Roots
10 items or less
By Marifi Jara
QUELIMANE, Mozambique—Rain is pouring hard as I begin writing this. Aside from the heavy downpour, the first after almost a week of cloudy and humid days, there are also no telltale signs that it’s Christmas season. There are hardly any Christmas decorations in town, neither in the shops nor in the houses.
And so I am feeling a bit blue.
But inspired by watching some nights ago the short film 10 items or less with the ever-hip Morgan Freeman and dead gorgeous Paz Vega, I thought it would be a cheering activity to make some lists. After all, it is Christmas and making lists has always been one of the fun traditions of the season. (By the way, the movie is about two strangers who meet for a day that proves to be life-changing for both of them; Freeman plays an actor who has been in hibernation but is doing some research for a potential role while Vega is a Spanish migrant with a rather boring job manning a supermarket’s check-out counter for 10 items or less.)
So here goes:
10 items (or less) I miss in the Philippines during Christmas season:
1. Mom’s cooking
2. Parols and dainty Christmas lights
3. Family
4. Our dogs
5. Bangus (boneless tinapa and daing, grilled, and sinigang)
6. SMB light
7. Snuggling in bed with the cool early morning temperature
8. An entertaining Christmas serenade from an amateur choir
9. Get-together with long-time friends whom we hardly see the rest of the year (it’s always so much fun reminiscing crazy times shared and catching up on each other’s lives)
10. Fruit cake (but maybe I can try to make one here)
10 things (or less) I DON’T miss:
1. Shopping frenzy
2. Repeated Christmas carols on the radio (even long before Christmas!)
3. Excessive eating
4. Wasted post-celebration food
5. Relatives (or friends) who can’t hold their drink during the celebrations
There. I’m not checking the list twice because as in the movie, it should be about spontaneous thoughts and I think that is a good way of reflecting on our basic impulses.
Anyway, we’re having a small get-together here for Christmas with a couple of our Filipino friends, the few other expats who are not going home as well, and perhaps some Mozambican friends. So it won’t be such a quiet, boring Christmas. All is well that is celebrated well. Cheers to Christmas!
(Readers may reach columnist at marifijara@gmail.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/roots/
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