Sunday Watts: Sensual Distortion

A Barrier Meant To Be Broken

If you'd like to read more from this public poetry book you may! 

Click the caption!

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The below is taken from the poetry book so if you read this, you may skip the introduction in the poetry book and read to your hearts content!

Sensual Distortion 

There's a vision with my eyes and with my touch.

But I smell home, I can taste it, I can hear it all the same.

I walk in the city I am in but feel disorientated. 

How can I be in two places at once?

My soul is home, and wandering,

My physical vessel stands here,

Eight thousand miles apart.

And somehow, my senses say that I am here but I am also there.

My friends and family back home,

They miss me ever so dear.

And here, I have made friends...

Who will miss me as soon as I disappear.

In death, people live within the hearts of others.

During life, each person makes their mark on each other. 

Can that part of their soul, the memories that they make...

Is it possible to have a bond so strong that what each sense is sensed by others?

I can smell it, the air back home.

The taste of the food-

A warmth in the air-

I can sense it.

I can hear it.

I am there.

But with my eyes, I know my place. 

Across the sea, thousands of miles away.

Reality of the absence of my hometown is concrete with my touch.

It presents a visual effect that I must accept.

However, that does not mean I am not there. 

For it is true, my soul has lingered home while I have banished my vessel here. -

-

September 21, 2019

Thanks for reading everyone, let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!

DJ/Cho/Nar

Schedule: 

Sunday Watts - 12PM

Monday - Weekly Entry 12PM

 Wattpad

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 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!

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Key tags: Wattpad, Instagram, Facebook, Blog, Personal Blog, Social Media, Poetry, Poem, Poetry Book, Sunday Watts

Sunday Watts: Change of Heart

A Barrier Meant To Be Broken

If you'd like to read more from this public poetry book you may! 

Click the caption!

Click Me!

The below is taken from the poetry book so if you read this, you may skip the introduction in the poetry book and read to your hearts content!

Change of Heart

At first I was not sure about you.

You seemed friendly enough.

And even though we had a disagreement,

We were able to emerge from that.

I hope you don't think negative of me,

Because I don't think negative of you.

You are funny and even though we cannot always communicate.

We seem to work it through.

Later, we will go separate ways. 

And I hope we can meet again.

I want to see how you grow as a person. 

From now till then...

You harbor a lot of potential,

And I cannot wait to see,

Where that leads you-

How that teaches you.

This college is only the beginning you know. 

I do not wish for an end to your journey.

Rather, I'm excited to see,

How beautiful you become,

And not because of me.

You, alone, have the strength,

And the will to proceed.

One day I hope to reunite with you,

By then I'll be closer to accomplishing my dream.

-

September 21, 2019

Thanks for reading everyone, let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!

DJ/Cho/Nar

Schedule: 

Sunday Watts - 12PM

Monday - Weekly Entry 12PM

 Wattpad

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!

Key tags: Wattpad, Instagram, Facebook, Blog, Personal Blog, Social Media, Poetry, Poem, Poetry Book, Sunday Watts

Sunday Watts: Blinding Pride

A Barrier Meant To Be Broken

If you'd like to read more from this public poetry book you may! 

Click the caption!

Click Me!

The below is taken from the poetry book so if you read this, you may skip the introduction in the poetry book and read to your hearts content!

Blinding Pride

What is it that I've done to you? 

Why won't you let me know? 

Instead, all I see are your cold eyes. 

And that attitude that glows.

If I did something wrong, why won't you say it? 

I told you before, if you do not tell, I will not know. 

Yet here we are, you look down at me.

Part of me does not want to care.

Another wants to know.

I want to know so I can fix it. 

So tell me, let me know.

However, I know that you are prideful.

That's why you look down at me in the first place. 

You think I want to be better than you, 

The truth is, I'm not.

We are both human beings. 

Everyone makes mistakes. 

I do my best to be honest.

What is that I've done to you?

Speak, I will listen. 

Is it because they come to me instead of you? 

Fear of being judged, a fear understood.

When you think about it... 

