Lesson 8

THE FIRST JOURNEY TO EUROPE

          The secret mission to Spain was the agreement between Jose and his brother
Paciano. After his four years of Medicine course in UST, Jose decided to follow the
advice of his brother Paciano to leave the country and travel to Spain. The first reason
why he needed to leave was to pursue his medical course and second was to observe
the political situation in Madrid. It was only Paciano, Antonio Rivera, his friend
Chenggoy and the family of Orang who knew about his departure. His former teacher in
Ateneo also gave him a letter of recommendation to the Jesuit House in Barcelona in
case he needed assistance. His parents did not know that when he kissed their hands
before he left Calamba on May 1, 1882, that it would take many years before they could
see their son again. Before he left, his brother handed him $56 that he would use for his
travel, his passport using the name Jose Mercado and a first-class ticket for the
cruise Salvadora.

          On May 2, 1882, he visited the family of Orang. Orang's mother gave him a can of
cookies called sopas and a box of chocolate that he would consume on his travels. The
night before he left, he had the opportunity to talk to Orang Valenzuela.

           On May 3, 1882 at 5:00, he heard Mass at Santo Domingo church and then
Chenggoy, Antonio Rivera and his cousin Gella accompanied him to the dock near
Magallanes monument. He rode the cruise Salvadora and as the ship started to leave
Manila, Jose became emotional because he was not able to say goodbye to his parents
and to Leonor Rivera. On May 8, 1882, their cruise reached Singapore. He immediately
traveled to different parts of the country and visited the gardens, the Buddhist temple,
the monument of Stamford Raffles and the market where he bought his personal things.
He admired the Chinese architecture and the freedom of religion in Singapore which
was evident in different churches in the country.

           On May 11, 1882, he rode the cruise of Djemah going to Ceylon (old name of Sri
Lanka). His ticket was for first class so he would enjoy a first-class cabin, with carpeted
floor, bed with springs, curtain and wash basin. Most of the passengers of the cruise
were French and because of this Jose practiced the French language that he learned
during his Ateneo days but he knew that he needed to study more to become fluent in
the language. They reached Ceylon on May 17, 1882. Jose was enchanted because of
the beautiful scenery in the island and according to Rizal this was one of the most
beautiful islands that he had seen, however, it was full of loneliness. From Ceylon they
travelled to North Africa and Rizal described Africa as a country with hot climate. Then,
they travelled to Suez Canal for five days. Their next stop over was in Port Said in Egypt,
in this place Rizal observed the multicultural city since he saw different people speaking
in different languages like Arabic, Greek, Italian, Spanish and Egyptian.

           On June 11, 1882, Djemnah reached Naples in Italy. Rizal admired the panoramic
beauty by the bay and then their cruise reached Marseilles. He enjoyed his tour in this
city because he wanted to visit the place of his favorite writer Alexander Dumas. After
three days, he travelled to Barcelona using train.

           On June 16, 1882, he reached Barcelona and he learned that he ran out of cash
and the money that left to him was only seven pesos which was not enough to rent a
dormitory. So, he used the letter, of recommendation that his teachers from Ateneo
handed to him and the Jesuit in Barcelona helped him and lent him money. Because of
insufficient money, he first rented a room in Barcelona which cost only 11 pesos.

           The room did not pass the taste of Rizal but he had no other choice. His room
had a brick floor, dirty, hard bed there was no mirror and the wash basin was broken.
His first impression of Barcelona was negative because he viewed it as an ugly and dirty
place. However, when his brother Paciano was able to send him money, he transferred
to a more expensive room that suited his taste.

LIFE IN BARCELONA AND MADRID

          Since he arrived in Spain during the summer vacation, he had the opportunity to
travel to different parts of the city and meet the other Filipinos living in the city. His
former classmates in Ateneo who resided in Madrid prepared a party for Rizal which was
held at Plaza Cataluna. And while waiting for the start of the classes, he wrote an essay
which reflected how he loved and missed his country. He wrote his first nationalistic
essay in Barcelona entitled El Amor Patrio. This essay was published in Diariong
Tagalog on August 20, 1882 and was translated in Tagalog by Marcelo H. del Pilar.

           When his brother Paciano learned that he was staying in Barcelona, he wrote a
letter to Jose and reminded him about his secret mission in going to Spain. On
November 3, 1882, Rizal was enrolled in Universidad Central de Madrid under the
course of Medicine and Philosophy and Letters. However, while waiting for the start of
classes in Madrid, he also enrolled in Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando for painting
and he also travelled to different historical places and museums. Because of his
engagement in different lessons and the difficulty, Paciano was having in sending him
money for his allowance, he had a hard time budgeting his money. Sometimes,
according to his diary, he would only eat biscuit for each meal or sometimes he would
just go to different restaurants in Madrid and let his eyes enjoy the food because his
money was not enough to buy food for his meal.

           Aside from his studies and other art lessons, he had the opportunity to meet
Consuelo Ortiga y Perez, the daughter of Don Pablo, the former mayor of Manila during
the time of administration of Governor General Carlos Maria de la Torre. He fell in love
with Consuelo but because Eduardo de Lete was courting Consuelo, he did not pursue
his feelings for Consuelo and instead he wrote a poem which showed his admiration to
this lady.

MI PIDEN VERSOS

         In his stay in Madrid, he also joined the Circulo Hispano Filipino, an organization of
the Filipino and Spaniards who wanted to ask for reform from the government. And
under this organization, he wrote Mi Piden Versos (They Ask Me for Verses), a poem
which showed the sadness of the son of art who lived on a place away from his origin.

