The Day of the Dead

So, you'd think that after nearly 100 days, I'd be running out of interesting things to discover over here.  Well, at least the things I write about are interesting to me.  I hope they are interesting to you as well.  But it seems that nearly every day, I bump into something that surprises me.  Here's todays find (and its only 8a in the morning)...

As you know, Halloween is upon us... Of course, its not referred to that way over here... its called All Souls Day.  You remember from catechism:  All Souls Day, October 31 followed by All Saints Day, November 1.  Well, as I understand it, some of the children do have fun with masks and costumes and all that.  But what I find interesting is that the adults take All Souls Day very seriously.  As you recall, I have written about the importance of family in this culture.  Therefore, it should come as no surprise that All Souls Day traditions here involve "pilgrimage" activities.  That is, it is a custom on this day to, as much as you are able, travel to the town that your family calls home.  Here you gather to honor those that have passed.  Apparently, officials are expecting traffic around the country this weekend to rise 15-20% as folk head back to their roots. (This statistic coming from the daily Manila newspaper that I read religiously).  The mayor has family here who I met the other day that hail from San Francisco, Ca.  They arrived for the holiday.

Where filipinos are gathered there is sure to be music, singing, drinking and dancing.  I am told that to celebrate All Souls Day, many choose to fiesta (if you're following this you can guess where).... at of course, the cemetery!!  In fact, apparently on All Souls Day the cemetery becomes the Dead Center of Town!!  (Sorry I couldn't resist!)

There is a cemetery here in Lagonoy and I will take a stroll through there tomorrow night to see if in fact, there are folks dancing on graves... if that proves true, I will be sure to provide full report....

Yours in the field
Dann-O

ps. In all seriousness, I do believe this tradition closely resembles the Dia de Los Muertos celebrations that occur in Mexico, also a country that remains very Catholic.  And that is interesting too.