Euro Filipino Journal: Stories

Euro Pinoys

August 24, 2016 The Mail Man 0

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<span style="font-size: large;">Euro Pinoys</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">By: Dr. Michael Tan</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was reading about a meeting of the leaders of Italy, France and Germany—the European Union’s three largest countries—and their optimism that they will continue to move forward even after Brexit (Britain Exit).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That got me thinking about Filipinos in Europe, and of the Philippines and Europe.  We, and the world, think of the Philippines as very Americanized, forgetting that Europe did influence us as well through more than 300 years of Spanish colonialism.  (A three-year British occupation, mainly of Manila, was almost insignificant in terms of cultural or political influence.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We think of the Spanish influence mainly in terms of language. Although Castillan Spanish was spoken only by a minority even during the Spanish colonial period, many words—in areas ranging from food to philosophy—entered our local languages.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then there’s religion, Roman Catholicism specifically, even if we practice it mixed with pre-Hispanic beliefs and practices.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What we tend to overlook is the Spanish influence on political thought and governance. Some of our laws go back to the Spanish Civil Code of the 19th century.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The 19th century was a time of ferment in Spain and Europe as liberalism rose and spread. Spain had several liberal governments and their reforms in government reached the Philippines, such as expanding the educational system in our islands. Rizal and fellow reformers were inspired by these liberal ideas, at first seeking not independence but representation in the Cortes, the Spanish Parliament.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The 20th century was marked by American colonialism, and, many will say, neocolonialism, and we seemed to lose our awareness of Europe. But in the last 50 years or so we have seen a resurgence of ties with Europe through our overseas Filipinos.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">400,000 Euro Pinoys?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To project how our interactions might shape our future, let’s look at some of the statistics from the 2013 survey of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO). These statistics are important for projecting how the Philippines might develop in the future, not just through remittances but through ideas, world views, lifeways. (The statistics are available online and can be downloaded. Search for Stock Estimate of Overseas Filipinos, Commission on Filipinos Overseas.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Let’s get the big picture first. The CFO has figures for overseas Filipinos in every country in the world, broken down to “permanent,” “temporary” and “irregular.” North America still account for the largest percentage of overseas Filipinos, with some 3.5 million Filipinos in the United States and 721,000 in Canada. Together that’s about 40 percent of all overseas Filipinos. More than 90 percent of the Filipinos in the United States and Canada are there permanently.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Europe, which includes Turkey and Russia in the CFO census, is home to about 866,000 Filipinos, or 8 percent of the total population of overseas Filipinos. About half of them are classified as permanent. Many are married to local residents and, needless to say, have “hyphenated” children—Filipino-British, Filipino-Italian, etc. That would mean more than 400,000 “Euro Pinoys,” if we count only the permanent residents.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The European countries with the largest numbers of Filipinos are Italy (271,946), the United Kingdom (218,126), Greece (61,716), France (48,018), Germany (47,214), Spain (42,804), the Netherlands (21,789), Switzerland (20,910), Cyprus (19,948) and Norway (18,088).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It seems all of the European countries have Filipinos, the three tiniest Filipino communities being in Bosnia and Herzegovina (10), Moldova (9) and Montenegro (7).  The Vatican has 3,490 Filipinos, all temporary and, presumably, mostly Catholic priests and nuns.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The kind of interactions overseas Filipinos have with host countries depends on their type of residence and work. Permanent residents would, of course, be much more absorbed into the mainstream of their adopted country, to the point where they might not even intend to return to the Philippines.  While retaining a sense of being Filipino—for example through food—the Filipino identity will fade, even disappear as early as the second generation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">“Temporary” and “irregular” overseas Filipinos do interact as well with their host cultures, some with hopes that they can become permanent residents and citizens.  As with permanent residents, they will pick up new languages quickly, which facilitates interactions with their hosts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Euro politics</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What I hope we can see in the near future is a research on how “Euro Pinoys”—permanent or temporary—perceive governance and politics in Europe, as well as culture, and how this affects their perceptions of and expectations for the Philippines.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The political systems in Europe are very different from ours, which is practically a duplicate of the American presidential system, complete with electoral circuses. European countries use different parliamentary forms. The French has a hybrid  with a president and prime minister (which President Duterte favors). Italy has a complicated system; it also has a president and prime minister, and allows for an “additional member system” (similar to our partylist), which requires 4 percent of the national vote to earn a seat in parliament.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Political parties in Europe are marked by very real differences that run the spectrum of political philosophies from the extreme right to socialist and communist parties;  and if that’s not enough, there are also powerful Green parties with their platforms based mainly on environmental issues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Some of the parties go back in time, but there are also “upstarts” with new programs, like Podemos (We Can!) in Spain, and other parties reacting to—and blaming—traditional politics for their economic crises.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Living in the Netherlands as a graduate student, I often felt Europe, Western Europe in particular, had reached a “post-State” situation, where government is almost incidental. Politicians are not the powerful VIPs we see here, surrounded by bodyguards and assistants.  In the Netherlands even prime ministers are known to bike, and there was one Scandanivan prime minister who would ride taxis so he could interview the drivers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Western Europeans are also generally more liberal than the Americans (I use the term here to refer to the United States), especially on social issues. The Netherlands is usually stereotyped as the extreme in liberalism, with legalized sex work and marijuana.  Same-sex marriages are legal in 13 European countries, and same-sex civil unions in 12.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Considering the large numbers of Filipinos in Europe, will we see European ideas changing our politics and our social views?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I’ll do a second part to this “Euro Pinoys” column on Friday, with a focus on what we might learn from Europe’s vacillation between narrow nationalism and a broader sense of a European Union.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Source: http://opinion.inquirer.net/96751/euro-pinoys#ixzz4IHktbwbb </span></div>
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Euro Pinoys By: Dr. Michael Tan I was reading about a meeting of the leaders of Italy, France and Germany—the European Union’s thre...

