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No slowdown in demand for Filipino nurses, but hiring calls for new strategies
By Cristina DC Pastor Victoria, a nurse from the Philippines, came to RN Express feeling defeated and depressed. She lost almost half a million pesos to recruiters but still had no job waiting for her. Her fiancé, a Filipino American, made the decision for her: Come to the U.S. and let’s get married. On the […]
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Student loans are nothing to be afraid of
By Jen Furer Having gone to school in the Philippines on an academic scholarship, the concept of student loans was alien to me. It wasn’t until I got married in the U.S. and had children that I learned having a student loan is no different from having a mortgage to a house. My husband took […]
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Dolly Fernandez: Growing up in a mixed-race family in anti-miscegenation era
By Cristina DC Pastor “It was a scandal, but it was also a happy marriage. They just had so much fun together.” Dolores ‘Dolly’ Fernandez, the daughter of a Filipino valet and a Norwegian hat check girl, traveled back in time and shared fond memories of her parents’ stirring romance amid anti-miscegenation laws which criminalized […]
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Strasbourg: German name, French allure
By Wendell Gaa There are simply no words to describe the horrible tragedy of the massacre of more than a hundred innocent civilians in Paris at the hands of those murderous and dastardly ISIS terrorists. It is sad to know that yet again, another act of religious hatred and violence has befallen Paris this month, […]
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Fun, fellowship, and farewell at Homecoming sa Konsulado
By Lindy Rosales The word ‘homecoming’ connotes reliving experiences long gone, of friends and memories buried in time, of youthful romance and a past spent pondering the meaning of life and our place in the world. As I get closer to my Golden Year, the invites for gatherings have been constant. High school reunions, college […]
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Skin whiteners and the Filipina’s pursuit of beauty (or is it superiority?)
By Ludy Astraquillo Ongkeko, Ph.D. Not having received information about more recent phenomena being observed and known in the homeland, invariably, I had thought that ‘whitening’ meant one’s pearls, or simply, one’s teeth. Dental care on these shores still alludes to whitening in the use of dental aids for health enhancement. I was more than […]
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NYC public schools students to pay only $10 to see ‘Hamilton’ on Broadway
“Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, NYC Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, The Rockefeller Foundation president Judith Rodin, and Gilder Lehrman executive director Lesley Herrmann announced an educational partnership to provide 20,000 NYC public school students with the opportunity to see “Hamilton” on Broadway and integrate the show into classroom studies. This educational […]
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In sale of Manhattan co-op apartment, owner Encarnacion Singh puts faith on broker who is also FilAm
By Cristina DC Pastor Generous rooms. Gracious entry foyer. River park views. 24-hour doorman building. In January, retired UN employee Encarnacion ‘Bubut’ Singh put her home on the market, parting with the Riverside Drive co-op apartment she had shared with her husband and two children for 50 years. Widowed since 1999, Bubut has gone back […]
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Being both Filipino and American is a blessing, a curse…and a privilege
By Sarah Santos I sometimes have moments where life as I know it gets snatched out from under me so fast I can’t figure out what to do next. Over our summer fellowship, as the world grew before our eyes, my cohort and I experienced these moments a lot. With every deep-dive discussion, every thought-provoking […]