Christmas 2011 in a “Bahay-Kubo”

by Carmelita Cochingco Ballesteros.
January 1, 2012
Christmas in a “bahay- kubo?” Unthinkable, some of you might say. Most of my friends and relatives are city folk, but my immediate family and I are country folk at heart. It’s the classic city mouse and country mouse conflict of comfort zones.
Actually, we have a suburban home in Bacoor, Cavite. And I’m quite comfortable in it. But the “bahay-kubo” beckons with its irresistible perks. First of all, it is located in Mendez, Cavite where the weather is cool, breezy, and oxygen-rich.
Second, the surroundings are green and the sashaying of the bamboo grass in the wind creates a symphony no orchestra can ever imitate. Third, the dawns and evenings are divine with the sky aglow with stars. Fourth, the nights are chilly by Philippine standards, making you wear three layers of clothes.
There is no need for any air-condition or electric fan. The “bahay-kubo” is open and bright so there is no need to turn on artificial lights the way urban dwellers and office workers do even during the day.
My daughter-in-law spruced up our “bahay-kubo” to give it a homey and Christmas-y look. She used a mat, old curtains and throw pillows, and some imagination to put together a “bahay-kubo” ambience.
My eight-year old granddaughter kept nagging everyone for a Christmas tree. We explained to her that city people have artificial Christmas trees. What we have – guava trees, santol trees, jackfruit trees, coconut trees – were so much better.
We also explained that the Holy Family did not have a Christmas tree. The first Christmas had no benefit of electricity so we must be grateful for the opportunity to experience a similar Christmas. But the little girl kept asking, anyway.
So Daddy, Mommy, and Kuya bought some poinsettia plants and went to work on an all-natural Christmas tree.
Our all-natural Christmas tree — a poinsettia circle — became an instant hit for photo shoots with friends and family members who joined us for Christmas.
If you are visiting the Philippines after long years of overseas work and/or residence, your first reaction is probably dismay at the many inconveniences that assail your senses the moment you land at your port of entry.
If you have decided to come home for good, you are tempted to leave on the next plane because of the inconveniences that sometimes border on the insane.
Let me assure you that spending Christmas in a “bahay-kubo” in the countryside is a most refreshing and invigorating experience. It affirms our identity as Filipinos. Most of all, it helps us put ourselves in the humble setting of the very first Christmas.
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Note: In my previous column, this paragraph was quoted verbatim: “Everything that happens to you is your teacher. The secret is to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by it. Everything that happens is either a blessing that is also a lesson, or a lesson that is also a blessing.” (Berends, 1993)