London-based Filipina Nurse Is A Martial Artist Too!

April 16, 2016 Tech Reporter 0

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<span style="font-size: large;">There's more than meets the eye with Filipina nurse, Cielito Seguritan.  With her petite frame, no one would even assume that this lady is a martial artist.  Not only is she into the martial arts, she is also a writer and educator.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Put that together and voila!  You have a writer of a book on the Grand Master of Kali-Eskrima-Arnis, Percival Pableo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Cielito has always wanted to be a journalist.  However, she became a nurse and then realized that nursing expands to so many areas.  Thus, continuous studies brought her to document and publish other discoveries in medicine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Currently, Cielito Seguritan Caneja is a Respiratory Clinical Nurse Specialist at Chelsea Westminster Hospital London United Kingdom.  Her job is also combined as a Clinical Researcher specialising in Asthma, COPD, Medical Service Development and Interventional Bronchoscopy. She is also an Educator for Medical Students in the Imperial College London and is a speaker/ faculty for numerous Interventional Respiratory Bronchocopy Courses in London United Kingdom and travels extensively in Europe to lecture and teach.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Not content with resting on her Bachelors Degree in Nursing from Philippines, she continued on to receive a Masters Degree in Nursing, Clinical Education in Thames Valley University London UK and Independent Nurse Practise in Kings College University of London UK.  Having completed multiple multi-national researches which are considered world class by FDA and MHRA regulations and standards, Cielito also pursues her passion in Clinical Research and lately focusing on the Law and Ethics of Medical practice. She continues on her PhD in Respiratory studies and had published multiple clinical publications.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Her motivation to continue doing clinical research is to see the great change in the quality of life of her patients.  “To see them smile and come back on their follow up hospital visit feeling better” </span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eskrima-Kali-Arnis book authored by Cielo Caneja y Seguritan</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On her being a martial artist, our Cielito is an Eskrima World Champion and British National Champion, propagating and promoting Filipino Martial Arts.  The book she authored on Kali-Eskrima-Arnis, is now a resource within various libraries such as Bodleaian Library at Oxford University, The National Library of Scotland, The National Library of Wales and Trinity College Dublin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">With all that has been in her journey, Cielito looks back in her humble beginning from a family of farmers in Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines.  As any normal Filipino who brims with nostalgia, Cielo always looks forward to go back home in the panoramic farms at the Cordillera Mountains. </span><br />
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People Stories UK London-based Filipina Nurse Is A Martial Artist Too!

There's more than meets the eye with Filipina nurse, Cielito Seguritan. With her petite frame, no one would even assume that this lad...

Federico Aguilar Alcuaz Finally Gets Conferment As National Artist

April 12, 2016 Tech Reporter 0

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<span style="font-size: large;">Master Artist Federico Aguilar Alcuaz will finally be conferred the National Artist Award on Thursday, April 14, 2016.  President Aquino will formally elevate nine people to the Order of the National Artists (ONA) in the largest conferment ceremonies yet since the awards started in 1972.<br /><br />Alcuaz was conferred the title of National Artist for Visual Arts, Painting, Sculpture and Mixed Media in 2009. However, four nominees for the award other than Alcuaz became embroiled in the 2009 National Artist of the Philippines Controversy, which led the Supreme Court of the Philippines to temporarily issue a status quo order on August 25, 2009, blocking the conferment of the awards on all seven nominees - despite the fact that no objections were ever raised regarding the conferment of the award to Alcuaz and two other nominees.<br /><br />Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (1932-2011) was one of the foremost Filipino modernist visual artists who excelled in virtually all genres—landscape, portrait, still life and abstract—and mediums—oil, acrylic, mixed media, even tapestry.<br /><br />Alcuaz was born on June 6, 1932 in Santa Cruz, Manila. He was the 6th of 11 Children of Mariano Aguilar a Lawyer and a Musician and Encarnacion Alcuaz. He finished early schooling at the Dr. Albert Elementary School and San Beda High School. He studied law at the Ateneo de Manila and finished his degree in 1955. In 1949–1950 he took up painting subjects at the University of the Philippines (UP) School of Fine Arts. In 1955 he went to Madrid with a scholarship at the Academia de San Fernando which he got through the help of the Jesuits from the Ateneo de Manila. In 1956 he chose Barcelona as his career base.He also became a member of the La Punalada Group which counted among its members Tàpies, Cuixart and Tharrats. In the same year he began signing his paintings with Aguilar Alcuaz to distinguish himself from two other Aguilars who are also members of the La Punalada Group. In 1959, he met Ute Schmitz, a woman from Hamburg, Germany, whom he married 3 years later and they had 3 sons: Christian, Andreas and Matthias.<br /><br />A bon vivant and well-traveled, Aguilar maintained studios in Barcelona, Paris and Manila and exhibited extensively internationally and whose work earned him recognition both in the Philippines and abroad.<br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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Art Events News Philippines Stories Travel Travel-PH Federico Aguilar Alcuaz Finally Gets Conferment As National Artist

