Christmas sa Pinas

I know, I know. There's been hundreds of articles written about how we Filipinos celebrate Christmas but please, let me vent.

Is there any other place in this freaking world that celebrate Christmas this crazy? This past few days I have been secretly wishing - but actually no I don't want to be - that I am pregnant. Pregnancy is a disability which exempts you to participate in this crazy Filipino Christmas ritual.

The Parties - it all starts on Dec. 1. Twenty four days before the actual holiday, people start celebrating. From then on it is a non-stop party. At the office, we celebrate by department, then by division, then by groups, then there are office friends that you have to meet up with during lunch or a quick dinner so you can exchange gifts.

Ofcourse, if you are a real social animal, you have parties for your ex-office mates, college buddies, parish friends, badminton mates, homeowners association members, etc. Not to mention the duty-bound parties that you must attend whether you like or not - boyfriend's family dinner, sister-in-law's barkada party, spouse's family christmas party, spouse's company christmas party. Are you getting my drift? There is practicaly not enough days in december to fit all the parties that you need to go to.

Shopping - Where else on earth does anyone need to prepare for gift-shopping like you're a soldier headed for battle?

Rubber shoes? Check.
Shorts or pants with many pockets? Check.
Comfortable shirt? Check.
Big bag to carry items? Check.
Mineral water? Check.
ATM Card? Check.

After that, you mentally prepare yourself for what is to come - a mass of people elbowing and pushing each other, pickpockets who will rob you if for a second you bring your guard down, long qeues at the cashier, even longer qeues at the nearest fast food store. After shopping, with sack-full of items you need to startegize and think how to outwit other commuters to get a cab, if successful, then bargain with the cab driver on how much to add on the meter.

Now of course this scenario doesn't happen for a just a day. You actually spend three to four days at the mall or bazaar to complete your gift list. Not to mention the occassional Divisoria trip for bargains and cheap gift wrappers and boxes.

Gift wrapping and Gift giving - After buying all those stuff your next problem is how to wrap them all up. After putting your feet to the test with all those shopping, now its time for your hands, eyes and back muscles to get a work out. Between the parties, shopping and your work - yes, we still find time to work - there is practically no time to do the wrapping. So, you bring them to work, batch by batch, so you can wrap them during lunch and break time. You wrap them while answering the phone and in-between tasks.

Sometimes gifts are wrapped inside a car or taxi on the way to a party. There are nights that you don't sleep just to be able to finish all the wrapping.

A few days before the 24th, gifts start flying. Admin help in the office become delivery elves going floor to floor to deliver gifts. The elevator get stuck at the ground floor while hundreds of ham and grocery items for employees gets loaded. You can't find people at their workstations because they are dutifully handing out gifts to friends.

Haay, pag ang pasko ay sumapit talaga. Lahat naloloka.

Where else do you spend Christmas like this? Sa Pilipinas lang my friend.

It just is.

I recently installed Winamp in my computer and downloaded some R&B songs.  One from India.Arie I liked, the tile was “I am not my hair.”  A sample of its lyrics below:

I am not my hair.
I am not this skin.
I am not your expectation, no.
I am the soul that lives within.

I remembered when I was young and was still struggling to make my soul be seen.

Growing up with three brothers did not make me a girlie-girl, instead, I became one-of-the-boys, both in action and appearance.  

When I reached my teen years, I was enrolled in an exclusive school despite our stringent budget.  It was my parents’ silent prayer that I learn how to act and make myself look more ladylike.  Being ever the dutiful child, I tried to fulfill their wish.  I tried to copy and blend-in with all the other girls at school.  I sported the “raven hair” with my can of Aqua Net, powdered my face with Angel Breath powder, sprayed myself with Angel Breath cologne and copied how the in-crowd wore their uniforms but in so doing, I ended-up more insecure than ever.  

I was one of the tallest girls in my batch, I am not mestiza and I cannot (won’t) emulate the girls’ pa-girl mannerisms.  (Sobrang a-arte!)  And I was shocked how mature they were in terms of having relationships.  I couldn’t make a boy look at me even If I started doing back flips.  

So secretly, I started hating them.  I started to reject shopping for clothes, shoes and everything else closely related to fashion.  Realizing that the situation is going down hill, my mother decided that we needed the help of a professional.   John Robert Powers.

The course was “Personality Development and Basic Modeling”, it was a life changing experience for me.  They changed my posture, changed my hair, changed the shape of my eyebrows, changed the way I talk, changed the way I ate until I became perfect, a perfect walking and talking John Robert Powers advertisement.  But I don’t have any hang-ups, actually I am grateful, at John Robert Powers I learned how to walk and talk with confidence.  

After graduating from high school I enrolled myself at Pamantasan Ng Lunsod Ng Maynila.  Again, it was a life changing experience.  The school, my professors and my classmates, changed me, not physically but within.  I gained knowledge, not only academic knowledge but hard facts about life itself.  It was a far cry to the enclosed environment I had during high school.  At PLM I learned that a person of beauty is incomparable to a person of worth.  

Beauty everywhere is something that all of us hope to achieve, wish to have.  But sometimes, real beauty, those who and things that really make us happy are wrapped-up in ungainly packages.  

I am not trying to make a point, it just is.