A couple of weeks ago, we chanced upon a Cordillera trade fair at SM Megamall. Furnitures, fabric, and food…some of the best the highlands had to offer was at that event…I could almost smell Baguio as I walked along the different booths at the Megatrade hall.

What made the event special for me was our reunion with the best coffee I ever tasted…Kalinga (kah-ling-gah) Brew. It was back in 2006 when we first attended our Cordillera trade fair. My husband and I just started dating back then, and as new couples go,we discovered that we shared the same passion for coffee. And what cemented that special day was that first sip of Kalinga Brew.

Kalinga Brew, Unoy, Stevia sachets, a wood carving, and a musical instrument called kubing

We met the owner of Kalinga Brew, Ms. Antuza Refalda, back in 2005. She’s an amazing woman. What I remember most about her was her optimism and how easy it was to talk to her. She talked about the coffee farmers back home. About how she struggled to market this product, and how difficult it was to ensure the freshness and quality of the coffee beans…we had a long but happy conversation while we waited for the percolator to be ready. This coffee is nothing like Starbucks. The aroma is much sweeter, and the coffee is rich and really smooth.

After four years, I was really excited to see Ms. Antuza again. Unfortunately, she was in another trade fair and wasn’t with the group in Megamall. I liked the new packaging of the product, and while talking to the staff of Nor-ref food products, we learned about the success of Kalinga Brew at the China Expo last November 2009. I was really happy for her! Another great product Ms. Antuza markets is the Kape de Motit or the Kopi luwak/Civet coffee. I forgot how much she sells the product, but I’ve been meaning to buy one from her.

Aside from the coffee, one thing we were really excited was UNOY. We love champorado or chocolate-flavored rice porridge. But the great thing with this organic rice blend is it doesn’t need any chocolate. A cup of this UNOY rice would give you roughly 15 cups of porridge. It’s magic I tell you!

With the weather getting cold, we look forward to the holidays ala highlands style. Sipping our Kalinga coffee and having unoy for breakfast with some tuyo or dried salted fish.

]]> http://biagkensiak.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/philippines-one-of-best-new-trips-for-2010-by-national-geographic-adventure/ Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:42:18 +0000 Constantine http://biagkensiak.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/philippines-one-of-best-new-trips-for-2010-by-national-geographic-adventure/

In November of this year, National Geographic Adventure have named the Philippines as one among 25 Best New Trips for 2010.

Nat Geo Logo: Best New Trips for 2010

The article reads: Now more than ever, travelers want their dollars to do more—for others, for the planet, for themselves. At least that’s what we found while searching for the best trips of 2010. From wolf-tracking in Slovakia to rafting a forbidden river in Bhutan, here are 25 brand-new adventures, all of them just right for right now. [Source]

The other destinations include: Bhutan, Bolivia, Bostwana, Canada [British Columbia & Manitoba], Chile & Argentina, Costa Rica, France, Iceland, Ireland, Kenya, Laos, Madagascar, Montserrat, Nepal, New Zealand, Peru, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania & Kenya, U.S.A [California, Colorado, Idaho & Montana.

Nat Geo Adventure further comments though: The Philippines has a PR problem. While it harbors as many islands as the Caribbean and some of the most spectacular reefs on the planet, the nation sees only a fraction of the visitors of nearby Thailand. Even travel companies, it seems, have bought the bad rap: Other than the occasional sea kayaking trip, U.S. guides have largely avoided the archipelago. But Wilderness Travel has finally gotten wise. This May the outfit will lead clients high into the 4,000-foot Cordillera Central, then deep into the world’s most biodiverse marine environment. The trip begins in Banaue, where travelers spend days hiking into terraced mountains and nights back at the town’s namesake hotel (pine cabins, private balconies, killer views).

Banaue Rice Terraces. Image from "Lopez"

Then it’s down to the island of Cabilao, trading butterflies for fish species of them. For the next five days, you’ll bob around reefs, scanning the area’s 350 varieties of coral (including table coral that’s a whopping nine feet wide). But don’t forget: The best snorkeling starts at dusk. “It’s like being in a train station during commuting hours,” says Barbara Banks, Wilderness Travel’s director of new trip development. “The day fish are moving out and the night creatures like octopuses and eels are moving in.” [Source]

Cabilao Island, Bohol. Image from manilenio.com

By reason thereof, Wilderness Travel, an international adventure travel agency have launched it’s adventure package to the Philippines in anticipation of its being named as one of the best adventure destinations for 2010.

