A curious picture of Anahawan Central School

Here is a picture labeled "Grabe V-B 1946-47 Anahawan Central School". If proven authentic, this would probably be the oldest picture taken of Anahawan Central School. I got this picture in 2007 when I was searching for the presence of Anahawnons on the web. I checked the source site but it is no longer active: (http://jobarclix.blog-city.com/surigao_rose.htm).

How important is "pakikisama" in building a business in the Philippines?

I was navigating through my linkedin network and got interested in one discussion started by someone who is obviously not a user of the Tagalog dialect. Here it is:

"Ano ang iniisip ninyo? Paano mahalaga ay ang pakikisama para sa gusali ng negosyo sa Pilipinas?"

Apparently, this was translated using an online translator - reminds me of Mosley twitting in Tagalog few weeks ago. It is a funny translation but it is understandable that the person who posted this has a good intention of understanding part of the Filipino culture. I decided to post my reaction to it and before I knew it, I was already posting a blog-long reply. So I decided to share my reply here on this blog, with few alterations after making some proofreading on it:

It is Fiesta Season

The first Fiesta of every year already occurred last month in Brgy. San Vicente, of course, with the Fiesta of San Vicente Ferrer last April 5. That would make this post a bit outdated. Nevertheless, I decided to proceed with this post since 5 out of the 13 barangays of Anahawan celebrate their fiestas during this month, making May as the month with the most number of fiestas celebrated throughout the town.

With the festive activities during fiestas, each barangay instantly becomes an attraction not only to Anahawnons but also to people from neighboring towns. Many Anahawnons who have been away for some time usually schedule their vacations during the fiesta of their dear barangays. See related post here.

Basketball and parlor games are among the popular activities. Of course, sabong (cockfighting) has always been among the top activities in many barangays. In the olden days, amateur singing contest is held for several nights before the fiesta katud-anan. There is no need to mention that no fiesta is complete without the bayle (disco) on the night of bisperas.

I grew up in the ocean

On a circle island tour around Oahu, my host asked me “So, you grew up in the ocean?”

 “…in the ocean?” I thought.

So I defensively said, “no!” and then I said “yes.”

I was not really able to comprehend what he meant by “in the ocean?” I explained to him that I used to live “near the sea”. I even demonstrated to him that from my house, the beach is just across the street. Being a technical writer that time, there was no space for metaphors or similar figures of speech.

Having been disoriented with the tour, I asked him which side of the island is the Pacific Ocean. He answered that we are in the Pacific Ocean, we are surrounded by it. He then pointed to the west for the direction of the Philippines as opposed to California on the other side. It turned out he is the one who lives “in the ocean,” specifically, in a group of islands within the Pacific Ocean.

Our Crumbling Lands

Huge chunks of earth has been scraped off from the mountainsides and are now setting along the sides of the Abuyog-Silago Road. Some of these chunks are as huge as ordinary houses – testaments to the relentless heavy rains that took lives in St. Bernard Southern Leyte more than a month ago. Landslides have been tearing our mountains apart, as if they are pieces of cakes.

Earth Hour Philippines - March 26, 2011 at 8:30 PM

Tonight, the world will go dark. Lights, televisions, computers, fans, air conditioners, and other energy consuming equipments will be switched off to send a message to influential people throughout the world, political leaders around countries, big business operators, power producers, don't forget to include your naive neighbors, and most importantly, to ourselves, that we are aware of the world's current energy and environmental crisis and that we are willing to do something about it.