Review: Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me by Lorina Mapa

I love reading graphic novels, almost as much as I love reading memoirs, but putting them together is even better. Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me by Lorina Mapa is a graphic memoir about Lorina Mapa's experiences growing up in the 1980s during the People Power Revolution in the Philippines.

It was absolutely fascinating, and done so well. Mapa's starting point for her story is her father's death and her trip back to the Philippines for his funeral. While she tells the story of the aftermath of her father's death, she interweaves flashbacks of her time growing up. I sometimes find that hopping back and forth in time gets confusing, but Mapa does it flawlessly. The present day story line and the childhood story line perfectly transition into each other, in such a way that gives the other story line even more meaning and depth.

I also loved learning more about the People Power Revolution from the perspective of people directly involved. This is why I love memoirs - reading about events from the point of view of people who were there makes them come alive and helps me to realize just how the people involved were impacted and how it is meaningful to them. Mapa's own personal struggles and questioning of big life questions like culture, poverty and family made me think about how complicated history really is. This is my favourite way to learn about history: through the people that lived it.

Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me is a fascinating, well put together story that is narrated by a woman whose insight and questioning of her world makes this book an enjoyable and eye-opening read.

Check it out on:
Goodreads
Amazon.com
Amazon.ca

5 Things I Found Weird Upon Returning to Canada

A few months ago, I stood on Canadian soil again for the first time in 10 months. Those 10 months I spent in the Philippines, working at international school (if you don’t know that already). It was really good to be home, but it was definitely a switch!

 

It was a lot less of a culture shock than I expected, but that makes sense since I only spent 10 months of my life so far in the Philippines and 18 years in Canada. Still, there were a few little things that threw me (and still kind of do). I thought I’d share those things with you, and in doing so give you a glimpse into little bits of my life in the Philippines.

 

Things I thought were weird when I got home:


1.    Hearing Canadian accents.

My first entry into Canada was in Vancouver before we were to catch our connecting flight home, and there was a woman volunteer guiding us in the right direction, and the last thing I expected to come out of her mouth was a Canadian accent, but it was there! I mean, it makes no sense that I would think that, because I was in Canada but...

...the Philippines is on the other side of the world from North America, so it isn’t a popular tropical vacation destination for North Americans. Why fly for 24 hours when you can get to Cuba in four? Also, Americans are everywhere because there are so many of them, and there are not very many Canadians. Basically, if you see a white person (which is rare enough), they are American unless proven otherwise by their accent or other distinguishing characteristics.

In short, I was not used to hearing Canadian accents, so it surprised me when I did hear them! (Also, when I see people wearing Canada shirts, I still think in my head excitedly, They’re wearing a Canada shirt!! And then I remember that I’m actually currently IN Canada and it makes sense and I do not need to bond with them in my head over being from the same country and finding each other on the other side of the world).

I wore my Canada shirt climbing Mt Pinatubo... and met two Canadians as a result! Yay.

2.    A significant decrease in outdoor activity after 9 PM.

It was so weird to see stores closed and only a few people milling about on the streets once it got dark. In downtown Manila, there are ALWAYS people around and up and about, and always a lot of people, too. Seriously, you could get caught in the middle of a traffic jam at 4 AM. I guess that’s what happens in a city of around 16 million. It was still weird when I got home that the city actually quieted down and activity actually decreased at night.

3.    The weather!!!

This is probably the biggest one. In Manila, the temperature stays the same every day, and all day, only dropping a couple of degrees once the sun goes down. Once I got home, I kept forgetting that the temperature increases significantly throughout the day and decreases significantly into the evening.

In Manila, I would wake up, decide what to wear by how hot I was feeling at that moment, and be fine (albeit hot but that’s pretty much inevitable) for the rest of the day. Here, I have to think of how it might get warm later and layer and decide whether to suffer being cold or hot and remember to bring a sweater if I’m going to be somewhere after the sun goes down... the weather in the Philippines may be hot and humid, but at least it’s uncomplicated!

