September 16, 2021
I came across this article of @FarmGirl about celebrating in gratitude where she mentioned some types of celebrations that we commonly celebrate in the Philippines, whether it's for gratitude, commemoration, special events, or just simple gatherings. It made me reminisce about the last celebrations I had with my family prior to flying abroad last September 2017.
We Filipinos have been described as happy and resilient. Despite the uncertainties that come into our lives, we still put a smile on our faces and stand back again after every fall. We are hospitable and we welcome tourists and foreigners with joy, and that's how we easily build genuine relationships and friendships with them. That is one of the factors why many Western foreigners like Filipinas to be their spouses. And we have this typical Filipino trait called "Pakikisama" or being friendly and a strong feeling of affinity towards each other.
We are family-oriented and bound together by common values and a common religion. And our culture is built on positivity and happiness. Our family bond is strong and we used to celebrate different occasions no matter how insignificant they are. Because that's the moment we gather and reunite together. Not only with immediate family, as well as with extended families, and even friends.
We like to celebrate small occasions such as getting high medals in school during recognitions and graduations, passing board exams, birthdays, christening, or as simple as being promoted at work, and big festive celebrations such as Christmas, New Year, and of course, the Festivals or fiestas.
In my family, we usually celebrate birthdays with immediate family and invited some friends of the celebrant. The celebration isn't that grand unlike other occasions with just a few sets of viands, a cake on the table, some drinks, but if there's no cake, simple sliced bread or other kinds of bread will suffice. We always have fun during this kind of event, albeit simplistically.
The photo below was taken last November 2016 at our farm during my mother's birthday. It was a simple celebration together with our immediate family. Whether it is a small or big celebration, what matters most is having a healthy body and a happy family.
As for my case, it happened to be on the second day of the first month of the new year, so leftovers from the Año Nuevo are usually served on my birthday 🤣. My mother usually buys a doubled set of ingredients for the dishes and she'll set aside the other half for my birthday, lol. We sometimes butcher a pig for the New Year's party, and some meat is reserved for my birthday. Some of my siblings get jealous of me because we always have a feast on my birthday, and I always tell them, "they are just leftovers from the New Year," lol.
Prior to the pandemic, my birthday celebrations were usually held at the beach as part of welcoming the new year. Oftentimes, we'll wait for the third Sunday of January and celebrate the feast of Saint Niño along with my birthday while watching the water parade at the nearby beach resort. And even if I am abroad, they always celebrate my birthday without my presence.
And have you ever heard about the world's longest Christmas Season?
It only happens in our country and our Christmas season runs from September up to the end of the Three Kings in January. As early as September, you will hear Christmas carols in different areas, from houses to malls, department stores, even at the markets, and on public vehicles. You won't only hear Christmas carols but you'll also see different Christmas decorations because Filipinos are always excited for this festive yuletide season.
At home, we are more excited to celebrate Año Nuevo (New Year) and only prepare a few kinds of food, typically consists of desserts and a viand or two for Christmas Eve's celebration. And on New Year's eve is the real festive celebration as a tradition of welcoming the new year. The table is always full of food and kids are excited to light their firecrackers and blow their torotot (hornpipes).
(Just imagine the leftovers of these foods like the desserts, bread, cake, and uncooked meat was saved for my birthday 🙈🙈. Practically saving money, lol.)
Aside from birthdays, Christmas, and New Year, the most well-known celebrations in the Philippines are the festivals. There are more than 42,000 major and minor festivals in our country and it is called The Home of Festivals influenced by Spanish on Catholic spirituality.
And for us Filipinos, our houses always have corners for reverence and you'll typically find altars with saints' statues perched on top, with novena, rosaries, and candles, and it is our way of connecting with the divines.
We celebrated festivals to honor the Roman Catholic patron saint assigned to every town and city across the country. And for practical Filipinos, we usually held special events like baby christening during fiestas for lesser expenses and to make it just one big celebration.
And on every occasion, there is always a food trip, laugh trip, chit-chat, and usually followed by 'inuman' drinking session and karaoke or singing session. Time to shine for the real singers and frustrated singers too, lol.
The celebration typically runs from the morning up to midnight, and neighbors don't care about it especially during fiesta, haha.
And these were the last celebrations I attended with the fam before I fly abroad. And I just suddenly missed them, especially the kantahan (karaoke) session with the fam.
This was supposed to be just a random article. But if this will be accepted for @LykeLyca's Anniversary giveaway, then why not, haha. If you want to join, visit the link and check the mechanics in the photo below.
Thanks for reading.
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SO cool to see how you are influenced in your celebration and make it special and unique! We´re not that different after all, I see you have similar traditions like here where I live! The best of all, you do it with family that is a big plus!