 RIZAL IN PARIS

         On July 17, 1883, he travelled to Paris. He visited the different tourist spots in the
city, the museums, the Opera House, Cathedral of Notre Dame, Bois de Boulogne,
Madelaine Church, the Column of Vendome, the lnvalides and the libraries. But because
he was mistaken as a Japanese, the prices for his food, accommodation and entrance
fees were more expensive than other people of other nationalities. Aside from the
different historical places, Rizal had the opportunity to visit some restaurants in Paris
and this was described in the letter that he sent to his sister Maria. Rizal could not afford
the high cost of living in Paris so he decided to go back to Madrid.

RIZAL JOINED THE MASONRY

         In Madrid, Rizal was able to meet different personalities with liberal ideas like
Miguel Morayta, Francisco Margal and other people who were brave to openly criticize
the government and friars during their time. Ala these people were part of the Masonic
Lodge so Rizal also joined the Masonry hoping that he could utilize the Free Masonry as
his shield against the friars who according to him were the hindrance for the
development and reform of the society in the Philippines. On February 15, 1884, he
received his diploma as the Master Mason.

THE TOAST FOR LUNA AND HIDALGO

         On June 25, 1884, the Filipinos in Madrid had a gathering to celebrate Juan Luna's
success because his painting Spolarium gained gold medal and Felix Resurrecion
Hidalgo's Christian Virgins Exposed to Populance received a Silver medal on a
prestigious painting competition in Madrid. And Jose Rizal, who was not able to take his
meal for the whole day was requested to deliver an impromptu speech that would be a
salute for the two Filipino painters.

THE CONCEPTS OF BRINDIS

1. The independence of the Philippines in the future because the Filipinos already
had education from Spain and their achievements were recognized abroad.
2. The genius could come from any nations so the people in a particular race should
not treat themselves as superior.
3. The talents and intelligence of the Filipinos are innate and Spain gave them
education which polished their capabilities.
4. The Filipinos are ready for the reforms that the Spanish government will give.
5. The Union of Spain and the Philippines is not impossible and he recognized the
contributions of Spain for our country.
6. The credit should be given to Juan Luna, Felix Hidalgo, to the students who
choose to be apart from their families to continue their education and to the
parents who worked hard and bore the longing for their children for the sake of
their education.

THE ACADEMIC RECORDS OF RIZAL IN UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL DE MADRID

         Despite of his financial difficulties, Jose Rizal was able to do his responsibilities as a
student in Madrid. During his vacant time, he did not waste time but he consumed his
free hours in going to the library, attended different seminars and lectures and went to
various feasts. On June 21, 1884, Rizal completed his medical studies and attained the
title of Licentiate in Medicine.

         In 1884, after earning his Licentiate in Medicine, Rizal continued his studies for
Doctorate in Medicine. However, because, of financial difficulties, he was not able to
present his thesis and get the title as Doctor of Medicine.

RIZAL, ASSIMILATION AND PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT

         The Filipino illustrado in Madrid between the year 1880 to 1885 had a secret
mission to inform the Spanish government in Madrid about the true condition of the
Philippines under their colonial government. This is due of their assumption at the
administration of Spain is not aware about the abusive policies of the assigned Spanish
officers in the Philippines. Equipped with high education their literary talents, the Filipino
illustrado contributed articles to their newspaper, La Solidaridad to enlighten the minds
of the Spaniards and other Filipinos about the real condition of the country. The
triumvirates of the organization were Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena and Dr.
Jose Rizal. Among the contributors of the newspaper, it was Jose Rizal who was the
most diligent in writing and brave to defend the Filipino.
  

THE CONFLICT BETWEEN JOSE RIZAL AND ANTONIO LUNA

          Antonio Luna and Jose Rizal were close friends but when Antonio knew at Nely
Boustead, the lady whom he was courting had special feelings for Jose Rizal their
friendship was shaken. In one incident, when Antonio was drunk, he stated negative
things about Nelly and Rizal did not like the words that Antonio said so he challenged
Luna to a duel. Being an expert in guns and swords, Rizal was confident that he would
win the duel but the other Filipinos present prevented the duel to happen. After the
incident, Antonio realized his mistakes and talked to Rizal. Upon realizing that Nelly was
in love with Rizal, Antonio just helped Rizal win the heart of Nelly Boustead.
  

THE CONFLICT BETWEEN RIZAL AND WENCESLAO RETANA

          Wenceslao wrote an article which stated that the Domican friars evicted Rizal’s
family from their land in Calamba which they rented from the Dominican because Rizal's
family did not pay enough amount to the corporation. And because of the negative
comments of Retana about his family, he challenged Retana to a duel but again having
in mind that Rizal was an expert in gun and sword, Ketana did not agree to the
challenge.
  

THE CONFLICT BETWEEN MARCELO H. DEL PILAR AND RIZAL

          Marcelo H. del Pilar and Rizal had a conflict because of leadership. The members
in the association were divided as Pilarist (for del Pilar) and Rizalist (for Rizal) and to
end the conflict they held an election. On the first election, Rizal won the presidency but
did not get the minimum vote needed, in the second election, Rizal again won the
presidency but again did not get the minimum vote needed and in the third election
finally Rizal got the minimum vote needed. However, Rizal did not accept the leadership
because of the lack of unity. The conflict between Rizal and Marcelo was published in La
Solidaridad which was opposed by Rizal. The conflict of Rizal with other reformists made
him think that his real battle was in the Philippines so inspite of the advice of his other
friends and family for him not to go back to the country, he decided to return to the
Philippines.