I’m very excited to say that I’ve started studying French in school again. Hurrah! I’m still crap but at least the teacher liked that I introduced myself as une enseignante instead of un prof. Also, I earned a few well-meant laughs when I said un parapluie est jetable…(weird, I know) so hopefully I’ll come up with some hijinks again soon.

In any case, even though it’s a bit late now, je vous souhaite une bonne année. Here’s to an awesomer 2011. We all deserve it.

It was only right, I thought, because I wasn’t able to visit him last Nov 1. Okay, so he was in the second war instead of the first and he survived the Bataan Death March in 1942 (commemorated every year on April 9 in the Philippines), but I thought he deserved a tribute of sorts today, too. He’s my hero, after all.

On the way to his grave, we also passed by the tombs of the unknown soldiers, for whom this holiday is kept in France, Britain, and other parts of the world.

Armistice Day also reminds me of MCMXIV by Philip Larkin, which was recited in The History Boys:

Those long uneven lines
Standing as patiently
As if they were stretched outside
The Oval or Villa Park,
The crowns of hats, the sun
On moustached archaic faces
Grinning as if it were all
An August Bank Holiday lark;

And the shut shops, the bleached
Established names on the sunblinds,
The farthings and sovereigns,
And dark-clothed children at play
Called after kings and queens,
The tin advertisements
For cocoa and twist, and the pubs
Wide open all day;

And the countryside not caring
The place-names all hazed over
With flowering grasses, and fields
Shadowing Domesday lines
Under wheat’s restless silence;
The differently-dressed servants
With tiny rooms in huge houses,
The dust behind limousines;

Never such innocence,
Never before or since,
As changed itself to past
Without a word–the men
Leaving the gardens tidy,
The thousands of marriages
Lasting a little while longer:
Never such innocence again.

I don’t know if there’s a poem by a French poet that expresses the same sentiment about war, so I thought this might suffice in the meantime.

It was a meaningful day, all in all, even if we ended up pigging out afterward.

L’amour est clair comme le jour, l’amour est simple comme le bonjour, l’amour est nu comme la main, c’est ton amour et le mien… – Jacques Prévert

Eh bien, je vous souhaite un bon week-end!

Traffic-induced boredom can get you somewhere. Eventually, we thought of practicing how to count in French by reading plate numbers. This was a challenge, particularly because I hated counting, especially after soixante-neuf. So if you happened to ride with us, you’d hear us screaming, « Te-Ve-Ce! Six cent quatre-vingt-quinze! »

It’s been ages since we’ve held French counting contests. Now that I’ve mentioned it, we might try it again…but I’ve got to brush up on numbers first.

Photo source

Filipinos love mispronouncing merci so that it sounds like « mercy. » Saying « mercy buko » is common (buko is Filipino for coconut), and in keeping with the joke, the reply is « durian. » One of my friends even came up with « silver plate » for s‘il vous plaît.

One joke about a Filipino word in a fake French accent, however, stands out in my memory.

In my first few months of studying French at Alliance Française de Manille, I befriended a classmate, a Swiss-Filipino girl. Let’s call her K. Her English was impeccable, her French was certainly better than mine, and she was more interested in learning Spanish. However, she admitted to having difficulties with very formal Filipino (think Tagalog as spoken by a Caviteño or a Bulakeño).

We were also friends with a classmate whom we considered the class clown–let’s call him S. He loved to tease our French teacher. Now, most Pinoys expect expats to know a little bit of Tagalog, from the simple « hoy, pare » to the tongue-twisting word « nakakapagpabagabag. »

During lulls in class, or break times, or whenever S was frustrated with a lesson, he would make funny jokes and side comments in formal Filipino so that our teacher wouldn’t understand. Sometimes, he would talk in Filipino with a French accent.

I coudn’t remember what we were talking about one time, but I remember him blurting, « napaka-le vogue! » (« How horny! » Libog is the Tagalog term.) Everyone laughed.

Except for K, who gave me a look.

« What’s le-vogue? »

Nice, from sxc

I’m from the tropics, yes, which means I’ll always be accustomed to heat. Even so, the sunny south will always be fascinating to me. Blame it on the Mayle books, the stories by La Pomme, and being deprived of a proper summer vacation.

I’m enjoying Manila’s wet, chilly weather now, but all this talk about summer makes me want to slip on a light dress and sleep on a hammock. Ah, the things you pine for once they’re gone!

* Alliance Française de Manille – Philippine Artist Residency Program
The AFM-PARP is conceived as a structured visit to France by a Filipino visual artist for a minimum of two (2) months and a maximum of three (3) months.  The residency will be hosted by a bona fide non-profit cultural organization, e.g., an art school, museum, or an artist-run initiative. It is conceived as a professional opportunity rather than a project-based grant. (Read more)
Unfortunately, I’m not an artist to get into this program. I wish my artist friends the best of luck, however!

* Photography contest: « J’ai 20 ans dans mon pays » (I’m 20 years old in my country)
The Fondation Alliance Française, in partnership with the French magazine Courrier international, has launched an international photography contest on the theme “I’m 20 years old in my country” (“J’ai 20 ans dans mon pays”) or photographs of the youth of the Philippines. The local photography’s selection is organized by the Alliance Française de Manille with the support of Silverlens Gallery. (Read more)
Well, now, here’s something a lot of us can try!

Application forms can be downloaded from the AFM website. Allons-y!

Unfortunately, we were not able to celebrate le quatorze juillet because of the typhoon yesterday. However, here is one of my fond memories of the last French holiday (Easter Monday) that I spent with mes amies:

Chocolate Fire (thanks, Chuck!)