Maybe, your fear is telling you, 

That if you judge others, they feel the same.

I've made it clear. 

I do not judge.

If anything, I want to understand. 

Which is why they come to me instead of you.

But that does not have to be the case. 

You have leadership in your eyes.

The only problem is,

Your pride is twice as intense.

So put down your pride,

Talk to me.

What did I do?

Have someone stand with you, 

That way I can figure out your message.

Our language barrier is thick.

And that does not mean, I want it thicker.

Talk to me,

Communicate.

I want be your friend.

Come now, I'm willing to listen. 

All you have to do, is tell.

-

September 21, 2019

Thanks for reading everyone, let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!

DJ/Cho/Nar

Schedule: 

Sunday Watts - 12PM

Monday - Weekly Entry 12PM

 Wattpad

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!

Key tags: Wattpad, Instagram, Facebook, Blog, Personal Blog, Social Media, Poetry, Poem, Poetry Book, Sunday Watts

Sunday Watts: A Bitter Sweet Goodbye

A Barrier Meant To Be Broken

If you'd like to read more from this public poetry book you may! 

Click the caption!

Click Me!

The below is taken from the poetry book so if you read this, you may skip the introduction in the poetry book and read to your hearts content!

A Bitter Sweet Goodbye 

It's the insecurities that wake me. 

They prevent me to be sound. 

My heart jolts, an aching beat, 

There are no tears to be found.

I told myself that this was for the best,

And yet, here I am, my heart betraying me. 

It stings. A cold rush climbs through my veins, 

My breath becomes a gasp,

And then there is fear.

To be forgotten,

A memory, even if it is bright, 

I become a stepping stone below the blossoming environment.

Silence. How could it be so loud? 

Doubt comes with the quietness. 

Happiness... That's what I want. 

But this was my choice.

And I said, "Spread your wings."

This doesn't mean it won't hurt. 

When I see you fly, 

A bittersweet goodbye. 

And a rhythm in my heart,

That I know too well.

A song I've sung before. 

It would be assumed that the pain would be less.

Instead, the pain is different. 

And the intensity is the same if despite the past.

-

September 19, 2019

Want to read more poems about how I have handled my adjustment to the Philippines? Click the link under the cover to read more! As always, thank you for reading and I hope you tune in next week for another Sunday Watts! If not, I hope you stop by to read my Weekly Entry! 

Your views are always appreciated

DJ/Nar/Cho

Schedule: 

Sunday Watts - 12PM

Monday - Weekly Entry 12PM

 Wattpad

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!

Sunday Watts: To My Sun

A Barrier Meant To Be Broken

If you'd like to read more from this public poetry book you may! 

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The below is taken from the poetry book so if you read this, you may skip the introduction in the poetry book and read to your hearts content!

To My Sun

Think about me in your arms tonight.

Under your sun, is my moon.

And even though I see stars when you see the bright sky...

That doesn't mean, we're separated by our hearts.

Every kiss that we gave.

Every hug, each memory made-

I cherish them and hope you do too.

Because there's not a day I don't think about you.

When I turn on my phone I see your face.

That smile, those gorgeous eyes...

And I cant help but hear, "I love you, Babe" in the back of my mind.

And I catch myself saying "I love you too."

Communication was what kept us together.

A vow we made to each other in the beginning.

I'm so glad that I met you.

I'm also happy that we're working together, doing what we can, and hoping for one another.

There's not a day that you don't cross my mind.

Little things make me think, "I wish you were here." 

But I also know, that right now we're on our own paths. 

And all I hope, is that when we are brought back together,

That our love will be stronger.

And nothing will be able to break what we will become.

-

June 11, 2018

Thanks for reading everyone, let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!

DJ/Cho/Nar

Schedule: 

Sunday Watts - 12PM

Monday - Weekly Entry 12PM

Wattpad

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!

Sunday Watts: A Fault

A Barrier Meant To Be Broken

If you'd like to read more from this public poetry book you may! 

Click the caption!

Click Me!