Master Artist Federico Aguilar Alcuaz will finally be conferred the National Artist Award on Thursday, April 14, 2016. President Aquino w...

A Filipina Dentist Makes It To The British Register Of Dentists

April 11, 2016 Tech Reporter 0

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<span style="font-size: large;">LONDON, England - There are only a handful of Filipino Dentists in the United Kingdom who have graduated and partly practiced their dentistry in the Philippines but are now included in the British Dentist Register.  In the past, dentists who studied overseas and hoped to practice had to take the International Qualifying Examination (IQE).  All that has been changed into the ORE (overseas registration examination).<br /><br />One of the few Filipinos who managed to pass the ORE in the UK and make it to the British Dentist Register is Marilou Villaver-Denosta, DMD.  Marilou is originally from Cebu and prior to her moving to the UK, practiced as a dentist for almost 4 years.<br /><br />Right after passing the board exam way 2001, Marilou volunteered as a community dentist in Mandaue City Health Department. Afterwards she joined Macrohon Orthodontic Centre for 2 years, and then moved to the Bernal Dental Clinic where she became the principal dentist.  Simultaneously she was also asked to become a Reliever Dentist for PAGCOR Mactan located in the Waterfront Hotel Mactan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />When she moved to the UK, she wasn't able to practice her dentistry immediately and could only do associate jobs in the Philippines during her vacations. After a long wait, she said she finally had the guts and money to take the exam to allow her to practice dentistry in the UK. She recently passed it last September 2015 and was registered two months later. She is currently looking for a Dental Foundation Training Post for her to work in the NHS.<br /><br />Dr. Denosta says that basic dental education in the Philippines is on a par with other dental professionals abroad.  At the moment while waiting for her training post, she keeps herself busy revising for the MJDF (Member of the Joint Dental Fellowship) run by the Royal College of Surgeons in England.<br /><br />She envisions that once she has successfully finish my vocational training, she plans to pursue a specialization in Cosmetic Dentistry and open her own Dental Surgery.<br /><br />In her free time I do online revision courses to other ORE candidates so they too can pass the exam (these are candidates of different nationalities).<br /><br />Marilou says, "It's about time that community of Filipino dentists should be acknowledged the Philippines is amongst one of the best producers of dentists in the world and most of those who find themselves abroad are just settled doing assistant/dental nurse jobs thinking that these qualifying exams are so impossible to pass. Actually, it is very doable!".  <br /><br />Dr. Denosta continues, "I wasn't a practicing dentist for 10 years but I took the exam with no formal course in manikin (phantom head) and I passed it!"<br /><br />She says there are a lot of Indian, Pakistani, Nepali dentists who pass because they help one another.  On the other hand, Filipinos hardly know any other Filipino dentists taking the exam until the exam day itself when they see each other at the testing site. <br /><br />In the entire northwest of England Dr. Denosta seems to be the only Filipino dentist allowed to practice  She adds, "Imagine how many Filipinos are here who have a dental degree but would rather work as in other medical disciplines just to get by.  However, I am sure that they would rather work as a dentist if given the chance and encouragement.  I hope my story inspires other dentists to take the exam too so that there would be more Filipino dentists practicing in the United Kingdom".</span><br />
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Stories UK A Filipina Dentist Makes It To The British Register Of Dentists

LONDON, England - There are only a handful of Filipino Dentists in the United Kingdom who have graduated and partly practiced their dentis...

