Yesterday, Desiree and I walked to Market Market. Yes, the name is Market Market. Apparently, it is worth repeating.
But that is not the weirdest part of the trip to the market. The weirdest part is that they are celebrating
Christmastime here. Though we are barely
teetering here at the edge of October, its Christmastime here in the
Philippines. I heard Christmas carols as
we walked through a mall. Stores and
just about all public spaces are adorned with showy Christmas decorations.
The Philippines take the Christmas “Season” seriously. They have the longest Christmas celebration
of any country in the world. We are
talking four full months. All the “ber”
months are included. The celebrations
starts right at September 1, extends through October, November, December, and
really doesn’t end until January 6 during the Feast of the Three Kings.
Filipino society not only adopted Christmas, they wed it to their
keen family-centric values. The season
is long and all about family and gathering together.
Thus far, I have found the people here to be very pleasant and
kind.
Yep…Merry Christmas!
Desiree at Market
Market
—Mitchell Hegman
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