Images of Europe

Europe for me will always be a wonderful place to visit. Take note that I am using the word visit, meaning I do not fancy myself living there for so long, but only going there for a short period of time. I am making this distinction lest the various European embassies think that I would want to stay forever in any country there. Because that is one of the things I realized that the Europeans have ingrained in me. They welcome visitors from other parts of the world, but only for a short time. They do not want to be held responsible for you beyond your visit. I had a rude awakening back in 1997 about this policy of most (if not all) European countries. But I guess it was never enough to deter a desperate immigrant from coming and wanting to stay in Europe, even if it meant being trafficked and finding yourself married off to someone whom you have not even had a chance to meet or perhaps ending up working as a prostitute in one of the brothels in Brussels or any other city of Europe.

My first trip to Europe was in November 1997, back when the exchange rate between US Dollars and the Philippine Peso was only US$1=PhP35. The second trip would only come 4 years later, April 2001, when the exchange rate was already US$1=PhP50. Fortunately, during my second trip I was already working here in Singapore, so the exchange rate was a lot better.

For these two trips, I did not have the opportunity nor the inclination to chronicle my journey for reasons that I think are more practical than anything. Most probably the major reason is that I was too engrossed with seeing and visiting the various places of interests, to really have the time to jot down anything. And the second most important reason, I believe, is because in these two trips, I found myself traveling during the cold parts of the year. November was the end of autumn and beginning of winter while April is the end of winter and the beginning of spring. This meant that most of the times I must have felt so cold and would therefore have difficulty using my hands for writing.

So I am writing my images of Europe in retrospect, as a way of looking back at what images have remained between the intervening years since I had been there. The following essays will therefore try to chronicle my visits to Europe through the images I can still remember not only in my head, but most especially in my heart.