The below is taken from the poetry book so if you read this, you may skip the introduction in the poetry book and read to your hearts content!

A Fault

Must there be a 'fault' at all times? 

When people speak, they are weary. 

Afraid, self-conscious. 

"Everyone will judge." Their thoughts remind them.

Alone, I stand. 

Questions asked as if there were no end to them.

One answer brings clarity but many questions as well 

To be judged by everyone is not what I fear.

What I fear is to live in ignorance.

Better to make a fool of myself for a moment rather than dwell in the absence of knowledge. 

In the future, I will teach

When that day comes, I hope

My children will also see the way I see.

-

Written September 2018

Thank you for reading! Tune in this Tuesday for my weekly entry and next Sunday for the next poem!

DJ/Cho/Nar

Wattpad

Read more poetry that I've written! My most current works are A Barrier Meant To Be Broken and Kinetic Potential.

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!

 

Sunday Watts: Introduction

A Barrier Meant To Be Broken

If you'd like to read more from this public poetry book you may! 

Click the caption!

Click Me!

The below is taken from the poetry book so if you read this, you may skip the introduction in the poetry book and read to your hearts content!

Introduction

  Most of you know me by many names. For internet purposes we will concentrate on the name 'DJ'. In 2010 I joined Wattpad. In 2014-2015 my appearance on Wattpad became less. Now that I am going to school in the Philippines I have learned that Wattpad is part of the culture here. So, to reach out to the audience I am surrounded by, I have created this journal.

  I will write poems and share my thoughts much like I did in 2010. I'm sorry everyone for disappearing on you. Now that I am of legal age I need to share a secret with all of my followers. In 2010 I was fourteen years of age. I shared my thoughts, hopes, and dreams with all of you. However, I did keep one secret from you. Since I was not eighteen yet I was weary about people finding me in person. Now that I am twenty-two I don't mind as much.

  To prevent people from finding me I switched my gender and changed my name. Over the years, I have gone by many names and I still won't share my given name to you all. But I will tell you that in the real world, I am a female. Writing in a male's perspective has helped me consider how the world treats both genders. My official writing alias is 'Danieljames Joaquin Domar'.

  Here in the Philippines I go by 'DJ' instead of my given name. My given name gets mispronounced often which is why I have gone by many names over the years. My current goal is to become a certified Elementary Teacher by Filipino standards. My destination is to be a tutor in many subjects including languages.

  Right now I am trying to learn the languages Filipino and Ilocano. Eventually, I will master Itneg (my family's mother language on my mom's side). You will be see me write in a mix between these three languages for practice purposes. I'm hoping by using them together I can eventually separate then fluently. By the end of this semester I hope to be fluent in Filipino but I know more Ilocano. If you are able to explain Ilocano or Filipino well, in English, please message me. I would love to talk to you.

  I am currently living at a dorm in Tamag, Vigan City, Ilokus Sur because I am going to a the University of Northern Philippines. I am a first year despite my previous college experiences. I hope you enjoy this journal.

  Feel free to add me on Instagram and follow my blog. Let me know so I can follow you back. The links to both my Instagram and blog should be on my profile. I'll update once a week for sure. The names in this journal will be different from the given names of the people I interact with for privacy purposes.

  It's good to be back everyone. Let me know what you're thinking as I post. Editing my previous work will probably not happen right now. Fare warning to those of you who are new to my work... My old poems are not edited and they are also based during a darker time in my life. Thank you 

-

  If you have any questions of comments feel free to share what's on your mind. This is the introduction to my poetry book in which you can access by clicking the picture. The purpose of sharing my poetry book with you all is so that you can read about my experience in poetry form or through the entries each post will have something different that you can read. I hope these are interesting for y'all. Please let me know what you think as they are posted! 

Tune in this Tuesday for my weekly entry!

DJ/Cho/Nar

Wattpad

Read more poetry that I've written! My most current works are A Barrier Meant To Be Broken and Kinetic Potential.

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!

 

Announcing Sunday Watts!

