I spent my last night in Spain learning about Jose Rizal and where he spent his time in Madrid. Most of what I had learned about Jose Rizal was found in Luis H. Francia's History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos, Sionil F. Jose's Viajero, online resources, and the Philippine Embassy in Madrid. Rizal was studying and pushing for reforms for Las Filipinas towards the end of the 19th century with his fellow Ilustrados. The Ilustrados or "enlightened ones" were products of the Spanish colonization. They were the sons of wealthy mestizo families that were able to move upward in the social ladder. They had the privilege of money to travel and study outside of their occupied motherland. The Ilustrados arrived at a time in Spain where the Spanish government was quite liberal. These intelligent Filipinos were pushing to have equal representation in the Spanish cortes and to better the conditions that their fellow countrymen were facing back home. Jose Rizal was the natural leader of the Ilustrados, and wrote a novel, Noli Me Tangere, which sparked Filipino nationalism and in turn the Philippine Revolution. To understand Jose Rizal, you need to know about Philippine history. Click on the infographic below to get caught up: Now that you're all caught up, you now understand that the Philippines has always been rebelling against its colonizers. Jose Rizal became a Philippine national hero for his work. Below is an infographic highlighting how amazing Jose Rizal was: If you are ever in Madrid and want to know where Jose Rizal spent his time, check out the self-guided walking tour provided by the Philippine Embassy in Madrid: www.philembassymadrid.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Forms/RIZAL'S%20MADRID.pdf I was only able to choose about 7 sites that I thought were the most important due to time constraints. I would have loved to have spent a whole weekend following the steps of Rizal. The experience of being in the same space that he occupied made me feel alive. I planned my route using Google Maps. If you're walking in the summer, make sure to bring water along! El Retiro ParkPlaza de la Independencia, 7 Rizal's favorite park in Madrid. Anteneo de MadridCalle del Prado, 21 Anteneo de Madrid is an exclusive club for men where Rizal studied English and enjoyed theatrical presentations and literary readings. La SolidaridadCalle de Atocha, 43 Former office of the newspaper, La Solidaridad, which Rizal has written for. It's editor-in-chief was also a fellow Ilustrado, Marcel H. Pilar. The newspaper pushed for reforms in Las Filipinas. Viva MadridCalle de Manuel Fernández y González, 7 This restaurant was a favorite hangout popular with Rizal and his Filipino community. Gran Hotel InglesCalle de Echegaray, 8 Rizal was invited to toast to fellow Filipinos, Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo for winning the gold and silver medals, respectively, in 1884, Madrid Exposition's fine arts competition. The hotel was formerly named Hotel Ingles. ResidenceCalle de Pizarro, 15 This was the residence at which Rizal wrote his famous novel, Noli Me Tangere. Jose Rizal MonumentCalle Santander, 1
A statue of Jose Rizal stands in Madrid near Avenida de Filipinas. The statue was built in 1996 and is a replica of the Rizal monument at the Luneta in Manila. The original monument was designed by a Swiss sculptor, Richard Kissling.
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It's my last night in Spain and after a lengthy walk I decided that Filipino food was the only food I wanted for dinner. I searched the internet for the best Filipino food in Madrid. The only one that was open and had the most recent reviews was KA-Boodle Restaurant.
My fellow Pinay, the one and only other Filipino on the study abroad program, accompanied me so that we can get a taste of home. We walked into a restaurant filled with smiling faces and karaoke blasting in the background. It was evident that these were other Filipinos trying to find a piece of home while living abroad in Spain. The restaurant was packed and the only available table was small enough to fit two people. Again, it was fate. We sat down and ordered our last meal in Spain. The last weekend in Spain was spent in Madrid. The weekend was spent at the Palacio Real, Reina Sofia, and Prado Museum. There were mentions of the former colony at the Palacio Real, where a painted ceiling pays homage to Spain's former colonies. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any pictures because only certain rooms were allowed to be photographed. Still, it was nice to see that the contributions of the Philippines were not forgotten. Palacio RealReina Sofia MuseumPrado MuseumIt has been said that the title for Dr. Jose Rizal's novel, Noli Me Tangere, was inspired by Correggio's work of the same name.
While in Valencia, I had to find out if Filipino food existed. Luckily, a small local bar and grill, called El Garatje existed thanks to scouring the TripAdvisor site. They specialize in Filipino and Spanish tapas and serve a wide selection of local craft beers and wine. The restaurant had a cool vibe of retro punk and was garage themed (duh, it's called El Garatje). There were scatterings of Filipino items inside, such as a toy jeepney truck, and a Filipino tuk tuk cart and motorcycle.