Filipino Physicist Wins in Nuclear Olympics

February 01, 2016 The Mail Man 0

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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Anton
Tanquintic, a young Filipino physicist won honors in the World Nuclear
University (WNU) 2015 Olympiad. Tanquintic came in second place among five
finalists for his presentation on the production of radioisotopes and their
application on food and agriculture. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">A 22-year
cum laude graduate of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering from Ateneo de
Manila University, Tanquintic’s “Nuclear Solutions for Today’s Needs” video of
digitally drawn animation shows the daily application of nuclear energy and the
positive impact of nuclear science that benefits medicine, food production and
industry.   </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Contrary
to conventional belief, nuclear techniques are commonly used today and that
these techniques are safe and beneficial and the fear of the word “nuclear” is
unfounded. It is a “Rebranding” of the word “nuclear” that is needed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Applications
of nuclear techniques such as in medicine where Cobalt-60 is cited wherein it
sterilizes over half of medical supplies in modern hospitals. Industrial
applications such as detection of defects in metal structures is conducted by
using gamma rays were also given as an example. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Pest
control in farming and food production is also a beneficiary of nuclear
techniques wherein it was used to sterilize insects thus making them incapable
of reproducing are utilized in pest control in farmlands.  </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Improved harvests are achieved by use of hereditary changes that employs mutation breeding that is radiation induced. Desirable traits are made by changing the DNA of plants by radiation thus new varieties are made.  </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">The use
of Ultra-Violet (UV) lights in vegetable compartments in refrigerators
lengthens the shelf life of the produce.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">The topic
of the nuclear olympiad for this year is “Nuclear Techniques for Global
Development”. It is an opportunity in showcasing the creativity and knowledge of
the participants with regards to Nuclear Sciences and Applications and their
impact on human lives. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">The Final
round of the Olympiad was held in Vienna, Austria.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">The
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) hosted the event on the margins of
its 59th General Conference.</span></span></div>
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Source: <a href="http://www.techblade.ph/2015/10/filipino-physicist-wins-in-nuclear.html">http://www.techblade.ph/2015/10/filipino-physicist-wins-in-nuclear.html</a><br />
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Continent Events Europe Miscellaneous News Stories Filipino Physicist Wins in Nuclear Olympics

Anton Tanquintic, a young Filipino physicist won honors in the World Nuclear University (WNU) 2015 Olympiad. Tanquintic came in seco...

How Two Non-Dentists Are Reshaping Dental Practice In The Philippines

January 31, 2016 El Talonggo 0

Gadgets Miscellaneous News Philippines Science Stories How Two Non-Dentists Are Reshaping Dental Practice In The Philippines

Medix Founder, Marc Medina (R) and Co-Founder, Lloyd Tronco (L) are reshaping how young dentists will keep records in the future. MANIL...

Filipinos Respected in Spain

May 22, 2013 El Talonggo 0

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<span style="font-size: large;">Spain as a country is very much intertwined with the history and culture of the Philippines, having been its colonial master for almost 4 centuries, until the Philippine Revolution of 1898.  It remains an important destination for Filipinos who may want to see places and monuments associated with the country’s national heroes.  Nowadays a vibrant and active Filipino community lives, works and carries on as new Spanish-Filipinos.<br /><br />Ipinagmamalaki ni Consul General Cookie Feria ng Embajada de Filipinas ang Filipino community sa Espanya.<br /><br />Bukod kasi sa kanilang sipag at tiyaga sa trabaho, marami na rin sa kanila ang unti-unting nag-iisip ng negosyo upang umangat ang katatayuan.<br /><br />Malakas din ang impact nila sa mga Kastila na mataas ang tingin sa kanila at humahanga sa kanilang dalang kultura sa bansang ito.<br /><br />Maging ang matataas na opisyal sa pamahalaan ng Espanya ay mga Pinoy din ang hanap na empleyado kung mga pamilya nila ang pag-uusapan.<br /><br />Dagdag niya, “Their employers also are the movers and shakers here, diba? The mga government officials here in Madrid, their employees are Filipinos… when the (city) President’s nurse stepped down, I got a phone call from the secretary of the President asking me to find a Pinay to take care of her parents. Doesn’t that say something great about us, how Spanish think of FIlipinos…”<br /><br />Tinatayang may mahigit mga 45,000 Pinoy sa buong Espanya at bagama’t marami sa kanila ang nagtatrabaho sa mga bahay-bahay, marami rin ang nagpapatakbo ng mga establishments dito na nagbibigay sa kanila ng idea at experience sa business.<br /><br />Ayon kay Ms Feria – “It is a good indication of Filipinos trying to branch out from being employees to being employers and entrepreneurs, little by little they are growing, it’s a learning experience. You see that the establishments are basically one man operations you know and basically they are actually still catering to the Fil community; it would be nice to see them cater to the local community, the Spanish community, maybe by way of opening up restaurants, maybe other services for instance… A lot of Filipinos here we are the waiters in the restaurants or the cooks — why can’t they be the owners, they are the ones who practically run business… That would be the logical step.”<br /><br />Ayon kay Congen Feria ang importante lang dito ay marunong ka ng wikang Kastila upang makapag-business ka at makapag-take advantage sa mga suportang ibinibigay ng Spanish government sa mga migrante.<br /><br />Ang wikang Kastila ay hindi mahirap para sa mga Pinoy dahil sa ating kasaysayan, at dahil mula high school hanggang kolehiyo ay pinag-aaralan natin ito sa Pilipinas.<br /><br />Sa totoo lang nakatutuwang marinig na maging ang mga kabataang naglalaro ng basketball sa Madrid, pati ang mga manonood, ay Kastila ang usapan.<br /><br />Ang Madrid ay puno rin ng mga bagay-bagay na Pinoy na mabibili halimbawa sa mga antique markets o shops tulad ng paintings, carvings, mga mapa atbp na dala ng mga Kastilang nanggaling sa atin noong unang panahonm nang ang Pilipinas ay nasasakop pa ng Espanya.<br /><br />Mayroon din ditong mga permanent exhibits sa mga museo tungkol sa Pilipinas at ang mayaman nitong kultura.<br /><br />Hindi rin mahirap ma-inspire ang mga Pinoy dito dahil magpunta lang sila sa Avenida de Filipinas, sa metro Islas Filipinas, ay makikita nila doon ang rebulto ni Dr Jose Rizal na replika ng nasa Luneta, at mababasa pa ang kabuuan ng kanyang tulang Mi Ultimo Adios sa Kastila at Filipino, nakaukit sa plakeng bronze.<br /><br />Kinumpirma naman ni Ambassador Joseph Bernardo ang magandang katatayuan ng mga Pinoy sa Espanya.<br /><br />Ayon kay Ambassador Bernardo, “Napakagaling ng community natin dito. Wala tayong problema at iginagalang sila ng mga Kastila at mahal na mahal sila para silang miyembro ng mga pamilya.”<br /><br />Umaasa rin siya na lalong darami ang mga Filipino entrepreneurs sa Espanya pagdating ng araw.<br /><br />by Gene Alcantara</span><br />
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Continent Gene Alcantara Spain Stories Filipinos Respected in Spain

