the Earth-bound adventures of the Lost and Found

September 18 and 19, 2005. Had a Basic Orientation Seminar at the University of San Agustin, then a meeting with other cluster members of the Alternative Law Groups in the Visayas. got to do a bit of sightseeing in jaro, videoke and ballroom dancing (this was our meeting break ;-) and eat, eat, eat! didn't bring my own camera so had to borrow a digital one =(

  Text and Photos by Jeneen R. Garcia (everything's kinda crammed, but i tried to cover the whole experience in as little space as possible)   If you think you’ve seen all that Cebu has to offer, look further. About four hours northeast of Cebu City is this province’s most unexplored piece of paradise: the Camotes Group of Islands .   Camotes, with its green hills and rocky cliffs, is clothed with an air of serenity even from a distance. A land bridge hidden by mangroves connects its two biggest islands, Poro and Pacijan. The 158-year old church in Poro, standing amidst a neighborhood of century-old houses, is testimony that these islands have somehow preserved their tranquility despite pressure from the rest of the world to move faster, live louder, build bigger. At the port, the water is so clear that the bottom is visible even by moonlight. But it is in Pacijan Island , in the town of San Francisco , that nature speaks clearest.   The night winds blew fierce ...

a continuation of my Camotes album , this time, people and their local crafts.

WARNING: raw musing! (but no comprehensive updates this time) i wonder if with all the bus and plane and boat rides i take, it's actually the world passing me by and not the other way around. just a quick run-down of the month so far (and to be): 9-10: Boljoon, Cebu 15-17: Workshop in Guadalupe 18-19: Iloilo City, Iloilo 28-29: Quezon City and in between (the times when i HAVE to stay put), the walking and dancing in the rain, and lunching and writing under my old, old acacia tree when i'm feeling stressed out at the office. after all this, bantayan again to continue our research on dynamite fishers. i am constantly in transit as a rebellion against the idea of being bound by four walls and chained to my too-mobile computer day and night (a situation that, if i might say, i've brought upon myself). but after the mad rush to catch the boat or plane to the next destination, what then? i can only go so far. even if i get to go to all the countries in the world, on the other en...

i call these "exercises" because they evoke--nothing more, nothing less. i started writing them out of a strong feeling for an image (or a strong image for a feeling), rather than out of a need to communicate some profound philosophical truth which was how i used to define poetry. so these may not be so "resonant" and "anthologizable", but it's much more liberating =) hopefully, these will evolve into something more significant hehe. the first one i wrote today for our poetry reading on saturday (see my calendar), to be accompanied by a dance (but no music =), so it sounds more like my "traditional" poetry than the others that follow. still needs more revision and thought (the "crafting" stage), so read at your own risk. comments are very welcome =) ========== Sunrise in Boljoon The rains have turned the sea black, the clouds are low on the water. In the distance, a tinge of crimson bruises the sky in places that must be east...

Start:      Sep 27, '05 Location:      NYC my beautiful mama's turning 45 =)

Start:      Sep 24, '05 5:30p Location:      Montebello Hotel, Banilad, Cebu