For the first ever French holiday we celebrated, we had tea at Chocolate Fire, a café in Salcedo Village, Makati, near my friends’ offices. The chocolates were divine, even if they looked so simple.

For dinner, we went to a totally un-French place because it was impossible to turn down Korean food. I can’t promise we’ll go French all the way next time, but we’ll see.

Read more for the lyrics and a pretty decent translation. I’m sorry to say that I cheated with this one, though–Google Translate is turning out to be a vice!

Allez danse, danse, vient dans mes bras,
Allez tourne, tourne, reste avec moi,
Allez partons vite si tu veux bien, dès le jour,
Le soleil brille très haut tu sais,
Mais j’aime ça, je t’attendais
Alors partons vite si tu veux bien, Sans retour…

Rit plus fort et parle-moi
De nos projets, de nos rêves tout ça
Donne-moi la main, embrasse-moi, mon amour
Le temps comme ami, moi je veux bien
Mais les amis ça va, ça vient,
Alors partons vite brûler le jour et la nuit

Evidemment, tu l’aimes encore,
Je le vois bien tu sais, et puis alors ?
Mais pour l’instant ferme tes yeux, passe ta main dans
mes cheveux.
Je veux entendre, ton cœur qui bat, tu sais, je crois qu’il chante pour moi
Mais en douceur comme ça tout bas, comme un sourd
Mon cœur lui s’emballe, il vole haut, peut être un peut trop haut pour moi
Mais je m’en fou, je suis vivant pour de bon

Allez danse, danse, regarde-moi
Allez tourne, tourne, ne t’arrête pas
Allez partons vite, si tu veux bien, dès le jour
le soleil brille, profitons-en
Je t’attendrai, je t’aime tant
Alors vas-t’en vite si tu veux bien, sans retour

Evidemment, tu l’aimes encore,
Ça crève les yeux mon dieu, Tu l’aimes encore
Mais pour l’instant ferme tes yeux, passe ta main dans mes cheveux

Allez danse mon amour ! Allez danse !
Faisons de nos enfants des droits !
Fait tourner le monde mon amour, fait tourner le monde

Allez danse, danse, retourne-toi
Allez tourne, tourne, ne t’arrête pas
Allez partons vite, si tu veux bien, dès le jour
J’ai manqué d’air je m’en souviens,
Toutes ses années sans toi sans rien
Même mes chansons se baladaient le cœur lourd

Evidemment, tu l’aimes encore,
Ça crève les yeux mon dieu, ça crève les yeux mon dieu
Mon dieu….

Come dance, dance, comes in my arms
Go turn, turn, stay with me,
Go start quickly if you will, from the day
The sun shines very high you know,
But I like it, I waited
Then leave quickly if you want good, don’t return…

Laugh louder and tell me
Our plans, our dreams, all that
Give me your hand, kiss me, my love
Time as a friend, I am willing
But folks it goes, here it comes,
Then leave quickly, burn day and night

Obviously, you still love him,
So I see you know, and so what?
But for now close your eyes, your hand goes to my hair.
I want to hear your heartbeat, you know, I think it sings for me
But smooth as it whispered, as a deaf
My heart was racing, he flies high, can be a little too high for me
But I’m mad, I’m alive for good

Come dance, dance, watch me
Go turn, turn, do not stop
Will start soon, if you will, from the day
the sun is shining, take advantage of it
I’ll wait, I love you so
So go away quickly if you will, don’t return

Obviously, you still love him,
It’s blindingly obvious my god, you still love
But for now close your eyes, pass your hand in my hair

Go dance my love! Go dancing!
Let our children’s rights! (is this right? It sounds a bit off, hahaha)
Rotate the world my love, makes the world go round

Come dance, dance, turn around
Go turn, turn, do not stop
Will start soon, if you will, from the day
I missed the air I remember
All these years without you nothing
Even my songs were walking with a heavy heart

Obviously, you still love him,
It’s blindingly obvious my god, it’s blindingly obvious my god
My god ….

A week and a day before the French National Day on July 14, Alliance Française de Manille, in collaboration with Avellana Art Gallery, opens Henri Etève’s exhibition “This French is Pinoy!”.  The exhibition will feature black-and-white-themed works from the 45-year artistic career in the Philippines of French artist Henri Etève a.k.a. Di Meliora, and is one of three simultaneous exhibitions in three different venues: Alliance Française de Manille, White Cube Gallery (Metropolitan Museum of Manila) and Alliance Française de Cebu.

Arriving in the Philippines in the mid-1960’s, Etève, then a young man in his twenties, found a congenial milieu in Malate’s Café Los Indios Bravos, which was then the favorite watering hole of Manila’s artistic and literary cognoscenti, and frequented by assorted other bohemians. By and large an autodidacte, Etève created paintings, sculpted wood and metal, wove tapestries, and cobbled together unexpected and striking assemblages.  While not obviously identifiable at first glance as the classic homme engagé, certain of his works offer cogent social and political commentaries on Philippine and world events.

Etève’s vividly colorful canvases, mostly peopled by graceful, organic or geometric forms, sometimes belie more serious underlying primordial themes.  But then again, more often than not, Etève’s works can simply be appreciated for the playful, witty, or humorous “artventures” that they are.

The show “This French is Pinoy!” by Henri Etève opens at the Alliance Française Total Gallery on Tuesday, July 6, 2010, with cocktails at 6:30 pm to 9 pm. It will be on exhibit until Thursday, July 29, 2010.