¿Fue error

separarse

llamarse huérfano

para recorrer descalzo

la inmensidad de las cordilleras

                del pensamiento

sin aire, ahogarse en las aguas nocturnas

                 del enigma

anclado en la soledad

para ver los edificios muertos cuando todos

              se fueron a dormir

crecer la barba por falta de espejo –

fue error

ser espectador único

  lombriz de tierra

aún en el lodo prístino;

inventando las nubes

que lloverán sobre los innavegables ríos

que lentamente llenan los océanos del futuro?

poesía del nihilismo contemporáneo

Llevo tiempo tratando de poner este post, y por fin, lo he conseguido. No había más impedimento que un poco de tiempo libre, pero siempre llega un momento de respiro. Próximamente, pondré una segunda parte dedicada a las aguas continentales en España, pero primero vayamos al relive.

Ubicación y características:

España se sitúa en el hemisferio Norte, al suroeste del continente europeo, y se compone de diversos territorios:

-La mayor parte de la Península Ibérica.

-El archipiélago balear (en el mar Mediterráneo) y el canario (en aguas atlánticas).

-Las ciudades de Ceuta y Melilla (en la costa africana) y algunos islotes también en el norte de África.

Del relieve peninsular (excluimos ahora el insular y el africano), destaca la elevada altitud media (más de 600 m.) por las cordilleras y por la Meseta, y la compartimentación de la península, porque dichas cordilleras se disponen alrededor de la Meseta, creando un espacio casi cerrado.

Unidades de relieve:

Las unidades del relieve las podemos dividir en:

Meseta:

• Sistema Central: Divide la Meseta en dos mitades:
  • Submeseta Norte
  • Submeseta Sur
• Montes de Toledo: dividen la Submeseta Sur en dos mitades:
  • Cuenca del Tajo: al norte
  • Cuenca del Guadiana: al sur

Rebordes de la Meseta:

• Macizo galaico-leonés: con montañas redondeadas y de formas suaves que apenas superan los 1000 m. de altitud.
• Cordillera Cantábrica: aísla la Meseta de la influencia del mar. En ella se encuentran los Picos de Europa, con más de 2500 m.
• Sistema Ibérico: se trata de un conjunto de sierras no compacto, y de baja altura, lo que facilita el tránsito.
• Sierra Morena: no se trata propiamente de un sistema montañoso, sino de un escalón entre la Meseta y el sur de la península.

Depresiones exteriores:

• Depresión del Ebro: de carácter árido, está aislada de la influencia mediterránea por la presencia de cordilleras.
• Depresión del Guadalquivir: de carácter fértil, está abierta a la influencia atlántica, e incluso posee una zona de marismas en las que se mezclan las aguas del río con las del océano.

Cordilleras exteriores:

• Montes vascos: tienen sierras abruptas, pero poco elevadas, con numerosos valles.
• Pirineos: Su parte central (Pirineo Axial) es más elevada que las laterales (Prepirineos). En algunos puntos supera los 3000 m. de altura.
• Cordilleras Costeras-Catalanas: son dos conjuntos montañosos paralelos al mar mediterráneo y los responsables de limitar la influencia marina en la Depresión del Ebro.
• Sistemas Béticos: se extienden por el sudeste peninsular y están compuestos por:
  • Cordillera Penibética: paralela al Mediterráneo cuenta el pico más alto de la península (Mulhacén, con 3481m.)
  • Cordillera Subbética: se extiende por el interior y tiene menor altitud.
  • Depresión Intrabética: separa las dos cordilleras mencionadas. En ella están las depresiones de Baza, Guadix, Elche, etc.)

Archipiélagos:

• Balear: formado por la prolongación de los Sistemas Béticos, excepto la isla de Menorca.
• Canario: formado por islas de origen volcánico, entre las que está Tenerife, que cuenta con el pico más alto de España (el Teide con 3718 m.)

Costas:

• Costa cantábrica y atlántica noroeste: rocosa y recortada. Su accidente geográfico más destacado son las rías gallegas.
• Costa mediterránea y atlántica sudoeste: extensas playas, con tramos rocosos.
• Baleares: playas, calas y tramos rocosos.
• Canarias: predominio de acantilados de origen volcánico, aunque también hay playas.

