When we first came here in Canada two years ago, I was a little worried that my two kids will have difficulty adjusting to schooling. I could imagine the stress they will face being the new kid in class: no friends, new school, new system, new climate (coming from tropical Philippines), new teacher, girls classmates (coming from an all-boys school), new language (they can speak English but they speak it differently in the Philippines) and most different of all is having classmates with different colors of skin and hair. Even to grown adults this first indifferent experience can be daunting.
Now, Josh, age 13, seemed to have fully settled in and is now getting the hang of living Canadian. Yesterday was his graduation day. He will be grade 9 (high school freshman) this September and it will be a new big challenge for him. I was watching their graduation rites last night and my mind started to wander that after 13 years we finally made it to the first step towards every Canadian parent’s dream of putting their kids to College and University.
Congratulations to Josh and all the Graduates!
Last Friday, June 23, 2006 was the IKEA, Etobicoke, 2006 Moonlight Madness sale and we went there to check some sofa options for our loft. To my surprised I saw Claire, a friend from the Philippines, who recently landed here in Canada with her husband Joel as an immigrant. It really is a small world!
The IKEA sale was celebrated with the appearance of the Toronto Swedish Folkdancers & Singers who entertained the hordes of shoppers with vibrant Swedish traditional folk dances. This is one thing I like about Toronto (actually the Greater Toronto Area) - Canada's center of commerce and culture. The place is such a huge melting pot of immigrants of diverse ethnic groups.
I will write more about Toronto in future post so just stay tuned. In the meantime let me welcome Claire and Joel here in Canada!
Today, June 21st is Summer Solstice and is the longest day of the year. It is the time of the year when one side of the earth is most tilted relevant to the the sun and so we have the most daylight and the least nighttime. It is also the official date of the beginning of Summer.
Do you know that Summer solstice is the time when the rising sun is in perfect alignment with the Stonehenge? This phenomenon is one of the few clues in the mysteries surrounding Stonehenge, and to experience this is one of my pending Top 50 To-Do-List in my lifetime.
The pictures on the left and right were taken at Toronto time 5:00AM and 9:30PM, respectively.
May 26, 2006 - My flight back to Toronto is not until noon and I have the whole morning to spare. I have arranged with Martin (my Guide) to take me to our Lady of Guadalupe shrine. So little I knew of the shrine, the image and the story. In most typical traditional Mexican homes, that I have seen in the movies, I noticed there will always be a replica of the image in the house. It reminds me of the Philippines where most devoted Catholic homes have a Sto. Nino in their homes.
On our way to the shrine, Martin told me the story of Mexico. He reserved the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe until we were there in the shrine.
For those who don’t know the story, here is a short summary as told by Martin:
On the feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1531, when Christianity was just recently introduced by the Spaniards in Mexico, the Blessed Mother appeared to a devoted Catholic Indian named Juan Diego. She asked that a temple be built in the hill of Tepeyac and asked that this request be taken to the Bishop. In humble obedience, Juan Diego took the message to the Bishop but the Bishop refused to believe his story without proof. The Blessed Mother hearing this, asked Juan Diego to go up the hill and pick up a bunch of flowers (Roses) and put it in his tilma (a cloak made from cactus fibre). This will be the proof since Roses didn’t grow in Mexico during that time and the type of Rose can only be found in the province where the Bishop grew up in Spain. Upon his return to see the Bishop again, he opened his tilma and the Roses were revealed. An image of the Blessed Mother also appeared printed on the cloak.
Many scientists cannot believe how the image could have been printed on the tilma. What is more extraordinary is the absence of any pigment or dye in the tilma. According to them when you examine the cloth it is like an image being projected in the cloth. Even more perplexing is the eye, when magnified many times reveals a reflection of an image of a man with open arms - Juan Diego. The picture on the left is a replica image. The picture on top of this post is the actual image in bulletproof casing.
Before the new Basilica was erected in 1976, the image was housed here in the old Basilica. This was also the place where the image was bombed in 1921. The altar was heavily damaged (windows shattered and marble reduced to rubbles). There was a cast iron cross next to the tilma which was twisted out of shape. Miraculously, the image was untouched! Not even its ordinary glass covering. 
Every year, on the 12th of December, an estimated 10 million catholic pilgrims gather here to celebrate the feast of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. Pictured on the left is the new Basilica (left structure) and the old Basilica (center structure). Notice that the old Basilica is leaning. This is because the ground is not so solid since Mexico City was built on a former lake.
Soap operas, also know as “telenovelas” in Latin America and in the Philippines, are very popular in Latin America. Mexico is the biggest producer of them all. While working in my hotel in Mexico one night, and scanning through the channels hoping to chance some NBA playoffs games, I chanced upon a replay of a familiar telenovela Marimar. This soap opera was dubbed in Tagalog and aired in the Philippines in the mid ‘90’s and it was an instant big hit. In fact, it was such a phenomenal success that Thalia, the lead actress, was an instant celebrity in the Philippines. She was even invited in the Malacanang Palace by the then Philippine President Fidel Ramos and was given an informal title of ambassadress of Goodwill from Mexico.
This telenovela must have been a very big hit in Mexico since this replay is even aired just after the primetime show. The picture above is Marimar with Corazon. It is a little different when you watch it in Spanish.
It’s World Cup time again and 32 countries will compete in one of the world’s most popular sport soccer. Soccer (I use the name Soccer to distinguish from Rugby Football and American “Super Bowl” Football) is very popular in Europe and in Latin America and Asia, except in the Philippines (more on this later) and is a reminder to me that 2 more years will be the next Olympic.
