1861, 1981, 1961, 1981. The heat is already stifling seven. Barely an hour has dawned and it seems to be noon. My pores are opened just outside the artificial environment of the hotel air-conditioned. As I start jogging on the remains of the wall I am waterlogged with sweat. Too much beer last night, too hot this morning. 1981, 1981, 1861, 1981. My footsteps echo on the old tiles but I do not hear. My head is reeling from the noise thunders through the headphones. Then, little by little, I ground looking up and stopped counting stones or pavers as an automaton. 1861, 1981, 1981, 1981.
The first time I block. There are paving stones as the Spanish colony was lost in 1898
That's when I become aware of where I am. That's when I give thanks for the new day, to be alive, for who I am and what I do. It is now, at this moment, under this terrible tropical heat, when I finally realize it's my first day in Manila and I'm running on the fortification of the old city. The walls inward, is Intramuros, where the cathedral or church of the Augustinians. I'm awake and drenched in sweat. Now I see what floor. The paving stones of the wall are some numbers written. 1861. 1981. The first time I block. There are paving stones as the Spanish colony was lost in 1898. In anticipation of the war had to remodel a few years before.
I itchy eyes due to perspiration that I get into them full of salts and waste of beer
But the second surprise me: 1981. If you are paving for two centuries, Why is another date of the twentieth century? What does this strange saint 1981 so close in time? A premonition, an appointment with the future? I do not understand. Strange! I keep running and sweating. I itchy eyes due to perspiration that I get into them full of salts and waste of beer. Note the useless guns leaning from the battlements, Makati City skyscrapers in the background, the town hall clock tower, the muchachada that will appear for classes at the University, the anomalous golf course on the edge of the walls. I look at this landscape for the first time. I remember my trip here and now and then looked at the floor and see how my feet tread now a 1981, now a 1861. Recent days have been hard, very hard, but also very intense. Filled with emotions.
The journey westward had stolen a whole day of your life
I came to the island of Leyte and Luzon after leaving Magellan pay tribute to the place where he was killed. It was a larger than life lost before you get the glory he deserved. 1861, 1981, 1981, 1861. When he landed in the Philippines, islands which he called The West, the worst of his journey was made. Of 5 vessels and over 250 men who left in 1517 Sanlucar de Barrameda in back ground 18 ill aboard a battered shell. The worst moments were spent trying to find the strait that would allow them to overcome the hurdle of America and prove it was true the theory that the world was round and going further could reach the Moluccas, Eastern ultimately known by the Portuguese. It was at this Atlantic voyage when he lost ships and most of the men. Dead Hero, Elcano was able to conclude the trip. We know this thanks to the reporter on board: Pigafetta and Veneciano, never sick and always said every detail. To him we owe also the first attorney of record that can be stolen or lost one day while. Having reached the 9 July to Cape Verde, and on the west coast of Africa, asked what day it was the Portuguese. "Thursday", responded, much to the surprise of Pigafetta, whose punctilious newspaper noted Wednesday. The journey westward had stolen a whole day of your life.
And 1542 sailed from New Spain (Mexico) a fleet of 4 vessels and 400 Villalobos men under in order to found a colony in the archipelago. 1861, 1981, 1861, 1861
Remembering this makes me wonder again noticing the cobblestones. 1861, 1861, 1981, 1861. The management of the dates is random, absurd, even though you seek an order and try dozens of combinations not find any pattern. Somehow it's like when a fly hits against a window trying to find out. That's what happened to Malaga Ruy Lopez de Villalobos. Dividing the world between the Spanish and Portuguese after the Treaty of Tordesillas was based on a conception of the world flat, but Magellan's voyage proved that it was not. West Island was a strategic location as a great king Charles V aspired to trade with the Indies without going through territory under the Lusitanian. And 1542 sailed from New Spain (Mexico) a fleet of 4 vessels and 400 Villalobos men under in order to found a colony in the archipelago. 1861, 1981, 1861, 1861.
Like flies against a window, currents and adverse winds them back to square one
A Villalobos should be given the name of Philippine Islands after the then Prince, and the future Felipe II. He did it in Leyte. But beyond that, the expedition was a complete failure because although they tried repeatedly, did not find the way back. Like flies against a window, currents and adverse winds them back to square one. Beset by hostile natives, chose between the pan and the coals and went to the Moluccas. There he was imprisoned by the Portuguese. Weak and sick, died in prison, but even in his deathbed enjoyed a happy paradox. Her confessor was the Jesuit Francisco de Jasso, who would later canonized as St. Francis Xavier, forgotten that the browser visited in Goa.
1861, 1981, 1861, 1861. I find it almost incredible journey thus far to get here. You really have done? Is it true that I have come to the Philippines by motorbike and I have crossed Europe, Africa, India, Nepal and Asia? I reached all my goals and now I seem to be dreaming and that everything would have been my imagination. Not so. I know now I am alive and awake. My eyes sting with sweat, the effort makes me gasp and accumulated fatigue makes it hurt his back. What is 1861,1981,1861,1981?
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Why is another date of the twentieth century? What does this strange saint 1981 so close in time?
