Lily told me that she and Clark have been pondering in disbelief how it is that they are half Philipino and they have never been to the Philippines. Truly this trip was long overdue, and it has been a powerful experience for Lily. Today and the day after (all in this entry due to time zone differences), Lily learned a lot about her father’s native land, including one reason why her dad wasn’t more intentional about exposing her and Clark to the Phillipines and Philipino culture. All that to be found in this entry.
One theme that is running throughout the Manila days is the trauma Philipinos have faced in their history and the hardship they continue to face today. They have been colonized and recolonized multiple times over the years, and the Japanese occupation was particularly horrific, as was the bombing by the United States to try to free the Philippines from Japanese control. Life is still not easy in the Philippines for many people as rampant poverty exists. And yet, there is such a beauty in the people, the food, the culture, and the way everyone has moved forward. Art is one of the beautiful expressions of the Philipino people, and Lily and the girls joined family members to go to the Museum of Modern Art early in the day to start things off.
After the modern art museum, everyone went to Jolibee’s and then they went shopping. Lily, Lydia and Mary are all having so much fun being with their relatives!
The next day (still the same day in the US), they went on a tour of Manila. They had an outstanding tour guide! This tour was hugely impactful for Lily. Manila has faced so much destruction over the years, and the buildings were severely bombed by the United States to end the Japanese occupation. Lily told me that Manila used to be called the Paris of Asia because it was such a beautifully stunning city, with outstanding architecture and features. But, after all the city has endured, like the US bombing to end the Japanese occupation, very few pieces of the historic beautiful city are left. And the new city has been built up without reflecting much of the old city. Lily told me that the Philipino approach to the past has been to just move on. I believe this church below is one of the very few old beautiful structures still standing in Manila:
Here are more pictures and videos from their tour:
The tour caused Lily and Clark to both reflect on how the Philipinos have just moved on from the past without overly memorializing, remembering or recreating it. There is a culture of forgetting and moving forward. Lily and Clark realized that is exactly how their dad handled his Philipino past, and a big part of why he did not connect Lily and Clark more to his native country. This was sad to reflect on, but also in a way satisfying. Because Lily and Clark realized that their unrootedness is itself a part of the Philipino culture. Lily and Clark are experiencing authentically what it is like to be Philipino by not being overly connected to the past. I think that thought was a bit comforting to Clark and Lily as they questioned and mourned that their relatives visit the Philipines so much more often and are more connected to the language, land and culture. But Ben’s childhood was so traumatic (burying bodies, abused by parents, ran away from home, saw Philipinos tortured by the Japanese etc) that it seems he just needed to leave it behind. There is such rich history on Lily’s Philipino side and I’m so glad she could connect with it.
Back in Utah, people played the Switch a lot. Even Ken played!
Mostly Ammon and Clarissa played with Jere joining a lot while I worked and [mostly] blogged.
Then we all had an awesome outing. Suzanne took us to all see the window decorations inside the Grand America.
After seeing the displays, we had a delicious dinner at Via 313. Then dad, Suzanne, Ammon, Clarissa and I spent some time at the mall and we came home.
Jere and I played lots of Nintendo with Ammon and Clarissa (Suzanne joined a game too!) and I put the kids to bed way too late. Then I played Mario Kart with Jere and went to bed myself.
It was another good day!