25th at San Francisco - Timeless Thursdays 26

My 25th Birthday at San Francisco, California, USA

It was a beautiful Northern California morning when I woke up for my 25th year as a human being more than five years ago. I arrived at the United States last June 1, 2015 and three days after, it was time for me to add up another year to my life, another number as my age. I have not been to America for almost 18 years and it was really thrilling for me to finally be back. I still have both vague and clear memories of my childhood in America but of course, things have changed, a lot of things have changed.

Hayward BART Station

Hayward, California is a quiet city along the bay area where my brother lives, a city I learned to love and call home. A train ride away to San Francisco, I left at around 8:30 am through the BART together with my brother Kuya Jon. BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit which services all the major cities across the Bay Area including Downtown San Francisco, the Peninsula Area, and the Cities across the East Bay. 

We got off at Montgomery Station, which was the first BART Station on downtown San Francisco crossing the transbay area coming from the Oakland and the East Bay. Kuya Jon and I parted for he has work for the day and then I started my birthday trip all around the foggy city.

San Francisco Contemporary Art Museum

I took some pictures at the San Francisco Contemporary Art Museum that has this giant Cube Building and just in front of it is the Saint Patrick's Catholic Church. There I prayed for thanksgiving for the gift of Travel that I received and am enjoying at that very moment. 

The Main Altar at Saint Patric's Church

Right after, I went and walked more up towards San Francisco Centre near Powell Street, which was still closed during that time. Passing through the Yahoo! Office, Union Square, until I found this giant weird looking tunnel that has a hanging street above it which was part of Stockton Street. Walking inside it led me to it, Chinatown!

The Street above a Street, Stockton Street

It was the second time I was there since my brother Erson toured me around the city on my second day so I am a bit familiar of the place already. I can easily get familiar through places especially if there are landmarks that I can follow throughout the streets. And also, I don't have a map or any mapping device at hand that time. Well, I do have my phone with GPS with me but I just don't want to use it the whole time since I'm in it for the adventure. 

San Francisco Yahoo! Office

I walked through Chinatown sightseeing all the shops and stores that were so busy during that time. it was a couple of hours before lunch time and food houses are packed with people waiting for their orders to be taken and served. I passed the bakery where me and my Kuya had lunch the time we were there and then went straight to one of the places I would really like to visit over and over again, the National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi. I was the only one inside and since the lunch mass was just abut an hour away, I decided I'll join the mass after I get myself some drinks and use the restroom.

National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi

I walked out of the church and look for the nearest Starbucks. I walked downhill towards the Transamerica Pyramid which is one of the famous landmarks of the San Francisco together with the Golden Gate Bridge. Went inside Starbucks and got myself a Venti Peach Green Tea Lemonade and used their restroom. I brought my drink with me and walked all the way up back to the church. 

Transamerica Pyramid

Peach Green Tea Lemonade

Still it was barren and quiet and very peaceful, when the clock struck 12:15, the priest came out and fixed the things needed for the mass and it started. It was a very solemn. I feel so blessed being on that very place, at that very moment. It really is a different way of celebrating my birthday with so much serenity and blessing. 

Inside Saint Francis Church

We were just about 5 or 6 inside the church throughout the mass and when it was done, I walked up in front to greet the priest. His name is Fr. John De La Riva and he is probably the nicest and the sweetest priest I have ever known. I introduced myself and I told him it was my birthday and when he knew, he prayed a special prayer just for me. It was a very beautiful prayer. After that, I asked him for a picture and he agreed and we even did a selfie with Saint Anthony of Padua. I will never forget Father John, ever!

Me, Father John, Saint Anthony and Jesus

I continued walking after I got out of Little Italy, all the way back to Chinatown, and said a prayer at Saint Mary's Church and then back to San Francisco Centre. There I went down to the lower ground floor and to this sport's apparel shop called CHAMPS. There I got this very pricey Golden State Warriors Finals shirt which I decided to give to my cousin. 

Just near the Centre was Yerba Buena Gardens which I would really like to visit next but then it happened, I got lost! I was walking around in circles and weirdly, I was still enjoying the fact that I was lost, I then saw something!

STEVENSON STREET! Now I knew why God made me lost for a few minutes so that I will see this street, it was my street! I took a few selfies and finally I found my way to Yerba Buena Gardens. I spent all the remaining time there and at St. Patrick's church which was just across the park. St. Patrick's is the church of most Filipino Catholics in the San Francisco Area. I lit a candle for San Lorenzo Ruiz. 

This is my Street, Stevenson Street

When Kuya Jon got out of work, we met up again at Montgomery and rode the train back home to Hayward. Kuya Erson was waiting for us and we continued the celebration at the Kokyo Buffet in Downtown Hayward. 

Me and my dear brothers Erson and Jonathan

It was truly one of the best Birthdays I ever had since my Mother threw me a surprise party when I was 16! This Birthday spent alone gave me a sense of independence, liberation and solitude and I thank God for this blessing. I will forever remember those momentsspent at San Francisco and will never get tired of going back to this city, my favorite city ever! Now the question for me that time was,"Where will I be on my 26th Birthday?". The world's answer 4 years ago was four letters, HOME :)

***

I would love to welcome and invite everyone to join Timeless Thursdays.

Timeless Thursdays is open for anyone who wishes to share old photos or old thoughts that you would like to share as beautiful memories with everyone. This can be from yesterday, a year ago, or something from your grandma's treasure chest.

