Posts made in December, 2017

El Nido. December 2017

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain pounding the roof and gutters. I had been sleeping in the attic bedroom of a friend’s home in Manila. In disbelief, I walked out into the balcony to witness this unfortunate turn in the weather (Funny, how just a day before I was out enjoying a beautiful sunny day with friends). It seemed that the errant typhoon had finally arrived, threatening our trip to El Nido once again.

I had gone through the same feeling of disbelief a year ago when our much-anticipated trip to the islands of El Nido was cancelled due to an unlikely typhoon in the middle of December. Grudgingly, my friend Tony and I had agreed to postpone the trip for the following year.

The Virgin Mary just passed me by, carried rhythmically by a sea of devotees, trudging barefoot and singing hymns of praise. This is not a dream. It is the height of Sevilla’s holy week celebration when the city is at a standstill for weeklong activities, the highlight of every year in this Andalucian capital.