Hello All!
Now that I have time
to write these, I’m going to write about my plan since the semester is pretty
much over. For the rest of May and part of June I wanted to stay in Vigan City
so I can walk around and actually write to y’all about where I usually go to
study, or places that I like to go in general! Eventually, I want to buy land
in this city. I like San Emilio, but in order to make in this country, I’d have
to buy land here in Vigan. (Of course, this is an idea not an actual plan but I
know that it’ll be on my mind in later years.)
Overall, I enjoyed
this semester. Each semester brought stress to my plate but they didn’t ruin my
experience of the Philippines as a whole. There is so much to see in this
country. In order to unlock certain areas, you have to be able to speak the
language of the locals (not English or the national language but the language
the people speak at home). The reason why I say this is because the people will
treat you differently if you put in the effort to learn their language.
Being able to
communicate with the people here is good but being able to experience their
different cultures is an even better experience. This month makes a full year
of me being here on the 25th. I went home in December (yes, I didn’t
tell everyone). The reason I didn’t tell anyone is because I wasn’t there to
bring attention to myself. Next time I come home, I’ll be sure to indicate that
I’m there.
I’m looking forward
to being able to share history about both the Philippines and the United States
(specifically Texas). I’m thinking about making a vlog once I go home because
the internet is faster and I feel that I would keep up with it more over there.
Here, it depends on the connection of where I’m at that determines how fast the
internet is and even then, it’s more about how ‘slower’ a connection is during
certain parts of the day or when I’m in certain areas.
It frustrates me
that I have not been able to learn the languages since I’ve been here but the simple
fact is, I needed guidance and I didn’t have someone who had the ability to
teach me constantly. I had tutors during my free time and their free time, but
it wasn’t enough for me to practice it. The languages I mainly focused on were
Ilocano and Tagalog.
For Ilocano, I
focused on talking to the locals (not so much reading the language but actually
speaking it and comprehending it). My tutor was showing me the written version
but the problem with writing in Ilocano is that there is no standard version of
Ilocano (the closest is a published magazine) but that’s one official documentation of the language. What I mean by standard
is that in Ilocano, if a word sounds
a certain way, it can be spelled that way.
Ex: Diak ammo (translation:
I don’t know) can be spelled in a variety of ways. A few examples are ‘Jak
ammo, jak mo, and djak ammo.
As long as the idea
of the word is there, the word is wrong. The English version of this is the American
vs British way of spelling certain words:
defence vs defense, cancelled vs canceled, enroll vs enroll, etc.
Out of the languages
I’m exposed to, I pick up the quickest
on Itneg because it’s the one I was exposed to the most but that doesn’t mean
that I use it. The language I can speak
and understand the most is Ilocano
because it’s the language I used with the locals. Tagalog is the language I can
sing, read, and write the
easiest because it’s the language I can refer to in the books. There are actual
textbooks over Tagalog or Filipino, but there are no accurate books in Ilocano except
the magazine that I mentioned.
Being here has
helped me understand the culture better. I’ve also been enlightened on the
different religions as of recently. I, personally, don’t declare a religion,
but I’m not against religion either. I understand that religion is made to help
people understand the world and how it was created. It is also there to help
people understand morals and figure out how they should live their lives.
Personally, I don’t see why I have to be limited to one religion, when I can
listen to all of the religions and see for myself what makes sense and use what
I learn from each religion and integrate it into my life.
Lately, I’ve been
thinking of writing a public journal that documents my research over mythology,
religion, philosophy, psychology, and culture. It’s a lot to write about which
is why I’d only focus on one of the topics and the next time I would write I’d
write about another topic. There’s a lot to learn in these subjects and I want
to share what I learn with others.
Something I wish I
could explain to the Filipinos around me is that I come from a multicultural
country, where it’s okay to not have a religion, it’s okay to be yourself, it’s
okay to not follow traditions… One
barrier that I’ve faced that I cannot break is that some of these people do not
wish to extend their knowledge and they want to stay ignorant. Ignorance is
bliss, but it is also a choice.
I hope that I can
keep myself from falling under the category of the ‘general population’. There’s
a lot that I can share about the Philippines and the first thing that I want to
do is start from the beginning of my journey (when I first started this blog)
and compare how times have changed since I first stepped foot into the
Philippines.
I would also like to
mention that I passed my aptitude test! In order to become a sophomore, I
needed to pass that test. So, I have the ability to continue next semester as a
sophomore! (Think of the aptitude as the TAKS Test or STAR Test during high
school but for college).
For the summer I
would like everyone to help me with my blog by asking me questions that y’all
have on your minds so that I can make a Q&A sort of post. I have many
topics that I can talk about but I need people to help me figure out what I
should talk about first. I have ADHD and it’s hard enough for me to focus. If I
don’t have a list of questions, I tend to go ‘left field’ on my stories or post
which is why I need my audiences help!
Please let me know what’s
on your mind! Thank you for reading!
DJ/Cho/Nar
Keep up with me at the following:
Ask Questions Here
This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!
Facebook
This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.
Instagram
I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!
Wattpad
(This week's Watt!)
This will send me an email with your questions you don’t have to leave a name. I will post the answer to the blog!
This is mainly for communication so go ahead, add me. Message me every once in a while so that I remember who you are. Otherwise, I'll delete you at the end of the year when I clear through my facebook lol.
I follow anyone who follows me! This is mainly pictures of where I go!
Wattpad
(This week's Watt!)
(Link)
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