November 29, 2010 – 12:18 pm
I am already dreading that simple, expected question that I know will seem to haunt every conversation upon my return: “So, how was your trip?”
Honestly, I don’t know how to answer that yet. Its not a simple yes or no answer. It requires thought, a processing of some sort, and being in a state of reflection that I am just not ready for. Eleven days ago I wished to go home. I longed to walk the familiar hallways of my house, to reach into the fridge and eat real cheese, to turn on the t.v. and disappear into the monotony of daily routine. Eleven days ago I was ready to leave Asia, I was ready to end the adventure and return to ‘reality’. However it will not be more than six days before I am home, and only now am I realizing all the stuff I wanted to do, the things I wanted to see, the pictures I wanted to take. Living in the moment has been a growing theme for me during these past months, and I feel that with these last few days I am finally realizing both the challenge and the reward. My hope is that in these last few days I will take in my surroundings without analysis (that comes later when I am writing my paper for Frank), but instead with a sense of newness. A fresh perspective.
Ariel
November 5, 2010 – 7:02 am
Islamic Arts Museum:
I am continuously amazed by the intricate detail, the time, and the care that these people from long ago put into the simplest of objects. Pipes, helmets, art…everything seems to serve its own purpose. In seeing such artistry I cannot help but wonder what day-to-day life was like for these people. As well what wonders will I have contributed, or at the very least experienced, that in hundreds of years from now will be considered magical and inspiring.
Specifically I found myself taken by a particular painting displaying a Mughal emperor giving a gift to his son. The picture itself was nice enough (well to be honest I didn’t think it anything special), but while looking closer at the details I noticed the personality of the onlookers. All were facing the royal transaction with a sense of patriotism except for three men. These three are sporadically, or perhaps strategically, placed throughout the crowd and they seemed to be staring right into my eyes. Their expressions, I would go as far as to say, are as mystical and precious as that of the Mona Lisa. Their eyes seem to relay a truth that is not displayed elsewhere–a hidden corruption perhaps. Regardless, they undoubtedly hold some sort of superior knowledge and I am kept in wonder trying to decode the artist’s purpose.
To take from our own Peter Fitch this seemed to be an exercise of “extracting the precious from the worthless” (its nice to know that Phil 101 has paid off). Needless to say I am continuously reminded of the importance of looking deeper into pictures, situations, and people in order to discover the underlying truth that exists outside my own comfortable bubble…and perhaps that is what these travel terms are all about! My hope is that this continuous strive for hidden truth will follow me as I return home to my community.
Ariel Scheer
October 23, 2010 – 5:12 pm
As westerners we are engraved with the obsession of time. Being on time, making good time, running out of time–our super-scheduled lives eventually become the norm for western culture.
Upon meeting my host family and becoming acquainted with their community, the first thing I noticed was their ‘laid-back’ nature. When we arrived at the home we were immediately met by neighbours and family. The courtyard was filled with chatting ladies and playing children. I found this wonderfully refreshing and assumed they were here because of our arrival (of course my western mentality would think this, after all are we not the center of the world). As the days have gone on I am realizing that this is daily life for them. This strong sense of community seems to be deeply rooted within Filipino culture. As one of our professors stated in a lecture yesturday, Filipino life is centered on the family–it is their sense of stability. This is highly contrasting to the average Canadian whose stability lies within the support of the government (whether we realize it or not).
My point in writing this blog is to relay the Filipino sense of time, or lack thereof. On my first day in Laoag City the neighbours of my homestay decided to take us out to see the city. We (my roomate and I) sat around talking and waiting, all the while I was thinking that we should hurry up as not to be late for our dinner plans. Eventually we did go and when we returned I expected to find our host mother rushing us out the door, but instead we continued to sit and talk, becoming later and later for our plans. Due to my western mentality of the importance of being on time, I was becoming a little stressed.
After being here less than a week I have learned that Filipinos, by my own standards, are always late. However by their own standards they ‘arrive when they arrive’.
A society not enslaved by the chains of time proves to be much more relaxing and, surprisingly, productive. Though this place has not lost all sense of time their attitudes seem to model that which we were meant to have. The Italians also share in this mentality and they have a lovely term for it, “il dolce far niente” meaning “the art of doing nothing“. It is an art that we, living in the western world, have lost but would do good to recapture.
Ariel
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