I fell through a flight of stairs….

I went to my dad’s hood in Taywanak where I’m related to everyone on one solid block. It is either you’re my cousin, my uncle, aunt, or my dad’s first cousin, a niece or nephrew- some kind of relation. It my cousin Daniel’s 7th birthday, and here in the Philippines, when someone turns 7 or 18 it turns out to be a huge fiesta where everyone is invited. Everyone knew who I was but I had to be reintroduced to everyone. It was cool taking shots with the drunk uncles…haha… their pretty funny. But I think the most memorable thing of yesterday’s celebration was falling through some stairs…. Such a Diana thing to do!





It was raining the whole day, and there’s a “bahay kubo”- a kind of outdoor tree house made of wood and bamboo. There was loud music playing from the bahay kubo, Avril Levine, Fergie, and other music considered popular out here. So in pursuit of trying to play something more pleasing, I climbed up the stairs as my cousin’s friend was about to go down the stairs, which caused the whole staircase to collapse! Haha… I was more in shock then in pain…and everyone was laughing at both of us. My ankle was bleeding, got a few bruises, but nothing major. Just a little sore today….haha…




So it’s been a little bit over then a week….what have I been up to? Where do I begin?!?! Ummm… the first couple of days were settling in with the fam. Then one day met up with Paolo, another photojournalist out here. We went to a video launch called the “State of the Philippine Penal System.” Apparently, it was this big event where the Chief Justice Renato S. Puno was present, and I had no idea. But it was definitely inspiring. There were 5 short film viewings about the penal system in the P.I. I’m pretty sure that some of you are probably familiar with one of them from youtube, “Dancing for Discipline.” I think the documentary was produced and edited really well… it was quite funny and entertaining. The documentary we watched wasn't from the clip on youtube, but rather the doc was inspired from it.

I’ve also attended some classes at UP Manila. One of them is Filipino History, we’re covering WWII and reading the text, “The Philippines:The Continuing Past,” by Renato and Letizia Constantino. I also attending Developmental Studies in Third World Development- seems like a really interesting class. We watched Mail-Order Wife, a mock-documentary by the same producers of Swingers and Go. Although I didn’t get to finish the whole movie, I highly recommend it. It got me infuriated just thinking about how women are bought and treated…and the stereotypes of women… something to think about.

I’ve also just been connecting with people out here. Fishing for story ideas and organizations I may be interested in working with. I’ve been COMMUTING a lot! The traffic out here is insane! Although, Cavite is only the next city over from Manila, it takes 2 to 2 ½ hours just to get home! The buses are ALWAYS crowded… I don’t mind it too much, cause I’m seeing a lot of the city on foot, but it gets tiring.
Although I’m supposed to be out here for work an all that jazz, I’m kinda just enjoying living… eeee….. I’ll get to work soon….

But I must admit, one of my greatest accomplishments so far is introducing Alicia Keys and art to my cousin… She’s 16, and a first year nursing student. When I first met her in the beginning of the week she said her favorite musical artist was Avril Levine. Her room is full of Avril, her backgroud on her friendster is Avril, and she loved the “girlfriend” song. But after introducing her to Ms. Alicia, she loves her…. And we just bought some paint, and she totally loves it. Got her a sketchbook and everything…But I swear, I’ll get to work soon…

Texting is a part of daily life here...its their first means of communication rather then a telephone call: