that fiesta feeling

the guests have all left, mostly officemates, some special friends. i'm back to celebrating the parish fiesta again, after skipping last year. the house was under construction then. ive been doing this for more than 8 years now, methinks. and it's something i initiated, not my mom.

we didnt used to celebrate the town fiesta (which is associated with lots of water). as kids, we would participate during the morning's wet and wild (lol) festivities but nanay wouldnt have special food nor would we invite friends and family. we would observe more religiously the parish feast day, but then again, it would really just be us watching the procession of the images.

when nanay and tatay migrated to the states almost a decade back, my brother, his family and i were left here in manila. i decided then to celebrate the parish fiesta, because it was a very good year for the company. I wanted to offer thanksgiving to the Lord for the blessing. and the best way was to celebrate with my officemates, to treat them to a feast for they were responsible for meeting the targets for the year.

and since them, save for last year, ive annualized the tradition. and my nanay and tatay appreciated it immensely when they came back home. so this is something the entire household looks forward to. there would be inuman (drinking bouts) and some suki dishes like lumpiang shanghai.

this year, i have more reason to be thankful. we've completed the house in record time. and it has brought me back to where i grew up. so this celebration was special and it was meant to be spent with special friends, not just colleagues, old and new.

I thank thee, Lord, for granting us all the wonderful favors and blessings through all the years.