Where's the Spirit?

We start off the month with stories that celebrate springtime, history, Lent and hopefully the end of the unusually harsh winter in the U.S. East Coast:

From Manila, Criselda Yabes tells us about the mood of the people during the 29th-year celebration of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolt. "Is the Spirit of People Power Gone Forever?" in the midst of disenchantment, traffic gridlock, a crisis of confidence and general ennui? Or is it alive enough to allow the current administration to rise from the mire it has sank into with the tragedy in Mindanao? You be the judge.

In Baguio, a ray of sunshine as the Cordillera School of Digital Arts (CSDA) takes its place among the internationally noted technical schools in the country. Rey de la Cruz reports in "Let's Get Digital."

Across the globe, in little-known Guymon, Oklahoma, a Filipino couple, Dr. Emmanuel Barias and his wife, Susan, make waves in the community not only in health care but also in business as they open the first coffee shop in the area. Agatha Verdadero takes us there in "Thriving in the Dust Bowl."

From the San Francisco Bay Area, poet/educator Aimee Suzara poses the question that generations of Filipino Americans have been asking: Why is Filipino American history not part of American history? "This is American History" gives us pause and ideally motivates us to action.

Finally, we are pointing you back to a previous story, Bella Bonner's "My Niece, The Cake Artist" about Judy Uson whose most recent creation is the four-feet tall, three-feet wide wedding cake of Senator Chiz Escudero and Heart Evangelista. We've added pictures of the cake, so check it out and be amazed.

For our Video of the Week, we feature Youtube celebrity, Christine Gambito, aka "HappySlip." 

Homecomings

Weak wi-fi signal in a beautiful beach house in Ilocos Norte and an unexpected illness kept me from writing my editorial message last week, but I'm back in home turf now so no more excuses.

I admit that I still have a balikbayan hangover though from our always-too-short vacation, and with this comes the longing and nostalgia for our motherland. 

This week's new contributor, Lorenzo Paran III writes eloquently about the feeling that is all too common among Filipino expats in "You Can Go Home Again." The "home" he longs for is his childhood in the vicinity of Mount Mayon.

The longing for home assumes a bigger dimension in Ana P. Santos' touching report on Loraine, an OFW in Dubai, whose day's highlight is her regular Skype conversation with her little daughter in the Philippines. But it is not enough, she says, and Filipino expats separated from their loved ones know that only too well.

Artist Toots Magsino on the other hand returned to Manila after a stint in New York and finds that "home" is what you make of your homecoming. She has chosen to spend her time teaching art to cancer patients and her families, a commitment that has both kept her grounded and allowed her art to evolve. Serina Aidasani, herself an expat who spends a lot of time in the Philippines now, reports in "Toots Magsino's Art-Filled Life."

Filipino-Canadian comedian Mikey Bustos regales us again, this time with his video  "I Go To Palengke."

My blog this week is about the EDSA People Power Revolt 29 years ago.

Celebration Time

Despite the political chaos and clashing of passions everywhere, there are always good reasons to celebrate in February. This week, our stories of celebration come from both good memories and good encounters.

We draw from historian/educator Ambeth R. Ocampo's book Looking Back for three romances that captured the imagination of Filipinos in specific periods in our history: in the last quarter of the 19th century, a visiting king fell in love with a Filipina lass and gifted her with extravagant jewels; in the middle part of the 20th century, a dashing mestizo who became our president transported a well-known Filipina entertainer to serenade his lady love; in the ‘30s the most beloved American general carried on a torrid  and secret love affair with a Filipina movie actress. Who says history is boring?

A personal story on how a Filipino American came to understand and appreciate her Filipino roots is told by Carlene Bonnivier in her heartwarming essay, "Adobo." 

Jumping forward to the present, Anthony Maddela features Filipino American David Lat, a lawyer/blogger/writer whose recently released first novel, Supreme Ambitions, has been getting raves in both legal and popular circles. The book integrates American justice issues with Filipino culture, and the combination is a heady brew that's both entertaining and eye-opening.

On the lighter side of the present, world traveler Rey de la Cruz introduces the Filipinos he met in Jamaica in our Pinoyspotting feature for this month. For those of you who meet kababayans in your journeys and who have documented your encounters in photos, email them to us with a short backgrounder at submissions@positivelyfilipino.com.

Our Video of the Week is a fascinating short documentary on the Wild Bird Photographers of the Philippines and their photos.