Jose Rizal First Travel Abroad

Chapter 4- Rizal’s First Travel Abroad Rizal’s Departure * May 3, 1882 Rizal left the Philippines boarded the spanish steamer SS Salvadora bound for Singapore. * Rizal’s Departure for Spain was kept secret to avoid detection by the spanish authorities and the friars. Even his own parents did not know because he knew they would not allow him to go, especially his mother. * The captain of the ship was Donato Lecha from Austria. * May 9, 1882 Salvadora Docked in Singapore. * May 11,1882 Rizal transferred to another ship Djemnah, A French Vessel for Europe. May 17, 1882 Djemnah Reach Point Galle A seacoast town in Southern Ceylon (Now Sri Lanka). * The following day the Djemnah weighed anchor and resumed the voyage towards Colombo, The capital of Ceylon. * From Colombo the Djemnah continued the voyage crossing Indian Ocean to the Cape of Guardufui, Africa. Which Rizal called â€Å" Inhospitable land but famous†. * The next stopover was in Aden. He was amused t o see the camels for the first time. * From Aden, the Djemnah continued to voyage to the city of Suez.He saw the Suez Canal for the first time and he was thrilled to saw it, in which was built by Ferdinand De Lesseps ( A French Diplomat Engineer). * June 11,1882 The ship docked at Naples an Italian City, He was fascinated by Mt. Vesivius, The Castle of St. Telmo. * On the night of June 12,1882 the steamer docked at Marseilles. He visited the Famous Chateau D’if where Dantes is a hero of the Count of Monte Cristo from Alexander Dumas novel. * Travelling from train he crossed the Pyreness, stopped for a day at frontier town of Port Bou. After the passport inspection at Port Bou, Rizal arrived at Barcelona. Arrival in Barcelona * June 16,1882 Rizal arrived in Barcelona. * His first impression of Barcelona was unfavorable but it changed and he began to like the city because of its atmospheric of freedom and liberalism. * He wrote an essay entitled â€Å"Amor Patrio† (Love of the country), Rizal sent this article to Basilio Teodoro Moran (Publisher of Diariong Tagalog). Rizal’s studied in Madrid * Rizal followed the advice of his older brother Paciano to finish his medical course in Madrid in the fall of 1882. He enrolled a course: Medicine and Philosophy & Letters at the Universidad Central de Madrid at the same time he studied paintings and sculpture in the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. * Rizal economized his daily expenses until he was able to buy second hand books and built a fair size library of his own. * During his first summer vacation, Rizal decided to visit Paris on June 17. 1883 to August 20,1883. Rizal Joins Masonry * March 1883 Rizal joined Masonic Lodge called ACACIA in Madrid and became a Master Mason on November 15, 1890. Luna and Hidalgo’s Triumph * After 2 years in Spain things went wrong in Philippines. Rizal experienced financial problems due to calamities happened. * Rizal monthly allowance were delayed, ther e were a times that he missed meals during the day. * A touching incident in Rizal’s life in Madrid occurred on June 24, 1884, Because he was broke, he was unable to take breakfast that day. With an empty stomach, he attended class at the university and participated in the contest in Greek Language and he won the gold medal. * In the evening of the same day, he was able to eat dinner because he was a guest speaker in a banquet held in honor of Juan Luna and Felix Resurrecion at Restaurant Ingles, Madrid.Completion of Rizal studies. * Rizal completed his Medical Course in Spain on June 21,1884 * Nov. 20-22, 1884 Rizal involved in student demonstration caused by the address of Dr. Miguel Morayta proclaiming â€Å" The Freedom of Science and The Teacher†. Rizal in Germany and His Practice of Ophthalmology * Rizal chose to specialize in Ophthalmology because he wanted to cure his mother’s eye ailment. * Nov. 1885, Rizal living in Paris for 4 months and he worked as an assistant to Dr. Louis de Weckert until Feb. 1886. * Because of his homesickness he wrote a fine poem â€Å" A las flores de Heidelberg† (To the flowers of Heidelberg).