. Mabuhay!
The reaction..... I think it was a great idea. Let's face it there is a lot of Canadian literature and song out there but it is hard to find something that speaks to and of, the everyday Canadian on the street. We get mistaken for American so much especially because we are so close to them and are awash with elements of their culture. I think The I am Canadian commercial signifies Canada and Canadians very authentically. We are VERY proud of our country, we want other people/cultures/countries to distinguish us from our neighbors in the rest of North America, yet we don't tend to make a loud hubub about ourselves and we do get tired and annoyed by the "eh" "zee" and "a boot" jokes.
I am curious at the reactions you have been getting from people though.
Oh.... and if you get a chance... I went online and found an "I believe" ad for Foster's beer on Youtube.com. the premise is really similar to the "I am Canadian" beer commercial but of course with an Aussie twist to it. I really enjoyed it I think you would too! :)
I had the pleasure of reading all your blogs, and honestly, I find them inspirational and an eye-opener for us all, especially for the Filipinos who live abroad. While we basked in the glory of living away from the poverty and injustice in the Philippines, I couldn't help but think of all those less priviledged Filipinos and their plight. The people had suffered injustice from no less than the government officials for a long time and they deserve better. Battling politicians is hard task indeed that even your life is at stake. If I were as rich as Warren Buffett, I could have donated my money to make their lives even better, but then again, the chances might be squandered by the officials which could find its way to their pockets. You see, corruption is THE main problem followed by uncontrolled population growth. To change society, we have to go back to the grassroots and train the younger generation, but as of now, that is just a wishful thinking.
Thank you! We need people like you in our country. Fresh out of college, I worked 3 years for the government and various NGO, for poverty alleviation, but sad to say I was disillusioned and very disappointed. Doing the right thing in a system accustomed to corruption can be pretty tiring. I was exhausted and my idealism died with it. The people in government and sadly even NGO workers are just devising scheme to enrich themselves and not really trying to work on solving the issue of poverty.
I have been living abroad for the past six years now. I still pray that a real change will occur in my country, sadly though I can only wish to become a part of it. I just have to thank people like you. You are such an endearing person.
I am outrage! I am outrage that this kind of intimidation is happening in the Philippines. Here I am in US and all I hear is how the economy is doing well and benefitting lots of citizens, apparently it is only skin deep, In a ray of hope, that people like you will and your organization will encourage the poor people how to demand in a peaceful way their basic right.
...please don't say dog! Totatlly thought that you were going to say the sigsig was dog. Please don't eat dog if at all possible. Don't think that it would be very good for the CCSPCA treasurer's sister to eat dog. Hope all is well...need another post soon!!
I graduated in May of 2006 with a BA in Human Rights from St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada. At that point in my life I wanted to get some field work experience in human rights. I was also interested in understanding human rights from the ground level, from the people living and experiencing the abuse. To work in the field of human rights having only experienced comfortable Canada seemed fradulant to me. So I applied to go to the Philippines as a social justice intern through the United Church of Canada to learn about human rights in Southeast Asia. I am now in the country, living... full info
Jaker
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Your tale of giant underpants forced me to stifle a loud laugh in a dead silent Ottawa office. Cheers, Jaker