seacielo

it started out last year. i went to the fiesta of st. rosario in my daddy’s hometown of lo-ok, maasin, southern leyte. i was one of the official chaperons of my grandma, and because my daddy sent me so to clear my mind(? ).talking about coldness, which kills him every time (that’s another story).

anyway, i was not planning to be there, but i could not say no to my mama (my grandma). perhaps, the virgin mary wanted me to keep my promise. i really could not remember the promise part, but i knew too well i prayed last year. however, as they said in lo-ok, i had officially started a devotion. rationally, i was not that convinced. yet, my faith has urged me to return. it’s pretty surprising.

they say the virgin mary there is miraculous. stories about pirates, gigantic storms, wars and then some… well they say that during those times, if you sail towards the coasts of lo-ok, you can see a beautiful lady carrying a sword (kind of excalibur something) sort of protecting the town.

actually, i can say maasin is the place of virgins. i mean, you can see a lot of virgin mary around. there is the immaculate concepcion, which you can visibly see even from a far off distance in the sea; then there is the lady fatima located on a hill that has a cave church. oh yeah it’s one heaven of a climb. euhmm there’s another in hanginan… i did not see it yet maybe next year, or summer 07. all in all, there are virgins humongously standing on higher grounds of maasin.

i do not know, it gives me a quick thought…. are there really virgins? i mean, is virginity in the place subliminally advocated? naah… i can go on and on with this… but its not a thought worth pondering about now. because this is about my trip PERIOD.

the highlight of the fiesta was not anything crispy as the lechon. because honestly, there was not even a lechon. but man, there were so much hamonado or pata as they called it. and oh hey the humba… yum yum do the humba now awwwww. sure i could eat those fantastic foods. i even cook better than every house i ever went to. of course, my grannie introduce the recipe to the town. i guess, i knew the original one. hehehehehehe….

there is also an ironic fact of the fiesta. the brother of my mama is a converted christian. it’s funny because every late afternoon, when the rosary procession make its way into the steep streets of the town, only his house or say our ancestrale home, do not have a lighted candle. and another funny thing, everybody (of course except my tatay ipoy’s family) goes along with the event – children, oldies, teenagers, singles, couples and even wasted guys. one time i caught a young man wearing a t-shirt that says “satan is god.” then again, he was in the procession that time. amusing huh? oh well… there’s so much more to tell but i have to go the bathroom.