Pinoys in Portland!

Photo: Tita Alice and Tito Eric were my dad's classmates in High School

The power of technology!

After 2 nights of staying with all the people in our host family's house, I learned that I was to transfer host families. And the best part was : They were a Filipino family and they were the Tadeos! Tito Eric Tadeo was my dad's classmate in high school. And it was very nice of them to "take me in" ! We even had a nice dinner with some of their friends.

I actually got to live in 2 states! All UWP activities were in Portland, but the Tadeos lived about 30 minutes away across the bridge in Vancouver, Washington.

They are a family of artists! Tito Eric is obviously a musician, Tita Vivian is a cool designer (she gave me a really, really nice bag which she design and created herself) and Noelle is – ah, I never really witnessed Noelle show off her talent, but I can tell that she has lots of it. I know she sings, she writes and that she’s really smart. (Ahem, definitely Up With People material)

I got the chance to visit her school’s Open House, the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics. The VSAA is what they call a “magnet school” – exclusive, specialized public schools that admit students based on talent and merit. The Open House invited parents to talk to teachers individually about what’s in store for the students for the year. It is basically a getting to know you session where they also discuss the grading system, status of performance, etc, etc. I was amazed at the curriculum and the depth of the discussions that they obviously have.

THANKS SO MUCH TADEOS! For the Pinoy meals, the good conversation, the music! I really hope that you enjoyed the show...

Travel to Asia Without Getting on a Plane!!!

The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival was held last July 28-29 at the Sloan's Lake Park , Denver, CO.

It was a fun event, with a lot of things happening at the same time! We went last Sunday, at around 2PM. I was really excited to go because there was a Philippines booth there (I even announced it to the whole cast so that they may get the opportunity to experience a bit of Pinoy flavor) and I was looking forward to speaking Tagalog and maybe getting a Philippine flag to add on to the UWP collection.

The place was vibrant with a lot of colorful sights and wonderful smells. There were stalls selling merchandise from places like Thailand, China, India, etc.. And the selection of food stalls was overwhelming and everything had a long line! As we walked further in, we were able to catch a breakdancing exhibition and the history of hip hop and breakdancing. Interesting that the movements actually came from "gang wars", hence the "chopping movement" of the hands and that intimidating hip hop attitude.

We entered a Mongolian "yurt" -- it is a low ceiling portable tent used by nomads. And we were also made to try "horse milk" -- an alternative to beer in the Mongolian culture. I did not taste it but Lesley and my host mom did and they said it was .. NASTY! I did taste some of the Mongolian snacks and some were really good except for one (ugh). I tried fighting the taste with a sip of the Mongolian milk tea, which was not good either .. hehe. I guess I'm just used to the sweet tea, and was not too prepared for a salty kind of tea.

It was great seeing the Philippine booth! They had a musical instrument called "agong" , which all the while I thought was called "kumintang"! Wonderful to learn something new about my country while I am away! There were several exhibits and photos of traditional Philippine culture such as our games, etc. People can come in and try our native "Sungka" (kind of like the African game Mancala?) and kids can try and draw the Philippine flag.

We were there just in time for the Tinikling demonstration and the Rondalla presentation. Way cool. It was also nice meeting Filipinos there too , however, it would have been nicer if they can speak Tagalog! Most are 2nd generation Fil-Ams that can't (or won't?) speak the language.

We were also able to catch a Filipino rock band perform songs like "Laklak", "Narda", "No Touch" (pahipo naman... pahawak naman...) --> personally, I did not like their selection of songs! I asked one of them after, why not Eraserheads? I didn't get a clear response though :-)

We stayed and saw all the acts - and saw several interesting ones! The Hula Dancers, Indian dances, Acrobatic martial arts, a Chinese guitar player (i forgot what her instrument was called!) and the best part was the Taiko Drums!

Taiko, which means "big drum" in Japanese, is the art of ensemble drumming -- and it looked really great ! The group sets up huge drums on the stage and pounded on them skillfully and they looked awesome!

