This week’s episode is another guest episode with my partner, Rob talking all about our experience visiting family in his birth place of the Philippines.
I feel like I need to include a bit of a disclaimer here. Our chat is a reflection of our lived experience and observations of being in the Philippines for the past month+, and of Rob’s experience growing up here before migrating to Australia (on his own) in 2015. We’re not experts in all of the topics we’re discussing, nor do we intend to speak on behalf of, or about an entire country based on our experience. I am particularly aware that I’m a guest here and this is not my culture, and I’m also coming from a place of privilege. I’m also aware that some of my views are influenced/ supported by Rob’s lived experience as Filipino born and raised.
But actually, in many ways, I think our chat beautifully reflects some of the messy, beautiful mixed feelings and emotions that migrants have relating to their home country, particularly when they’ve left seeking a different life.
We kick off with a (messy!) history of the Philippines (please note we’re definitely no historians!) to provide some context for our chat and some background as to how we’ve experienced the Philippines, including what we see as the effects of the extensive colonisation that’s occurred here over the years and the adopted (from the Spaniards) religion of Catholicism.
We speak about how we’ve felt during our time here, including our own personal perspectives on what we’ve learnt individually and together, how Rob has felt returning “home”, including some of his reasons for moving to Australia in the first place.
We specifically talk about some of the challenges we’ve experienced in the culture and how we want to balance these things with all of the positive parts of Filipino culture, raising our daughter to be a proud Australian x Filipina.
We also answer some questions people asked us via Instagram including where we’re off to next, how long we’re planning to continue travelling for and if our future plans include the US.
We hope you enjoy this very real, raw and in the moment chat!
* One thing we haven't spoken about in this episode is the current political climate here in the Philippines. As you may know, in May 2022 Bong Bong Marcos, son of the previous President Ferdinand Marcos was elected President of the Philippines. This election result was in many ways quite shocking and at the very least divisive given the history of the family and their impact on the people and the country. If you'd like to find out more about the history of the Marcos family and their rule here from the 1960's - 1980's, I'd highly recommend checking out "The Kingmaker" documentary. This is very recent history, and one which the filipino people rose up to protect themselves and their country less than 40 years ago. Only time will tell what this next iteration of Marcos leadership looks like for the filipino people.
Topics include: culture, history, trauma, family, poverty, feeling safe to speak up, judgement, boundaries, growth, food, Asian culture, Catholicism, migration, energy, environment.
Connect with Rob here:
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rob.ruben/
Email robrubenphotography@gmail.com
Connect with Erin here:
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/erin_hivecollective/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-o-donoghue/
Website www.hivecollective.com.au
Email erin@hivecollective.com.au
