I admit to being a Christmas nut. And boy, did I find my tribe in the Philippines. To say that Filipinos are aggressive holiday decorators is an understatement. Anything that stands still for more than 5 minutes will be strung with enough Christmas lights to warm the hearts of GE executives everywhere. And speaking of capitalism, we once saw an enterprising young man selling street food outside a beautifully overdone house that drew numerous nightly visitors.
The homegrown decoration that will grace every Philippine home is the parol. In its most traditional form, the parol is an internally lit star within a circle with streamers hanging from the bottom two points. They are traditionally made from capiz shells. Capiz shells are the exterior shell of a marine mollusk and are also referred to as windowpane oysters. They are only found in the shallow coastal waters of the Philippines and Indonesia. Capiz decorations in the form of angels, stars, stockings, and numerous other Christmas motifs will decorate the lampposts of even the most humble of towns.
Of course, the heart of Christmas is not about pretty decorations but the celebration of Christ’s birth. And Filipinos are among the most devout people I have met. For the 9 days leading up to Christmas, churches hold Simbangabi, masses held at dawn (4 and 5am). In spite of the incredibly early hour, churches are filled to standing room-only levels with families, couples, and even groups of young boys on their way to school. One particularly memorable part of the ceremony was when the congregation processed up the aisle, each person holding a blade of straw and each person contributing to the manger where the Santo Nino (Baby Jesus) would be laid upon at midnight on December 24th.
Filipinos the world over return home for the holidays--good luck trying to find a reasonably priced air ticket. The returning sons and daughters are called balikbayan (as are the boxes used to send goods back to the Philippines) and are greeted with Balikbayan parties. These parties overflow with delicious food, spirited conversations, karaoke, and dancing.
Dancing brings up an interesting story. After the meal and as the music got going, a small group of young men joined the party. They were all smartly dressed in long-sleeve “party” shirts and slacks. Cousins, thought I. As the music progressed, these young men started asking the aunties and some less-than-thrilled younger cousins to dance. Turns out they were dance instructors, also known as DIs, hired for the party. Apparently in the more affluent circles, it is not uncommon for ladies with dance-reluctant husbands to take up dancing under the tutelage of said DIs and for them to be hired for parties. It is with no uncertain pride, and with an injury too stupid to believe, that I tell you that my wife did not require the services of the DIs.
Christmas Eve, of course, means Midnight Mass. Be sure to dress appropriately, as some things considered acceptable in the US will not go over well in the religiously conservative Philippines. Prior to mass, my wife was getting some rather un-Christian looks from a nun. All became clear when I saw the sign denouncing in words AND drawings inappropriate church wear. Plunging neckline. Check. Above the knee. Check. See-through… Does clingy count? Good thing she couldn’t see the spaghetti straps underneath my wife’s shawl. Thankfully my wife was so self-conscious in her "spice girl wear," as the sign called it, that she opted not to take communion, a good thing since we were later told that the prior year, the priest stopped communion as he scolded an inappropriately dressed girl and shook the host over her head in admonishment. After Mass, we gathered at one of the auntie’s for another round of delicious food and the opening of presents.
The next morning we attended mass with my wife’s grandmother and I came across one of those scenes that summed up the trip for me. To the left of the altar was the church’s nativity set. You could have found this nativity set in any Christian country, except here, the manger was strung with red Chinese lanterns.
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