Oh No It's Stevo!!!!: Sunday, 14 May 2006

12:15 -- I love controversy sometimes, here's some food for thought. This is a negative comment I got on my YouTube video entitled Madridejos Wet Market

washu2002 wrote:

> New Comment Posted to Philippines 2006 -- Madridejos Wet Market
> The comment is:
> White men make me sick. They think they are superior to everyone and that the others are there for their pleasure and entertainment. The videographer told his other white male friend to "put your hand in there, hehehe, put your hand in there." as though there would be no reprimand! And, of course, he is superior to the woman selling her seafood in the market. He doesn't have to ask if it's okay if he puts her on video and blasts it on the internet for anybody to see.

Here's what I wrote in response:

I don't normally reply to these cause it usually does no good. The white friend you're referring to is my filipina wife. The town of Madridejos is the hometown of my wife's family on my mothers side -- the Villacarlos' The mayor of the town is a cousin to my mother in law. Last year they asked me to take some photos of the old Kota Fort so that they could help promote the area for tourism. They took some of my photos and made postcards to help raise money and awareness for the area they are trying to promote. My mother-in-law is spending her retirement running a school so that kids of poor fishermen and farmers can have an opportunity to make something better of themselves. Last year I did a video on the school to try to raise awareness and maybe help raise funds for scholarships so that some of the students can go on to college, and thus make more money to bring home to their families. You can see that video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3QVWCbVA3c Every year my mother in law attends conferences hosted by the Philippine government about conservation, more specifically, fishing conservation, so that she could take that knowledge and information back to the fishermen of the town to try to avoid an environmental/economic catastrophe. Now, when I visit, I try not to assume anything and I try to remain humble. I guess I could be a good Kano tourist and just go to the bars in Manila or the beaches at Boracay where I belong, but you know, my wife needs to see her family, and I go along and enjoy the ride. Yeah, sure, there are cultural differences, and to my American eyes, there are many things I might find humourous. I hope I do not offend if I see things that might make me giggle sometimes, like 13 people riding on a tricycle. But hey, didn't I see "overloaded" t-shirts being sold everywhere? Obviously I'm not the only one who see's a little humour in some of the local habits. Lemme say this, that snail is f'n huge by anybodies standard. I also have to say, my wife and I live in the midwest. Perhaps you do not or cannot comprehend the fact that there are many people in the world who have never seen an ocean, or seen seafood in it's raw form. We live 1600 miles from the nearest ocean. Can you imagine that? Perhaps you can. I'm not going to assume anything about you except that you are a native of the Philippines. When someone like me gets to talk to people from the Philippines it is a real joy and cultural exchange. They share with me things and ideas that I've never been exposed to, and I get to share with them things that they've maybe only heard of. As far as my "exploitation" of the poor people in the market, unless the law is different in the Philippines that it is here in the states, she is in a public place and is thus fair game. There are people who sometimes object to me videotaping them. Guess what -- you haven't seen them on YouTube and you never will. I also understand that there are many filipino ex-patriots all over the world who would love to have a snapshot of home to not only reminisce about, but to also share with their friends where they are living now. YouTube was gracious enought to put it on their front page, and obviously there is over 100,000 hits on the video that says that people are happy what I've shared, and most of the comments I've recieved back that notion up. I am terribly sorry if I've offended you or have come across as "superior". That was certainly not my intention.

Thanks

Steve Silvestri

20:01 -- Home after doing the mothers day thing with parents. Kim and I stopped by that bread shop at 7th and Kansas in KCK, and I got some sweet bread for mom. We spent the morning doing liveshots at the mothers day run in downtown Olathe. Here are some photos of us courtesy of www.SeeKCRun.com