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A Post-Christmas Thingie
Krizia Leal
Finally, Christmas has passed. It’s over. After months of preparation, flurries of activities and events, hustles and bustles, and last minute shopping, it all ends here. The guests have come and gone. The gifts
have all been opened. Some of us have concluded the nine-day Misa de Gallo. Others have collected a large bundle of angpaos. Whatever the case may be, I’m sure everyone has some sort of post-Christmas syndrome. I
for one am experiencing this post-Christmas flair to write…Ü Here goes my ramblings as I listen to my Bukas Palad CD for the third time today.
First of all, I just want to take note of the difference of the Tsinoy Christmas and the Pinoy Christmas. We see the noche Buena in almost every Filipino household, especially in all those soap
operas. How about in the Tsinoy household? There’s red and gold everywhere. No visit to granma is complete without that coveted angpao. Food for Pinoys and cash for Tsinoys. Makes sense to me. Another noteworthy
thing: we normally never see Tsinoy kids out in the streets caroling for obvious reasons. Ehehe. Ah, who can forget the Christmas Eve congestion? Congestion of what, you say? Of cell sites, of course!
Everyone who owns a cellphone can attest to this. I received close to twenty Christmas greetings over SMS the day before Christmas. I went to bed without turning off my unit because I wanted to see how many
more pahabol there would be as I slept. Come to think of it, one-peso text messages sure beat Hallmarks anytime in terms of cost. Well, I guess not even the hard times can get the best of Pinoys when it comes to
remembering and thoughtfulness. Really big treat for Globe and Smart.
For the record, I had a unique Christmas this year. I lost my voice and forced myself to drink salabat. First time to attend the Simbang Gabi . I have never experienced waking up at 3 a.m. to attend mass before.
It was a big deal. But I had been really excited about the whole thing, and it turned out to be real cool. Ü (Many thanks to Ahia Chard for the transpo and to Ahia Albert for the McDo meal.)
Also, this year’s Christmas Day was a trip down memory lane for me. Got to go back to my father’s roots and dig into family history. Never knew much about it til now. Can’t help bringing home some baby pics, of
course.
There are a great many things associated with Christmas. Christmas lanterns or parols, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Santa Claus, red and green. For Judenites like me, the Sportsfest, cheering, and
choir competitions. I just would like to congratulate my batch (Sophomores!) for winning second place in the cheering competitions and for doing quite well (ham ham lo) in the sports events.
That aside. Time for some serious stuff. This year has not been a good year. Economic depression. War. Poverty. This Christmas isn’t that nice, too. Aside from the fact that Santa seems to have bypassed our
house.. LWhile we were inside our air-conditioned cars, cozy beds, eating hearty meals, and wrapped up in choosing which pair of shoes to wear to the party, a lot of our kababayan were begging on the streets,
sleeping on the sidewalks, starving for food, and abandoned by loved ones. Let us not forget that Christmas is all about love. Spreading the love of God to others by charity works, by sharing what we have in
excess, by praying for our brethren, is the best way to celebrate Christ’s coming.
Now, Christmas has gone. Time flies fast, so the cliché goes. What have you done to welcome Jesus into your heart? And what will you do to proclaim God’s love?
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