[ *pessimist addiction* ]

-Tuesday, July 25, 2006- Why "din-din" goes gaga over football and The Pearl of the Orient Seas.

originally written with pen on paper, on July 11, 2006 while the kids i'm babysitting were taking their siesta. (mas tama bang having or taking their siesta? i'm confuse.) edited yesterday and posted today. hehehe.

"My country, right or wrong," is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, "My mother, drunk or sober."
-G. K. Chesterton

sa totoo lang, it was never about the football game (and no, it wasn't for the abs either). pedeng naging basketball, volleyball or patintero yung laro, walang magbabago.. mega-obsess pa rin sigurado ako doon sa event.

you see, i was born, lived my first 4 years and been living the last 5 years of my life, here in my beloved italia. as i see it, italy is my biological mother while philippines is my adoptive mum.

i obsessed myself with football, not for the love of the game (or the players) but for the love of italy. yes, i love italy. and italy loves me back. i love italy for so many reasons and for no reason at all.. it's complicated... i love italia just because.

and i love pilipinas too.. but on a different level, it's more like i love pilipinas because of the people who live there rather than pilipinas itself. i'm not saying that if by any chance, everyone i know would migrate to somewhere else (and i'm pretty sure that this would NEVER happen), i'd stop caring for pilipinas anymore, no.. it's not like that. but i have my reasons why i can't love pilipinas, just like that.

When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.
-Sir Winston Churchill

i am proud of saying that i am a filipina. no problems. no hesitations. unlike most (not all) filipinos, who'll pretend to be from somewhere else. i am not humiliated by my pilipinas. in spite of it all, i am not ashamed.

napapansin ko kasi, karamihan ng mga pinoy dito, masingkit lang ng konti ang mata, feeling instik na, mag-mukhang mestiza lang ng konti, spanish na agad ang drama. tama bang ikahiya ang sariling lupang sinilangan? tama bang ikahiya ang sariling bansa? karamihan naman ng mga nakilala ko sa tate eh nagiging proud lang na pilipino sila kung kelan wala na sila sa pilipinas. (better late than never?) i am ~~somewhat~~ guilty of this too. almost. not because i abnegate my being a filipino. but because i ~~used to~~ prefer imported goods. not the food. not the music. mostly just clothes and stuffs. hehehe.

yan ang kaibahan ng mga italiano sa mga pilipino. ang mga italiano kahit nasaang lupalop ng mundo sila, sa kabila ng "mafia" at mga eskandalo (gaya ng eskandalo sa football), proud sila to say na italiano sila. mas una nilang sinu-suportahan ang made in italy bago yung sa ibang bansa.

ang mga pinoy, nag-aaral ng ingles para daw maki-pag-usap sa mga turistang bibisita sa pilipinas, ang mga italiano (pwera lang kay monica bellucci na kahit italiano na ang nag-iinterview mega-french pa din ang pag-sagot) ang motto pupunta sila ng italia matuto silang mag-italiano, kung pupunta kami sa londra (london) mag-aaral kaming mag-ingles. gaya nga ng madalas ulit-ulitin ni papà "if you're in rome dance like a roman".

ang mga italiano "priorities" nila ang mga fellow italians nila,
-tipong kung nasa bus sila at sitting pretty sila, tapos may 2 sumakay na babaeng parehong buntis, isang italiana at isang amerikana, una nilang i-aalok ang upuan nila sa italiana bago sa amerikana.
sa pila sa kung saan man (sa commune/municipio, sa restaurant/fast food, sa ospital, sa eskwela, or sa taxi) first come, first serve sila... compared sa karamihan (hindi ulit lahat) ng mga pilipino sa pilipinas makitang "puti" lang yung nasa pila inuuna na agad o kaya may special treatment.

bihira lang ang discrimination dito, syempre kahit naman yata saan hindi nawawala yun eh. pero once in a blue moon lang yan nangyayare dito. dito kung ano yung kina-kain ng mga mayayaman kaya din kainin ng mga "normal" na mag-tratrabaho. kung anong kayang gawin at kayang puntahan ng mga mayayaman kaya din ng mga "normal" na tao. basta yung normal na tao eh masipag at may trabaho. dito pag-pumasok ka sa isang supermarket kahit naka-pambahay ka lang hindi ka palalabasin. kahit mukha kang hindi naliligo ng 13 araw hindi ka palalayasin ng basta-basta, ma-pwera may mag-reklamo na isang maarteng customer, pero kahit pina-lalabas ka, hindi ka palalabasin ng bastusan, palaging andun yung respeto. dito, or atleast dun sa esselungga, pag-pulubi ka at huminggi ka ng makaka-kain bibigyan ka, hindi ka sasabihan ng "lumayas ka nga dyan, nambwibwisit ka eh!".

<<-off-topic.->>
naaalala ko nung minsang dumalaw kami sa pilipinas, sa restaurant (hindi naman sya yung talagang class, parang rose & grace, yung sa batangas, parang ganun) meron inorder si papà tapos sabi nung waitress hindi daw pede yun kasi sa totoo lang daw sira na yung food na yun (oh di baparang may utang na loob pa kami sa kanya??), tapos nung tapos na kami mag-order at nag-pahabol si papà ng mineral water, nakita nya na binigay nung babae yung food sa isang kano, eh hot-tempered si papà sabi dun sa waitress, "ano bang pinag-kaiba ng pera nya sa perang dala ko? baka mas marami pa akong dalang pera kesa dyan sa amerikanong yan eh." malakas pa naman ang boses ni papà, yun bang parang naka-lunok ng megaphone. ang ending ng story? 40% off our check. nyahahaha!
<<-end of off-topic.->>

never pa yan nangyari samin dito... sa kahit saang resto. kahit saang fast food. ang hirap kasi dito kadalasan (hindi palage) kapwa pinoy (madalas yung mga teenager) mo ang nag-di-discriminate sa'yo. nakaka-bad-trip. ang sarap pag-babatukan.