  Starting this month I would like to introduce my 'Sunday Watts'. These will be posted at 12PM CST time every Sunday. These are poems that I've written about my stay in the Philippines. I have a poetry book that I started in September of 2018 and finished May 2019. I would like to share these poems and try to reach out to those of you who use Wattpad!

  These poems will be coming out of my book 'A Barrier Meant To Be Broken'. Right now I am focusing on finished my old projects that I left behind when I left the sight in 2014. I have more poetry to post which is gathering as a pile of papers among my belongings (which gets very dangerous as I pretend to not notice its evolution as days go by.) If you chose to click on the link it will take you to my introduction. 

  The poems will be posted under Sunday Watts: Title

  I want these to be a way for my readers to read about my experience in a different art form. I would like the the readers of my blog to gather on this site to read my 'Weekly Entries' and to return to view these poems. 

  Since I have completed A Barrier Meant To Be Broken with 100 poems I figured I could schedule the content from September to May. By the time I'm able to get all of those scheduled in I might be able to buy myself time to fix my photography back into this blog. 

  I will be posting this first as an introduction to the new feature. Then, the following post will be my introduction from the book. The week after that will be my first poem which is called 'A Fault'. I hope my readers enjoy this new feature. I would like to hear any of their thoughts on my poetry or if they're on Wattpad I'd like to check out their work as well as have them read through more of mine! 

  This is a way for my readers to read my poetry and not have a Wattpad. I have more poetry than the ones that I will be posting here but since this blog is about my travels, I want to keep to the theme. 

  If you have a Wattpad, I am interested in reading your works! Personal Message me on Wattpad to let me know you saw my blog post and let me know if you're interested in a Read For Read. 

  If you would like me to read any poetry of your own please send me the link and a way to contact you so that I can let you know what I think! Send your link!

Again, I hope y'all enjoy my poetry. Please let me know your thoughts let me know of any errors that you may see in my poetry. 

Thanks, DJ/Cho/Nar

Keep up with me!

 Wattpad

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!

March 25th, 2019

  Hello everyone! Long time no personal talk…

  Last week I had my midterms. I have one midterm left that I will review today. (It’s about contemporary history and it’s not that difficult). I’ll need to watch a few youtube videos in order to review but other than that I should be fine.

  This past month I’ve focused heavily on my writing but not on my journal entries to you all and I’m sorry that I haven’t been as on schedule as when I first left. I’m hoping that my new project will help me keep up with writing to you all. I have photos saved on my USB to have scheduled. I have more than a thousand photos on my phone that I need to transfer to my laptop but I still need to post the multitude of photos that I have from last year.

  So, I have the content. I haven’t been focused on my blog which is my fault. It’s exciting to know that writing this blog will be a two way street. If I were to go home to the United States, I can then keep my friends in the Philippines updated on my whereabouts also.

  I did update the Q&A located to the right of these post. Google+ was removed so I had to take down the button but for the most part all my blog is missing is content (which I have!!!) If anything, I’m thankful for all the friends that I’ve made thus far. My friends realize that distance does not limit a friendship and that makes me more than happy.

  People talk about how they lose friends because they move away but I have very few friends that I’ve lost because of this. If anything, I feel that these friendships that unpause when we’re around each other make for stronger bonds than ones that are limited to having to see each other on a daily basest. Granted, I do like having someone physically around me for most of my days but overall, I can see my friends after a long period of time and nothing has changed.

  These are friendships that I cherish and I try to be that friend for others because I treat people the way I want to be treated. This project that I’m going to be doing is going to take place on Wattpad but I will also post the results here. I’m going to be rereading what I posted in my first week (at one point I stop posting what week it was lol) and I will write any comments, changes, or remarks about what I feel today verses how I felt the first time I got here.

  What I do know is that I have changed and I do good friends all around me. Next month will be my birthday and I tried planning a few things with my friends and I found out that I have more than I thought I did. Which is a problem but it’s a good problem to have.