Ayer fue Halloween. Pasé una linda noche con dos de mis primas, más algunos sustos de “yapa”. Antes solía pasar la noche de Halloween en casa, con unos pocos amigos (as), pero esta vez fue diferente… como sea.

Así que luego de ir a comprar unas pizzas, unas bolsas de caramelos, y de arrendar unas películas en Blockbuster, me dirigí a casa de mis primas, donde almorzé, y luego acompañé a mi prima menor, Carolina, a pedir dulces con su hermana, Valeria(la prima mayor).

 Improvisamos nuestros disfraces: Carolina se disfrazó de Merlina Addams (Miércoles Addams, Wednesday Addams); Valeria inventó algo: se puso un vestido negro, se delineó los ojos, llevó un clavel amarillo en una mano y un simio de peluche en la otra; y yo usé mi ropa casual (un pantalón blanco, zapatillas blancas con detalles en rojo, y una polera verde oscuro manga corta), pero me puse unas alas color celeste en la espalda, y unas antenas del mismo color.

“La Carito” juntaba los dulces en una calabaza, y nosotras la acompañamos. Pasamos por muchas casas de la Villa Federico Gana, y luego fuimos al Parque Cordillera (ya saben, cerca del Colegio Alborada): Allí nos encontramos con demasiandos “flaites” (xDDD), yo pasé a saludar a una ex-compañera de curso, y luego, cuando salíamos del parque cordillera, viene una chica con un amigo corriendo, y nos dice: “¡No vayan por ahí! ¡SE ESTÁN ACUCHILLANDO! ¡Es en serio, no vayan! Entonces nos dimos la vuelta, cuando de repente la niña se da vuelta y dice: Pero… ¡mi primo! ¿¡dónde está mi primo!? y vuelve corriendo a la “escena del crimen”.

Estábamos muy asustadas, pero encontramos otra salida y volvimos a casa de mis primas. Allí comimos dulces, y pizza y sólo vimos la mitad de una película, llamada “¡Sí señor!” (En inglés se titula: “Yes Man”), era una comedia muy buena, protagonizada por Jim Carrey y Zoey Deschanel, la otra era “Resident Evil: Degeneration”, pero era muy tarde y me tuve que ir, así que no las vi enteras, sino hasta hoy.

A pesar de todo, lo pasamos muy bien, fue una experiencia muy divertida, espero que el próximo año mis amigas puedan venir también. Espero que ustedes también lo hayan pasado muy bien.

Lo sé. Posteo 13 días despues del 15 de octubre (Día del Blog Action Day)  y luego de más de tres semanas de ausencia. Muchas tareas, muchos exámenes, mucho estrés. Más vale tarde que nunca, dice el viejo refrán, y acá estoy para escribir sobre el cambio climático.

Hace unas semanas en “Punto Final” apareció un excelente reportaje en el que un grupo de gente loquísima, y justamente por eso genial, propone una idea descabellada: Pintemos la sierra de blanco. ¿A qué se debe esta iniciativa? Pues, resulta que al pintar las rocas de nuestras cordillera de blanco, este color al ser recesivo disminuye la intensidad del calor proveniente de los rayos solares. Luego de estudios y análisis han concluido que de pintar toda la cordillera de blanco, sería posible hacer un impacto positivo frente a los inminentes efectos del calentamiento global en el Perú.

Es una idea loquísima. Y justamente esas son las genialidades que necesitamos. Necesitamos gente loca, pero comprometida. Gente que sueñe con lo increíble, pero que desee plasmarlo en realidad. No estamos condenados a esperar que el calentamiento global nos destruya. Aún podemos hacer algo para evitarlo.

Hagan clic aquí para entrar a la página de estos locos increíbles y geniales.

Acá los dejo con el link a un reportaje que Nicolás Lúcar mostró en su programa “Punto Final”.

En la fecha en el local de la Gobernación de la Cordillera se reúnen integrantes de las Radios Comunitarias del departamento a fin de analizar el proyecto de reglamento presentado ante la CONATEL.

Del evento participan representantes de la Secretaría de Información y Comunicación para el Desarrollo (SICOM), según informó en la 1300 AM Fe y Alegría Mario Vargas desde la Radio Comunitaria “Aguaity”.

