Sunday, January 21

Festivals...

From where I came from, festivals and fiestas are a part of life and I think there is no place in the Philippines that does not celebrate these festivities. Ever since I was a child, I can remember our family celebrating many festivals throughout the year (I guess the tradition came from the Spanish, who stayed in the country for almost three hundred years)... and that tradition is now transferred to my own family, with us celebrating numerous festivities yearly... the best occasion for fiestas and festivals for me is the celebration of the patron saint, when Filipinos celebrate the day of the patron saint of the locality where they reside... in my family's case, it is the celebration of the day of St. James the Greater on December 30, and the celebration for the fiesta of the Sto. Nino on January 16... during these occasions Batanguenos cook their best dishes and invite everyone in their homes to share with them the sumptous meals... aside from these, I can also recall other festivals that commemorate the unique characteristics of the places where they live... festivals like these, I believe, really make Filipinos' lives more interesting and enjoyable in a certain way...

When I start going abroad (either for work or training), I started missing these occasions... well, in a limited sense maybe... other countries also have their own ways of celebrating important dates through festivities, but not in any way similar in character to the way I have known them (well, I guess that's a little bit bias being a Filipino)... somehow when you're in a foreign land you have to embrace their tradition and understand how they do things...

Me and my friends had recently been to a very good festival... it celebrates the fusion of the culture of the middle east with that of south asia and north africa, and many products, traditions and customs can be seen there... it was a very nice experience seeing Indians, Arabians, Africans and Southeast Asians get together and celebrate the evolution of culture and life itself... it really dawned on me that to understand other peoples we must understand their society and their culture... participating in occasions like this is really the first step in that direction.

I guess I have to find other festivals to go and attend to these coming days...

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