Rizal Class 10-30-20

His medical and other studies went smoothly that in 1884, he graduated and obtained a licentiate
degree in medicine and in the following year, he also finished his second course, philosophy and letters.

By obtaining a licentiate in medicine, Rizal was not technically a doctor of medicine because to be so, he
must also finish that degree which was not really out of his reach since the additional degree was only
an examination, fees, and a thesis away.

He just contented himself with a licentiate since according to him, that degree had made him a fulfledge
physician who can practice the medical profession anywhere. Take note of the word anywhere class
because that distinguished his medical profession from the the medical professionals we have in our
country right now.

Furthermore, he also said that the doctorate degree was only good if he intended to teach in the
medical school but since he knew that no medical school ruined by Friars in the Philippines will hire an
Indio, that would be useless.

As I mentioned earlier in our class that he had some paisanos in Madrid, before leaving the capital city,
he made an interesting and daring impact in their propaganda movement.

The first one was about a proposal for the to write stories about the Philippines in an expose' form to
reveal the real condition of their country to the whole world and by doing it collectively, he expected to
generate sympathy from other people who might be willing to help the Filipinos.

According to Rizal, his proposal was warmly welcomed and everyone of his paisanos expressed their
willingness to cooperate but when he started his own part and waited for others to finish, he found that
none of them wrote even a single word because again according to him, his paisanos were busy doing
other things like gambling and womanizing with Spanish women.

Although disappointed, he kept his cool and went on to do it on his own which a couple of years after
became his first novel.

Another one was a speech he was asked to deliver during a banquet held in honor to two of their
paisanos who had just won first and second in a painting contest in Madrid.

The two were Juan Luna and Felix Resurrecion Hidalgo who won first, the Spoliarium, and second,
Christian Virgins Exposed to the Masses respectively.

According to Rizal, he also joined the contest, but he said that being admitted as one of the contestants
was enough consolation for him.

At the Hotel de Ingles, on June 25 of 1884, after getting one of his final exams, he in sonorous Castilian,
delivered what his biographer, Zaide described as a spellbinding speech which his friends called the
"Brindis".

The word Brindis means toast or cheer.

In the Brindis, he congratulated the two painter by considering them as the glory of both the Philippines
and Spain, and for being legitimate geniuses of the Filipino race.

But what was special and dangerous about the speech was Rizal's open and public criticism against
those who looked down upon the Filipino race as Indios which everyone in the banquet knew were the
Friars in the Philippines.

Rizal by criticizing the Friars, said that they were short sighted in concluding that the Indios are incapable
of accomplishing something great as proven by the victories of Luna and Hidalgo.

Since his group had invited some reporters to cover the event, what he said got published and copies of
the publication saw its way to Manila and got read by the Friars.

And since the Friars were not use to being criticized publicly, thought of Rizal as a no good troublemaker
and wanted to punish him.

But he was out of their reach for the time being.

The repercussion however of his speech was felt in the Philippines by his family and friends.

Immediately his sister Saturnina wrote to him that if he was intending to come soon, he should
postponed it until the issue had died down and the Friars had forgotten about him.

His brother also warned him not to provoke the Friars because the Friars in Calamba, had been good to
their family by letting them lease a good piece of land in Pansol.

A friend in Manila, Jose ma. Cecilia had almost the same warning and advise but added that if he could
not avoid returning home, he must first secure a British or a German citizenship.

You know class, Rizal was offered by several countries citizenships later in his life to give him immunity
from the Spanish persecution, but he turned it down.

After the Brindis , many ominous words were said to Rizal especially if he really wanted to go home. But
he was not yet planning to go home because he had planned to specialize in ophthalmology first by
apprenticing in France and Germany.

And he also wanted to finish and published his first novel.

So from Madrid, he traveled to Paris, France where he got very lucky to be admitted in the eye clinic of
the most renowned ophthalmologist in Europe and perhaps the whole world, Dr. Louis de Wicker.

Lucky in the sense that he was the only Asian admitted among more than a hundred trainees who
assisted in more than fifty eye operations per day using the most advanced and newly invented medical
equipment.

With the facility at his side, he bragged to his family that was close to mastering the anatomy of the
human eye.

He also polished his French language and got to know how to live a Parisian life and at the time, found
some inspiration in writing his novel and other pieces by being surrounded by many famous structures
and arts while in Paris.
The Eiffel Tower was already standing when he was in Paris, so as the louvre and other famous
structures.

But he seemed not contented because he again trained in the eye clinic of Dr. Otto Becker in Germany.

According to Rizal, Becker was an excellent ophthalmologist but not as renowned compared to de
Wicker..

Here in Germany, he added the German language to his budding linguistic repertoire and most
importantly to his academic credit, he got in touch with a handful of German and Europeans scholars
and scientists who farther widened his knowledge by introducing him to the most acclaimed scientist in
Europe around that time.

He was able to capture the admiration and respect of these people due to his scholarly and intellectual
friendliness and of course, through his unique character.

He was even invited to join a prestigious group known as the European scientific circle, making him the
circle's first non European member which was a great honor not only to him but also to his race as a
Filipino.

And with his increased standing in the academic circle he gained access to several universities where he
occasionally sat in to listen to the lectures of the most brilliant minds of the time.

This class is what I considered as the threshold of Rizal's scholastic greatness which will reach its
pinnacle in few more years.

But this accomplishment he made at this time was already enviable and found considered one of a kind
for Filipinos of all ages and generation and most importantly, inspiring.

I kind of mixed up the phrase class but I think you got my point.