Ako Ay Pinay! Sige!

I've been struggling with my New Year's post and playlist for almost a week. This is also the second take on a post that went up then down again an hour later this morning. Both the mix and the post were turning into a jumble of random stuff I wanted to take on this year, so instead of trying to force them into a coherent whole, I will deal with them in separate posts this week.

My Big Deal Thing in 2009 is the ITU Subic Bay International Triathlon in the Philippines in May. I haven't been to the Philippines since winter 2003-2004, so it's time I go back. Even though my dad was here for much of the fall, it's been almost two years since I've seen my mama. And a triathlon (or two) in the mix? Super bonus!

This ramp gets you in/out of transition.

This first video is for my Mamar and my fellow Pinay-girl, Sunny. I have to admit, the mom at the beginning of this video is pretty close to my mom and aunties, yelling-wise. My mom never tried to feed my friends -- but my aunties and my grandma had that covered. Something tells me my mom would like "Pergie" too.

Of course, this also means it's time to freshen up the old iPod. As I was trying to put together a mix, I realized I was trying to address a few different tasks: finding mostly new (to me) tracks to get me charged up about training, racing in the PI, the ongoing peacetalks with my body (its ever-changing shape and abilities), and the year ahead.

For better or worse, I got my body from my mama. Seriously, some of my friends think our faces look alike, but she and I are shaped like the exact same pear. So these additions to the iPod are sort of an embrace of my mama, my body, and my "motherland." The last track is not supposed to turn a blind eye to the colonial history between the US and the PI, or even a suggestion that I might dominate anything when I race there -- just a nod to racing abroad and taking a tall, quenching drink of my heritage. Though it is probably a good cautionary reminder, nonetheless.

I admit, on that trip I will probably also be looking for a way to include a chapter in my dissertation about the women in the triathlon community in Southern Luzon in the Philippines. You know, so I can spend my dissertation year there. ;^)

English translation of the chorus from Bebot:

You're a Filipino, shout! C'mon!
If you're beautiful, shout! C'mon!
If your life is important, shout! C'mon!
Thanks for your support!

Isn't that a perfect way to end this first post for 2009?