BERN, Switzerland (MindaNews / 18 Jan) – Nearly five months after he started his attempt to walk back to the Philippines, Thomas Kellenberger got the recharge that he had sorely missed in his often lonely walk: Filipino food in his stomach and the company of Filipinos in his table.
Last Friday in Istanbul, Thomas was eating a lunch of Filipino food at “Mama Jens Eatery,” a restaurant opened last year by Jenny Ozdil, a Filipina married to a Turkish citizen. The meal was a treat by local Filipinas in Istanbul who had agreed to meet him and Sining Tanedo Bruni, a member of Thomas’ support group in Switzerland who had flown in to cheer him up.
According to one of the local hosts, Mariegin Ignacio or Gina, Thomas had enjoyed very much the meal of inasal na manok, tinolang baka, beef kare-kare and embutido – along with a welcome cake of strawberry and chocolate that she had brought for dessert.
“Marami siyang nakain lalo na yung kare-kare,” Gina said of Thomas. But what amazed the Filipinas was the way that Thomas mixed his soup with the rice that was served, which they said was distinctly Filipino. “Pilipino na siya!” they remarked.
Added Gina: “Yung mga Turkish husbands nga namin, hiwalay yung sabaw at ang kanin kung kumain nun.”
Although the conversation was in mixed Tagalog and English, the Filipinas were also surprised that Thomas could speak Bisaya fluently. “Parang na-miss niyang magsalita ng Bisaya, masaya siya pag nag-Bisaya,” observed Gina.
“It was great, especially since we had very nice food. We had a good time today I think,” said Thomas when I asked him about the meeting over a Zoom call.
And what did the Filipinas want to know about him? “They asked how many countries I walked across and how many more I need to cross; also what is my route and how is Cagayan de Oro today… and also how I spent Christmas and whether I don’t miss the Philippines.”
“Then they told me their lives here in Turkey, about Turkish husbands, about other Filipinos here in Istanbul, some chismis how some groups here don’t get along….”
And also: “One of them was interested to know if I was married or not, and when I said “no,” she said it was probably difficult in a relationship like this if I was going to be away for a long time. But she said ‘you must find someone who has similar interests like you and who will support your work’.”
And then Thomas laughs: “I think all of them are praying for me to find a partner. It was expected that they would ask me about that.”
I knew that Thomas had grown accustomed to the ways of the Filipino, and that he was already comfortable with the Filipino trait of directly asking personal questions from a stranger or a first-time acquaintance, something that would unsettle foreigners.
But on that Friday, Thomas was already in Istanbul after walking a total of 140 days or some 2,800 kilometers from his starting point of Switzerland, and the next day he would simply cross over a bridge to reach the Asian part of Istanbul in the east. And so, I thought, he must have felt he was nearer to home in the company of these Filipinas.
I also felt that the meeting was a well-deserved treat for Thomas who is trying to raise funds for his children’s foundation in Cagayan de Oro; for someone who had walked alone for most of the way; and who had survived the danger of getting lost in forests and was forced to pitch camp in unfamiliar terrain; or who had struggled with cold weather and even the unexpected fierce winds or rainstorms along his route.
Another time in Kosovo, Thomas struggled with a gastric problem that had turned serious (it turned out he had an infection of the esophagus) that he was afraid at that time that he would be forced to call off his walk.
Did the Filipinas even realize how dangerous some parts of his trip were? “About my trek,” said Thomas, “some said to me that it’s a bit risky, and also that it’s crazy to be walking alone without company.”
But always there is the Filipino’s attitude to make light of difficult situations. Gina herself said that when they were contacted by Anny Hefti, a good friend and supporter of Thomas (whom Gina had met through other Filipina groups in Europe), Gina had joked to the other Filipinas: “Sabi ko sa kanila, o may naglalakad na Swiso papuntang Pilipinas, dalhin na lang ninyo ang mga papers ninyo at sumama na lang kayo para mas masaya ang lakad niya!”
“Yung mga nag-complain na mahal na ang pamasahe pauwi, pwede nang sumama na lang ke Thomas na maglakad pauwi!” adds Gina with a laugh.
The other Filipinas also had an idea for Thomas over lunch: “Sabi namin ke Thom, bakit hindi siya gumawa ng channel niya at mag-vlog sa Youtube para mai-share namin? Yung ginagawa mo is so interesting, walang ibang nakakagawa niyan na naglalakad, you are visiting beautiful views na hindi namin naaabot, yung dumadaan ka sa mga magandang bundok.”
And then Gina added something that is so currently Filipino. “Why don’t Thomas make a vlog sa Youtube? He can earn at tulong na rin yun sa foundation niya. Para bang si Kulas!” (“Kulas” is the Filipinized name of Kyle Jennerman, a Canadian who has become popular in the Philippines for going around the archipelago and posting his travel vlogs, and who has enamored the locals by learning their dialects and their unique ways.)
From what I could reconstruct of the lunch, the easy banter between Thomas and the Filipinas went back and forth. “Tinanong namin kung saan siya sa Switzerland dahil yung mga Pilipina dito nanood ng ‘Crash Landing on You’ and he said he lives near that place (Iseltwald). But Thomas told us that he is not going to Switzerland, uuwi daw siya sa Cagayan de Oro.” Touché, Thomas!
And it seems to me that Thomas made the last point too. “One Filipina asked me if I was a member of an expedition going to the Philippines,” Thomas told me over Zoom. “An expedition? I told her I am not really an expedition, I told her I’m just trying to walk home.” (Brady Eviota for MindaNews)
You can track Thomas on his trek or keep in touch with him via Instagram accounts (islandkidsphilippines or Kellenberger Thomas), his Facebook account (Kellenberger Thomas) or on the Island Kids Philippines website (www.islandkids.ch).
(Brady Eviota wrote and edited for the now defunct Media Mindanao News Service in Davao and also for SunStar Cagayan de Oro. He is from Surigao City and now lives in Bern, the Swiss capital located near the Bernese Alps.)