4.    Toilet paper in public washrooms.

There is no toilet paper in any public washroom in the Philippines, and sometimes even no toilet seat. Back home now, I keep forgetting that, and when I’m on the way to a public washroom I think in the back of my mind, Do I have Kleenex in my purse? And then realize that I don’t need it! There will be toilet paper in the stall! To be honest now that I’ve thought about it (and done it for a year), it’s not really that big of a deal to carry Kleenex in your purse and not have toilet paper in stalls. But it is a very nice luxury for North America to provide, that’s for sure.

5.    The weight of Canadian coins also threw me for a while, because it’s a lot lighter than the huge Philippine pesos and other coins.

 

So, these were a few things that threw me upon returning to Canada, but for the most part everything was actually completely normal and familiar – which was probably the weirdest thing of all!

Have you ever experienced culture shock in your own country?

What's Up WORLD

I have been absent from the blog since... well, it's been a few months (oops). But a lot has happened since April so I thought I would update you. Actually I just saw a few "What's Up Wednesday" posts so I thought I'd do it in that sort of style, although it isn't Wednesday anymore.

WHAT'S UP WITH MY LIFE

100 Islands, Philippines. Yup, I went there. And...got sunburnt.

I'm home! If you didn't know, I spent this past year in the Philippines, doing a lot of cool stuff. But mostly doing stuff like working at an international school in the elementary library and being the main playground supervisor which means sweating BUCKETS everyday because the temperature rarely goes below 30 degrees Celsius. (Seriously, the one week of the year when it gets down to 26 C people start wearing toques!!) If you're interested I could talk a bit more about my experience there, but for now I'll stick with reading and writing unless you really really want to know. :) So, yeah I'm back in Canada and gearing up for starting university in the fall!

WHAT I'M READING

I just finished FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK by Melina Marchetta and WHYYY did I not read it earlier?? I actually tried to read it a while ago because I absolutely ADORE Melina Marchetta, but I didn't feel like reading fantasy. Finally I sat down and buckled up to read it and I'm soo glad I did because Melina Marchetta did NOT disappoint. FINNIKIN is fantasy, but it has so much truth and beautiful story in it and AWESOME characters, which is my favourite thing about MM and the main reason I love her work. Give me a good character and I'm in love. PLEASE go read it because I want everyone to know how awesome Melina Marchetta is!!

WHAT I'M WRITING

Since I didn't have school work to worry about this year (a very weird thing for me...), I spent quite a bit of my free time writing. So only a couple of days ago I managed to finish my third draft of a book I've been working on for quite a while! Actually, pretty much exactly a year ago I said briefly that I'd finished my second draft. So... it takes me a year to write a draft. But anyway, I'm super pleased with this draft and I feel like I'm more on the right track now than I was with my disgusting first draft and messy second draft. I've now sent it out to a few readers but actually if you're interested I'm on the lookout for more critique partners. :) Here's a terrible one-sentence synopsis... 17-year-old Percy Collins used to be invisible, part of the world of invisible people called Unseens, until he was injected with the legendary antidote to invisibility and for the first time in history, it worked on him, thus making him a very valuable person in the Unseen world. (Trouble ensues). Yeah, I've got to work on that. But anyway, if  you want to read it email me at kazuntai101[at]gmail[dot]com. You can also contact me through twitter, @AlyssaSherlock!

MY GOALS

I feel slightly lost now that I've finished my draft, because my goal for so long has been to finish it! I think I'll take a break from any writing projects for a while, and then maybe try to work on writing a good summary. Which is kind of daunting, to say the least, but also necessary because right now when people ask me what my book is about I say "uh... people... who are... invisible..." (And I'm only trying to annoy them a little bit).

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

Melina Marchetta! Reading Finnikin of the Rock inspired me to work on my book and finish it. It reminded me a lot of my book, just because my favourite part of the book I wrote is the relationships and the growth of my characters throughout. :)

I am also looking for some new music to listen to, so if you have any suggestions please let me know! I'm also wondering what your favourite YouTube artists/musicians are (because then I can just listen to all their songs on YouTube... haha).

Anyway, I've been away for a while. How are you? What are you up to? Have you posted lately on your blog? (I need to catch up on my blog reading...) Let me know!

Some Pictures of the Philippines

I don't know! I don't know what to write about today. So I guess I will just post some pictures of some of the cool things I've gotten to do this year.



In October I went to Tagatay. This is the view of Taal volcano from where we stayed. Unfortunately it was cloudy most of the time.

