Outside Cordi
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01.16.08Love in the Age of Emails
Here’s a story we found at the San Francisco Chronicle. It is a good and interesting read.
Averil Pooten Watan and Mark Watan: The pull of ancestors
By Louise Rafkin/San Francisco ChronicleIn 1995 they were teenagers. Mark Watan, 18 and a native of San Francisco, and Averil Pooten, 16, a Londoner, were youth delegates to a world conference for Igorots in Los Angeles. An indigenous tribal people from the mountains of the Philippines, Igorots remained independent in the face of the Spanish colonization and, as a result, had a unique history. Both Averil and Mark, second-generation Igorots, hailed from families who convened every few years to preserve their rare cultural and spiritual traditions.
The world of second-generation Igorot expats was small. Fewer than 20 families had settled in England and not many more than that in California - and both thought of those in their local populations as siblings, or cousins. So finding each other, with a shared passion for ancestry but without sticky family ties, well, that was interesting! Averil found Mark hilarious and loud, yet sweet. As for Mark, Averil was spunky and gorgeous. At the close of the conference, Mark scrawled out his e-mail address.
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12.29.07Igorots in Israel
Shalom to our blog visitors from Israel. Ma shlomcha/Ma shlomech?
The topmost photo, courtesy of My Share of Israel Sun, shows our kailiyans during the Purim carnival parade last March 2007. The second photo also taken during the same event is courtesy of the DFA which reports that “the Igorot Association of Migrant Workers in Israel wowed the crowd with their authentic agong and banga dances while performing in the streets of Holon.” [DFA/PDF File]
Note to DFA: It’s called gangsa, not agong. Anyways, for those of us who are not in Israel but are wondering about how our kailiyans are doing in that Holy Land, here’s a collection of articles we found on the net.
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12.12.07Ifugao Hut in London: Going, Going, Dead?
Cross-posted at From the Boondocks
UPDATE: For pictures of this soon to be dismantled Ifugao hut, visit The Nashman’s blog.
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Well, we don’t know much about this story. But here are the facts which we gleaned from the announcement here:- The Ifugao hut is presently located at the Philippine embassy in London.
It was brought all the way from Kiangan.
The embassy is moving to a new address.
They haven’t found a suitable new home for the Ifugao hut.
So they are performing a “death” ritual for the hut on December 15, 2007 (10:00 am).Now the question is, who brought the hut to London, the government? And did embassy officials have sufficient time to find a new place or a new custodian for the hut?
Because if the answers to both questions happen to be “Yes” then I think they should have done more (or should do more) than this “death” ritual they are planning.
And what exactly are they going to do to the hut? Burn it? Cannibalize it? That is its end after it served its purpose of “showcasing” our culture?
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