Getting Started

so i want to get started with my cultural stuff. i'm rereading noli me tangere by jose rizal. i have a small biography book that i've abused with annotations about andres bonifacio. i have two other books by francisco sionil jose that i still have yet to read. i'm planning on ordering el filibusterismo at barnes & noble or borders. i lived at the philippines for 2 weeks. i have a basic idea on PI's history, culture and politics... it's obvious that information is easy to attain if one desires to. but... even with all the stuff i've gathered..

i feel like i'm getting no where.

i feel like i'm spreading myself out too thin. and so i figured it's about time i really start to focus on what i want to present and how i will present them. and in what order... so i have to ask myself...

what do i want to talk about? but must importantly...to whom?

i want to talk about things... that i want to know and what people can relate to... people who are just as ignorant as i am when it comes to knowing my culture. filipino americans. americanized filipinos. americans that aren't fully aware of what being filipino is. we're at a period of an identity crisis right now. atleast... for me. i feel like i'm living as a filipino, but not exactly sure as to why i live the way i do.

who am i, really?
why am i here?
what's my purpose?

i mean, not individually or spiritually wise - i can read self-help books or go to church for that... but as a filipina. how did i get here? how did the past, not just my personal history but my nation's history, drive us so that i as a filipina could end up here in the US?

it helps to know that my organization is specifically for "preserving and increasing the awareness of filipino and filipino cultures." so that in this whole self-seeking journey of mine (haha.. self-seeking...), i'm hoping that it doesn't just help me, but those who i will be in the organization with as well.

so with my audience in mind... what do i want to talk about?

i think i want... my cultural presentations be in the order of say... a journey. a story. a quest for finding one self as a filipina, filipino, mestizo or someone who wants to learn more about the filipino culture.

Freytag's Pyramid
of a dramatic structure storyline
Thank you Wikipedia :]

so in any journey, we're initially naive. so what's the first thing we'd want to figure out?

What is Andres Bonifacio Samahan?

okay i think i'll keep the rest of my thoughts private for now :]