In 2003 I went to the Philippines on an academic summer exchange program. 30 other Filipino Americans and a Mexican American took part in the 2 month language, culture and history program at the University of the Philippines - Dilman in Quezon City.

I desperately wanted to learn Filipino and also do some self exploration. Our daily schedule consisted of language class, workshops on culture and lectures on history, economy and other subjects of interest.

Another aspect of the exchange program was to complete a research paper and I chose to write about international adoption. This allowed be to do some soul searching about my own adoption and had the surprise of my life.

The Inter Country Adoption Board (ICAB) oversees all Filipino children placed with families internationally. After a couple meetings with the director and socialworkers they arranged to have me to visit the orphanage I lived in for the first 5 years before going to the US.

We met with the director who remembered me once I showed her my Philippines passport. I look back now and realize that I was not necessarily prepared to hear anything about my time at the orphanage. This explains why I allowed them to speak in Filipino. I did record the conversation but will have to find someone to translate it.

One of the questions I did ask was the origin of my name. I believed that my biological chose my name but it turned out that the former director, a missionary from Seattle, WA had a niece named Lorelei and wanted to name the next girl of the orhapange Lorial. I was a little disappointed but realized that some of my unknown past was a fabrication of my own thoughts.

Another question I asked was what they recall about my biological mother. This led into more details about my birth. She told me that I was born during a typhoon, which explains my fascination with thunderstorms - my mom can attest to this. She also said that because of the storm they had to wait three days before they could go outside and pick me up. The roads were not paved back then and my biological mother lived further out from the airforce base. Apparently my biological mother did visit a couple times but afterwards the orphanage never heard from her again.

When I tell people I am adopted one of the questions they ask is if I want to meet my biological mother. As far back as I can remember I have always replied no because of the language barrier but especially because she made her decision and I respect it.

I will always be curious about her and how much I may look like her. If I did meet her I would assure her that my life has been absolutely wonderful. She gave me life and also gave me a chance for a better life.

Below I am pointing out a picture of myself I found along the wall of the orphanage. It was taken the day I left for Manila in September of 1980. They have kept it up all these years, which was pretty amazing. I finally felt a connection to the orphanage and has been memorialized on the board.

Photos of Sagada indigenous people

Ifugao indigenous people

I spoke to the woman with my limited Filipino and learned that the two men are her brothers. They are presumed to be in their late 80's and the one furthest on the right may even be in his 90's. Their date of birth is not known because birth records are not kept by the Ifugao.

I confirmed with our tourguide and he said they can be found sitting out at the former offical look out point to make extra money. It also turned out that the older man has a concave nose because of eating a local hallucinagine plant commonly used.

Rice Terraces - Banaue Philippines

My mom and I went on a 5 day tour along the Cordillera region north of Manila. We arranged the tour through our hotel; had our own tour guide and driver. This may sound pretentious but very common in the Philippines.

The drive to the Rice Terraces took 8 hours so we stopped in a few villages along the way. Our tour guide, Ed was extremely knowledgeable of the area so besides short naps and sight seeing he gave us history lessons of the places of interest.

We drove through the mountains and reached one of the highest elevations of the area. Some of the roadways were not completely paved, which made for some cliff hanging moments.

The mountain terraces have been around for thousands of years and the irrigation system is ideal for rice harvesting. It was once known to be one of the eighth wonders of the world or the 'stairway to heaven.

Rice is no longer the top export of the Philippines and the country is actually importing from places such as Japan but Banaue is still home to Ifugao/Bontoc indigenous people who still live traditional lives without running water or electricty. They are still found harvesting rice.

Sagada - Hanging Coffins

We took a long hike through the forrest lined with pine trees to see famous hanging coffins nestled along the limestone walls. The oldest coffin is thought to be 100 years old and the most recent only a couple decades old.

The elderly expecting to die carve their own coffins otherwise if they are too feeble to do so another relative will take the responsibility.

There are other burial sites in near by caves otherwise some can be found stacked ontop of each other. Unfortunately, because the areas are not regulated some of the coffins have been tampered with - bones taken as souvenirs.

Sagada weekend market

We had a clear view of the market from our motel. People traveled from nearby cities to buy the fresh produce and meats that the Sagada farmers sold. Preparation for the market began as early as 4am. You could hear the women talking as they laid the tarp and arranged the various vegitables.

Hiking up Moltalbon mountain.







View short movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Equ-5CXwe3s

I traveled with eight Fil-Ams and a Mex-Am to the Philippines for a month long immersion trip.

One of women I traveled with was born and raised in Quezon City before she and her mother moved to the U.S. She was an organizer in high school and continued her efforts in NYC. She arranged the majority of the trip and scheduled a number of meetings for us to speak to street vendors, women's rights group, youth organizers and peasant workers.

The Migrante organization in QC coordinated our 5 day visit to the country side of Moltalban in Rizal. Our group was divided into two and stayed with different families.

Five girls and I lodged with the President of the farmers organization. Their shelter was made completely of bamboo and they were gracious enough to offer their sleeping quarters to us. It had to be 5 ft by 8ft because I could barely stretch my legs out completely. We were also sharing the shelter with his new wife and 7 children.