Just before we drove home, we were able to get Philippine "Lumpiang Shanghai" (they call 'em egg rolls!) with some sweet chili sauce. Yum, and it was 6 pieces for a dollar too! I was happy that Lesley and Laurie liked them!

I wasn't able to get a big Philippine flag, tho -- but they gave me a smaller one ;-)

The Zempels' Backyard

I don't usually take photos of houses, but my host family's home is really nice and country-ish. Something that my mom and my husband will totally like: More photos in the Gallery!

Caught this little critter on camera!

Culture Shocked at Red Rocks

What amazes me about America (among other things) is how its geography changes so much – so abruptly. One moment we are driving through great plains and your eyes can travel a long, long way before you actually see anything. And then in a snap, you see amazing rocks towering over you. This is Colorado.

I was given the opportunity to visit a place where nature and technology merged. Our host family took us to the Red Rocks Amphitheater , which was a HUGE amphitheater in the middle of Colorado’s rocky mountains. It could seat around 5,000 people , and the music and sounds just bounce off the rocks and gives one a very unique experience. The Beatles played here during their time and a lot more other famous bands – this month, Incubus is coming, plus Bob Dylan…

Last Sunday, July 8, our host family took us to the Red Rocks Amphitheater for a free concert by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra… and it was really cool! Families with little kids were there with picnic baskets listening to super relaxing music. I felt so lucky for the experience.

The following day, we went to Red Rocks again for something totally different. There were a few local bands who played while local artists did really nice paintings on stage (hmmm idea!). The highlight of the evening was a movie called “The Big Lebowski” which starred Jeff Daniels and John Goodman. Apparently, it was a movie which has gained a cult following in America – and I would say that I cannot see why. It was full of curse words and some unnerving sex icons. I still consider myself conservative (believe it or not) and I simply couldn’t stand it. I am not posting a video of that here but feel free to watch some clips here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtgfjkB6Pg

Much worse was that the crowd that Monday was totally different from the crowd for the orchestra. There was beer, people throwing up, and from time to time the air was filled with the stench of marijuana. (I know some people from back home would’ve loved that experience, ah, but I didn’t!) I totally felt unsafe in such an unfamiliar crowd. And when I say crowd, it was really a HUGE crowd.

By writing this down I am risking myself to be exposed as #1 PRUDE. I guess rather than complaining, I should try to look at this experience as a supreme immersion to American culture. What do you think?

Oh and it was also great meeting 11 year-old Monay (pronounced Mo-neigh, not like the Pinoy bread!) who was our host mom's little sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Program - she went with us to the Colorado Symphony concert.

My First Host Family

UWP gives us a host family code and we’re supposed to find that item so we can meet our host families. Mine was “volleyball” , since the theme for this leg of the tour was “all things related to summer”

It was fun looking at the rows of happy faces carrying all sorts of things – ranging from lemonade, picnic basket, beach ball, sand box – and even swim trunks! I found out that I had a roommate staying with the same host family – Lesley from Tucson, Arizona. She’s also 25 years old, and a dance teacher.

From afar, we already saw Laurie and Bill throwing a volleyball up and down “They look kinda cool” Lesley whispered.

And indeed they were – married for 14 years , they were not able to have any kids. They said they compensated for this by doing all sorts of volunteer work. Like being host family to a lot of youth programs and being involved in the Little Brothers Little Sisters program of America, where they take care of kids from time to time. Bill is a military brat and Laurie used to be in the army as a spy (how cool is that!). Both of them are really the outdoorsy type of people!

They have a darling home with a terrace and natural airconditioning which really fascinated me. It was a contraption which extracts cold air from outside and blows it inside the home! Para talagang aircon. Summer in Colorado is really hot.

Tired as we were… they took us and their friend Gina to the Cherry Arts Festival – which is an annual music and arts festival in an uppity (“hoidy toity” – their version of “wursh-wursh” hehe) part of Denver. There was live music and a lot of artists booths selling sculpture, jewelry, photographs and paintings. Really nice!

Photo shows Lesley, Gina (the Zempels' good friend), me, Laurie and Bill at the Cherry Arts Festival