 


Tagatay

 


In January I had the opportunity to climb Mount Pinatubo. This is on the way to the start of the hike, riding on 4x4s.

 


Mount Pinatubo climbing group! I'm the one in the Canada shirt. :)

 


The inside of the volcano.

 


In February I went to Corregidor island. If you know any history about the US in Asia in WWII, you might know about Corregidor. So much history. I love it. And so beautiful.

 


We camped on the beach under the stars at Corregidor. This is what I saw when I woke up.

 


The view of our campsite from way up on Malinta hill on Corregidor island.

 


The view of Corregidor from the lighthouse.

 I think climbing Mount Pinatubo and going to Corregidor for a weekend are my two favourite things I've done here in the Philippines so far. This is only a small picture of the Philippines, though. It certainly doesn't always seem so beautiful, especially when you're living in Manila with so much pollution and poverty.

If you're ever on this side of the world, though, I'd definitely encourage you to visit. :)

The Formula for Inspiration

A few days ago we were coming home from somewhere, driving along this road that runs right next to a large valley. Most of what I could see on this drive were trees, but I got a five-second glimpse of the roofs of a village of squatter homes. I only saw about fifty makeshift roofs, but I know that the squatter area there fills that valley. (Squatters are really, really poor Filipinos who make their homes anywhere they can, with anything they can because they can't afford to do anything else).

After that five-second glimpse of that squatter area, my thoughts wandered. I thought about what it might be like to live like that, and how I can never ever fully comprehend it, and other things as well. I don't know why, but for some reason that overwhelming urge to create something meaningful overcame me at that moment.

That afternoon after I got home, I sat down and wrote for about two hours. Somehow, for some indeterminable reason, that glimpse of those squatter homes inspired me to write.

I feel like I talk a lot about inspiration, but I think I do that because it's always different. There is no formula for inspiration, and I think it's sometimes easy to forget that. I know that I've definitely read posts about how to get inspiration, or people have inspiration-themed prompts. "Music inspiration for you", "want inspiration? go for a walk outside", etcetera.

But really, inspiration comes, at least for me, in the most unexpected moments, through the most unexpected circumstances and glimpses of images. I don't have a formula for what inspires me, and I never will, no matter how much I might analyze the things that have inspired me and motivated me to write in the past.

What random things have inspired you?

You Don't Have to Be Fearless to Do Scary Things

A few weeks ago over Christmas holidays I went for a hike to a waterfall with a group of about 20 other people. Some were in runners (like me), but most were in flip-flops.

The hike was fairly treacherous. There wasn't a nice gravel trail. We basically had to climb over rocks the entire time, and since it had rained the day before, the rocks were slippery. There was one part of the hike that was straight climbing up the side of a cliff. Then, once at the top, you had to walk on a ledge that was barely wide enough for your own foot. My heart was definitely pounding for the entire hike, in anticipation that I would slip and kill myself.

I figured I'd rather look stupid and be alive than the opposite, so I did a lot of crouching and bum-scooting on that hike. While I was bum-scooting my way along the path, the high school boys and tough hikers were way ahead, nimbly climbing over all the slippery rocks like monkeys.

There was one couple on the hike that I had heard lots about, mostly about how daring and adventurous they were. From what I'd heard, they loved to take risks and travel, and they had just backpacked around Indonesia for a month before visiting the Philippines for Christmas. Based on the things I'd heard about them, my perception of them was that they were tough, crazy backpackers who weren't afraid of anything.

Well, I was wrong. Once we'd arrived at the waterfall everyone stripped down to their bathing suits and jumped into the cool fresh water of the waterfall. The 20 of us were swimming or wading in the pool at the base of the waterfall. The girl of this backpacker couple was swimming near me, and all of a sudden she shrieked and held her tanned feet above the water. "Was that a leech?" she shrieked. "There better not be leeches in this water! I hate leeches." She shuddered.

I'm not really sure why, but in that moment I realized that, for one, I once again judged someone wrongly, but mostly that you don't have to be fearless to do scary things.

Sometimes I feel like I want to be at some level of bravery, where I'm not afraid of anything and I'm willing to do anything and everything in the world, no matter the risk. However, I still have tons of fears, whether they be big or just little things. It's definitely the act of overcoming those constant fears that is courageous, I think.