The proprietor of El Garatje is a Filipina from Cebu, Philippines, which the staff of El Garatje endearingly call her Nanay, which is a tagalog word that translates to "mother" in English. Speaking to Nanay, I notice a slight British accent in her English. I learned that she used to go to school in Cambridge and taught English before making the switch to be a chef in Valencia. I visited this establishment with another Filipina student, a mestiza to be exact, who was also part of ISU's Valencia program. We happened to meet by chance (or fate), on the bus from Madrid to Valencia. It was as if our ancestors put the only two students with Filipino heritage together. We visited El Garatje together a total of three times during our stay in Valencia. As always, we were met with true Filipino hospitality. The majority of the study abroad program was held in Valencia where we studied in Facultat de Filosofia at the University of Valencia. Valencia is a city on the eastern coast of Spain. It is known for its City of Arts and Sciences, orxata de chufa, and most famous of all, paella. Mercado Central and PaellaI wanted to learn how to cook Paella, so I took a very popular paella cooking class at the Escuela de Arroces y Paella Valenciana for 55 Euros. The class included a trip to the Mercado Central, lunch, good wine, great company, and of course, learning how to cook traditional paella. Contrary to popular belief, traditional paella contains no seafood at all. Traditional paella is made with rabbit, chicken, artichoke hearts (if available), a mixture of legumes, tomato, rice, saffron for color, rosemary, and sweet paprika. Paella needs to be cooked in a shallow but wide pan so that the rice cooks evenly and produces a crispy bottom. If you're ever in Valencia I highly recommend this class! You can purchase to attend a class from TripAdvisor. Host FamilyMy roommate and I met our host family and their four cats when we arrived in Valencia. They are a young couple, around my age, in their 30's, awaiting the arrival of their soon-to-be-born son. I learned that the father has roots in the Basque region of Spain, and that the mother is of Cuban descent. My host family was amazing in every aspect! TransportationEverything in the city is within walking distance, but the hot summers make it a difficult trek. Luckily, Valencia has a metro and bus system. In my opinion, their public transit system was very hard to navigate and required a visit to their office just to get a card to use their system. Driving looked difficult as well. The street signs were small and tucked away on a street corner, or the signs were just barely visible on buildings. I don't think I would ever drive in Spain. I'll stick to the public transportation despite the DMV like process. Exploring the City: Street Art, Food, and FloraI explored my new home for the next month or so. Despite the arid climate, the streets were lined with orange trees, local houses adorned with loquats, jasmine flowers, and lemons, and the streets were always busy with people having a coffee or beer. Graffiti decorated the city walls and the streets were always kept clean. We spent the first few days touring the nearby towns of Madrid, specifically the medieval towns of Avila, Segovia, and Toledo. Our group had two lovely guides, Susana V. and Susana B., who were very knowledgeable about the history of each town. During the tour of Segovia, I learned that King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella had funded the expeditions to the Philippine archipelago and that the islands were named after their great-grandson, King Philip II. The islands were named Las Islas Filipinas by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, a Spanish explorer who sailed from Mexico to the islands to gain a permanent foothold for the Spanish crown against the Portuguese. The islands were on the Line of Demarcation according to the Treaty of Zaragoza in 1529. ÁvilaSegoviaToledoWhen I decided to study abroad in Spain for the summer, I knew that I wanted to learn more about the country that once colonized my motherland for over 300 years. It had been a feeling that had been building up for years. I always thought that I was American through and through. I was born in Los Angeles, California; my father served in the U.S. Navy, and my mother worked as an HR specialist for various tech companies in the California Bay Area. I knew that my parents were immigrants, but I never understood what it meant. It was hard to tell what being an immigrant meant mostly because I grew up in a community that was diverse and full of immigrants. It was the norm to be an immigrant. It was difficult to understand what it really meant to be an immigrant where I grew up.
When my family moved from the Bay Area to Las Vegas, Nevada, I was suddenly one of the only few persons of color at my school. I felt like I stood out. I couldn’t hide my black hair and dark skin against a sea of light hair and fair skin. It's like my Filipino features were suddenly on display. Fortunately, this feeling would subside when I transferred to a new high school in a diverse neighborhood of the city, and would continue into my years in the U.S. Navy. People like me, immigrants, Filipinos were common in the military contrary to how the media portrays us. Serving in the military and being out to sea felt like home. Not until I was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy did I start to feel alienated again. This time I was attending Iowa State University, and was the first time I lived in a place where there was not a large Filipino community. I was feeling myself lose my identity as I wanted to blend in with everyone around me but couldn't. I realized at this point that wanting to be somebody else was unhealthy. I realized that I was suffering from colonial mentality. I wanted to get rid of this mentality by understanding the countries that had colonized my homeland. I needed to step away from the political mess of the U.S. presidency and understand the country that occupied the Philippines for over 300 years. I needed to understand Spain. I needed to know what it is to be a modern-day Filipino-American. |