The Fiesta Madness of The Philippines
In The Philippines, at the risk of starvation, a person can literally be fed just by moving from baryo to baryo, town to town, city to city, province to province. Here in The Philippines, we have more fiestas than we have people. You don’t need to make dinner, you just need to find a fiesta.
Fiesta of San Pedro. Cordova, Cebu (photocredit: Farl)
Obviously I’m exaggerating here. But, in the small town where I’m from in the province, we have our fiesta on the same day as a town 1 hour away, then there’s a fiesta the next day in a barangay near ours as well. 10 days from that, we have another fiesta at our hometown, then 3 days after that I attend a fiesta at the barangay where my Dad grew up. If you counted that’s 5 fiestas in 13 days. After these grueling, yet delicious, days, I’m ready to swear Lechon off for life. Well, at least until the next round.
Isn’t it amazing that when I was in college, and eating Pancit Canton during the end of the month (because, I would spend all my allowance during the first two weeks of the month), I would literally be daydreaming of the day I would come home and start pigging out during the fiestas.
The Fiesta is just one of the cultural traditions that we Filipinos have inherited from our Spanish heritage. It is a celebration to the individual Patron Saints that each town has. I think in our town, our saint was St. Bartolome (Saint Bartholomew). But, nowadays the focus is made on food, food, food, and some other food, and oh yeah.. Gin, Vodka, Rum, Tuba, basically anything alcoholic except rubbing alcohol.
I think, the drinking part is great, because you are truly humbled when you turn your head and you see your Dad belching away to the tune of “I write the Songs” by Barry Manilow… flailing his arms wildly, trying to keep up with the words on the Karaoke TV screen… and you have to say to your friends in a cringed voice (because your mom is around) “yeah that’s my Dad!”
Oh, I love fiestas. Thank you Spain for invading our Land… Thank goodness for Christianity! And thank The Lord for The glorious foods that any fiesta brings.