I definitely think this applies to writing. First, I'm too timid to try anything risky with my writing, for fear that it won't go over well with the people who read my work. Then I decide that I'll just wait until I get over this timidity and I'm fearless and have the freedom to write from anything to everything. But then I'm stuck in a rut, because I will never be fearless. I will always have doubts and hesitations about my writing. I just have to try to overcome those fears daily. I have to daily break out of my comfort zone, in life, but also in writing. I have definitely seen evidence that if you take risks and be unique, you or your writing is loved the more for it.

Maybe I'm afraid of leeches, but I can still backpack all over Indonesia...

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." -Meg Cabot

How to Make It Feel Like It's Canada Outside When It's Not

For me, winter usually means 6 months of cold and snow and wearing long pants. I am used to white Christmases, toboganning on Christmas break, layering, frozen eyelashes, bundling up, being able to see your breath, and walking through snowdrifts.

Winter in Canada

 

Well. I am currently living in the Philippines (if you didn't know that already go here to get the scoop). It is 30 degrees Celsius pretty much every day, and stinking humid all the time. I've worn jeans once since I got here (and came to the conclusion that that was a mistake), and I almost never wear sweaters or socks.

Yet I've figured out a few ways that I can still have little tastes of Canadian winter, even though I'm in a tropical country. And if you follow the suggestions below, you can experience some Canadian winter too. Just... be prepared to use your imagination. ;)

Winter in the Philippines

 

1. Go running in the 30 degree heat and humidity. Once you've started to sweat a bit, just imagine that you've been tobogganing for a few hours and have worked up a sweat climbing up the toboggan hill so many times, and now you're at the point when your three layers and snowsuit feels kind of stifling. You're just going to have to use your imagination on the frozen nose and fingertips, though.

2. Go inside your apartment. Shut and cover every door and window so you can't see outside. Turn on all the Christmas lights, and crank up the air conditioning (or "aircon" as it's called here). Make some hot chocolate, and then cuddle up with a good book. Try to ignore the fact that you are wearing shorts and a tank top.

3. Stick your head in the freezer. Ignore the smell of frozen meats, and just bask in the numbness in your nose and the frost on your eyelashes.

4. Get some white paper. Cut out some circles from the paper. Then fold the circles in half, and then half again. Cut shapes all the way around the outside. Unfold, and you have snowflakes! It's even more like snow if you count all the tiny little white scraps all over the floor from the shapes you cut out.

5. Get some marshmallows somehow. Stick three together with a toothpick. Decorate with raisins. You made a snowman!

Yeah... not really comparable to a real Canadian winter, but you've just got to make do with what you have I guess. :) What's winter like for you where you are? 

News: Going to the Philippines!

Hi!

About a month ago I briefly mentioned that I graduated, but that was all I really said on the topic. Of course the main question that seems to go hand-in-hand with graduation is the dreaded "What are you doing next year?" And, yeah, I've kind of failed to mention what I'm planning to do... that is, until now.

As far as I know you don't really care, but I'm excited so I shall tell you.

So in the US it seems like everyone after high school goes to college right away, and they go away for college. In Canada (or at least where I live), not absolutely everyone goes to university right away or if they do, then they stay in the city or province. (That was your Canadian culture fact of the day).

Anyway! So, I'm not going to university in September... instead I'm going to volunteer at a school in the Philippines from August (yeah, next month) until May of 2013. My aunt and uncle work there and have worked there for a long time and so I'll be living with them. I'm going to be a sort of teacher's assistant in the elementary school. And I'm leaving August 8th! Which is... really soon. I still kind of feel like it isn't real. I bet I'll be on the plane and it still won't feel like I'm going to a country that has a 13 hour time difference from where I live for 8 months.

This announcement is kind of funny, because while my moving to the Philippines affects me and my in real life friends and family, it doesn't affect you. I mean,  to you, I'll still be in the same place - on the internet.

That being said, I don't really know what will happen to my blog when I'm away. I'm assuming I'll be busy but I'm hoping I'll be able to get in at least a few posts about what I'm learning or what life is like there.

So, yeah!