I am going to keep this one short. I've got a bit of a bug and feeling under the weather, but I want to keep up the almost-weekly entries. The biggest thing this week is the holiday "Sinulog"! The holiday dates back to the early 1500's when Magellan came to the Philippines and directly correlates to the conversion of the nation to Christianity. During that time the island people practiced mostly a pagan, worship earth and mother nature type of religion with many Gods. The legend is based on a very, very sick king who was on his deathbed. He had prayed to all of his Gods AND also to the new baby Jesus God that Magellan had given to him as a gift. Apparently, there was a miracle that healed this king and involved a special dance when he got out of his bed holding the baby Jesus statue. He announced that Santo Nino was the only true God and of all the Gods, Jesus is the one who healed him. The conversion of the entire Philippine nation followed, and they are a predominantly Christian nation to this day. In 1980 instead of a tradition, the country nationalized the holiday, and it has become the biggest holiday of the year. It originated on our island of Cebu. There are beauty pageants, and people carry the little doll called "Santo Nino" (who represents baby Jesus) around for days before and after the third Sunday of January - this year January 21st. Dressing up, carrying Santo Nino and singing/dancing are all a part of publicly showing their devotion. They also hold multiple special masses each day and people worship during this time continuing from Christmas and doesn't end until the end of January! Most communities do not take down their elaborate decorations until the end of January as well. They have HUGE parades, sing special songs and dance special dances. Many people dress up in elaborate costumes. In a country with over 112 MILLION people, it can get pretty crazy! There is feasting, worship, parties, endless parades, & special shopping etc., etc. The malls are CRAZY and the associated songs and noise are nothing short of amazing. The only way I can describe it is to compare it to Carnival in South America and Mardy Gras in the US. Following are a few pictures:
Above: and example of elaborate holiday displays. This is a picture of community decorations in a tiny, quiet town that went up in October and doesn't come down until the end of January!
Above: This is a picture (left to right) of Therese Heath, Jill Garner, and Sister Garner's mission office secretary replacement Wendy Beesley, who just arrived this week to train with Jill until she goes home in mid-February. They are standing in front of a very typical decoration that is put there specifically for photo opportunities commemorating Sinulog at a local mall.
The final picture below is a gorgeous shot that Roy got of a cloudy, night sky when we were traveling this past week taking care of apartments!
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