<<-off-topic.->>
i was once told by a group of filipinos, who at that time i thought could actually be my group of friends, that i cannot be one of them because i was too italian for their taste, using the fact that i was born here as an excuse. after a few days, i found out it was because i wasn't "white" enough for them, i was white enough to be mistaken for a spanish but not as an italian. But this, deserves a new post.
<<-end of off-topic.->>

i hated the feeling. i hate it still. and i still hate them.

i think the problem is, that most filipinos suffer from inferiority complex, (and yes, me too. sometimes.) we bring ourselves down. most times, we think that other people are always better than us. that we are not as good as they are and what others do is always better. kaya madalas kahit mismong filipino mas prefer pa nya yung taga-ibang bansa kesa sa kapwa nya pinoy. paki-ramdam nila na kapag ang nga barkada nila puro puti they're better compared to those who only have fellow pinoys as ka-barkadas.

<<-off-topic.->>
my father hated going to the philippine embassy, kasi lahat na lang may bayad, mag-papa-authenticate, mag-papa-pirma ng kung ano, hihingi ng application, lahat may bayad. hindi sana bale kung mura lang.. eh sus, kakainin mo na nang isang buong linggo yung sinisingil sayo eh. at hindi din sana bale kung mabait yung mga tao dun sa embassy, kung wala kang kilala dun, ang trato sayo para kang bata na walang alam sa mundo. (Oo, nakaka-gago.) nung una, pini-pilit ko pa si papà na normal lang na may bayad, (pwera lang yung application form) kasi halos lahat naman talaga may bayad na. pero ngayon, naiintindihan ko na kung bakit sya nag-rereklamo, kasi pag-ako ang kumukuha ng mga dokumento, tipong yung birth certificate, wala akong binabayaran. ikaw ba naman ang 30 taon na kung may kailangang dokumento ang anak mo walang binabayaran. kaya pala madalas na bukang bibig ni papà kapag may mag-re-renew na ng passport, na "ang embassy nandyan para tulungan ang mga kapwa pilipino hindi para gawing negosyo ang kapwa pilipino".
<<-end of off-topic.->>

i say it again, it was never the football, it ~~was~~ is the feeling it gave me, the sense of belongingness, the feeling of knowing that i am a part of something big, something great, something honest.

i am proud to be a filipina. but i am also happy to live here. i am not a sporty-person but i cheer for both filipino & italian athletes. i support great artists, no matter what the nationality is.

i still think most filipinos are better than italians.

and no, i am not living "la dolce vita". yet.

speaking of supporting great artists.
let's support our fellow filipino artists, the South Border (friendster profile).

join the SB street team. it doesn't matter where you are. we're world wide.

click here to join.

thank you. and have a great summer.

enjoy the beach (or wherever you're spending your summer) and get yourself sweaty while i suffer the heat and the sweaty-ness of milan.

always be safe. *muah* *muah*

signed,

who deemed @ 3:26 PM

8 rants and raves:

Anonymous whispered at Tuesday, July 25, 2006 8:05:00 PM

YOU!
you.. you... you SB fanatic! =p
ahahahah!

FINE! i WILL spread the word... you'll owe me dinner thou. =)

Dindin whispered at Wednesday, July 26, 2006 1:11:00 PM

yeah, yeah, yeah... =p

Patricia Parayno whispered at Wednesday, July 26, 2006 1:43:00 PM

may mayayabang narin kaya na pilipino... haha. la lng... and hindi marunong tumingin sa pinaggalingan ay mas malansa pa sa isda... tama b? hehe.. la lng.. ingat lgi jan!! :)

Dindin whispered at Thursday, July 27, 2006 4:21:00 PM

uu nga.. hehehe.

Anonymous whispered at Friday, July 28, 2006 7:41:00 PM

Oo nga ang ibang mga pinoy 'kala mo kung sino na. Pero may mababait naman kahit papano. I can say the same with others maputi man o maitim o dilaw.

Dindin whispered at Saturday, July 29, 2006 12:22:00 PM

Right. musta po ang bakasyon? =)

The King whispered at Friday, August 04, 2006 9:35:00 PM

ang haba! hehe..

anyway, i'll keep my comment short. i do believe the Filipino culture was 'damaged' by the races that counquered us in history. not everything can be traced to poverty.

Dindin whispered at Saturday, August 05, 2006 9:28:00 PM

matagal ako nawala eh.. haha!

sabagay.. may point ka din.

whisper to my ears

<< back Home

Profile

[-]

``Essentials``
Moniker: [dindin], geri, gerald, gie
Birth date: September 27
Location: Milan, Italy
Religion: Roman Catholic
Astrological Sign: Libra
High School: Canossa College S.P.C., Laguna
College: IIS- Kandinsky -Milan, Italy

``more of me``
``blogger profile``

Previous Postings