mestizo - a hybrid culture

I was born in Negros Island in the Philippine Ocean and migrated to the U.S. Spending time back and forth - half in and out of each country provides more insight and perspective into my family's hybrid culture. 

One day in an art history class, I read an article about migration and identity that discussed the amalgamation of culture. What is created when someone physically crosses a border and occupies new space? 

Sitio Tabucol in Barangay Bacong, Bago City, Negros Occidental

I thought of our parents and the ways my family participates in local and mestizo traditions. It made me dissect what our family’s hybrid culture presents as. Join me in an exploration of these sentiments. 

possibilities & probabilities - perseverance & persistence

Potential does not come to fruition in barren territory - even at the price of blood, sweat and tears. It is what differentiates the quitters from those who eventually succeed.
Every fellow Filipino and freedom fighter accepts this in their core being. All throughout recorded history it has been the rough road our countrymen are tested with every day.
Even the best among us have to cushion ourselves and take succor from the horror and beating meted year in and year out.

multi-generational trauma of the Philippines

A people known for their spirit of warmth and hospitality whose life force slowly leaks away in a country of parasitic politicians of few exceptions.
Much is wasted to expend scarce resources and ill-gotten wealth on keeping the masses fat dumb and happy on short term extravaganzas and fiestas.