New York Girl Easter
Easter culminates the 40-day Lenten season begun on Ash Wednesday. It is, to Catholics a period of reflection of the suffering of Jesus Christ leading to his crucifixion. I grew up in a country that marks Holy Week with self-penitence, prayers and religiousness. It is also the time where people follow an exodus out of the city and to the provinces - either to spend the long weekend with relatives in provinces or to troop to the beaches for vacation.
Here in the US, the weekend also marks reunions with families and friends and the car rentals in any Avis or Enterprise outlet in Manhattan are once again over-priced, if there are at all any cars available.
Easter is like the Easter Lily that is pure in its whiteness and is shaped like a trumpet, seemingly heralding the arrival of great good news. It is about hunting for eggs that symbolizes new life, of bunnies hopping and pastel colored Starburst sour jelly beans. It also comes at the start of spring when the promise of life is seen in trees now ready to burst with flowers to end the bare and cold of winter.
This year my sister spent Holy Week with me. It was a chance to talk about childhood memories (relying more on my recall as she has managed to short circuit her memory and has more lapses than anything else) and plan ahead for the coming of our 'end of days' (will be in another blog). It was in following the media coverage of the Terri Schivo has prompted us to clearly state our preferences when our time comes. It is the seed of a living will, you might say.
Distanced from the sweltering heat of Manila's Holy Week and still freezing in the stubborn cold of winter, somehow the religiousity of Lent feels different. Despite the flurry of similar activities in most churches, I have come to miss the monotonous singing of the passion of Christ and the processions that bring the religious door to door around the neighborhood following the stations of the cross from home to home. In Cavite City, Good Friday evenings are about long processions of hushed mourners staging the burial of the dead Jesus. There os another procession before dawn on Easter Sunday where an angel descends on the mourning Mary to remove her veil and to signify the resurrection of Jesus.
"Happy Easter", we were greeted in all the shops we entered today. Some have opened, some have chosen to keep the day a holiday. Manhattan shops rarely shut their doors to shoppers so this is a peculiar time to be walking 6th Avenue with TJ Maxx and Filene's with doors shut. It felt like we were walking a ghost town and the wild wind that funnelled through the buildings didn't really help make it better. A few people are in a shopping mood, many headed to brunches and dinners with flowers, wine and food as presents. At Times Square, however, life goes on without religious bias, the Naked Urban Cowboy still pausing for pictures at the corner.
In the afternoon, tired from the miles of walking we had done since my sister arrived, we decided to stay home and play movies back to back on the DVD. Thank goodness Blockbuster had chosen to stay open for the day. Love Actually (my fifth time to see it), Ladder 49 and Bend it Like Beckham played on TV while she re-threaded my pearls in silk and I tried my hand in making my own jewelry.
At home Nicole reported that lunch was at Island Cove with the parents, Francis, Laila and the kids. In a way it feels Easter kept us together in the celebration at lunch, with Gigi and I celebrating it with a 13 hour delay due to the time zones. Celebrated with a feast on the table and with reminders that life is about family and gratitude for the blessings that have generously sprinkled our lives. And prayers that in each Easter, we would experience the hope, promise and celebrations of lives lived well despite the occassional bumps and hiccups.
Happy Easter to all!
Here in the US, the weekend also marks reunions with families and friends and the car rentals in any Avis or Enterprise outlet in Manhattan are once again over-priced, if there are at all any cars available.
Easter is like the Easter Lily that is pure in its whiteness and is shaped like a trumpet, seemingly heralding the arrival of great good news. It is about hunting for eggs that symbolizes new life, of bunnies hopping and pastel colored Starburst sour jelly beans. It also comes at the start of spring when the promise of life is seen in trees now ready to burst with flowers to end the bare and cold of winter.
This year my sister spent Holy Week with me. It was a chance to talk about childhood memories (relying more on my recall as she has managed to short circuit her memory and has more lapses than anything else) and plan ahead for the coming of our 'end of days' (will be in another blog). It was in following the media coverage of the Terri Schivo has prompted us to clearly state our preferences when our time comes. It is the seed of a living will, you might say.
Distanced from the sweltering heat of Manila's Holy Week and still freezing in the stubborn cold of winter, somehow the religiousity of Lent feels different. Despite the flurry of similar activities in most churches, I have come to miss the monotonous singing of the passion of Christ and the processions that bring the religious door to door around the neighborhood following the stations of the cross from home to home. In Cavite City, Good Friday evenings are about long processions of hushed mourners staging the burial of the dead Jesus. There os another procession before dawn on Easter Sunday where an angel descends on the mourning Mary to remove her veil and to signify the resurrection of Jesus.
"Happy Easter", we were greeted in all the shops we entered today. Some have opened, some have chosen to keep the day a holiday. Manhattan shops rarely shut their doors to shoppers so this is a peculiar time to be walking 6th Avenue with TJ Maxx and Filene's with doors shut. It felt like we were walking a ghost town and the wild wind that funnelled through the buildings didn't really help make it better. A few people are in a shopping mood, many headed to brunches and dinners with flowers, wine and food as presents. At Times Square, however, life goes on without religious bias, the Naked Urban Cowboy still pausing for pictures at the corner.
In the afternoon, tired from the miles of walking we had done since my sister arrived, we decided to stay home and play movies back to back on the DVD. Thank goodness Blockbuster had chosen to stay open for the day. Love Actually (my fifth time to see it), Ladder 49 and Bend it Like Beckham played on TV while she re-threaded my pearls in silk and I tried my hand in making my own jewelry.
At home Nicole reported that lunch was at Island Cove with the parents, Francis, Laila and the kids. In a way it feels Easter kept us together in the celebration at lunch, with Gigi and I celebrating it with a 13 hour delay due to the time zones. Celebrated with a feast on the table and with reminders that life is about family and gratitude for the blessings that have generously sprinkled our lives. And prayers that in each Easter, we would experience the hope, promise and celebrations of lives lived well despite the occassional bumps and hiccups.
Happy Easter to all!