I am an Igorot living in the mountain region of northern New Mexico, USA at 8,250 feet surrounded by pines and streams. I did not serve with the 66th Infantry of the Cordilleras but with some other infantry yes.. hehe. I feel very connected to the Land even though it is Land far from where Ilokano is spoken. My Papa (born 1925) spoke Ilokano but there is no prying Ilokano from his lips any further. 😭 🙏🏾 My goal is to learn Ilokano and eventually write poetry in Ilokano about my life in the wild green hills I love...along the way I wish to learn more about Igorot ways. I cannot help that I am an Americanized Igorot...as I have lived away from my ancestral lands all my life...I feel a connection to all living things and my house with a green roof is home to many small creatures that move about as freely as they wish...I am most famous for my accomplishments as a free heel skier, the ancestral way of skiing in which the heel is not fixed but is free to travel up and down. When people see me skiing their eyes grow wide! Maybe they have never seen an Igorot ski before?? Hehe...they should know how we love moving in the mountains! 😄 If there is any advice for how to start learning Ilokano I am happy to hear it...as well as to learn as much as I can of Igorot ways of moving through the world... 🙏🏾