Introduction

The other day, I was prowling the aisles of a fancy market near my home in Greenwich Village when a man came up and thrust his hand at me. “I’m Ilocano, too,” he said warmly. I had forgotten I was wearing a souvenir T-shirt from the Philippine province of Ilocos Norte. My newly found countryman looked a little disappointed when I explained I’d just been a tourist on his native turf.