I never really followed this sport. The last time I had the slightest obsession to watch this sport was when I was based in Singapore during the last World Cup. I remember I was starting to get the hang of it when I had to go back to the Philippines for a project. When I arrived in the Philippines there’s nothing there about World Cup. Muy silencioso! Not even a TV coverage, nada! I thought to myself, what’s going on here? In Singapore I was working in the German Centre in Jurong and I remember whenever Germany is playing there is beer and TV in the building’s lobby for everybody to enjoy. Even in shopping centers and in supermarkets, people stop what they were doing and will be looking up on those big-screen TVs airing live World cup games. But in the Philippines, you won’t receive that attention unless it’s a basketball game, of course.
Here in Canada, the spirit and rivalries are brought alive by the wide multi cultural representation in the country. This is very evident by the flags they carry in their cars. I have made a collage of these flags, a picture speaks more clearly than words.
This is also the first time the Worldcup is aired in High Definition format. What a night and day difference. The 6:9 widescreen format allows the camera to view a long kick of the ball without the camera panning. You can see the other players just freeze waiting if the kick results to a goal. Wow, for me there is no going back to 4:3. Also, the 1080i or p resolution allows you to see the grass vividly in living color.
Perfect as it might seem, on the one hand, the 3 Tenors will be missed in this 2006 World Cup - especially by me.
I was watching the NBA Finals game 1 between the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks when I saw the new TV ad of Corona (the one with the crescent moon mimicking a lemon) and I remember my recent trip to Mexico City. Perhaps, many will read the commercial to mean that the lemon twist on the lip of the bottle is the most common way to serve and enjoy a Corona. However, for people who have been to Mexico and have heard about the “moon” legends and the origin of the name “Mexico” will think that the commercial is about patronizing a proud-to-be-Mexico product.
I find Mexico City to be not so different from Manila, Philippines, the place where I spent almost half of my life before I moved to Canada. When the company arranged for an airport service to meet me at the Custom’s exit, I already had a hint that this trip will be a challenge, but maybe not as challenging as Shenzen, China since I can speak a little Spanish. Usually, it is the cab ride to your hotel that will give you a hint. If you ask the taxi driver if he accepts your Amex card and the answer is no that is your hint. Second, if the driver is a snob and with an attitude, that confirms your suspicion.
The ride to the hotel exposed some of the unpleasant similarities of Mexico City to Manila – piles of garbage on the side of the road, street vendors abound, old buildings, obvious lack of system, no driving rules, I can go on. But once you are in the business district things get better and the food is nothing but oh so yummy.
Other similarities:
1. Both have strong Spanish influence in culture but Mexico is more Spanish because they obviously speak Spanish.
2. Both Cities’ inhabitants are mostly Catholic.
3. Both are crowded with so many people. Some say Mexico City has a population of around 25 million while Manila is around 18 million. I think that ratio is believable from what I have seen.
4. It is true that Filipinos and Mexicans, in general, are very warm and friendly people but they each have their significant share of crooks in the society. Sadly, safety is an issue in both places. Whatever crime of whatever modus operandi you can find in Manila you can also find that in Mexico City. In fact, I reckon it is much better in Manila. At least in Manila the question is “who among the members of your family have been victimized”. In Mexico City the question is “Who among the members of your family have not been victimized yet”.
Some petty and significant differences:
1. I haven’t seen so many classic Volkswagen Beetle taxis elsewhere in my travels. I may be wrong but I think that is an “only in Mexico” thing. 
2. Mexico’s temperature is more forgiving with its average temperature of 17 celsius compared to 29 c in Manila. This is because Mexico City is more than 7000 feet above sea level in altitude (higher than Baguio in the Philippines) while Manila is basically just above sea level.
3. Things are much, much cheaper in Manila if you factor your exchange rate of Mexican Peso 11 to 1USD compare to Peso 50 to 1USD in the Philippines.
4. If you can’t speak the native language and can speak only English, you will be better off going to Manila where most people can speak English. This is not the case in Mexico where even the official business document I was working on was in Spanish.
Overall, if not for the rising safety concerns, I will definitely feel at home here. Maybe that is why tourists have long picked Cancun and Monterrey for their vacation spots. If ever I get a project here I’ll visit these places. The only problem is these places are too far to drive (what can you expect from a country that is about 1/4 the size of mainland U.S.).
I was only in Mexico City for 5 days and never really had a chance to stroll around. I will write about my visit to Our Lady of Guadalupe in my next post.
The header image was taken last 2001 in Wellington, New Zealand. It was dusk. I was driving home to my apartment in The Terrace after visiting friends near Johnsonville and I happen to see this amazing red sky along the highway. Without thinking, I pulled over on a safe curb, aimed and took the shot. It isn’t the best unedited red sky photo I have seen but the silhouette of the trees and rolling hills came out nice. In fact if you cover the blue sky part with your hand you might think it’s a photo of a forest fire.
Photo taken by a Canon Digital IXUS-300
My work have continuously accord me to live in different countries on a short, medium and long term basis. I have long wanted to create a website to share photos and commentaries to friends around the globe and I thought (and still do) that it is a good and fun idea. That yearning was further exacerbated after the family migrated to Canada, and now, I also have to share with my family and relatives in the Philippines and in the U.S.. A weblog seemed to be a great idea but somehow something always make me delay creating one after thinking about the pain and consequences that goes with the fun and thrill of going online. Well, I finally got over the cold feet stage and decided to try the waters but with hard rules to follow.
Meltingpot is the absolute correct title of this weblog. It is about facts, opinions (let me say that again – facts and opinions), humors, personal observations and impressions relevant to Emigration, Immigration, Cultural diversity & similarity, Food, Travel and Photography.
Have Fun!
William
