Sunday, January 1, 2017

A Quiet, Peaceful New Year's Day


I spent New Year's eve in much the same way as I spent Christmas eve. My wife, my son and myself attended late Mass at San Antonio de Padua parish church in Sibulan, followed by a visit to the home of my wife's parents. Normally, we attend Mass at Our Mother of Perpetual Help Redemptorist Church in Dumaguete. Although the church in Sibulan is within walking distance of our apartment, three of the priests at "Perpetual" are from Ireland and we can attend Mass given by a native speaker of English. We will, however, attend Mass in Sibulan on very special occasions - such as Christmas and New Year's. By attending last night's Mass, we were able to fulfill our Holy Day of Obligation (Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God). I haven't been feeling well for a couple of days and it was nice sleeping in this morning.

It's normally quiet in our neighborhood on Sunday morning, but today is especially nice - last night's drunken revelers are still asleep. At some time within the last few months, the owners of the sari-sari store across the street from my in-laws purchased a pay for play videoke machine. Needless to say, it was going full tilt last night. I've been accused of being a "KJ" (kill joy) and someone who doesn't appreciate Filipino tradition because of my hatred of drunken karaoke. Has it already been (nearly) a year since I posted that karaoke is audio waterboarding?

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