Updated: July 4, 2009
Contact information: cbatan@hotmail.com

Keeping up with the pain
July 4, 2009

MANILA, PHILIPPINES. I have stayed in the Philippines for almost a year now. I went home from Canada to heal my chronic jaw pain, which points to an illness called trigeminal neuralgia (TN). Living with TN is not as sweet as the sound of this illness. Over the past few months, the consistent numbness of my left cheek, half of my tongue and my head signals fear that challenges my sense of optimism and resilience. Whenever this happens, I usually withdraw from the social scene and make sure that I am alone. Being with myself allows me to face the painful “I”, grasping its essence, recognizing its presence. In this lonesome moment, my body is at its weakest, my mind at its lowest, but my heart and spirit never waiver, reminding me of the beauty of the people and the environment around me. The smile of my mother, the grit of my father, the humour of my brother and the laughter of my nephew are just few of the many blessings that keep me going. Click here for more blogs.

My Norway and the Netherlands sojourn II
May 25, 2009

The world of social scientists circa 2009
MANDALUYONG, METRO MANILA. It was fascinating to witness hundreds of social scientists from different parts of the world gathered at Griegallen Hall (Bergen, Norway) for the very first World Social Science Forum last week. I consider myself fortunate to be given a chance to listen to what “experts” say about the present state of social science viewed from different perspectives. What most impressed me is the insistence of some social scientists to be socially relevant especially in the field of policy. This reminded me of why I chose sociology to be my profession. However, the practice of social science does not necessarily lead to a romantic relationship with policymakers. Rather, according to the experienced experts, their engagement with power and the powerful in their respective societies is never smooth. Click here for more blogs.


My Norway and the Netherlands sojourn I
May 23, 2009

BINANGONAN, RIZAL. Amidst the worldwide anxiety on the spread of influenza virus A(H1N1), earlier named as swine flu, I attended the first World Social Science Forum held at Bergen, Norway, and had a side-trip in the Netherlands. This sojourn was made possible through a full grant generously given by the International Social Science Council, which was facilitated by our very own Philippine Social Science Council. I presented a research poster based on my dissertation project entitled, Value Formation of Inactive Filipino Youth, better known in the country as “istambay”. Click here for more blogs.

Summer rain
April 28, 2009

MANILA, PHILIPPINES. Last April 22nd, the day when the world celebrates Earth Day, it was disturbing to experience flooding in Manila. That afternoon, the rage of rain sank the whole of the University of Santo Tomas and other nearby areas. Most of us were caught unprepared and left some, including myself, dumbfounded. For about a week now, the sky demonstrates a fickle-minded temperament, which usually bursts a rage of rain. This is indeed climate change. Click here for more blogs.

The bond that religion makes
April 8, 2009

BINANGONAN, RIZAL. It has been three years since I spent Holy Week in the Philippines. For us Catholics, it is a week-long commemoration of the death and passion of Jesus Christ. It is also a week-long family/community affair of all sorts - reunions, processions, prayers with lots of eating and story-telling. This is also the time when religious practices are taken to our streets to dramatize Christianity. Everywhere I go, from the market to my home, the mood is joyous and prayerful. Click here for more.

Free cold summer breeze in Baguio city
April 1, 2009

MANAOAG, PANGASINAN. Over the weekend, I had fun seeing the summer capital of the Philippines, Baguio City. Jeff, my best friend, accompanied me to this weekend get-away to see if the weather in Baguio is still cold compared to the scourging heat and humidity in Manila. Nature did not disappoint us. Click here for more.

Skating with pain
February 28, 2009

MANILA, PHILIPPINES. Today, I decided to ice skate with my brother and nephew at SM Megamall, one of the few malls in the Philippines that have a skating rink.  

Ice skating is a skill I learned from my Canadian friends. Then, I was afraid to hurt myself and I was ashamed to stay in a cordoned area with the kids as I rise and fall, finding my balance; putting all my body weight (with the excess pounds) on metal blades that are supposed to kiss and slide on the plate of iced floor. Yes, I was shameless. Click here for more.

