Dr. Jose Rizal

He was a shorty, but apparently very popular with the ladies!
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Many reading this will think to themselves, "what does Jose Rizal have to do with traveling?" Granted, I am writing this because I just happened to read his life and selected works while here in the Philippines, but he was also an avid adventurer and even wrote essays on the importance of travel to one's education. AND, it seems that everywhere I go in the Philippines, there are roads, parks, buildings, and monuments named after and dedicated to him. This is why this piece is so fitting in a travel journal!

Almost the exact spot where Rizal was executed by firing squad, right infront of the historic Malete Church. The Statue was erected as a memorial to Rizal. (If I am wrong and somebody reading this knows it, please correct me!)
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I have now read Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not), El Filibusterismo, The Council of Gods, and one of his biographies. Rizal, one the Philippines’ national heroes, was conversational in roughly 20 languages, a world-renown optomologist, philanthropist, historian, and author among other things. He wrote the Noli to bring light to the abuses that the Philippine people suffered under Spanish rule – topics which no one dared talk about openly, hence the title. In fact, he was tried and killed for it when he was only 35.

Despite the serious topic, it was written as a satire and is so much fun to read! Rizal used his characters to illustrate the ills and excesses of Philippine society at that time, and are so extreme that they are at times laughable. However, when the Spanish authorities charged that Rizal exaggerated the situation, Rizal countered that every situation he wrote about in the book were real situations, and that most of the characters are some friends and family members. It was a novel, but very must based in reality.

While the Noli was written to highlight the social problems Rizal wanted to fight, the Fili attempts to suggest solutions. Both touch on philosophical questions that deal with patriotism, the nature of patriotism, and freedom. Both were written when many in the Philippines called for independence from Spain, so I cannot help but think about the United States’ own history. I think it would benefit American students to read atleast the Noli, because of the way it deals with philosophical questions of state, but also because it is one of the best-written books I've ever read. Rizal is truly one of the most amazing human beings that ever lived.