It was the middle of September, the first month of
what everybody calls the “Ber Months”. You know what I meant; it is almost
Christmas, the most a waited time of Christians. I am one of those who are
really excited to celebrate that event. Every time the calendar turns to this
month I can already feel the holiday itch in me. I am starting to imagine how I
will celebrate my Christmas this year. It is my time to rejoice remembering
that it was the birthday of the messiah. Alright, call me a Jesus freak, but I
admit how I love my lord so much and that is also the reason why I am excited
for Christmas. I am planning to extend my celebration to other people
especially those in need. I am a Sunday catechist before, so I am already
setting plans to celebrate it with children that I taught to make them feel the
essence of Christmas.
How I can imagine what Christmas looks
like in the Philippines. The “Parol” or the Filipino Christmas lantern hanging
on the windows of every houses, Christmas carols sang by children going house
to house with their tambourines made up of cola caps, busy shoppers buying
Christmas decors and putting up their Christmas trees, people greeting “Merry
Christmas” as early as September, and the feeling of holiday rush is in the
air. Well, that was Philippines as what I can remember since it’s been months
that I am away from my country. I am now just reminiscing memories of my
country. How happy I am to be their enjoying every moment of this holiday itch
with my family, friends and relatives. But I know this time will not be one of
the Christmases that I usually been experiencing. The Filipino Christmas will
just be part of my imagination. All I have now are memories of the Christmas
that I have known.
As
far as everyone would know, I will celebrate my Christmas alone; away from my
family. Early this morning, I rode the “Angkot” going to work. It passed by a small market with busy people.
Along the way, I smelled the scent of newly baked bread which gave me a
nostalgic feeling of my home. I remembered way back to my hometown in Masbate
where early in the morning the bakeshop which is a few meters away from our
house is baking bread and the scent of it mixed up with the provincial morning
air. How I love to think of how it feels like to experience Christmas to the
country which I call HOME.
I
never regret the decision I made to leave the country and work abroad. But
still there is this part of me that longs to what I am used to. I am still a
Filipino by heart and by blood, so I cannot hide nor keep this feeling of
longing to the place where I came from. I have fully adjusted to the culture of
foreign land to where I am now but this heart of mine still belongs to my
motherland. For me, Christmas will never be the same as the one I celebrated in
Philippines.
No comments:
Post a Comment