Returning pain
February 21, 2009

BINANGONAN, RIZAL, PHILIPPINES. Today, my nerve pain returned. I noticed it because for a number of hours, I was unable to think. I felt like doing nothing. Just like before, my disorientation took me to a full day of rest, tentatively forgetting my working self. When this happens, I blame pain for being cruel. Click here for more.

Silent crash
December 16, 2008

MANILA, PHILIPPINES. I was silent for weeks but when my books and documents from Canada finally arrived the second week of November 2008, I was inspired to write my thesis again.

Over the few weeks, I continue to appreciate my everyday victory over pain. I have grown used to the discomfort and as a result, I found more time reading, thinking and writing. I was once more attuned to the energies of my mind and data analyses have become handy again. For my trigeminal neuralgia, I have let go and let God as I got immersed once more with the promise of academy. Then, my hard drive crashed. Click here for more.

Healing nature, healing time
November 5, 2008

MANILA , PHILIPPINES . I am fascinated with discovering the healing power of nature and time on my pain- body. Almost four weeks ago, I decided to stop taking antibiotics. Despite the discomfort and numbness, I taught myself to accept the everyday pain and live with it. I tried alternative medicine like acupuncture, herbs and water therapy. I also consulted with local healers. And I have also been prayed for by my family, friends and communities. Click here for more.

Tolerating pain
October 22, 2008

MANILA , PHILIPPINES . In the last two weeks I noticed a sudden shift in my everyday activities. Leisure reading is starting to be a good part of my everyday life and I have never been intense in creatively writing my thoughts in Filipino. I remained communicating with friends here and abroad with honesty about the state of my medical condition and always with a sense of excitement that soon, I would be fine. Ten months had passed since my dental operation, ten months of chronic pain but starting this October, as soon as I embraced this pain as part of me, I felt a substantial change. Click here for more.

Dizzy earthquake
October 1, 2008

MANILA , PHILIPPINES . Every week, my chronic jaw pain is always accompanied by dizziness. I will not call it normal headache; it is just a heavy feeling of disorientation that requires me to lie down for hours, sometimes even for one or two days. This incapacitates me to work, think and do anything worthwhile. My body seems to want only one thing – a deep sleep. But the pain and discomfort I am experiencing does not give me a restful sleep rather a gist of restlessness that weakens my body. As such, I am starting to develop a sensitivity to the language of my body as well as the external things happening around my everyday life. Now, I am more sensitive to nature: air, heat, wind, noise, temperature, sound and the types of energies these emit to my being. When one is sick, it helps living with one’s Presence in order to make healing, consciously possible. Click here for more.

Silencing my person
September 24, 2008

Mysterious chronic pain
September 20, 2008

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - This late morning, the CT scan result of my Para nasal sinuses (PNS) was handed-over to me by Julio, a radio x-ray technologist of the Hospital of Infant Jesus. Dr. Uy ordered this CT scan yesterday when he saw my swollen left cheek and confirmed that the wound inside my mouth has re-appeared. According to my doctor, the wound appears like leukoplakia, which is a precancerous lesion. Twice, I was scheduled to have a biopsy but both were cancelled due to swelling. Even a bite size biopsy would just lead to bleeding because this wound does not show any healing. The CT scan should determine any abnormalities in my Para nasal region. The result was negative. Click here for more.

16 Youthful Souls

This spring 2008, I have had a rare chance of meeting 16 Dalhousie students who studied with me a course, entitled SOSA 3186: Youth and Society: International Perspectives; a special topic offering under the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology.

Our first week was devoted to clarify conceptual distinctions among “age”, “generation”, “youth” and “cohort” with an end of understanding the fundamental basis of the academic enterprise known as sociology of age relations. Here we discussed about “youth” as a relational concept and as a social process (White & Wyn, 2008; Wyn & White, 1997) and how socio-economic and historical forces shape our knowledge of the process of “growing up”. Click here for more.

Sense of becoming

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, USA - Not too long ago, last August 30, 2003, I wrote a birthday poem for Robert. I remembered writing this poem inside the Canadian Martyrs Church (Inglis St., Halifax), penned it for 10 minutes as I was inspired by Robert’s employment in the US. He had the rare chance of working in Silicon Valley (California, USA), where the world’s best in information and communication technologies harbour. Robert happens to be one of these “high tech” guys, whose talent is recognized worldwide. Click here for more.

