Handog and Prayers

We had our going away "Handog" for our host families last Saturday. A handog is a party or celebration in honor of some special event. All of the trainees and our host families met at NVSU on Saturday morning. We played games - musical chairs, island hop, rock-paper-scissors tournament, line basketball with wadded paper, and water-balloon toss. Filipinos LOVE to play games and are very competitive. It was fun.

After the games, we had speeches and certificate presentations. Each cluster chose one host family member to speak on behalf of that cluster's host families. Our cluster chose Manang Norma, my host sister. She was funny. Whenever I asked her if she would mind speaking briefly at our handog she said, "Oh of course I will. I have already prepared an outline in anticipation that I would be asked to speak." What a woman. Then she told me that she really wanted to go first, so would I please arrange it. Oh my, what a woman. When I got to NVSU, I managed to convince them to rearrange the schedule so that she could speak first. And so it went. She spoke. . . and spoke. . . and spoke. First in English, then Ilokano, then back to English. And finally, she was finished. Like I said . . . what a woman.

That afternoon, she hosted a "thanksgiving prayer meeting" at her house. It was unlike anything I've ever experienced because I'm not Catholic. It was really cool, though. About 25 women gathered in her living room. We sat barefoot on the floor and recited prayers by call and response. Some of them, like the Lord's prayer, were familiar to me. Others were not. But the entire experience was peaceful and calm. On a table in front, there was a statue of Mary with three burning candles. Surrounding Mary were offerings of rice, coconut, boiled eggs, pancit (rice noodles), cooked meat, glasses of water, a San Miguel beer, and a plate of cigarettes. I felt blessed to participate in this ceremony because I could feel the faith of the women as they prayed in unison. It was powerful and I am thankful for it. It was also a time for me to personally reflect on all that I am thankful for - and that's a lot.

It may be a while before I get to post again as this is a busy time. Take care and keep writing. I'll be back ASAP!