  For those of you who haven’t read anything outside of this blog, I’m still happy that you’ve read this blog at all. If you are an active Wattpad reader please let me know by following me and I will follow you back! I enjoy being able to talk to people on that website because there’s a list of artist that are inspiring of different ages and backgrounds… It connects people.

  There’s a shelf the two bookstores I’ve been to in this country and they have a Wattpad section. I think that is so awesome that the website has reached out that to the point where they’re selling actual books! I don’t foresee myself being on that shelf specifically but I do eventually want to publish a book and I do know that my friends who be willing to support me in this.

  Half of the semester is over! I cannot believe it’s already here. I’ve written about cultural dilemmas in my poetry book on Wattpad. I feel that if I were to share them here, y’all would enjoy them as well. I’m having to keep a name database because I try not to spill actual names to the public but there are so many characters in my life that keeping up with a secondary name is difficult.

  Now that I think about it, I suppose that I could schedule a poem once a week from my poetry book and have the link to the poem added into the post so that people who read this and who are on Wattpad can connect with me there as well. My friends have told me that I would be a chibi in an anime. When I told my boyfriend this he told me that I’d probably be the main character.

  It’s adorable how you guys look up to me but I’m so tiny compared to most of you. Today, I went to go eat with one of my friends and I looked in the mirror on the opposite wall and realized that I am super light compared to him. Like, I’m borderline white on our scale of how dark we are. I looked at my photos in the past and realized that I don’t really get darker, I sort glow more instead of getting dark and that’s really weird to say and try to explain but yea… I glow more instead of getting darker. It’s the yellow in me guys.

  There is literally no possible way for me to cover everything in one post especially when I limit myself to a thousand words but I don’t like rambling and I do know people want to get on with their lives which is why I limit these in the first place.

  Cool news though! I finished my first poetry book since I’ve been back on Wattpad (September of 2018). This poetry book contains 100 poems about my life here in the Philippines. It also contains poems about my mental health as well as my relationships with people. I’m proud that I finished this book and I want to share it with you all. I hope I can schedule the poetry. I have a lot to get done on my blog and all I hope is that you guys will stick around to read it all.

Thanks for tuning in,

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

  

       Click this to read my poetry!

February 18th, 2019

February 19^th, 2019

  Hello everyone!

  By the time this post I will have taken my Teacher Aptitude test and I will be sure to tell you all what my results are once I get them! But! I’m so excited! I want to tell you guys about an opportunity that came up! UNP was invited to trade students for one week with a university in Thailand! If I can manage the funds then I can go and I can show you guys Thailand!

  Of course, I’ll need to take my skin into account and culture. I’ll be around a university so I’ll go in what I usually wear at school. I talked to the person who is in charge of international connections and asked him what I need to do to connect him and Angelo State University! I’ll need to call the school and hopefully this can be worked out. There are many Filipinos in San Angelo so it won’t be as difficult for Filipinos to adjust since there’s already a community built for them!

  I don’t know if I mentioned this at any point of time but while I was there in San Angelo I was part of the Asian American Association of Woman. They’re a nonprofit organization that promotes Asian culture! The organization originally allowed only women to join but now it’s possible to be a male a join! When I was a member I mainly did anything my sister asked me to.

  For those of you who want to check out their website here’s the link.

  As I mentioned in my last post, there is a culture festival going on and I’m in the middle of it. Literally. To the right of my apartment I have the carnival, to the left is the food court and concerts, and behind the building they had their version of a Rodeo. Now, sad to say I didn’t go to all the events. I didn’t spend much time there except for the trade fair, carnival, and food court. But, this apparently happens every year so I probably have another chance to go next year!

  I’ll collect some articles and share them with you all! This weekend I went to Labayug, Sison, Pangasinan. One of my friends had to attend a funeral and I told him that I would be willing to go with him to Pangasinan because I also have family there. His family is from Bayambang which is an hour and half away from my family’s place.

  Labayug: It is impossible to see ALL my family in one visit. Even if I stayed for longer than a weekend I don’t think I’d meet all my family. This time I went to drop off my Aunties’ pasalubong (gift). It takes six-seven hours to get to Sison from Vigan. I absolutely can’t stand long rides like that but at least I was on a good bus. It was a little difficult sitting with my friend because he has to have the vent turned away from him in order to not get motion sickness but I need the vent open in order for me to not get motion sickness. Luckily, we both managed.