Spain as a country is very much intertwined with the history and culture of the Philippines, having been its colonial master for almost 4 ...

Ghosts at Wrobla

September 30, 2002 El Talonggo 0

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDKeLjizhOlMoFMnryOFkbQNp2VljqKIRZBLLfdciLgZuRuWDqMlk2CLnkvLvN6WvCg78GE84W1n-7sO_EZ2XYV4gfOtmSLlZENHtKOtYLrCEzNrwHcPSZFmAaqtws8w4cVjaDxmVTkd5/s1600/Gda%25C5%2584sk_ulice_Wr%25C3%25B3bla_i_Kurza.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDKeLjizhOlMoFMnryOFkbQNp2VljqKIRZBLLfdciLgZuRuWDqMlk2CLnkvLvN6WvCg78GE84W1n-7sO_EZ2XYV4gfOtmSLlZENHtKOtYLrCEzNrwHcPSZFmAaqtws8w4cVjaDxmVTkd5/s320/Gda%25C5%2584sk_ulice_Wr%25C3%25B3bla_i_Kurza.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from <span class="_r3"><a class="_ZR irc_hol i3724" data-noload="" data-ved="0ahUKEwj04sqvrtLKAhXFGKYKHUnjCc4QjB0IBg" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gda%C5%84sk_ulice_Wr%C3%B3bla_i_Kurza.JPG"><span class="irc_ho" dir="ltr">commons.wikimedia.org</span></a></span><span class="_r3 irc_msc"><a class="_ZR irc_msl i3591" data-i="1" data-noload="" data-ved="0ahUKEwj04sqvrtLKAhXFGKYKHUnjCc4QhxwICA" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbs=simg%3Am00&tbnid=UZg4AJ_Joy5UfM%3A&docid=OR4JzmwsWv8HAM&tbm=isch"><span class="irc_idim"></span></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
— by Gene Alcantara<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Not many people believe in ghosts.  This much I know.  Or perhaps many people would rather deny the possibility of the existence of ghosts for whatever reason, than having to deal with the scary prospect of seeing a spectre.  They would say, “Hmmm, hard to believe.  Are you sure it was not the wind or just your playful imagination?”  Well, if only. <br /><br />As for me, well, I do believe in ghosts.  Or rather I have to believe because I have experience of them first hand.  Right in the very house I lived in on Wrobla Street in Warsaw for the last three and a half years.  If anybody had told me before I came that there was a ghost in the house I would probably have treated the matter with some skepticism (Oh, ok, trepidation, but only a bit!).<br /><br />My first experience of the ghost at Wrobla happened in the first year of my posting when I was on my own, about three years ago.  I was facing the oven about 10-11 pm at night heating up one of those frozen packets of Spanish Paella or Mexican chicken.  Suddenly at the periphery of my left vision I sort of detected a faint movement in the archway leading to the dining room.  Naturally I turned my head to look and when I did, all my hair stood on end.  I felt my scalp tingling as my hair rose of its own accord, and I knew fear.  For there was this white woman peeking at me with a smile, long dark hair flowing down.  My stomach was suddenly filled with ice but although the terrifying vision only lasted perhaps a second, it is permanently imprinted in my memory.  I am normally a brave man but I was scared and had to call my family in London to seek some comfort.<br /><br />That was really the first and last time I had an encounter with the apparition until in April this year, a female friend, Normie Lopez de la Rosa, who transferred from Turkey and had some psychic talent, attempted to treat another friend, Fe Grzybowski, whom she believed was being bewitched.  This she did in the house apparently through some sort of prayer and ceremony.  I did not witness this myself as I was away in Berlin at the time competing in an international public speaking competition.  Somehow the ceremony seemed to have perhaps opened some mystical doorway or triggered some psychic phenomenon because when I got back from Germany I started having strange and scary nightmares.  And my family, who had since joined me in Warsaw, started hearing strange noises at night.  No one would venture down into the basement laundry room alone once dusk fell, for Normie said that this was the place where the ghost seemed to hang around.<br /><br />To deal with the problem once and for all, we called in a priest from the huge Catholic church on Dominikanska Street who came, prayed and blessed all corners of the house.  Unfortunately I don’t think it completely got rid of the ghost but we somehow got reassured that we have involved a man of God.<br /><br />As for me, I tried to deal with the ghost also.  Normie said it was a young woman she saw in our laundry room.  I went down one evening to “talk” to  the ghost and ask that it not bother my family.  But the minute I stepped foot on the basement floor, my head was enclosed by a cold presence and my hair stood on end again.  So I beat a hasty retreat back up the stairs (I mean, I ran back upstairs!).  Since then the family ended up leaving the lights on on the stairs all night, and the radio on on low volume.  We even had a few icons hung around although they seemed never enough.  Somehow I would still be woken up at night by something touching my face or a noise or a bad dream.<br /><br />When my children Giselle and Terence visited from university in May and June, I deliberately did not tell them about the ghost that haunted the house at Wrobla.  