I bought speakers for my DVD player yesterday, and since my room is a mess, I have to clean it up today. And wonder of wonders, guess what my horoscope said today:
Daily Aquarius Forecast: Forget the fact that it's Sunday, and you really should be enjoying yourself. You'll be in the mood to work, and work hard. If all else fails, tear apart your closets and cabinets. You know what they say about cleanliness.
...And this is after I've already cleaned my room! Skeerey. :shock:
I thought I lost my new bought ballpen, when I went to buy another one at the bookstore, the third book of His Dark Materials, which I've been eager to have a copy of, was already available. When I got home, guess what I found on my bedside table? My "missing" pen.
Today, Ronald and I went to our 3rd annual [i]visita iglesia.[/i] We've been told many times that we're doing it wrong. We should visit 7 churches and do the whole Way of the Cross on each and not go to 14 churches and do only 1 station, but hey, we've made our very own tradition.
As always, we started at UST around 10:30 am where we bought prayer booklets. Like last year, we bought unknowingly the old version of The Way of the Cross, hence there were incongruences with the pamphlet and the stations of the cross on each church we went to.
Second stop was the twin churches of Loreto and St. Francis -- these churches are literally a stone throw from each other. They are a walking distance from UST. We planned our [i]visita iglesia[/i] around the numerous clusters of churches in Manila.
In Loreto, these guys were preparing the carousel of the Dolorosa for the procession to be held in the afternoon.
Next stop, San Beda. Such a beautiful church. Its exterior is like that of Notre Dame, and inside was [i]grandiously[/i] grand. This is one of the churches we were not able to enter last year, when we went out on a Black Saturday. Most churches are closed on Black Saturdays because it is the only time in the Church's calendar that no mass is held.
Next is St. Jude, patron saint of hopeless cases, and the church adjacent to the Malacaņan Palace -- the seat of Philippine Government. Hmmm...
In our walk from church to church, we met many groups like these: penitents of the Blessed Nazarene. If you look closely, they are barefoot, and the streets were excoriatingly hot.
Up next, the gothic church of San Sebastian -- made entirely of steel and shipped piece by piece from France (if I remember my history correctly).
Then we braved the sea of devotees of the Black Nazarene at Quiapo. When Ronald complained of the huge crowd, I reminded him of purgatory, which he quickly replied: "That's why I'm trying to go straight to Hell."
We then strolled our way to Sta. Cruz through rows of peddlers of what nots: shirts to utensils to pirated video cds. Interestingly, those selling pirated vcds were in tune with the season, they were playing "The Passion of the Christ."
The ninth station of our journey was the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros. According to Ronald, it was an oasis compared to what we went through at Quiapo. The church was fully air conditioned.
Up next, San Agustin, still in Intramuros.
We then took a jeep to Baclaran where we passed Malate Church which was part of our itenerary last year. But since there were only 4 churches to go, we decided to only visit the 'musts'.
At Baclaran, we lighted candles and prayed to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. For the last two years, we would go afterwards to the flea market to buy shirts to change into, but not this year, because we didn't bring any bag to put our clothes.
Twelfth station was the EDSA Shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Peace. This is the place where the famous "people power" to overthrow Marcos took place. But lately, with the mob that convened three years ago on its solemn grounds, the so-called EDSA Tres, its meaning seems to have lost its luster a bit.
Next stop was the Monasterio de Santa Clara. As tradition dictates, we brought eggs. I still don't get how this Filipino tradition started. Also, I wonder what the nuns do with all those eggs they receive.
And finally, we braved the impending rain and as always, ended our [i]visita iglesia[/i] at Santo Domingo.
I had my first death after more than a year last friday.
Dying patients no longer shock me. But what surprised me was when one of the relatives of another patient said that she doesn't want to grow too old because she doen't want to burden her family in taking care of her when she's gone senile. A life span of 65 years is good enough for her, she said. We share the same sentiment. Gone are the days when communities leave their old folks in the wild to be ravaged by insolent weather or to be eaten by predators. She is now in her late 40's and has 5 grandchildren.