  The next day I woke up a little late. I had issues sleeping because Labayug is near a cement factory and that effects my ability to breath. That’s one of the downfalls of being there. It’s also hotter in Labayug. Vigan City is nothing like Labayug heat and I’m thankful for that.

  The only thing I managed to do was go see my cousin/best friend and meet/remeet people at church. I went in late but that was okay. The pastor picked me out easily and welcomed me to the church as a visitor. My dad is well known in Labayug outside of the fact that most everyone is family so I was praised for being there. I have a few pictures that I took. I’m sorry that I haven’t been scheduling pictures for y’all but I’ll be sure to do that in my free time!

  It was tiring but we were able to get back to Vigan the second day before 8pm. It was nice to have someone I know go with me to Labayug. Soon, I will visit my family in San Emilio. I landed in the Philippines the first day of school so I had to go straight from Manila to Vigan and that bus trip was awful.

  Let’s see… Kanawedan (Culture festival). I got a henna tattoo! I’ll post a picture of that. The artist was really cool. He spoke more Tagalog (Filipino) than Ilocano which was a challenge for me but I know that I’ve come far in learning these two languages because I was able to communicate with him and he was able to communicate with me. I never thought I’d be able to understand someone and they would be able to understand me yet we both cannot speak the other’s language very well. So he was talking to me in Filipino while I was responding in English/Ilocano.

  I’ve been getting into the habit of not taking pictures because I want to live in the moment around me but I also want to share it with you all. I have all these photos that are sitting in my phone and my computer yet I haven’t scheduled them! I need to!

  My language progress: It’s weird but I can understand a lot more now than I did when I came here. I can respond in Ilocano more but I’m nowhere near fluent. I can write and read better in Tagalog because that’s the language that is required for my classes. I can understand Tagalog but unless a person is looking at me and making a point that they’re talking to me I tend to not hear it. Information overload you know?

  As for Ilocano… I can recognize it and speak some of it but only enough for small conversation. I can’t read it very well but that’s because most of the words are like ten characters or more. I mentally skip over it when I pass by it and I try not to but half the time I don’t realize that I’m doing it.

  I was sick this week and to my surprise I was able to respond to people in Ilocano and English but if someone speaks to me in Tagalog my brain goes, “Huh. What?” Then it completely forgets what it’s trying to do. Lol.

 

  This year I’m going to try to do my best to keep up with this so be prepared to check on my blog more often because there’ll be more content soon! Thank you guys! Don’t be afraid to message me and keep up with me.

Thanks again everyone!

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

 If I don’t write a post here there’s probably a chance that I have written something on my Wattpad because there I post poems! They are shorter reads with more meaning. I am currently working on two poetry books but the more important one that ties into this travel blog is called ‘A Barrier Meant To Be Broken’.

February 4th, 2019

Hey guys,

  So this is my second semester at UNP (University of Northern Philippines) and so far my time has been good. I’ve been doing more travelling that I like but that’s alright. This is what I’m going to cover on this post for this week.

•          Labayug for the weekend
•          Festival
•          Something in history

  I’ll start with this weekend! I went to Labayug to visit my niece who is here for a vacation. Being with her made me miss home and realize the two different lifestyles my father’s side has verse my mother’s side. She’s my niece but she’s only a year younger than me.

  The first difference between my mother’s side and my father’s side is the age difference between me and my cousins. In San Emilio, my cousins are my age and around thirty or more. This is because my mother is the third oldest in her family. (She might be the second I can’t quire remember haha). Anyway, I’m pretty sure she’s the third oldest.

  On my dad’s side most of my cousins are late thirties or older while the people my age are my nieces or great nieces. A respectful term when talking to someone older than you in my family is ‘Manong’ and Manang’. Manang means ‘older sister’ while ‘Manong’ means older brother.

