Dante R. Santiago: I was already retired from UP LB then and teaching in a college in Manila. Because Ethiopia is in the Bible, my interest was piqued and I applied. Fortunately, I was accepted by the Ethiopians who interviewed me right there and then. I am one of the first Filipinos to come to Ethiopia as a college teacher. [We were told that, during the time of Ferdinand Marcos, Filipino high school teachers were deployed here.] I teach at the graduate and postgraduate levels and only very recently that I was asked to teach an undergraduate course in order to maximize the benefit of my presence here. It is because of our good performance—the first batch of teachers—that the Ethiopian government decided to recruit more Filipino teachers. Every now and then, we have gatherings and enjoy good Filipino food while drinking and singing songs [videoke]. Also, a regular event is dinner in a restaurant when salary day comes. There are two fine restos near the campus which we frequent. When they realize we come from the Philippines, they call us Philippians, mistaking us for the people to whom the apostle Paul wrote a letter [The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians].
Global Pinoy: What is a typical day for you?
Dante R. Santiago: Here in Jimma, Ethiopia, I go to the university campus every day except Saturday and Sunday. The campus is just a 10-minute walk from my house. When I have class, I lecture in the morning and hold laboratory sessions in the afternoon. In most days, I spend my morning there doing e-mails, reading online news [Inquirer, BBC, CNN and Al-Jazeera] and advising students.
In the afternoon, I just stay in my house, reading books. In the evening, I watch videos that I downloaded from the Internet or given by friends. I prefer videos with moral themes.www.ethiopianairlines.com
Igor Lenivtsev: Central Bus Station became a home and social center for refugees and migrant workers from all over the world. I decided to explore this monster maze from inside. And when I say maze – let’s say if I were an architect of this monster I would never mention it in my CV. Filipinos is the largest foreign workers community in Israel. It’s estimated that there are about 100000 Filipinos in Israel, half of them legally and the other half stayed after their permit expired.On the 4th floor of CBS which is the entrance floor (maze) there is an area with all what Filipino needs – Filipino supermarkets, travel agencies, money transfers and so. On weekends [Friday and Saturday] Filipino food market taking place here on Filipino street. So why I call it “street” if it’s indoors?
1. It looks like a street and feels like a street2. Floor is paved with the same kind of tiles like outdoors
3. You can find red post box, which is usually placed outdoors
How to get to Filipono street? Enter from main entrance, turn right and go until you see McDonalds, turn left, skip shopping gallery and then turn right to bus platforms.
Disclaimer – it’s not an actual street, at least not in the conventional way we think when somebody says “street”
If you remember my post about graffiti on the 7th floor of CBS, you may have gotten the impression that you should stay away from CBS. In general I advocate the same.
Medi Nahmiyaz: Marietta with her mother at the shopping area of the Tel Aviv bus station on a Saturday night. Tel Aviv, Israel. October 2006.