I went to watch "The Passion of the Christ" today. It wasn't that violent for me at all. I find "Braveheart" more violent -- where the scene of the throat slashing still makes me cringe.
I found the movie traditionalist, in a sense that the story was based on tradition more than the scriptures, examples are the scene of Veronica and that of the crow (it is believed that it is the same crow that Noah set free during the great deluge). These are stories old people tell during Holy Week when I was young.
Maybe I'm biased, being born Catholic and all, but I don't find anything anti-semetic in the film, though I agree with some critics when they said that the Jews in the movie were two-dimensionally portrayed, but then, isn't the Bible? I recall growing up that old people used to cry "Hudyo!" as a derogatory remark, then followed by "Hudas! Barrabas! Estas!" as expletives.
I admit that I was a bit stirred by the film -- not because of its so-called "realistic brutality" (I find the mutilated body make-up funny), but more so because of the unbreakable relationship between the mother and the son, which was picturesquely set into screen. (I forgot whose paintings it was based) But then it makes me wonder still whether, was I [i]moved[/i] because I know [i]who[/i] the film was about, or was I moved simply because it was a good movie? It [i]is[/i] a movie afterall.
The orientation was rather interesting. According to the consultant, the hospital have only receive 12 internship placements so far. And one medical school only received 10 enrollees for the upcoming school year.
What the ----? Are Filipino doctors really on the verge of extinction as frustrated physicians flock to to the more lucrative nursing profession? Or was she just pulling our leg, after all it's April Fool's Day?
As always, we started at UST around 10:30 am where we bought prayer booklets. Like last year, we bought unknowingly the old version of The Way of the Cross, hence there were incongruences with the pamphlet and the stations of the cross on each church we went to. 
Second stop was the twin churches of Loreto and St. Francis -- these churches are literally a stone throw from each other. They are a walking distance from UST. We planned our [i]visita iglesia[/i] around the numerous clusters of churches in Manila.
In Loreto, these guys were preparing the carousel of the Dolorosa for the procession to be held in the afternoon.
Next stop, San Beda. Such a beautiful church. Its exterior is like that of Notre Dame, and inside was [i]grandiously[/i] grand. This is one of the churches we were not able to enter last year, when we went out on a Black Saturday. Most churches are closed on Black Saturdays because it is the only time in the Church's calendar that no mass is held.
Next is St. Jude, patron saint of hopeless cases, and the church adjacent to the Malacaņan Palace -- the seat of Philippine Government. Hmmm...
Up next, the gothic church of San Sebastian -- made entirely of steel and shipped piece by piece from France (if I remember my history correctly).
Then we braved the sea of devotees of the Black Nazarene at Quiapo. When Ronald complained of the huge crowd, I reminded him of purgatory, which he quickly replied: "That's why I'm trying to go straight to Hell."
We then strolled our way to Sta. Cruz through rows of peddlers of what nots: shirts to utensils to pirated video cds. Interestingly, those selling pirated vcds were in tune with the season, they were playing "The Passion of the Christ."
The ninth station of our journey was the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros. According to Ronald, it was an oasis compared to what we went through at Quiapo. The church was fully air conditioned.
Up next, San Agustin, still in Intramuros.
At Baclaran, we lighted candles and prayed to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. For the last two years, we would go afterwards to the flea market to buy shirts to change into, but not this year, because we didn't bring any bag to put our clothes.
Twelfth station was the EDSA Shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Peace. This is the place where the famous "people power" to overthrow Marcos took place. But lately, with the mob that convened three years ago on its solemn grounds, the so-called EDSA Tres, its meaning seems to have lost its luster a bit.
Next stop was the Monasterio de Santa Clara. As tradition dictates, we brought eggs. I still don't get how this Filipino tradition started. Also, I wonder what the nuns do with all those eggs they receive.
And finally, we braved the impending rain and as always, ended our [i]visita iglesia[/i] at Santo Domingo.