This runs every Thursday at 12 am (Manila/Perth Time) until Sunday at 11:59 pm (Manila/Perth Time)

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Geographical Thinking

Geographical Thinking

Stevenson M. Que

Department of Social Studies Education, Faculty of Education

University of the Philippines – Open University, Los Banos, Laguna

Fort Nuestra Señora dela Soledad, Guam

As we move around this planet from point A to point B, we recognize and see that not only are the coordinates where we are standing at changes. People, plants, wildlife, language, and a lot more about the world unveils its diversity right in front of you. Thinking Geographically empowers us to learn not just the differences but also the relationship of all things, living and non-living, with each other no matter how displaced they are in the world that we live in. Travelling one thousand miles westward or eastward will not change your views as compared to traveling a few hundred miles north or south from your current location. How can we explain such phenomena to ourselves? Geography.

Almost everything about the world with respect to places, location, and the environment can be understood and explained by geographical thinking. People sometimes associate Geography with just the topographical make-up of a place or region but really, it is more than that. Geography tackles the differences and presents them in a way that people can distinguish the life and environment that a place is made up of based on how it is displaced near or far apart from another. Just like the scientific method that is being used by scientists to experiment and find solutions, geography as a social science also follows the same steps of observation and data collection, data analysis, and display and presentation techniques but revolves around a central element: space (ESRI Schools and Libraries Program, 2003).

Thinking geographically for me is having that sense to analyze problems about almost anything in the world with respect to how the environment, location, and all the life that exist within its vicinity has a direct effect to whatever the problem is. Geographical thinking can provide concrete conclusions as to why the behavior of a certain tribe is viewed as a taboo on another culture. Anthropologists can best explain such cultural questions and inquiries but having a geographical standpoint on thing can empower their analysis in formulating an answer to normative questions as such. Another example I can give would be in the field of economics. On one of the books I read entitled “Why Nations Fail?” by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson (2012), a good comparison that was discussed was the case of two cities Nogales, Arizona in the USA and Nogales, Sonora in Mexico. Explaining the wide gap between two cities, or we can say a city divided by history into two, having an understanding of the ways how a place can be different even if they are directly adjacent to each other would give you the idea how things vary when it comes to the lives of the citizens living on respective cities.

Probably the most important ideas in geographical thinking is space. How space differs from one point to another, a space from another space, and all the lives and things that exist on a specific place directly affects the composition and its identity. Understanding how space affects both another space and the space itself will enable one with geographical thinking to answer questions that are beyond the clauses of geography as a social science. Understanding identity to a specific space or location depending on the demographics of the people and the composition of its environment can help anybody have a distinction to those places that can help them formulate solutions based on those identities. Another important idea is environment. Environment differs in a very dynamic sense and understanding how the surroundings both near and far can have a specific influence not just on the lives that are within the same environment but also the lives of other environment that depends on the other. A good example of this is the importance of the Amazon rainforest. Having a geographical thinking will give meaning to its importance not just to the people of Brazil or South America but also to the world since it is the largest rainforest and emits the most oxygen that is needed to sustain the lives of every living organism especially us humans.

In my own understanding, geographical techniques revolve around the same techniques within other research areas especially closely linked to history. Just like what was discussed in historical method, geographical experiments and studies for me revolve around three main stages. Data Gathering, Data Analysis, and Conclusion. Data gathering is an important part of any study. We gather as many quality data from authentic and credible data sources. Unlike history wherein facts are usually based on the people’s standpoints and accounts, geographical data is quantitative. Data about area, demographics, climate and all other geographical topics can be measured using tools and instruments that provide numeric value. Once the data has been collected, then it will be analyzed. Samples are very important because analysis of these will be the fortresses of the study that will provide theoretical frameworks on the development of conclusions. To analyze data, geographers now use GIS or Geographic Information Systems to compute the data and create visualizations from the given datasets that are fed as inputs. Visualizations vary from maps to matrices that don’t just talk about the physical component of a region but also the number of drug related Crime in Florida or to present the climate and vegetation change in the eastern United States (National Acamdemies Press, 1997). In my line of work in Marketing Analytics, we use a visualization tool called Tableau. This tool presents data into visual dashboards that can tell not just the measures but even creates a story that is beneficial to the marketing department. One of the visualizations that I use are maps to show how contacts are engaged and the rate of their engagement based on the US states that our company is catering at. Having that visualization can lead our executives into conclusions and decisions where our marketing dollars should be spent at to increase the company’s revenue. Even in the field of marketing, one can understand – through geographical techniques and thinking- how revenue can be maximized depending on the demographics and population of the people on the states that are competitive and those that needs more engagement programs.

Geography talks about the relationship between us human beings and the environment. Just as Susan Hanson suggested on one of her papers, geographers have this advantage that offers an unparalleled lens for understanding the world. This advantage can then be shared to non-geographers and can then improve their understanding and even can be advantageous to growing the number of geography practitioners (Hanson, 2004).

As a little boy, growing up memorizing the flags, capitals, and the location of all the countries in the World Map given by his uncle, I have always been fascinated by places. I had an early understanding of how people differ from place to place and that empowered me to be more understanding of the world I am living in and gave me the lenses to see the relationship between diversities. I am continually learning to think geographically, and hopefully someday I can call myself a Geographer.

References

Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J. (2012). Why Nations Fail.
ESRI Schools and Libraries Program. (2003). Geographic Inquiry: Thinking Geographically. Retrieved from https://www.esri.com/Industries/k-12/education/~/media/Files/Pdfs/industries/k-12/pdfs/geoginquiry.pdf

Geographical Association. (2012, August). Thinking Geographically. Retrieved from Geographical Association: https://www.geography.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/Support%20and%20guidance/GA_GINCConsultation_ThinkingGeographically_NC_2012.pdf

Hanson, S. (2004). Who Are ‘‘We’’? An Important Question for Geography's
Future. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 715-722.

National Acamdemies Press. (1997). Chapter: 4 Geography's Techniques. Retrieved from Rediscovering Geography: New Relevance for Science and Society: https://www.nap.edu/read/4913/chapter/6#59