Going Local on Dr. Jose P. Rizal’s 154th Birthday

It’s our national hero’s birthday today so let me take you down memory lane to Jose Rizal’s life (as if I was there when he was living).  Hehe….. But I won’t feed you with too much facts from history as this may come in boring.  Instead, I’ll just give you anything I can remember from my Rizal class way back in college and from the field trip we had some two years ago with our La Salle students in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte.  As we all know, Rizal was exiled to Dapitan for his revolutionary writing against the Spanish rule in the Philippines where he spent four productive years.

This is the first historical spot you’ll see once you arrive in Dapitan.  It is just along the shore of Santa Cruz, Rizal’s landing site in 1892 now known as The Punto Del Desembarco de Rizal.  The boulevard is spacious like a park where you can stroll around, enjoying the calming sea breeze.

Moving further down the street, you’ll reach Rizal Shrine.  Entering its gates, you’ll be welcomed by the statue of Dr. Rizal which is exactly in his own size.

Before touring around, a lecture was given in the amphitheater so we got our students seated down for more particulars on Rizal’s projects, whereabouts, whatabouts, and even love life.

So when we had our sightseeing, we were already filled with enthusiasm to get the feel of the place where Rizal set foot on.

The photo above is the elevated nipa hut which is called Casa Residencia, a replica of Rizal’s house where he lived with Josephine Bracken, his common-law foreigner wife in Dapitan.

The preceding image is also a replica of Rizal’s kitchen which is detached from the house.

And this is the replica of Rizal’s clinic where he voluntarily attends to his patients with or without pay (‘coz paying in kind was also accepted).

Jose Rizal’s artworks and other memorabilia are also exhibited in a modern-day building where you can buy keychains and other handmade souvenirs for pasalubong.

 

And a field trip would never be complete without goofing around doing pictorial!  Excuse us for being pasaway teachers even for just these snapshots.

Thank you to the kind staff of Rizal Shrine in Dapitan!  ‘Till our next field trip for our Rizal course! 🙂 #tosomtravels

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