Escuche Audio:

Hablamos de la Cordillera Gamburtsev, una cadena montañosa situada en la Antártida cerca del Polo Sur, y cuyas más elevadas cumbres, que superan los 4Km, se encuentran cubiertas por costras de hielo impidiendo así ser vistas.

Fueron descubiertas en 1958 por la tercera expedición soviética a la Antártida, pero hasta 2009 no han  podido ser cartografiadas y así poder probar su existencia, ya que hasta la fecha solo se podía intuir su aspecto gracias a los sensores remotos ubicados en los satélites como los Landsat.

Lo más curioso es que presentan picos elevados y valles profundos, como las altas montañas Europeas, además de contar con una plena funcionalidad interna, detectando agua líquida, ríos en los valles y lagos subglaciales a 3Km de profundidad o lo que es lo mismo 1000m de altura.

Y todo gracias a Fausto Ferraccioli, geofísico del British Antartic Survey, que ha participado en el proyecto AGAP (Antarctica’s Gamburstev Province) llevado a cabo por un grupo de científicos de Australia, Gran Bretaña, Canadá, China, Japón y Estados Unidos, y que tras más de 120.000 km de vuelo (3 vueltas al mundo) a bordo de un avión equipado con sensores de radar y gravedad, y permanecer en la zona durante bastante tiempo, ha conseguido cartografiar la cordillera enterrada bajo 4 km de hielo.

Podéis completar el estudio con webs muy interesantes como esta o desde la propia Wiki

Photo from the Serve the People Brigade of the Cordillera People's Alliance

Barely two weeks after Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana), Typhoon Pepeng (Parma) ravages Northern Philippines leaving more than 200 deaths. People’s organizations in the Cordilleras are asking for help in providing immediate relief to the victims of mudslides and flood brought about by Pepeng.

Photo from the Serve the People Brigade of the Cordillera People's Alliance

URGENT APPEAL FOR SUPPORT FOR THE VICTIMS OF TYPHOON PEPENG IN THE CORDILLERA, PHILIPPINES
Oct. 9, 2009

BAGUIO CITY—The Cordillera Region in Northern Luzon, homeland of indigenous peoples collectively known as Igorots, is one of the areas hit most with Typhoon Pepeng, after the supertyphoon Ondoy. This mountainous region may not have been as victimized by the flood, but the very nature of the land and terrain has resulted in massive, disastrous landslides that claimed both properties and lives, especially in the mining-ravaged areas of Itogon and Mankayan in Benguet province.

As of 7 PM tonight, the region’s death toll has mounted to 191, with 121 dead in Benguet, 54 in Baguio City with 5 still missing, and 23 in Mountain Province with 32 still missing. Cordillera Peoples Alliance’s chapters and affiliates in Ifugao, Abra, Kalinga and Apayao are still gathering concrete data, but have generally given feedback of massive agricultural damage in the towns of Conner, Apayao and Tabuk, Kalinga. Major roads, such as Kennon, Marcos and Halsema highways have been closed, threatening Baguio City of isolation, while Conner is now totally isolated. A total of 18 landslides were documented (11 in Baguio, 6 in Benguet one in Mountain Province).

Baguio City

Landslides and floods have engulfed and drowned lives and properties in City Camp Lagoon, Pinsao, Fairview, Cresencia Village, Crystal Cave, Lucnab, QM, Kitma, Lower Cypress, Irisan, Bakakeng Central, Queen of Peace, Apugan and Kias, all in Baguio City. Over 50 houses were damaged. There is still an unaccounted number of houses and business establishments damaged in the central business district. Small rivers and creeks also overflowed, adding to the flooding of roads, which only became passable today, October 9.

As of October 9, 9 PM, 80 individuals were evacuated into the Baguio Central School, 24 families at the St. Vincent Gym, 38 families or 184 individuals at the City Camp Youth Center, (City Camp Proper), 91 families at the City Camp Youth Center (City Camp Central), 173 individuals at Aguinaldo Elementary School and around 100 families at the Daycare Center and Barangay Hall of Queen of Peace.

