travel warning to the philippines

the philippines is one of 26 countries that the u.s. state department has issued travel warnings for. today, the university of illinois decided to follow these prohibitions, saying that students should make a case first why they need to fly to the country they're studying before the school can give them funding and assistance.

of course i'm miffed. my cheeks burned a bit. my head starting calculating which organizations and u.s. departments to target, how to petition, how to remove the philippines' name from that list.

this isn't the first time we're on that list. it's been several years since i was last in the philippines, and at that time, u.s. tourists were kidnapped for the millions they're supposedly able to ransom.

if i were kidnapped, i would start a conversation with the kidnapper. so you think i'm rich? what makes you think that? do you know that it took me over a year to save for just my plane ticket for this trip? but i'm sure you're just stealing me because you need extra money for food, which you already have, because you still live at home with your parents who actually work. i think you just want money to pay for a VISA to leave the philippines.

read this link. it's sensitively written, in case people like me get to read it. ;-)