The Journey

When I first came to Spain to study I took up TESOL course (Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages) I had virtually no framework in which to fit the experiences I had encountered during my first week in Barcelona. Being an only Asian in the class with black hair was a little strange. My classmates were Americans and British, everyone was English native speakers while I am not. But as I stayed in the city, I discovered that experiences like this was not so unordinary, and that my study here would need to extend beyond attending English lectures and preparing lesson plans. I was going to have to take some lessons in Spanish culture, learn idioma lessons in Castellano and Catalan and well, whatever other knowledge and skills I needed to survive in this foreign land. Little did I expect, though, that these lessons would be so many and varied. Here in Spain, I´ve learned not only about language and culture but about community, about God more and about life.
On the day my plane touched down at Barcelona airport, for example, my base of connections in the country was approximately zero. I posted announcements through the Bibaknets, IGO and Interactive Cordillera websites. I had exchanged emails with a few friends of friends while in the Philippines. (None of whom I had ever met in person) and learned that someone I worked in the radio communications before is a resident here. Other than that, I knew no one. I was going to build a whole new network of friends from ground up.
Soon after my arrival, I attended an orientation seminar put on by the study abroad company that had arranged my study program. I met some other foreign students here but didn´t make lasting connections with them. I spent many of my first days here wandering to unfamiliar streets alone, stopping to stores once in a while to have a look at labels written in Spañol, French, German and Italian but very few in English.
It was a good thing then, that during a week into my adventure, through the help of my temporary host family from Abra but a long time Spanish citizen, I found myself at the Centro Filipino. It is a Filipino community centre connected with the church. I met Sr. Pau Astillero the president of CF and I started asking her if she knows anybody from Cordillera whom I can get in touch with. She promised to find ways to contact few acquaintances she still have.
As months went by, my small group and the larger community of Centro Filipino in Barcelona became dear to me. Inspired by good people it encouraged me to join the Spanish mass choir on Sundays. My commitment din´t limit there but increased. The good influence of the people surrounding me persuaded me to become a part of the Centro Filipino Volunteers. Despite school and workloads I devote my three hours free time on Saturday afternoons teaching English class at the Iskwelang Pinoy. This is an educational program for Filipino children to learn and appreciate their own Filipino culture, especially learning to speak Tagalog and giving importance to English as second language.
It was through people like these that the true meaning of life becomes real to me. I started to understand what it meant for different gifts to work together in harmony and for different ideologies and backgrounds to submit to the more important task at loving and serving God and people together.
The companionship I found here was a welcome change from the relative loneliness. Thanks to the Centro Filipino who helped me be connected to my kakailians from the Igorotlandia here in Spain.

Filipino Community in Barcelona

The existence of Filipino community in Barcelona started around early 70’s with few overseas workers until it grows. It was only during the 90’s when several students come to study for semester and stayed longer when they finally learn to speak Castellano and Catalan. Back in the 1999, two decades have passed; the face of Filipino community is very different since then.
The demographic became a lot more diverse in such a short time. Apart from the overseas workers, language students and different based embassy staff and Philippine national banks started to branch out in the city. Now we have people from all walks of life here in Barcelona. Instead of going back home after their language study, these students further their language study. They went through extensive selection process to be able to enter one of many acknowledge Spanish state universities with limited seats for foreigners. They don´t stop there. Many even pursue their masters degree and face fierce competitive with tens of thousands fresh graduates securing a job.
Those who don´t believe in white collar life style brave themselves as entrepreneurs and put up their own business. It is hard enough setting up your own business; let alone doing it in an ever changing country like Spain. Yet, somehow these hardworking fellows thrive. Their business varies from home based catering service to multi-business engagement.
This diversity is not a barrier for us to stay together in a foreign land. Filipinos are global minded people yet have strong bond with where we come from. We have a deep sense of belonging, and we feel the need to be together in some ways. In Barcelona, there are many existing organizations, religious groups and networking associations for us to gather and share our experience and passion. One particular worth mentioning is an organization called BIBAK. BIBAK Barcelona was newly organized by Cordillerans/Igorots residing in the province of Catalunya.
Through BIBAK, Cordillerans meet regularly ones a month in forms of social events and meetings. In the long run BIBAK aims to link programs with other Filipino associations in Barcelona and further integrate it to the Catalunian community. This hopefully will help creating better relationship between the two countries and act as a sign that Filipinos are not just capable of being noticed but eager to enlighten the international public that Filipinos can do it.