So sorry about the lull in blogging! Time is really flying by here! November 1 and 2 are holidays in the Philippines. Halloween is not that big of a deal because they have All Saints Day on Nov. 1. It is kind of like a mix between Memorial Day, American 4th of July and Ceremonial Worship. It is really interesting. Here are some sights I saw on my bike ride through the cemeteries.
The people visit the graves of their relatives. They light candles for many reasons, depending on their beliefs. Maybe it is for honoring them or for worship or to show their prayers for getting them out of purgatory. I am still learning about the whole holiday.
There was a statue of Jesus I think...on top of someone's tomb. Lots of people were giving offerings to the statue of flowers and candles. I don't really understand it but I just observed this a lot.
This was at the Chinese-Filipino cemetery. They have whole houses for the dead there, and the families all gather inside and have a vigil and eat. They have different views in the Chinese culture I think--about ancestor worship and giving them offerings. You can see the offerings of food on this grave.
The families are all eating and hanging out, like on our American 4th of July, but they are here using the tomb as a table. Interesting. People were pretty friendly to me and no one really seemed too sad. They were all sort of celebratory because it was a time to gather with family.
Here are the children having a picnic by the graves.
In cemeteries where there are no houses for the dead, the living people set up tents and have sort of a camp-out/cook-out together all day. Here are some kids in the tent by their relative's grave.
This was a very common sight. Tons of candles and flowers for sale all lining the roads. They even had merchants from Donut shops and pizza places selling food making money at the cemeteries.
Also very common was to see people walking around with cans of paint. Every year on this holiday the family members paint a fresh coat on the graves of their beloved family members. It was the job of the men to paint and scrub and clean the tombs.
The kids all thought I was a famous person working for a magazine. They thought if they posed for a picture they could become famous too! So here they are being published world-wide on our blog!
The people visit the graves of their relatives. They light candles for many reasons, depending on their beliefs. Maybe it is for honoring them or for worship or to show their prayers for getting them out of purgatory. I am still learning about the whole holiday.
There was a statue of Jesus I think...on top of someone's tomb. Lots of people were giving offerings to the statue of flowers and candles. I don't really understand it but I just observed this a lot.
This was at the Chinese-Filipino cemetery. They have whole houses for the dead there, and the families all gather inside and have a vigil and eat. They have different views in the Chinese culture I think--about ancestor worship and giving them offerings. You can see the offerings of food on this grave.
The families are all eating and hanging out, like on our American 4th of July, but they are here using the tomb as a table. Interesting. People were pretty friendly to me and no one really seemed too sad. They were all sort of celebratory because it was a time to gather with family.
Here are the children having a picnic by the graves.
In cemeteries where there are no houses for the dead, the living people set up tents and have sort of a camp-out/cook-out together all day. Here are some kids in the tent by their relative's grave.
This was a very common sight. Tons of candles and flowers for sale all lining the roads. They even had merchants from Donut shops and pizza places selling food making money at the cemeteries.
Also very common was to see people walking around with cans of paint. Every year on this holiday the family members paint a fresh coat on the graves of their beloved family members. It was the job of the men to paint and scrub and clean the tombs. 
The kids all thought I was a famous person working for a magazine. They thought if they posed for a picture they could become famous too! So here they are being published world-wide on our blog!
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