Benguet

Benguet, which has hosted large mines for over a century, always suffered from massive environmental  disasters during the rainy season, and especially during typhoons, which causes deaths, aside from destruction, loss of properties and livelihood. This is evident in the massive landslides in Beda, Loakan, Itogon in October 2008 due to the abandoned tunnels of Benguet Corporation, the Colalo landslide in 1999 in Mankayan due to Lepanto Consolidated’s mining operations, which again happened in June 2009. The death toll now in Mankayan due to landslides has risen to 23 including a 9-months pregnant  mother, an additional 5 in Acupan, Itogon. Two were reported dead in Buguias municipality due to landslides, which is adjacent to the Lepanto operations in Mankayan. UK-mining company Bezant and local subsidiary are have actually conducted exploration in Guinaoang, Mankayan. La Trinidad valley, the provincial center, registered 57 dead as of today in the communities of Beckel and Kibungan Village, Puguis. Vegetable gardens were reported washed out in Labilab, Bakun municipality.

Mountain Province

In Mountain Province, the provincial CPA chapter reported this morning at 6 AM that a massive landslide in Kayan East, Tadian municipality totally buried 23 houses, leaving 5 dead, 5 injured and 32 missing. In the retrieval, four residents were rescued, while the bodies of 5 residents were recovered. In another barangay of the same municipality, in Bunga, 5 residents were rescued from a landslide; three are still missing.

Some 130 families were reported affected in Sadanga municipality, while some 50% agricultural damage was incurred, equivalent to 6-7 months of supposed food supply in Sadanga. Two-month old ricefields were also destroyed in Natonin, leaving the communities without surplus from this season’s cropping. This situation poses serious threat to the municipalities’ food security. CPA-Mountain Province has coordinated with the rescue team in Tadian and is still helping out with the retrieval until now.

There is a full range of the damages wrought by Pepeng. Many of CPA’s and its network of organizations’ staff, organizers and member organizations are affected. Some were already rescued from their homes in Baguio. Aside from the lives lost and properties damaged, infrastructure, agriculture and transportation is also affected. Telecommunication difficulties is one more reason why communication to provinces and interior communities is very difficult at present.

A Brief Analysis

This situation and the series of the massive environmental disasters in the Cordillera and the rest of the country must be elevated to an understanding of the impacts of climate change and beyond the bounds of environmental issues and disaster response. It must be understood that there is disproportionate vulnerability of the majority and certain populations to the adverse impacts of climate change, of which indigenous peoples are very much included. Also, the climate crisis is best understood by acknowledging its systemic root causes and the accountability of the world capitalist system driven by the few global elite and imperialist countries and the globally dominated capitalist production and exploitation of the world’s environment and resources, including the responsibility of government and top bureaucrats who passed laws that worsened climate change and environmental disasters.

These are massively responsible and accountable for the imposition of neo-liberal policies in underdeveloped countries. Imperialist and advance capitalist countries have imposed neo-liberal policies in advancing their imperialist agenda and plunder especially in underdeveloped countries, leading to the destruction of the world’s resources for their profit and greed. This greed for profit is responsible for the operation of large-scale extractive and destructive industries, such as corporate mining and large dams which is very evident in the Philippines. Our experience not only in the Cordillera but in Marinduque and Albay has proven that extractive industries, with corporate mining in particular, only leads to irreparable environmental disasters. For indigenous peoples, it is twice the blow with the violation of their collective rights to ancestral land, resources and right to self determination.

We raise again the issue of the San Roque Dam, whose 7 floodgates were opened and flooded almost 80% of Pangasinan, especially the towns of San Manuel, San Nicolas and towards Lingayen Gulf and even Tarlac province with a 5, 300 cubic meters per second flood gate which is already so close to the probable maximum flood rate of 12,800 cubic meters per second The SRD never meant to serve anything but government’s profit-making. It could never control floods, contrary to government’s claim that it could, when there are already 11 tailings dams and 2 silted hydro dams upstream. During its operational lifespan of 50 years, the SRD can be expected to collect a total of 269 million cubic meters of sediment from upstream sources—the abandoned open pit mines, mineral tailings ponds, muck waste dumps, and denuded mountain slopes of the southern Benguet mining district, as well as existing reservoirs at Ambuclao and Binga. Steady silt buil-up at San Roque will induce upstream flooding along the Agno river and its tributaries. Downstream, the flooding of at least 1,250 square kilometers of land will occur every time torrential rains force the opening of the dam’s gates.