But I did not reckon on my youngest daughter Melissa telling them not to enter the first floor bedroom because apparently that was where she once saw her electronic piano playing by itself.  They were skeptical at first, my teenage kids, but when one night Giselle woke up hearing and feeling footsteps in her room in the middle of the night, they became firmly aware of the ghost.<br /><br />Two friends of mine, Dee Calmel and Edyta Ganczarczyk, said perhaps that the ghost was interested in me, liked me, and probably was protecting me and the house somehow.  Carmila, my spouse, tried to be brave about it – she was not about to give me up for a ghost!  For if it was an unfriendly ghost it might have done us or our relationship harm.  It could even be apparently a naughty ghost who moved things around the house because  sometimes we ended up not finding things where we were supposed to have left them.  This last was true because looking back over the years, I have indeed lost or misplaced items of clothing and other small things and I had always suspected my cleaner Pani Grazyna of hiding them!<br /><br />Actually Wrobla was not my first experience of ghosts in Poland.  About two years earlier I went to attend a series of classical and jazz concerts sponsored by the British Council in Zabrze and in Tarnowskie Gory in the southern part of the country.  In winter it was, late in cold November.  The Zabrze event went very well and the following day I travelled to Tarnowskie Gory and looked for my hotel in the town.  It turned out that my hotel was some distance away in a village called Rybna.  It took the taxi about 20 minutes to get to the village across white fields.  The hotel was in fact a 200-year old palace called Palac Na Rybny, a magnificent green building right in the middle of this snow-covered estate with leafless trees around.  My room was a huge apartment on the first floor with impressive original 17th-18th century furniture and a palace room feel to it.  Only I could not sleep a wink, the bedroom felt very strange indeed as if there was somebody there watching me, and I kept hearing all sorts of peculiar sounds.  I thought there was a ghost in the bedroom.  I spent the night with all the lights on watching BBC World.<br /><br />So was I perhaps simply sensitive to supernatural things?  Well possibly.  The presence of a ghost in the house was further confirmed by an independent person.  At the end of July I ran an international health and safety course in Warsaw and hosted dinner at home one night for the participants.  A  Brazilian colleague, Alexander W, who was into yoga, psychic stuff and out-of-body experiences confided in me the following day while having lunch at the Patio Restaurant that he saw two manifestations in the garden of the house at Wrobla.  One was apparently a yellow circle of light/energy  normally associated with Buddhism.  When he asked if I was a Buddhist or have anything to do with Buddhism, I said no but that I did have a collection of amulets and charms from the Philippines, Hong Kong and other places which might emit such yellow light.  The other thing Alexander saw apparently was the ghost of a young woman standing in the backgarden.  He said that he did not feel anything negative about the ghost so it was possibly a friendly one.  In a way I was pleased by the fact that the ghost appeared a friendly one, but I was even more pleased to get confirmation that it was true that my house was host indeed to some supernatural presence, considering the skeptical tones some British colleagues made when they heard my story .<br /><br />My landlord, Jerzy Buczkowski, was sympathetic but adamant that nobody had died in the house.  It was a relatively new house and my predecessor and I were the only tenants.  So perhaps the ghost was of someone who died a long time ago, for who knows what the place was like over the long bloody course of Polish history?<br /><br />Another psychic friend in London, Diana Reed, gave me a smudge wand made of Taos sage, cedar and juniper, all sacred Native American herbs, to smoke the house out one night to clear it of the ghost.  The term ‘smudging’ is supposed to be the practice of cleansing ritual spaces, altars and tools with the smoke for purification and protection.  Well, I had not managed to do it despite repeatedly wanting to, with something else always happening, and so I eventually left the house with it undone at the end of my posting.<br /><br />The house at Wrobla was a lovely six-floor house, and I have many fond memories of living there.  Sharing the house though with a ghost did not really inspire much confidence especially at night when all one wanted and needed to do was to have some sleep.  Perhaps the female ghost was indeed looking after me and protecting the house, but it was not the kind of caring that I really would like to have.  Not in Poland.  Not anywhere else if I could help it.</span><br />
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Written in 30 September 2002. Revised 9 October 2012.
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Continent Gene Alcantara Journal Poland Stories Ghosts at Wrobla

Photo from commons.wikimedia.org — by Gene Alcantara Not many people believe in ghosts. This much I know. Or perhaps many people wou...

