Madrid-Manila 1: An Introduction

A friend asked me what I learned from living alone in Madrid last year. My one resounding answer: I learned that I love the Philippines. I am Filipino, through and through, and there’s no need to apologize for my sheltered upbringing. It’s a point of departure, but what is crucial is that I do depart from it.

I grew up without using public transportation, without going to the wet market to handle fish and bloody pork, without doing my own laundry. My concept of Philippine life was life in Manila, and life in Manila was school-mall-church-village. I lived in gated subdivisions* and exclusive Catholic schools, opened very few newspapers, and cheated Rizal by reading Noli Me Tangere in comics. And worse, I always felt (justifiably so, I thought) that I was more in touch with my country than most of my peers. At least I’d have yearly trips to Bicol and Baguio to “ground” me. At least I knew that the best pastillas were made from carabao’s milk, that matamis na bao also went well with kamoteng kahoy and that shing-a-ling wasn’t just a catchphrase.

Certainly not substantial things to be proud of, but fact of life. My world was small.

How, then, can I now so boldly claim that I am Filipino?

What happens when one’s world gets bigger? One finds more room to move in, more time and space in which to locate oneself. And as he learns more about himself, the blur of images, traditions, and people that influence him gains shape, leaving his most basic impulses to jump out.

What is the Filipino impulse? I don’t know. Love of country is a tricky cliché to use, perhaps because it’s one thing to love, it’s another to want to love (one of the two necessarily translates into action). A piece written by a Korean student about our failure in patriotic attitude may be simplistic, but it does hit the spot. A characteristic of a Filipino now would be one having a poor or nonexistent sense of history, tradition and culture.

Again, big words. Tradition. Culture. History.

Ambeth Ocampo recently wrote about Culture Education in the Philippines:

In the six years that children are in grade school, what 10 pieces of art should they know by sight? What 10 books should they read aside from Jose Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo”? What 10 tunes should they be able to sing aside from the National Anthem and “Ama Namin”? What dance movements should they learn aside from “ocho-ocho”? These seem to be basic inputs that will impart something common to all students throughout the archipelago and form a body of knowledge that will make them know and appreciate what it is to be Filipino.

Sept 16, 2005, Inquirer News Service

There’s so much drama in everyday Filipino life—too much for some, actually. It never ends, never stops piling up. The beautiful and ugly in one imperfect (hence, lovely) and changing stroke. Life in the Philippines is in the streets, “street culture” as I’ve heard it described once. It would be nice to have a subject in our schools that’s dedicated wholly to Practical Information—local geography, street names, industries, landmarks, local heroes then and now, local government (do you know your barangay captain? mayor? Do you know for what you can hold them accountable?), local market and products.

In line with dissecting this drama, I put up this blog, mostly inspired by that trip to Madrid. I simply fell in love with that city, and in the same light, wanted to find reasons to fall in love with Manila.

I tried to give my answer to what makes Manila home here, but to get to the tangibles, I thought of translating my Madrid experience into a Manila intimacy project—a collection of detailed peeps into how appreciating Manila can be done. With no specific order, deadline, or ending.

Sampling of what’s to come: pedestrian life, libraries and books for free, “open” city (social scene), the metro and public transport, futbol fever, sale season, picnics in the park, live shows, capital as gateway.

And so, the adventure begins. Or better yet, it continues. ;P

As always, any and all help welcome.

* * *

Other posts on Madrid-Manila:
Mad-Mla9: Relearning Spanish
Mad-Mla7: Finding Travel Buddies
Mad-Mla 6: Of Diplomats and Art
Mad-Mla 5: The English Language
Mad-Mla 4: Metro and Unlimited Rides
Mad-Mla 3: Painting Club!
Madrid-Manila 2: Pedestrian Life