I found more photos of All Saint's Day and wanted to share them. Hopefully you get a feel for how massive this celebration is, how many people are involved from vendors to candle and flower merchants. Traffic near the cemeteries is very congested, most folks walk. Look carefully at the photos and contemplate what you see, how you feel. The Filipino's are a very religious people, most Roman Catholic. Whereas in many parts of Europe and America, church attendance is dwindling - not here! Churches are packed every Sunday. There are about 6 or 7 masses each Sunday and the very large church here in my town is packed to overflowing.
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| Traffic jam, mountain to Lobo in the distance |
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| Father of my host family, 10 children, he died when the youngest was a baby |
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| Mourning the loss of a young motorcycle racer |
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| Wonder who he is calling? |
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| Some have roof top verandas and air conditioning |
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| Camping in the cemetery |
Preview of upcoming blogs - I have been very busy!! Gone to the historic town of Taal famous for Barongs and Balisongs (look them up on the internet), mountainous Tagatay overlooking the Taal Volcano, circled massive Taal Lake, gone up and down the huge mountain I see everyday to Lobo to go swimming in the Pacific, gazed at Verde Island and Mindoro in the distance, visited historic churches in Taal, San Juan, Rosario, Batangas, San Jose and Padre Garcia, shrines in Taal, planted trees in a far barangay with a community group, attended numerous school related competitions and events (sports, girl and boy scouts, Jose Rizal local and regional event, home economics, journalism, principal farewell), seen amazing Filipino folk dance presentations, presented my first teacher training session, shopped at local big malls, made a quick day trip to Manila for a birthday, attended several birthday parties for young and old, began looking for apartments and houses, purchased some authentic Filipino crafts and gifts for my family in America for Christmas, learning how to cook new Filipino foods, making great Filipino friends, found a tutor and resuming my Tagalog studies, got a bike! and falling in love with my little first graders who are just as busy and talkative as they are in America.....just to name a few things! I actually gave an oral quiz to the grade 1 pupils in their Filipino class. They laughed at how I pronounced the Tagalog words but they were very quiet!
Think about visiting a loved ones grave site and remembering what they meant to you.
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