Russian Market

August 22, 2001 El Talonggo 0

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFMiMzUWgUX4uamIQNVkshfirGhbpS9TJRdx2EOZa0S0Sf6CEXW_a58k6kiT4q5-s54D7LEB3wmQLluZQ9du8iXWoMFvxYn1DrJxo2m0J5hszsiyShwFV3VYCYgZRCdWBp8CgoZ6Tvzq3h/s1600/6633915161_30f7c78723_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFMiMzUWgUX4uamIQNVkshfirGhbpS9TJRdx2EOZa0S0Sf6CEXW_a58k6kiT4q5-s54D7LEB3wmQLluZQ9du8iXWoMFvxYn1DrJxo2m0J5hszsiyShwFV3VYCYgZRCdWBp8CgoZ6Tvzq3h/s320/6633915161_30f7c78723_z.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">When I tell Polish friends and colleagues that I go regularly to Warsaw’s Russian market, many of them react with horror. They might look at mewith incredulity, perhaps to see if I was joking or whether I had simply gone bananas. Their response would inevitably be, “Oh, it’s a very dangerous place.” “It’s all fake, you know.” “It’s run by the Mafia.” Or some other equally unfavourable phrases. Even some of my British and Irish friends react negatively to the idea of going to the market. But have they actually been there? Many reply, “Never!”<br /><br />I am afraid that they are all missing something. The Russian market, whatever its reputation, is something that needs to be experienced by every visitor to the Polish capital. It is part of the landscape, the tapestry that makes Warsaw one of the liveliest capitals in Central and East Europe. I cannot speak for the Poles who obviously decide what they want to see of the reality of their own city, but for fellow Brits especially I don’t think one can say he or she has lived in Warsaw without seeing its most famous market.<br /><br />There one can find colour, stumble upon drama, catch a whiff of poetry, and obviously grab a good bargain. CDs abound, very good copies of the latest releases which I understand get shipped over from farther east, and are sold for just 10 zloties (that is about GBP 1.50 – try comparing that with prices in Virgin or HMV music stores in the UK!). Sure, you might want simply to look but, just in case, there are swords, medals, gloves, busts of Lenin or Stalin, fox stoles, matrioshka dolls, lacquer boxes, pistols, knives, fur coats, cheap socks, shoes, shirts, clothes, pots and pans, tea urns, coffee grinders, books, African carvings, vegetables, fruits, drivers license, M&S plastic bags, mobile phone cases, CD-Roms, software programmes, games, puppies, shower heads, whisky bottles and more besides. True, there are lots of fakes—one can get his and hers colour-changing Calvin Klein watches for 25 zloties (GBP4) each.<br /><br />Actually the place is not even called Russian Market by the Poles. Its full name is Stadion Dziecieciolecia, since it is an old football stadium. The market sits atop the circumference of the disused stadium, with different sections scattered around the ever-widening base of the circular pyramid. The top is the best bit to head for, with its magnificent view of the Warsaw skyline, as well as the tragic view of the stadium’s decaying bleachers. One particular spot to the right presents an excellent photo shoot, with the Palace of Culture in the background.<br /><br />The market is located on the left hand side just past the Poniatowskiego Most (bridge) which spans the Wisla River. It is walking distance from Centrum, the centre of town, and therefore very accessible; otherwise it is the first tram stop after the river. It is open very early, some old timers claim from 6 am, and then closes around 1-2pm when business dwindles to nothing. There might be Russian traders there but the sellers of CDs sound very Polish. There are black Africans, lots of Orientals (mostly Vietnamese, I believe), and a handful of Asians from the sub-continent.<br /><br />I think the stadium rynek in Warsaw is quite unique. There is not a similar market elsewhere in Poland or indeed in Europe in terms of size and setting. I was for example in the black market in Riga’s Russian district in Latvia recently, and I was very disappointed by it. I wanted to see colour, bustle, and lots of merchandise to choose from. What I saw was gray and rusty brown, a boring rectangle of low small huts arranged in rows with little corridors, but only selling all sorts of metal, electrical, and machinery parts although I did see a child’s bike. Yes, there was a book stall and pirated CDs, porno and computer games, touted by black leather-jacketed young Russians, but somehow it did not have the same pulse, and the odours were overpowering..</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Going to the Russian market requires some planning, of course. You don’t just go there on a whim. You must not dress to kill and you do not go there bedecked with jewelry, or with piles of cash in your pocket. Just bring enough for the odd bargain—if you need more cash then there are bankomats around the corner on Francuszka. One must consciously avoid bringing expensive cameras. You do not want any come on from potential muggers. And of course you cannot bring young children with you, for the Russian market is very crowded indeed on a Sunday morning. How crowded, you ask? Imagine the rush-hour in the Warsaw metro at 8 am during school term.<br /><br />There is an art to going to the Russian market too, or should I say an art to getting a good bargain. A visit to the market is never complete until you emerge with something you successfully haggled over. Basically one does not jump at the first cheap-sounding offer for a chunk of amber with fauna trapped inside for eternity, or for the most dramatic, original looking silver-surrounded ikon you have cast your eyes on. Remember that the stall-holders are experts at spotting dupes, and I understand that there will always be a higher starting price when it’s a foreigner asking. Try bargaining first by cutting the price to half then work your way up slowly—if it is really expensive, you won’t get any more than 10% reduction. But it is worth a try. A few pretend about-turns might just net you a few satisfying extra zloties in savings.