  What I’ve come to learn is that if a person doesn’t know you too well and needs to get your attention they will either call you ‘Manang’ out of respect or ‘Ading’ depending on how that person feels about you. Ading is the respectful term of ‘younger sibling’ which is used for either male or female.

  The land lady and some woman at the karenderias (mom and pop restaurants) that I eat at call me Manang not because I’m older than them but because they don’t consider me a child which is how some people taking the word ‘Ading’. Manang, Manong, and Ading are all Ilocano terms.

  If a person were to use the Tagalog/Filipino term they would use ‘Ate’ (Ah-teh) and Kuya (Koy-yah). Ate is the female term for older sister while Kuya is the word for older brother. Anak (Ah-knock) *soft o* is the term for younger person as a general term.

  The reason why I bring this all up is because when I visited my niece’s family I met her parents for the first couscous time.  I know that I’m calling her family as if they’re not my family but my family is so huge it just makes it easier for me to place in my head that her family section is different from mine lol.

  Now my niece is adopted into my family but she is also blood. What I mean is that she is related to me in two different ways. Through birth, her biological parents are my Manong and Manang because they are in the same generation as me. One of her parents (I think it’s her dad. It’s hard to keep up with all this stuff lol) Anyway, one of her parents is the child of my dad’s sister.

  So, when I have a kid, in this sense she would be their Manang. Since I’m in the same generation as her parents she is supposed to call me Auntie but since we were both raised in the US we both don’t care about those terms. We care about each other and don’t require the respectful term. I guess I should say it’s more interpreted instead of spoken between us.

  Through her adoption, she was adopted by my dad’s other sister. Through that marriage she is in the same generation as me as would need to call me Manang instead of aunt but as I said, it’s fine. I found it odd calling her parents Manang and Manong since I call her sister Manang. I’m ‘supposed’ to call her sister who is thirty something by name but since I know her through Filipino culture I can’t bring myself to do it.

  I hardly go to Labayug because every time I go there I end up drinking a lot. I had eleven drinks this time and luckily one of my friends called me and pulled me away from the commission outside. However, I did abandon my niece which we had a silent understanding that we weren’t going to do that but I didn’t realize what I had done until the next morning.

  When it comes to my dad’s side I tend to be selective on who I am around because they have more of a city folk culture. Not all of them are honest people. Now, on my mom’s side there are people like that also but they’re not as obvious about it.

  Despite all this, I still care for my family no matter what. Today I woke up and found out three of my cousins were in town. They all came from Candon but two of them came together while the other came with his church group. I won’t be seeing the one who came with his church group today but I told my cousins that I would buy them dinner but I refuse to give them money and I’m even going to wait to get groceries until tomorrow because if I buy them now they’ll eat them all and I rather not get upset for that lol.

  All I did while I was in Labayug is drink and sing. I caught up with niece which is always fun. It’s good to know that she has good friends in her life and that she’s happy. That’s all I could ask for, for her. She should be leaving tomorrow for the US.

  Well, I’m running out of time. I want to share with you five Filipino artist and songs that are popular in here. I don’t have enough time to link them for you but I can list them!

·     

1.   Buwan – Juan Karlos
2.  Huling Sayaw - Kamikazee
3. Sana – I Belong To The Zoo
4. Sa Ngalan Ng Pag-Ibig – December Avenue
5. Ikaw – Yeng Constantino

  Look them up some time and tell me what you think! They’re all in Filipino however. There’s only one genre in Ilocano and I’m not a huge fan of it. Well, I’ll catch you guys next week! Make sure to keep up on me on 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

 If I don’t write a post here there’s probably a chance that I have written something on my Wattpad because there I post poems! They are shorter reads with more meaning. I am currently working on two poetry books but the more important one that ties into this travel blog is called ‘A Barrier Meant To Be Broken’. Below are the last five poems I wrote on there as of this post being queued.
A Barrier Meant To Be Broken
1.Leaving
2.Too Bright 
3.Calculating 
4.In This Country 
5. A Silent Understanding