Myra F.

My Document

Biography copy 1

Projects with Upward Bound:

Summer school this year seems really hard compared to other years that I've been here; and I've been here since summer of 1994. Through all the activities that Upward Bound had, I enjoy participating in the Math and Science Program in Idaho. We did so much learning; not just about school but also but life. I learned to be more independent and about nature, since our advisor was a Native American. We did our learning in class and also in river-rafting, horseback-riding, and camping.

This summer I'm attending school at University of Washington. My classes varies from being fun to being hard. My first class is called Lecture. They discuss the different perspective of our origin; meaning where we came from. One professor thinks we evolved from another organism, maybe from chimpanzee, and the other professor thinks we came from a Divine Origin, meaning a Divine Person made us. Personally, I think that we came from a little of both. I believe in God as well as the scientific explanations. My second period is Math. The class is not very challenging for me because I've already taken the class before during my first year with Upward Bound. My think period class is Technology where we learn about using a computer and different software. My fourth period class is the most exciting class I have; it's Dance Class. Fifth period, I have Language Arts. It's very confusing for me because it's hard for me to follow someone's way of thinking. I like to write about what's on my mind and let everything out. My sixth period class is Discussion where we talk about the things that happened during our Lecture class.

My Favorite Wed Site:

My favorite web site is about Filipino entertainment. It is located at htt://www.europa.com/~jra/opm/weblinks.htm. It has categories like Music Industries, Artists News, and much more. I like looking through it because it reminds me of the Philippines and my friends that are there.

Autobiography:

My parents, Noemi and Gabriel, gave birth to their third and chubby child on August 30, 1978. I was born in the small city of Legaspi located in the southern tip of the largest island of the Philippines called Luzon.

I came here when I was nine years old. My family and I had to do a lot of changing and adapting to the different surroundings. For example, as a child who grew up surrounded with a lot relatives, it a big change since I couldn't go out and play because my parents say that it was too dangerous especially if we don't really know the people around us.

I copied the following information about my background from Encarta.

My Origin

Legaspi city, eastern Philippines, capital of Albay Province, on Luzon Island, a port on Albay Bay. Legaspi is the center of an important abaca-producing area, and abaca fiber, or Manila hemp, and abaca textiles are produced and exported from here. Legaspi is the site of Aquinas University (1948) and Bicol University (1969). Mount Mayon, which erupted without warning in February 1993, rises north of the city. In December 1941, during World War II, Legaspi was the debarkation point for Japanese troops invading Luzon. Population (1990) 121,120.i,

Catholic Church

The term catholic (Greek katholikos, “universal,” from katholou, “in general”) was first used in the letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (about AD 110). The term was later used by Clement of Alexandria in his Stromata (Miscellanies). The technical use of the word seems to have been established by the beginning of the 3rd century. The formal principle of the Catholic church was expressed by the French theologian Vincent of Lérins as follows: “That which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all. This is what is truly and properly catholic.”

Climate

The Philippine Islands are within the Tropics and have a mean annual temperature of about 27º C (about 80º F). In general, interior valleys and leeward sides of islands are warmer than the mean; mountain slopes and peaks and windward sides of islands are cooler than the mean. Rainfall averages about 2030 mm (about 80 in) a year in the lowlands. In most of the Philippine Islands the rainy season occurs during the summer monsoon, from May to November, when the wind blows from the southwest; the dry season occurs during the winter monsoon, from December to April, when the wind blows from the northeast. From June to October the Philippine Islands are sometimes struck by typhoons, which occasionally cause great damage. [1]

Religion

Of the Philippine population, about 84 percent are Roman Catholics, about 4 percent are Muslims, and about 10 percent are Protestants or of other denominations, including the Philippine Independent Church, or Aglipayans, a schismatic group of Roman Catholics founded about 1902 by Gregorio Aglipay, a Filipino priest.

Language

The official language of the Philippines is Filipino, formerly spelled Pilipino, which is based on Tagalog. The country lacks a common language, however, and English is commonly used for educational, governmental, and commercial purposes. Spanish, formerly an official language, is spoken by a dwindling minority of the population. About 80 languages and dialects are spoken in the islands, of which about ten, belonging to the Austronesian language family, are of regional importance. [2]

Languages:

The existence of a number of different languages, dialects, and religious traditions has meant that the Filipinos developed no single national culture. Over many centuries of Philippine history cultural development has been local in nature, enriched by influences from China, Malaysia, Europe, and the United States. Indigenous folk elements find expression in literature and music as well as other cultural forms. Traditional sports include arnis, a kind of fencing with wooden sticks, and sipa, a game much like volleyball, except that the players use their feet rather than their hands and arms. Such sports as cockfighting and boxing are very popular, and American influence is seen in the wide popularity of baseball and basketball.

One of the most notable characteristics of the Filipino society is the tradition of strong family loyalty. This is reflected in the absence of such institutions as retirement homes and orphanages. Since precolonial times Filipino women have held high positions in the society, and today many businesses are managed by women.

Libraries and Museums

In addition to the university libraries, the major libraries of the country are the Manila City Library, the National Library, and the library of the Science and Technology Information Institute, all in Manila. The Lopez Memorial Museum and Library, in Pasay, has collections of paintings by major Filipino artists, as well as the letters and manuscripts of the writer and patriot José Rizal. The Santo Tomás Museum, in Manila, has major archaeological and natural-history collections, illustrating the history of the islands. The National Museum, in Manila, has divisions of anthropology, botany, geology, and zoology, along with art collections and a planetarium. [3]

[4]

Traditional Music of the Philippines

Although much of the Philippines shows the influence of the country's Spanish colonial past, there are some relatively isolated areas where indigenous customs still remain. The Magindanao are a group of Muslims who inhabit the southwestern part of Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines. In addition to vocal music with a limited range, bamboo flutes, and idiophones, the Magindanao also play gonglike instruments that are related to similar instruments in Indonesia and parts of Southeast Asia. This example of instrumental music is a gong ensemble featuringfour gongs and a drum. [5]

This is our main source of transportation.

Footnotes

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