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Where
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Religious Stuff25th December 2005
Church Services The service went from 10 p.m. to midnight. We arrived a little late and had to stand at the back. Two hours of standing on cold hard concrete can get a little tiring in the legs. The whole service had a very eerie atmosphere to it. Religious dogma echoed around the church, familiar hymns were sang in a foreign language and bats chirped their indignation at having their evening feast interrupted. Ciaran, who is from a Catholic area of Ireland, explained the things to me that I found confusing. He knew when to stand, kneel, sit, cross himself and when to echo the priest. Religion in the Philippines Religious symbols are everywhere. Every house I have been into has had a shrine of some sort. This is the shrine in the house I live in. Prayer beads are everywhere too. They hang around people's necks and from the rear view mirrors of tricycles, mini-vans and jeepneys. It is not an uncommon sight to see a driver stroke the cross on the beads and cross himself before driving away. Religion and Bun Fights
I felt like launching into a little religious dogma myself. This is what I felt like saying:
I didn't launch into my dogma though. Partially out of respect, and partially because it is hard to debate issues when there is not a shared fluent language. All this wishy-washy religious stuff just makes me angry at the moment. It was a similar sort of thing with Steve on Boracay. Mormons Anyway, I got talking to the father of the munchkin that was getting baptized. He asked me the usual questions ("What's your name?", "Where are you from?", "Are you single?") before throwing in a real curveball of a question. "Are you a virgin?", he asked me. I almost choked on my baklava*. Witticisms temporarily eluded me, so I replied with: "cough, splutter, I, cough, snort. Err. cough. Um." I explained my marital situation and he nodded in a way I suspect he thought was sagely. He asked me if I minded him asking me a personal question. "Bit late for that," I thought, but said "Sure go ahead." "If you were to get married," he said, "would it be to a Filipino, a New Zealander or some lady from an African nation?" This time I almost choked on my humus**, which is a messy thing to eat at the best of times. I muttered some half-spoken noncommittal comment and he seemed happy enough with my non-answer. He was a good guy though. We had lots of laughs later on. Godparents Which reminds me of a story that I am going to blatantly steal from Rowen, a fellow volunteer. He was invited to a barangay's captains house for dinner and drinks. When he arrived, he discovered the captain and assorted posse talking to an engaged couple about sex. Not the Birds and the Bees talk, but something similar. The couple were both in their fifties, so I assume they had been good Christian souls and had abstained their entire lives. What was extra weird though was that they asked Rowen (aged 19) to be their godparent. Not the godparent to any future fruits of marital bliss, but the godparent to them, a 50 year old couple. Rowen was a bit bewildered by it all but said yes anyway. He checked with various people later on to see if he'd gotten confused. But no, he had understood correctly. So now he is the godparent to a 50 year old Filipino couple, whose name he can't remember. That is kinda cool if you ask me. Maybe I should be grateful that I got away with only being asked about my lost virginity. If you find it by the way, please send it to me c/o The Philippines. * I wasn't really eating baklava. It just sounds so much cooler than saying: "I almost chocked on rice." ** See baklava comment. Questions? Comments? Try contacting
me. (c)
2005 and 2006 Malcolm Trevena.
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