Holidays in the Philippines

OMG I don't know where to start! Life has been a whirlwind since before Christmas! I think it must be a novelty to have an American at your Christmas/Fiesta/New Year's Eve/New Year's Day party. I was invited to EVERYTHING and tried to attend almost all, exhausting! Christmas parties at school were no mild quiet occasion, oh no, not in the Philippines! All and I mean ALL classrooms had their own videoke machine for the Christmas parties, and food! OMG so much food! The school electric breakers kept going off and a transformer actually blew because of almost 40 videoke machines.
Games were played, musical chairs is called Trip to Jerusalem here, game called Bring Me, also who can say the longest Merry Christmasssssssssssssssssssssssssssss..
Simbang Gabi continued for 9 nights prior to Christmas, you could choose to attend mass at 4am (and yes they rang the bells at 3:30am and scared the wits out of me every night...) or attend the evening service, the churches were packed with people every night spilling out into the parking lot, why not in the U.S.??
Prior to the Christmas parties we had a school wide Field day, exercises and each grade performed a traditional Filipino folk dance.
Teacher's party was exciting, games of course, everyone had fun, exchanged gifts to your secret person.
Christmas weekend was spent on the island of Mindoro, a friend and I visited another PC volunteer who is assigned there. We spent 2 hours hiking up the mountain, spent Christmas eve dinner with the family of wonderful Filipino indigenous people, slept on top of the mountain with an incredible view of neighboring islands, hiked back down the mountain in rain and mud for Christmas day church. Boat trip there and back in a small banca with outriggers was invigorating!
Town Fiesta was Dec. 30, I was invited to about 10 houses to eat that day and could only visit 7 because we ran out of time! You are expected to eat just a little bit at every house, it was great! Bands, rides, booths of things for sale, people everywhere! Great hospitality and wonderful to meet new people.
Dec. 31 was very interesting, 7 parties in one house that lasted all day long! We first began with food of course around 1:30, prayer at 3 then more food, a thanksgiving type celebration, then a birthday party with hats, noisemakers, balloons and pinata, then we all had to change into violet colored clothes for the actual New years celebration, more food somewhere in there, and we exchanged gifts, actually I was showered with gifts from a very loving family!! Finally we set off and watched fireworks, many I had never seen before, probably illegal in the US, a wild time, smoke from the fireworks everywhere! Videoke in the house I was visiting lasted until at least 2am then up early because yes, more food and more houses to visit!
Jan. 1 revealed more gifts and food and hugs, I felt so loved and appreciated by these wonderful Filipino friends who I did not even know 6 months ago.
Recooperated on Jan. 2, laundry, grocery shopping and now back to school we all go.....
If you are exhausted reading this very very abridged version, wow, try spending the holidays in the Philippines! They sure know how to celebrate and throw a party!!
Pictures to follow later....I hope that 2012 will be YOUR year! Don't just sit and watch life happen, go out and live it!