Happy April!

Well, I have discovered the main pitfall of blogging now...It's been more than three months since I got around to this project. Turns out it's very easy to procrastinate on blogging (as if I needed to tell anyone that!)

Last week I spent three days with my parents-in-law without my husband or his English-speaking sisters to speak for me and to me. Dan's mom and I discovered that we can communicate quite a bit if there is no one there to take over the conversation. Life there seems narrow, with a lot of hard work in the fields, and not much to do otherwise except gossip with the neighbors or go to church. But the inner lives of people can still be rich in reflection, experience and humor and the people of that area are known for their tenacious maintenance of traditional customs and ways in the face of the homogenizing trend of the modern world. Last week they celebrated the completion of rice planting in the traditional way, butchering a pig in almost every household, and performing thanksgiving rituals at each rice field. There was also a Thanksgiving Mass at the Episcopal Church, which used the prayers of 16th century England to celebrate the same events. Nobody seems to think this is a clash of culture or a peculiar mix at all, it's what they have been used to for their whole lives, and that's just what worship is like here.

For three days, I ate boiled pork and glutinous rice steamed in woven sugar cane leaves, and drank lots of coffee. They only eat meat on holidays, or at weddings and funerals, the rest of the time, the diet is mainly boiled beans and rice, with maybe some dried or canned fish for variety. Whenever we go there, we bring sugar and bread for treats, but these are mostly shared around with all the neighbors, you don't eat much of the bread you bring.

Have to admit, I was glad to get back to my own house and my own kitchen again later, and cook some vegetables, but it was a nice interlude and helped us develop a deeper relationship, which feels good. While I was there, Dan had to travel to Manila for a meeting, so he came back tired out and I came back refreshed. Since then, I've been trying to cook his favorite foods and let him get some rest. Now I have to get writing again!

Happy All Saints' Day

Happy November 1! Here in the Philippines, All Saints' Day is as big a holiday as Easter, and even bigger than Christmas Day. All Saints' is a time to go home to the family home town, have feasts, picnics, parties, and catch up on all the news with friends and relatives. And of course, to remember the dead. I don't know about other parts of the Philippines, but here in the mountains, there is no tradition of masks, processions, and certainly no trick or treat, rather, there is a special church service on the First where all the names of people remembered by members of the congregation are read out, our church had about 400 names. Afterwards, candles and pine wood are blessed and then lighted torches, reminiscent of the Light of Christ, are taken to the cemetery and set by each grave. Then the family brings food and has a picnic by the family graves, it's a chance for the living and the dead to get together and share a meal once a year.

It reminded me of Nepal, where the Hindu tradition is that the dead are remembered on the anniversary of their death with a special feast prepared for them. Once, I was with a rather pushy Christian evangelist who demanded of our host whether the spirits actually ate any of the food offered. Undismayed, the old man laughed and said, "They eat the juice of it, and we eat the rest."

I was reflecting today that we of the Western Enlightenment are the odd ones, not believing in spirits. Whether we believe in one Supreme God who runs creation on a scientific basis, or whether we believe in no supernatural at all, the idea that the dead are just gone, and nothing unseen can trouble us puts us in the minority of humans throughout history and around the world today. Most people have been and are perfectly comfortable with the spirits of the dead and other beings going about their business all around us, and sometimes overlapping their business with ours. And why not? Maybe the majority is more in tune with reality than we think!

Whoooohoooooo! Enjoy your autumn!