The heat’s been rather extraordinary, here. For the Philippines, it’s the hottest time of the year with daily temperatures in the upper 90s (with the heat index about 115 degrees F). Add to that, my writing assignments that are conducted on the computer, downstairs, where there’s no air-conditioning (just fans) and you get the idea as to why I haven’t been motivated to keep up my blog. This will soon change since the cooler, rainy season is almost upon us. Other than that, things have been rather uninteresting, as of late. Work goes well with lots to do.
Oh yes, went to a wake a couple of days ago. The family was asked to attend, so we were driven to the neighbouring city of Makati for a brief visit and ceremony conducted courtesy of a small group of nuns. Wakes, in the Philippines, can go on for quite a while. This was just a relatively quick visit, since the deceased was not all that well-known on this side of the family (her name was Cely). Alma didn’t remember her. Evidently, she was Alma’s mom’s first cousin which made her Alma’s first cousin, once removed. To give you an idea of the situation, the only people we knew were the folks we came with (and one older aunt who was already there). There was a woman attending who was excited to see Alma and said that the last time she saw Alma, was when Alma was a little girl. Afterwards, I asked Alma who the woman was and Alma had no idea (!!). I can sympathize. This used to happen to me a lot as a kid, since my parent’s friends were slightly ancient (at least in my young mind).
So it just goes to show you – you never know where you’re going to end up. Here I was, in an apartment building-style mortuary viewing parlour with individual viewing rooms (kitchen areas included) – situated in Metro Manila. I’m sitting on a wooden bench looking a bunch of people that I don’t know – speaking in a language I don’t understand. And there’s a dead person (that I’ve never met) just a few feet away from me. The really strange part came about when the four nuns (and a “civilian” lady) came in to conduct the small service – with singing (!). At that point almost everyone left the room (!!), except for just a few of us. I have no idea why. Anyway, Alma’s brother and sister-in-law took us out to “Chow King” for a bite to eat, afterwards. Such was the highlight of my week…
First, my sympathies to those left behind by the deceased.
On the strange part, really made me laugh for a while. The singing nuns and a “civilian” lady. They might very well be Whoopi Goldberg and the nuns of Sister Act before the rehearsals.
That’s funny – I hadn’t even thought of that