CPA and the people’s opposition raised the SRD issue to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when she assumed power but she never took it seriously as she prioritized the interest of the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC). If only the people’s opposition was heeded, the present situation may not have happened. Now, we expect more cases not merely of flooding but deaths and loss of properties. The SRPC, JBIC, the Ramos and Arroyo regimes must be held accountable for the damages and deaths and the SRD must be de-commissioned now if we want to save more lives, livelihood sources and properties.

The damages of climate change, of environmental disasters and the ruling elite’s greed for profit and wealth accumulation is made the burden of the poor majority and populations highly vulnerable to its impacts.

Serve the People Brigade

The above situation necessitates urgent disaster response, such that CPA and the Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera (CDPC) organized a disaster response body composed of its network of organizations, which is the Serve the People Brigade-Cordillera Disaster Response Network. The name is historic, as it is derived from the disaster response initiatives of Cordillera activists during the 1972 floods and the killer quake in July 1990. This response is also rooted in the indigenous tradition of cooperation and collective action in times of disaster or in emergency situations.

The Serve the People Brigade, to sustain its rescue and relief missions, is now coordinating with other institutions, organizations and individuals in the region for rescue and relief operations in the most depressed areas in the region.

OUR APPEAL FOR SUPPORT

The Brigade humbly and urgently appeals for all forms of support for its relief and rescue operations not only for the victims of Pepeng, but in the coming emergency situations expected due to the impacts of climate change and the prevailing political situation.

For the relief operations:

* Food supplies (rice, canned goods,biscuits, munggo, sugar, salt, cooking oil, boiled eggs)
* Drinking water
* Gas for generators
* Clothing
* Blankets
* Sleeping mats
* New underwear
* Toiletries (soap)
* Cooking pots
* Flashlights
* Batteries
* Tents

Medicines [are also needed]

* Paracetamol
* Pain relievers
* Anti-worm (mebendazole)
* Antacids
* Amoxicillin
* Cotrimoxazole
* Bandages
* Hydrogen peroxide
* Betadine

For the rescue operations:

* Rubber boots
* Shovels
* Raincoats
* Food for work
* Mountaineering rope
* Batteries
* Flashlights
* Body bags
* Lime

For financial and material donations and to volunteer:

Please visit us at No. 55 Ferguson Road, Brgy. A. Bonifacio, Baguio City and look for Mr. Santos Mero, Serve the People Brigade Coordinator and CPA Deputy Secretary General (0915-2054262).

You may also call or text the Hotline at mobile number 0920-9286370 or Telephone Number 074-3044239, Fax number is 074-4437159. You can also reach us through email at cpa@cpaphils.org for queries.

Financial donations may also be channeled through:

Cordillera Peoples Alliance
RCBC (Baguio City Branch)
Account No. 1-326-72354-8
SWIFT Code: RCBCPHMM

You may also lend your vehicles for the relief and rescue missions, and we welcome the assistance and support of paramedics, doctors, and all volunteers who would like to be part of the relief and rescue drive.

We thank you sincerely and look forward to your positive response on this urgent appeal.

SERVE THE PEOPLE BRIGADE -CORDILLERA DISASTER RESPONSE NETWORK
Cordillera Peoples Alliance
Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera

The emerging images and reports about overstaying storm Pepeng are both chilling and heart-rending: our brethren up northern Luzon experiencing what us city dwellers went through: dislocation from our homes, our streets turning into WaterWorld, and HELP NOT COMING.

It’s not only the Cagayan-C ordillera-Pangasinan –Benguet corridor that incessant rains are pummeling but also Nueva Ecija, Pampanga and a wide swath of Central Luzon.

The rains are filling the dams up to spilling level… making massive evacuation imperative.

Now, the giant San Roque dam has been spilling between 3,800 to 5,000 cubic meters per second of excess water, comnponding the flood downstream toi the towns in the dam’s path.

Across 30 towns in Pangsinan upwards of 25,000 people are now being evacuated and this figure will continue rising.

In Benguet alone at least 11 people have been reported dead.

What’s traumatic and thouroughly destructive are the mountain landslides that knock out the homes… bridges and main access highways: Kennon Road, Marcos Highway, and the Halsema Road.

Our Summer Capital and our major vegetable growing region, not to mention Baguio and La Trinidad Benguet’s prized Strawberry Fields are gone!!!

From Ondoy to Pepeng, this is such a woeful journey from grief to grief!.

