Christmas in the old village

Taking a trip into memory lane or the holiday season in the old village is an opportunity to take a quick glimpse in how we’ve changed over the last three decades in the celebration of Christmas.

Then, the primary focus is on the Midnight Mass with, yes, Pale Arnold, for many years. And this is the time of year when the best wardrobe is sported, dug out from the bottom of the dresser, to wear on Christmas Eve. People throughout the villages would hurry to church to find a good seat. Nothing else happens until after veneration of the Baby Jesus around two in the morning.

That was a healthy religious tradition that has somewhat loosened up over the years. After mass, we’ll visit our elderly for their blessings. Often, this visit is met with fresh yam doughnuts (boñelos dagu) or some pastry and coffee or real solid food from mom’s kitchen.

The next day, the family prepares lavish local dishes for everybody. There are those who honor this day with novenas. Thus, a festive party is held to welcome the veneration of the Baby Jesus. Yes, I could still feel the excitement of Christmas past in the old village.

These days, the price of yam and fish have become so prohibitive that even islanders quiz if these items are in fact part of the traditional staple of the indigenous people. Yes, they are traditional dishes that have become rare delicacies. Each trip to fish markets for reef fish had me scurrying back to the car to check if imported mackerel is available somewhere else to substitute local fish.

Around the old village, we can detect the haves and havenots by the food they cook on Christmas Eve in preparation for the next day. The haves would fry imported chicken, cook red rice, etc. Man, the smell of fried chicken we can ill afford was the dream of every little boy who’s hungry most of the time, well, like me. I’d pass by their houses to chance an invitation to eat fried chicken. And before the invitation was even uttered, I was already pulling my chair to join them. Did I hear this message in some old song?

The havenots (including my family) must contend with salt, taro or boiled banana. If we’re lucky, we’d have rice drowning in coconut milk for supper. We didn’t know anything about cholesterol then and even if we did, eating it wasn’t a matter of choice but necessity. Either you stuff it or bluff it. If you bluff it, you’d be twisting in your sleep all night, hungry. In the end, you’d be tip-toeing to the kitchen to see if there are any leftovers. Ai yeai, yeai ,yeai ,yeai!

There were no Christmas presents then. It’s as foreign as the sun rising in the east. We were lucky the US Red Cross donated small boxes of gifts for every pupil in public school. That was our introduction to Christmas presents, our first and last too, which was limited to grammar school kids. Yeah, we’d sit under a tree during recess exchanging items with classmates. I often wonder what Santa would have said if he caught us exchanging favorites from gifts he just handed us. But I suppose poverty rules out any notion about finesse.

I also remember one Christmas Even when I woke up to prepare for midnight mass seeing my saintly late mom wrapping a gift for the boys. I received a pair of white socks with black and red stripes. That too was my first and last present from mom. Perhaps out of appreciation, I’ve bought nothing but white sports socks since then. My cousins Alicia Guerrero and Lillian A. Tenorio would tease me about a formal wear ruined by white sports socks. I never gave up and sorry girls, I’m wearing them again this Christmas Eve.

Toys? Gee, if you’re in the havenots battalion, stick to your self-made boats from empty spam, corned beef or sardine cans. Yeap, I’ve endured cuts from toying around with their sharp edges. But I’d push my humble toys underneath the house and often sleep with it.

I remember the old folks in the neighborhood all of whom have since departed. I look back at how fast time flies. Let us remember them in our prayers this Christmas for they’ve guided our wind-torn sails for many years with dedication. Si Yuus Maase` and may your Christmas Day be filled with the profound blessings from the Ñiño Jesus. Felis Noche Buena para todos!