People and Places Miriam 1 Where are you from?

Written by Mark White on February 10, 2007 - 14 Comments Download audio file miria1!m"#$

at %kti& 'hil Mark( Where are you from Miriam) Miriam( * am from the 'hili""ines! * was born in Manila, a+tually! Mark( ,i-ht! Miriam( . in 1/01 Mark( 1our "arents are from Manila also) Miriam( 2o, my mother and father, a+tually3 they +ome from two different "la+es! My mother +omes from Cebu! Cebu island. Mark( 4h-huh Miriam( . some &illa-e! % small town +alled Carmen! Mark( Mm-hm Miriam( and my father +omes from 5isayan . er also in the 5isayas . the name is ah 6a 'istades . ah * for-ot . 6aitan) anyway somewhere in the 5isayas Mark( .the 5isayas is. Miriam( and then they met in 7asilan, whi+h is . where is 7asilan) . aahh . somewhere near 8amboan-a . in the southern 'hili""ines . Mark( . in Mindanao) Miriam( in Mindanao, yeah, somewhere there .yeah . they met . my mother was workin- in a tradin- +om"any . she was mana-in- a store . my father ran away from home at a-e se&enteen and was the dri&er for this tradin- +om"any! lau-hs$ My mother is a+tually fifteen years older than my father! Mark: Wow! Miriam( 1eah, so when they met.

Mark( 9hat is unusual in %sia! Miriam( 5ery &ery unusual and my mother already had fi&e +hildren before . before she met my father and * do not why my father de+ided to marry her . and so they de+ided to -o to Manila! Mark( Maybe he lo&ed her! Maybe he lo&ed her) Miriam( 1eah! My father is an honorable man! * really res"e+t him! :e is a -reat "erson! 1ou know! :e is a &ery humble man! 1ou know! :e doesn;t really aah he does not ha&e a uni&ersity de-ree! :e hasn;t really finished +olle-e! Mark( <o what! Miriam( 7ut he is a =reat man . you know the fa+t that he married my mother already when she had fi&e +hildren with another man. Mark( Mm Miriam( Who didn;t su""ort her +hildren . her +hildren were left with her mother ba+k in Cebu . Mark( ,i-ht! Miriam( <o she had to -o and work somewhere to su""ort . Mark( :er +hildren! Miriam( . her +hildren . to send money to send ba+k! Mark( and how many +hildren did your mother and father ha&e . to-ether) Miriam( Four! Mark( <o she had nine alto-ether) Miriam( 1eah! Mark( ,i-ht! Miriam( 9hey went to Manila from 7asilan be+ause * think my father had a brother there, who was established already, * think! 9hat was why they went there! %nd he >ust did odd >obs mostly dri&in- ?ee"neys and my mother was a homemaker but Manila was &ery sim"le then so it was >ust to make money * su""ose so * was se+ond! * am se+ond! 9he se+ond +hild out of four +hildren! Mark( Mm-hm! <o you were in Manila! 1ou were born in Manila) Miriam( * was born in Manila! Mark( %nd then how lon- did you stay in Manila) Miriam( 4ntil * was se&en! 1eah! %nd then we mo&ed to Da&ao be+ause my father -ot &ery si+k and sin+e, you know, he is a lot youn-er than my mother! :is older sister, was, * -uess the ri+hest amon- the siblin-s, amon- the how many * do not know . fi&e or si@ +hildren in my fathers family, de+ided to +ome to Manila to "i+k him u" and so my mother was left with four kids and no breadwinner! <he is still bitter about that until now! <he +annot -et o&er the fa+t that my father had >ust left. Mark( WowA Miriam( .and she was >ust left behind with four kids and she had to, you know, fend for herself and find a >ob to su""ort! <o then we de+ided to -o to Mindanao be+ause she has a brother there Mark( 4h-huh! Miriam( who was one of the "ioneers in Mindanao, a+tually, who had a lot of land and so that is how we ended u" in Mindanao!* was se&en when * went to Da&ao! Mark( M-hm! Miriam( My "arents bou-ht land!

Mark( %nd your "arents are still ali&e now) Miriam( 1es! Mark( 9hey are both in Da&ao, now) Miriam( 9hey are both in Da&ao! My mother is ei-hty-three! My father is si@ty. so !! fifteen years youn-er! 9hat makes him si@ty-se&en, ri-ht) 2o! <i@ty-ei-ht! *t was >ust his birthday this month! Mark( Bk! WowA =reatA