They say that holidays are one of the hardest time to be away from family. But the Lord has been more than gracious during our first Christmas here and we all had a wonderful holiday season.
The -BER Months
One thing that has helped me keep my mind off being away from family is observing, learning and experiencing all of the local traditions. I read that the Philippines has one of the longest Christmas seasons in the world. It was on September 1st when I was doing my grocery shopping when I first noticed Christmas carols playing in the store. They say that the Christmas season occurs during all months ending with -BER.
Although the malls starting putting up their decorations in SeptemBER, we didn't put up our tree until early NovemBER. Having decorations up early did help put you in a festive mood. Here are a few of the decorations in some of the local malls.
One of the post popular Christmas decorations is the "parol", the star lantern. Stars are seen almost everywhere. But a lighted, five pointed star is very common. Not sure the history behind it, but maybe its inspired by the star of Bethlehem? Here are a few that were on display at the local mall, a competition of some sort from the local high school. Look closely and observe all of the recycle material they used. Very creative!
Simbang Gabi & Caroling
December 16th marks the start of nine masses for the Catholics. The name "Simbang Gabi" means night mass. And the Catholics go to church daily as early as 3-5am. Afterwards in the church courtyard special local delicacies are sold and enjoyed. The ninth mass is on Christmas Eve. I don't have a picture to show you so I swiped one from the internet to help give you a little idea. :) You can see the church against the dark morning sky, with the holiday delicacies being sold to the crowds of people.
And speaking on Simbang Gabi, that is kind of the unwritten rule of when caroling starts in the neighborhoods. Small groups of children will form and go from house to house singing carols. They sing for rewards such as candies or coins. Some groups even have make shift instruments and a few even have a couple choreographed dance moves too! Our friends had several carolers come to their house and they invited us over to observe the festivity of it all. It was fun! It oddly felt like a fusion of trick-or-treating and Christmas.
Alderman Family Traditions
Those are just a few of the local traditions that I have observed so far. But it was a special treat to do a few things that I used to do back home in the States. For one thing, I found "Mickey's Christmas Carol" online, the same story that I used to watch with my brother and sister growing up.
And a personal favorite memory of mine is sleeping all in the same room with my siblings over Christmas season. So we put all of our beds on the ground and had a slumber party together.
My family shipped some gifts to us and they arrived on Christmas Eve! It was extra special to see my mom included a small stuffed animal for each of the boys. I can't remember celebrating a Christmas without my mom putting a small stuffed animal on the top of our stockings!
And one family tradition which didn't quite make it this year was our family photo. A little hard to get one with all boys looking at the camera with smiles. But can't say we didn't try!
Parties and Programs
Similar to back home, there was a variety of Christmas parties and programs to attend. Living up to its reputation, the boys school put on a spectacular Christmas program!
The theme was "Write n Play Preschool Goes to Broadway". Where each class dressed up and danced to a different song from a Broadway musical. Here is Jakob's costume. Can you guess which Broadway song he danced to based on his outfit?
And how about Trevor? His is a little bit harder to guess.
Jakob danced to "Fame", and Trevor danced to "Run and Tell That" from Hairspray. The event was held in the town theatre.
The training center also had their annual Christmas party. Current and alumni students were invited to attend. It was fun to go and meet some of people that my husband has had the privledge to teach and work alongside. Here is a group picture.
Here is me and Rita. Her husband, Erwin, pastors a local church and also teaches at the training center. We were trying out my new gift, a "selfie stick".
Both Allan and I also had separate Christmas parties with the bible studies we attend at our church here. Festive and fun! Allan got to sing a little kareoke at his, and I got to witness a little Family Feud between Santa Claus' clan and Joseph and Mary's clan.
One more program to attend. This one our friend's daughter was preforming in. It was "The Tale of the Three Trees". It was done really well, they did a great job!
How we Celebrated
Allan goes down to a city in the south, Davao, about once a month to teach at a church down there. The pastor of that church, Pastor Jurem, graciously invited our family to join his family for Christmas. It was a special treat to be included in their family and they were wonderfully hospitable!
And an added bonus was it was near the beach. We do live in a country with over 7,000 islands...something I often forget living in the city.
Christmas Eve Pastor Jurem gave a Christmas message. And then we had a delicious meal with his family and exchanged a few gifts.
It was a relaxing time and very special. Even little Noah sat back and relaxed.
And Jakob enjoyed celebrating Christmas in a tropical climate.
At the end of the day the boys were tired out! They slept great, just like three....
Whew! That was a long post! But I warned you that the Christmas season here is one of the longest in the world! ;)
Thanks, Sandi! It was very interesting especially the part about the star lantern. We saw those all over Vancouver and couldn't figure out why. Now we know as Vancouver has a large Filipino population. :-)
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