MikeLigalig.com

Kamayan

3- "Want to hear a song my grandpa taught me?"
1,2- "Sure"

::Begin Guitar::
3- Lapit mga kaibigan at makinig kayo
Ako'y may dala-dalang, balita galing sa bayan ko
Nais kong ipamahagi ang mga kwento
Ang mga pangyayaring nagaganap
Sa lupang pinangako

Lapit mga kaibigan at makinig kayo
Ako'y may dala-dalang, balita galing sa bayan ko
Nais kong ipamahagi ang mga kwento
Ang mga pangyayaring nagaganap
Sa lupang pinangako

::guitar continues to strum lightly::
-   2 - That’s a pretty good song
-   1 - But what does it mean?
-   3- My Grandpa told me what It means, and it goes something like this . . .

[English Translation:]
3 (Come closer my dear friends and just listen to me
I’m bringing some good things, from my homeland Philippines
I wish to share you something
Something you’ve never seen
Events/ unfolding from my homeland Philippines.)

(Come closer my dear friends and just listen to me
I’m bringing some good things, from my homeland Philippines
I wish to share you something
Something you’ve never seen
Events/ unfolding from my homeland Philippines.)

::guitar continues to strum::

2-I have been transplanted to the States/
from the arm's/ of my mother's innocence /of a Nurses Uniform, /
where she came for family /and to begin one of her own/
3-I am “brown” and proud to be fresh off the boat !!!!
But filled with the pristine blood / that is of my parent's sacrifices/

1-I was Delivered to culturally survive/
within naturally missing flocks of my kin's feathers /
as I learned from family and through adolescence
what was born into me, as I rooted in America

my hands/ procure many tones/ of cultures interlaced from once/
agrarian calloused hands, worn by the cultivation/ of inheritance

2-my eyes/ are devout of colors reflective of negative images that are of monochromatic/
exposures once Polaroid/
black to white
humbled of my parent’s experiences

3-but some of us here / have forgotten where we are from,
we have forgotten / we are immigrants / Americans /
leaving behind / a mother nation, longing… displaced,…
and deprived / of loves / raptures of now/ distanced familiarities /.

1-your culture is a great tapestry
A melting pot/ that is of many courses/ streaming through your veins
2-The scent of umami from my mommy’s cooking as she makes grills hot dogs, and hamburgers
3-the golden noodles of pancit / once Chinese
the effervescent swine aroma of lecheon
the tantric use of anise seeds, and curry powder

1-my father reminiscing while on transport on “jeepney”
amidst the military/ transfigurations of WW2
, and the hand woven oration into his Barong Tagalog
as he walked down the isle of my mother’s wedding.

2 – Photos of my cousins wearing white polo shirts /under the picturesque
palm trees of the visayan islands as they go to school
, while my titos wear my old “Nike” and “Southpole” t-shirts/

these are the imprints / of cultures /
trends common to many /, that mark

1-our
3-your
2-individualities

::together::Taga sa Pilipinas ako
(i'm from the Philippines)
but I’m also from:
1-Japan, Guam, Fiji, Barbados, Athens
2-France, Iraq, Rome, Sydney, Chicago
3-Brazil, California, Pakistan, Madrid, Johannesburg /
and where I am now.

Walking barefoot infront
Of footsteps in the sands , /
that have slowly / become taken by the sea

2 Have our cultured assurances been absolved
into the waves of our individual uncertainties ?

3” if we can acknowledge that we are all the same,
we are all among one Tower of Babel,
hough with mixed tongues,
we share: words, customs, religions, ideologies,
and the common ancestry which is that of our humanity “

::guitar begins::

Lapit mga kaibigan at makinig kayo
Ako'y may dala-dalang, balita galing sa bayan ko
Nais kong ipamahagi ang mga kwento
Ang mga pangyayaring nagaganap
Sa lupang pinangako


1-Albert
2-Al
3-Job

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=24102.0

Our Performance at the SJSM College of Medicine Culture Night.
December 5, 2009.


"KAMAYAN"~ Filipino American Medical Student Spoken Word Performance.
~Dedicated to all Filipino Doctors, Filipino-American Doctors, Filipino-American Nurses.



Me, Job, Albert.








The inspiration for this piece and performance was the sacrifices of our family, friends.
For the contribution the Filipino Doctor has given to the world, And to the love we have of our Eternal Fatherland, The Philippines.
Yes we are Doctors in Training, Yes we are Saviors of Lives, however, we are also--first, Filipinos.

We remember the sacrifices, the contributions, the promises, and the opportunity that the future holds.

We would like to thank Dr. Ting Tiongco for his inspirational work, "Surgeons Dont Cry" for influencing us three.

We as Filipino-American Medical Student Scholars would like to thank you, Dr. Tiongco for motivating us for this piece.
We are inspired by your words, your zealotry, your amicable personality, and what you represent in the honorable profession that is ours~ MEDICINE.



Best,
Yours,
A. Lucino, J. Mendez, A. Palmarez
SJSM College of Medicine c/o 2012
2nd Year Medical Students.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=24102.0

I sat in contemplation today as I watched this video again, and talked to Job, and Albert earlier. How truly...Filipino.

That despite our regional differences, we are all--in the end, FILIPINO.

Albert's ancestral root is in the province of Iloilo, Western Visayas.
Job's ancestral root is in the province of Lucena, Luzon Mainland.
and my humble ancestral root comes from Bohol, Central Visayas.

All three of us represented our provinces in this performances, but all represented the Philippines.

God Bless the Philippines!

~~MABUHAY ANG PILIPINAS~~

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=24102.0