the Pistang Tomasino was from Febraury 12 to 15, 2018 at the QuadriPark at the University of Santo Tomas. It an event in which local communities from different parts of the Philippines sell the product from their respective provinces or from small communities like from people at jail or from persons with disabilities. This activity aims to sell and highlight the products from small marginalized sectors of our community. This event reached the students of University of Santo Tomas and helps them understand the type of products they offer. They aim to sell in order to make profit to have money for everyday life in exchange the consumers get quality products from the hard work from the people that made the products and to showcase what they can do.
Champorado
On the first day of the Pistang Tomasino, I saw my classmate eating chaporado, and I tasted it and it was "yummy" because I was hungry at that time. The first thing I bought was a cup of champorado. they sold champorado for 20 philippine pesos per cup. the seller was very nice and polite and said the champorado was made at somewhere in cagayan. the serving for its price was okay not too much and not too little for its price. a champorado is a sweet chocolate rice porridge in filipino cuisine. it is often served hot during merienda time and sometimes during breakfast. it is beast partner with tuyo(dried fish) or with putomaya. but the philippine champorado was not the first of its kind. the first version of champorado was from mexico. it was mostly influenced by the spanish by the galleon trade. champorado's ingredients are very simple. its ingredients consists of cocoa powder, water, milk, sticky rice("malagkit" is the local term). the health benefit of eating champorado is that its main ingredient is cocoa. Cocoa is good for your heart and reduces the risk of stroke.yiiiiks
Pastillas
the second one i bought from the Pistang Tomasino is a pack of pastillas. it is also called "Pastillas de yeme" or "Pastiyema". It was very delicious you can finish one pack by yourself. Pastillas originated in the city of San Miguel in Bulacan. And it spread in the far provinces like Cagayan and Masbate. i bought 1 pack of pastillas for 20 pesos. it was worth every peso because you get 10 pieces for 20 pesos, which is a great deal for the price. Pastillas are made from cow's or carabao's milk with refined sugar. Pastillas festival is celebrated at San Miguel, Bulacan every May of the year.
Nylon bracelet
The third one the I bought was a bracelet made from nylon that the persons with disabilities made from Caloocan city. The bracelet's design was simple yet eye catching. It is very thick knowing the quality of this bracelet you'll get your money's worth with this. I bought it for only 35 pesos which is a great price. I still wear the bracelet because it has style in it and looks good, people would always compliment it.
In my opinion, the Pistang Tomasino event should be a month long event because it is a chance for the students to engage in communicating and hearing stories from people of different cultures. I am disappointed with myself because I didn't buy enough items from the bazaar which could help people who made them. I hope this event would be a regular activity at University of Santo Tomas. This event helped me in being engaged, hearing and learning stories from the people themselves.
