June 7, 2004
-
Well, Filipino Fiesta 2004 is over. It was successful except for a couple of hiccups (or is it hiccoughs?). First, I guess two guys had to be taken into custody because they were going to jump some guy. Race? Ethnicity? It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to contribute to your silly preconceptions of any particular ethnic group. Second, about three songs before the end of the last performer, a big gust of wind, blew up the roof of the bahay kubo display we had, and one of the audience tent. The bahay kubo roof didn’t hit anyone, but one of the metal poles of the tent did. In came the fire department with a gurney, and they rolled this guy out from the premises. I pray he’s okay. Murphy’s law strikes again.
Otherwise, the day was great! It was cool for a majority of the day, as the delta breeze were keeping the air fresh. There was a lot more room because they spread out the layout. I think the audience enjoyed the performers. I saw the women of Immij again! Woo hoo! I saw the Mango Kingz too, and Robski of Makamae Melia O’ Polynesia. I watched a Tapado Stick Fighting demo, which was a treat. I had seen a Tapado practitioner on video before but never in person. It’s a powerful art. The souvenir program that I helped worked on with Michelle and Conrad came out better than average. It wasn’t our best work, but under the circumstances of losing our original printer and not having all of our content on time, as well as special agreements made on our behalf without our prior knowledge, I think we did great.
Of course I saw a lot of friends, including my lil bro Marvin from Chi Rho Omicron, and my lil sib Valerie from Mga Kapatid, other brothers from Sac State, an entrepreneur of a woman, Jennifer Nodora, who I went to high school with, and one of my personal heroines, Glenda Macatangay. I am thoroughly roasted, which happens when you are out in the sun from 0700 hours to 2000 hours. Boo on tan lines. I should’ve went topless. Haha. I got a book that is a collection of the minutes from the Katipunan meetings. I’m looking forward to thumbing through that.
Oh and the best part. I had passed by a group of people when one ran up to catch up to me. Her name was Gladys, and she stopped me to ask, “Excuse, me, but can we look at your tattoo?” I politely obliged and walked back to the group of four. They asked me about it, which is a ka symbol reversed out of the sun from the Philippine flag in black, and I kicked down some knowledge about the Baybayin script, and what the ka means, and it’s relationship to the katipunan and the revolution and independence. Later on in the day, I was walking by some of the Pilipino Youth Coalition students and when they commented on the tattoo also, which I guess they hadn’t seen before, I kicked down some indigenous education. Back outside towards the end of the day, another couple of guys were asking about my tattoo, so I obliged them with some facts as well. Three times in one day. It felt good to dispell some of the ignorance today. Oh, and it was pretty flattering that some folks noticed my tattoo, although I wish my arms were more ripped and muscular. All around I wish I was sexier, cuz I’m just a lil sexy now. Haha.
With the fiesta over, I find myself chomping at the bit for the next big project, the next great challenge that I have to meet. I have this insatiable desire to work on stuff. That’s why I enjoyed being a student so much. It was an environment where you were supposed to grow and learn. Out here in the Department of Education, products from the employees are emphasized, rather than personal growth.
Fortunately for me, the Filipino American Youth Leadership Conference (FAYLC) is coming up in early August. It’s the next big thing. Time to kick it into overdrive!
Sinag-tala planning is also going to start up, and meetings will begin next month.
Oh, and I sort of have my voice back. I can vocalize sounds, but they don’t sound good. Haha. I do have to say that me losing my voice was God’s way of telling me to listen. God was telling me to listen to others, and to listen to my body. It is a good lesson to keep in mind. So if I’m not talking, it’s because I’m listening to you and your beautiful voice and taking in your wonderful insight and knowledge.
