Blog Reflection

I've been trying to look for a certain word to describe my experience but the only word that I truly felt would justify it is "short." It was short because I feel like I learned so much, but I'm no wear near where I want to be. I've been working on my physical project ever since January, but hilot has been in my life even before I've arrived in America back in 1999. It was already embedded in my culture. My father often spoke of it when I was young and I remember  massaging him back in elementary school. Before the Capstone, I was massaging my friends and family without any training because I was already engaged to the art. The "Gaea" massages grew and improved into actual hilot. And that's all thanks to my mentor, Adriano Mata.

As for the Capstone Project as a whole, it has been stressful. Dating back to October 24, 2012, the day all seniors were assigned the Capstone and coincidentally my birthday, I knew that I wanted to work with eastern medicine. Moreover, I wanted to learn how to help people feel better with the culture I was born in.

The Capstone got me to get to know myself a little better. I learned to keep calm under pressure, even when  I'm a nervous wreck. I gained a lot of experience with hilot and with people. I got to know how to comfort people through touch, I learned comparisons and contrasts between eastern and western medicine, and pushed me to reconnect with my culture.

The most challenging part of the Capstone for me was the paper. I have always been able to write, but I had a really hard time figuring out what I was going to talk about and how I was going to write an effective argumentative paper. I knew that I was going to do hilot before I thought about my paper but I had a lot of trouble figuring out how I was going to incorporate that in my paper topic. After a dead end outline, a confusing peer draft, and a mediocre teacher draft, I finally got it right. I rewrote the entire structure and content of my paper and earned a 92%. Although Mr. Migdail spelled my name wrong on the grading rubric, I did not care one bit. The frustration and stress was worth it when I took that gasp of surprise when Ms. Wenzell handed me that rubric. Although the heaviest percentage of the project was over, I still had to follow through with the physical portion of the project.

In the beginning, I was really uncomfortable and awkward with my mentor because we could not even communicate. When it came down to business, however, all he needed to do was show me how to do it and I needed to follow. As the months past, I got more comfortable visiting Mang Adring, whether it was for a massage after one of my tournaments or him evaluating me, I really felt myself grow. I did a lot of practice by myself and when I felt ready, I started massaging my friends more. It became a habit. When I noticed someone uncomfortable, I massaged their shoulders. From quick shoulder massages to full on body massages with oil and the table, I improved a lot. As my blogs reflect, my hands did get stronger and I got more familiar with the techniques and the body. At the end, Mang Adring told me that I'm the only one he was and is willing to teach. Since he won't be here for ever, I will do my best to perfect my technique to become a manghihilot.

Now I plan to continue my apprenticeship with Mang Adring. I know that I won't be able to become a professional manghihilot here, but I will certainly take these unique skills to medical offices as well as my daily life. I still plan to pursue a career in the medical industry, but maybe take a different turn and do business managing or computer managing in hospitals and things in that direction.

My Capstone experience has been short, but it was not at all empty. This past school year has been filled with papers, typing, massaging, and experiencing all that I can. Capstone has taught me a lot about myself, where I'm lacking, and what and how I can improve. I have a lot to learn, and I feel like the Capstone was the intro class to something a lot bigger than a senior exit project. It introduced me to the human body, my culture, my mentor, myself, and a simple way to make people feel better on a daily basis. I just want to say a maraming salamat (thank you very much) to those who I massaged, to April Dela Fuente, to Mang Adring, to Mr. Migdail, and to Ms. Wenzell. Maraming Salamat, Po!!

Hour 26

The final hour of my Capstone project was spent at Mang Adring's home office. We talked about my experience and we went over the mentor evaluation sheet with my father as our translator. That took a long time because it took some time to ask the questions and translate it and also receiving his response and translating that as well.

We talked about his experiences with hilot. The conversation went similarly with the first hour ever back in January and I thought that that was a good book ending way to complete my hours.

He went on and said that I am his first and last apprentice. I felt truly honored and privileged because I seriously thought that I was not going to be the only one. I am definitely going to continue learning under his instruction well beyond the Capstone. The Capstone is what started my apprenticeship, but the simple sake of keeping hilot alive in my life is what's going to finish it.

