| I spent much of 2004 visiting my fiance (now wife) in the Philippines, including six
weeks in March and April, punctuated by a brief trip to south Australia. I
traveled for another four weeks in November, with the time spent mostly in
Manila but with a brief trip to the town of
Plaridel, in the province of Misamis
Occidental, on the southernmost island of Mindanao. This is the home town of my
father-in-law Fred, whose father immigrated from China in the first part of
the 20th century and opened a store that is still operating. His
granddaughter is carrying on the entrepreneurial tradition, running the
store, but she also recently opened a gas station and a hotel. Ivy and I
will be returning to Plaridel in December 2006 for a reunion marking the
50th anniversary of the store. The visit in November last year was great fun. I stayed with the extended family in the house behind the storefront, and was the object of a great deal of interest. Most people in the Philippines speak English because they are taught it in school, but many people aren't comfortable speaking it. So I spent a lot of time listening to Visayan, a language somewhat related to the more widely spoken Tagalog. I didn't have a lot of conversations with anyone besides Ivy and her immediate family -- that is, until the young kids discovered that I was willing to clown around with them. They climbed all over me and dubbed me 'Uncle Big Nose,' happily chattering away in English. In progress. Pictures and more descriptions to follow. |