<br /><br />Punters can watch operators transform their questionable wares into respectable lines say in handbags or shirts at the flick of a hand. Somehow if a police inspector arrives, everybody knows it and one moment a stall is full of pirated CDs, the next moment it only sells bags or branded t-shirts. My friend Javed Iqbal from Pakistan was equally fascinated by this ‘magic’ trick as well as by my linguistic skill at bargaining in my passable Russian-Polish with a Lithuanian amber-seller who it turned out knew English after all. If you get thirsty watching all this palaver, there are trolleys selling hot drinks, but it is best to avoid the wasp-surrounded mounds of bread.<br /><br />I think the stadium rynek in Warsaw is quite unique. There is not a similar market elsewhere in Poland or indeed in Europe in terms of size and setting. I was for example in the black market in Riga’s Russian district in Latvia recently, and I was very disappointed by it. I wanted to see colour, bustle, and lots of merchandise to choose from. What I saw was gray and rusty brown, a boring rectangle of low small huts arranged in rows with little corridors, but only selling all sorts of metal, electrical, and machinery parts although I did see a child’s bike. Yes, there was a book stall and pirated CDs, porno and computer games, touted by black leather-jacketed young Russians, but somehow it did not have the same pulse, and the odours were overpowering..<br /><br />Going to the Russian market requires some planning, of course. You don’t just go there on a whim. You must not dress to kill and you do not go there bedecked with jewelry, or with piles of cash in your pocket. Just bring enough for the odd bargain—if you need more cash then there arebankomats around the corner on Francuszka. One must consciously avoid bringing expensive cameras. You do not want any come on from potential muggers. And of course you cannot bring young children with you, for the Russian market is very crowded indeed on a Sunday morning. How crowded, you ask? Imagine the rush-hour in the Warsaw metro at 8 am during school term.<br /><br />There is an art to going to the Russian market too, or should I say an art to getting a good bargain. A visit to the market is never complete until you emerge with something you successfully haggled over. Basically one does not jump at the first cheap-sounding offer for a chunk of amber with fauna trapped inside for eternity, or for the most dramatic, original looking silver-surrounded ikon you have cast your eyes on. Remember that the stall-holders are experts at spotting dupes, and I understand that there will always be a higher starting price when it’s a foreigner asking. Try bargaining first by cutting the price to half then work your way up slowly—if it is really expensive, you won’t get any more than 10% reduction. But it is worth a try. A few pretend about-turns might just net you a few satisfying extra zloties in savings.<br /><br />I have heard of people getting really good buys, with one or two gems of a find. One claims to have purchased an antique Russian watch for a song which turned out to be genuine and belonged to some aristocrat before the Russian revolution. When the Inocians (Junix, Annie and Ynaqui) came to visit with my family (Carmila and Melissa) in the summer they bought lots of lacquer boxes. I myself am very proud of a raw amber chunk I bought for 70 zloties (about GBP10) which has a pre-historic mosquito and another tiny insect in it. And sshh.. don’t tell anybody but I have also purchased one or two religious artefacts which appear to have survived the cultural conflagration of 1917 Russia, although my teacher friends at the British Council have always insisted they are of very recent vintage.<br /><br />One can get attached to this Polish manifestation of the free market economy. I have experienced it now in all weathers to savour its various hues and sounds and flavours. I have sloshed there in the snow, got wet in the rain, sweated under the sun, and once almost got blown off the top by howling winds. Whatever the weather, the market remains true to its attraction as a seething cauldron of bargain-hunting humanity, young and old, rivalling the magnificent covered souks of say Bahrain, Istanbul or Rabat, except that nobody wore exotic costumes.<br /><br />Having gotten used to the magnificent setting of the Warsaw market atop the pyramid of the stadium, I know I will never be satisfied by other markets in the same way again. It’s not quite Portobello, I know, but the area is not Notting Hill either. I always show Warsaw’s historical Old Town Square first to visiting relatives and friends, followed by an hour or two in the Russian market and they are always staggered by the experience. I know that it could equally dumbfound my local friends if they would only venture forth. And just wait till I tell them about the Kolo antiques market…<br /><br />[This article was written by the author during his British Council assignment to Warsaw, Poland 1999-2002]</span>
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Continent Gene Alcantara Poland Stories Russian Market

When I tell Polish friends and colleagues that I go regularly to Warsaw’s Russian market, many of them react with horror. They might look at...

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