Mang Adring signing the mentor evaluation sheet.

Hour 25

After my massage, I massaged my father, Eric, under Mang Adring's supervision. My father has been going to Mang Adring since 1999 so I thought that his experience would be the best for comparing my skill to Mang Adring's.

I did what I've been doing for the past several months. I was a bit nervous, but I just did what I knew and followed through with it. Mang Adring did not say anything throughout the massage. Just watched, and that made me ridiculously nervous. Even though I felt a lot of pressure, I think I performed well. After I was done, I was relieved that it was over but I was really nervous about Mang Adring's evaluation.

After the massage, we talked about it and I will further elaborate in the next hour/blog.

Hour 24

The second hour at Mang Adring's home office consisted of Mang Adring massaging me. I finally got the massage after these past few months. After months of stress, playing, and massaging other people, I really felt a lot better after the hilot. There was a lot of build up of knots in my shoulder and all over my upper back. Mang Adring was concerned and asked about it but I told him that it was because of the usual. My condition was nothing new to Mang Adring so he followed through with routine and massaged my full body.

Below is a short clip of him massaging me. Like usual, I asked questions that popped up in my head throughout the massage.

Hour 23

May 13, 2013

I went to Mang Adring's home office for a couple hours. The first hour consisted of me going through my experiences and asking him questions I came across while massaging people. My father assisted me in translating and communicating with Mang Adring.

It was really good seeing my mentor again, especially since he was away in the Philippines for the past couple months. I'm really thankful for the Capstone project because it pushed me to ask him to become my mentor and get out of my comfort zone. The conversation we had made me realize how much I appreciate my culture and how precious it is to me. Without the Capstone, I would not have built this kind of relationship with Mang Adring. Even though he is my mentor, and I his apprentice, I look up to him more as a great uncle or somewhat of a grandfather figure. Sadly, I don't remember by grandparents and they all have passed away, but I feel like I have a connection with that wise people through Mang Adring.

Hour 22

May 12, 2013

In my second to last game today, I got major cramps in both of my calves and above the left knee on my left thigh. I tried playing through it, but I couldn't even take a step without my muscles twisting up.

I was subbed out and I did what I was used to, stretching it out and drank a lot of gatorade. My sister, Sarina, came around and stretched and massaged me out. 

She stretched me out normally and then she started doing hilot on both my calves. Since I've massaged her before, she was a bit familiar with the spots and techniques, but I still had to coach her through it. 

I was in a lot of pain, but she did a really good job massaging my calves out. 

In my last game, the cramp above my left knee was acting up so I kept massaging and pounding on it on the court. It was my last game so I did not want to sit out. I wanted to fight. 

When I went to the physical trainer after my day was done, he said just to keep massaging and stretching it out. He said that a foam roller would help, but it does the same thing as massaging and stretching it out yourself.

This made me think about the comparison between Western and Eastern medicine. This little exchange with the PT made me think that hilot is legitimate in the eyes of the west because it shares similar techniques. Even if the teachings and philosophies are different, they aim to help and heal people and I'm really leaning towards doing that as a profession. I'm not 100% sure if I want to pursue it as a career, but I want it to definitely be one of my options.

Hour 21

May 11, 2013
My Teamates

This weekend was my last club tournament ever and it was awesome! Saturday was exhausting, though.

I arrived in Reno late the previous night around midnight. I wanted to rest up because I knew I had a long day the following day.

We started playing at 3PM and our last game didn't end until 11:15PM. Even though my shoulder was hurting and my patella tendinitis was acting up, I was feeling the pain and exhaustion my team was going through. So being the aspiring manghihilot that I am, I gave everyone a quick shoulder massage during our break to relieve some strain from the mind and bodies.

We were exhausted because we were missing two of our players, one of which was a starting libero (defensive player) and the other a main offensive hitter. Everyone was hurting, but we all powered through.

My girls couldn't stop thanking me. The only one that had experienced it before was Tyler and she already knew I was good at it. She even said I improved. Everyone else were impressed with how strong my hands were. It was weird to me because it's really easy for me to find knots, but most of them have never felt them before. It was fun explaining where they were and why they were there. It distracted us from how tired we really were.

Twenty more, five more to go.