***

The Kite Runner and my creative istambay study

USA AIRSPACE, AIR CANADA FLIGHT 761 (from Montreal to California) - The last time I wrote my blog was more than five months ago. It isn’t because I do not have time to write, in fact, I wrote pages of insights on my personal journal, thesis drafts, and teaching modules. It is only now that I felt like sharing. “Being away” from my usual place of study gave me a sense of inspiration especially now that I am way, way up above the ground, flying-away from a tiring cold winter place to a sunny, summer-like destination like San Francisco, California. Click here for more.

***

Lessons from the last class
HALIFAX , Nova Scotia, Canada

esterday, November 29, 2007, I facilitated my last class. I felt a mixed sense of excitement and loneliness that I woke up too early at around 2:00 am. I know that yesterday was special because it was my last chance to interact with my 22 students as a “class”. (We started 24 but two dropped-out.) It has been a lovely academic journey with them, which may be the reason why I felt a bit sad. Often, when the reality of saying “goodbye” strikes my sensibility, it hits me with joyful pain generating neither contentment nor dissatisfaction. It was a feeling between “letting go” and “holding on”. Once in a while, I feel this kind of “contradiction” that I cannot fully explain, and whenever the theories that I know are unable to grasp my overwhelming emotion, I shut up!...Click here for more.

***

A certificate that bonds and bridges

HALIFAX , Nova Scotia, Canada -- I consider June 5, 2007 as one of my memorable days in Dalhousie University. It was a fine summer day. (Technically it is not yet summer but I am a Filipino, whenever I see and feel the sun, I call it summer!) The beautiful sun with its lukewarm temperament was ensued by the sweet breeze of the wind, which altogether gave me a sense of fulfilment. I have always wanted to graduate from my PhD studies. I cannot wait to finish my dissertation and graduate. I cannot wait to do other things beyond writing my thesis. I just want to graduate – and last June 5, I did graduate! Not yet from my PhD studies, but from the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning Program administered by the Center for Learning and Teaching ( Dalhousie University). It was a remarkable feeling being with fellow doctoral students from various faculties. I remembered the sumptuous lunch we had, and the fun-learning stories we shared with our supervisors. (Oh I loved this moment because my adviser did not get the chance to ask me about my thesis!) Click here for more.

Learning the first class
September 7, 2007

HALIFAX , Nova Scotia, Canada - I have always wanted to teach. For me, teaching is one powerful profession that has the capacity to effect change in the lives of those who actively participate in the learning process. In the classroom, I love the dynamics that transpires between the teacher and the students, and the ways by which topics and issues are discussed and debated upon. But what fascinates me is when such teacher-student interaction brings forth real learning, that is, when the lesson learned in the classroom leaves an imprint on the mind of the students beyond time and space. Click here for more.

Growing-up on the margins of the virtual world
January 2007

Welcome to my personal website.

Although I launched this website mid-2005, I have not updated it since. Guess I was too immersed with the world of social research limiting myself to thinking more about my dissertation project rather than making myself (and my views) known to the virtual world of the Internet.

My intention in having this website is not to advertise myself or my work, but to examine how many of those who have access to the Internet get to discover my existence. To date, I have a good number of online interactions as by-products of this website.

One was with an undergraduate student of the University of Santo Tomas (Manila, Philippines) who discovered my research works through googling. He was writing a thesis about the media and the Filipino youth and sought my help on the subject matter. With this, I realized that a website can be a powerful tool in ‘bridging connections’ among those who share similar interests.

 I, too, have had rekindled conversations with old friends who re-discovered me over the net, and new friends who shared fascination with the works that I have done or are currently doing.

Overall, I view this process likened to ‘growing-up’. This is because I have yet to really understand the technical logic of maintaining a website and exploit the power it endures.

For now, what this website offers is a new improved look with my biography, creative works, current research, selected publications and picture gallery.  I may still be on the margins of this virtual world, but should you find this website interesting, please let know by emailing cbatan@hotmail.com. I look forward to hearing your comments, my virtual friends.