1st Update:

ABS-CBN is now reporting at midday:

At least 40 bodies have been recovered and 150 people more feared dead after a massive landslide buried dozens of houses in La Trinidad, Benguet on Thursday night while tropical depression Pepeng (international codename Parma) was pouring heavy rains over northern Luzon provinces.

Senior Superintendent Loreto Espineli, Benguet provincial police director, said landslides have also taken place in other areas of La Trinidad. He said at least 11 more bodies have been recovered in three more villages, including Poblacion, Balili and Bineng.

Espineli added that 13 more people were reported killed in landslides in the municipalities of Mankayan, Buguias, Tublay and Sablan.

Over at Camp Aguinaldo:

The NDCC, which is traditionally more conservstive is say the death toll is  now 25 and 39 others are missing.

Mas facil que pan con manteca!

Tenemos el honor de compartir el libro de Caminos de Geologia Argentina,

desbloqueado, sin ridiculos passwords, podes copiar y pegar… y felices monografias!

DESCARGAR! parte I – DESCARGAR parte II – DESCARGAR parte III

…No sé si mi canto es lindo
o si saldrá medio triste;
nunca fui zorzal, ni existe
plumaje más ordinario.
Yo soy pájaro corsario
que no conoce alpiste.

Vuelo porque no me arrastro,
que el arrastrarse es la ruina;
anido en árbol de espina
lo mesmo que en cordilleras
sin escuchar las zonceras
del que vuela a lo gallina.

No me arrimo así nomás
a los jardines floridos.
Sin querer vivo alvertido
pa’ no pisar el palito.
Hay pájaros que solitos
se entrampan por presumidos…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUJee-zyBd8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSoqpY9n86Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2vtcd0kUJg

Video source: You Tube by aiapaec69.

She is Revolution 3

Art.illery is a blog with a pro-people kultural perspective with a women’s lens.  A good kasama who runs that blog has been doing dope art for a long time.  Her view on Arts,”Art, when used correctly, can serve a purpose beyond aesthetics.  It can arouse, inspire, educate, propagate, agitate, and empower (to name a few).  It can transform culture as we know it, a powerful weapon in any fight for liberation.  Now that’s ill!”.

Like Pablo Picasso, “Art is not made to decorate a room.  It is a offensive and defensive  weapon in defense against the enemy.”  Art.illery is used to defend the liberation movements of people’s struggle while promoting women’s rights!

Don’t make the confusion that Art.illery is out of touch with the people.  Her dope styles keeps it fresh and women and MEN love the art contributions.  I emphasized men because oftentimes, men get defensive about women’s issues-and internalize the criticisms as if all men were bad.  Let’s be concrete, there are different struggles that women face that men don’t.

By the way, women don’t just sit on the sidelines-they are active in changing history.

Click below to see the beauty of work.

Here are some of my favorite art pieces posted on Art.illery.

She is Revolution 1

She is Revolution 2

Maria Clara

Rebelde

An Indigenous Mother with her Child in the Cordillera

Girls with Guns

Guerilla Fighter

La Escondida, es un loteo ubicado en La Vega, a 5 minutos del centro de San Martín de los Andes, subiendo por el callejón de torres, pasando el GinGing , hasta el final. Esta desarrollado en 2 etapas, y cuenta con 23 lotes en la etapa I y 19 en la etapa II distribuidos en 7 has cada uno. Cuenta con lotes de entre 1900 y 3100 m2. Se destaca por sus impactantes vistas al valle de la Vega, desde todos sus terrenos. Cuenta con todos los servicios y su valor es de USD 40 el m2 en la etapa I que esta finalizada y valores muy convenientes de pre lanzamiento de la Etapa II.

“La escondida se destaca por su ubicación. Está pensado para personas que busquen la privacidad, el descanso y la contemplación pero sin estar lejos del centro de la ciudad y con muy buenos accesos. Además, es un loteo único por tener vistas hacia ambos valles, el valle de la vega y el mallin del lago Lolog. No hay ningún otro loteo con estas características en la zona. Además, se destaca por tener sol todo el día y una hermosa vegetación autóctona, donde se destacan los ejemplares de radales y maitenes”. Dijo Ximena Ostolaza, Presidente de XO y Asociados.

Más información aquí

Contáctenos:
XO y Asociados,
02972-423683
inmobiliaria@xoyasoc.com.ar
Mariano Moreno 823, (8370) San Martín de los Andes, Argentina
http://www.xoyasoc.com.ar