J.I.A.: Warmth Amidst the Cold Christmas Night

As I write this, I'm listening to an online stream to a station I used to listen to back when the family were spending a year stateside, WIHT, DC's Hottest Hot 99-5.

Since it's Christmas Day already, I guess I should tell you guys about the Habitans' first and possibly the only Christmas we spent outside of the country.

One thing's for sure, the Virginia winter is harshly cold and unfriendly. The average daily temp would often reach as low as 19 degrees Fahrenheit (several degrees below 0 Celsius). Some temperate greeneries would get frosted every morning while trees are completely devoid of leaves, signifying that winter is near.

If in Hollywood Christmas films, you'd see scenes of neighborhood engulfed with inches and inches of snow and  heavily decorated with Christmas ornmanents, you could count this one out. Most of the houses in my neighborhood don't exactly put up decorations the same way we do things here in the Philippines.

For one thing: No "parols". Second: Not much Christmas lights placed outside their houses. Remember however that this was in 2001, and the country is still in a state of shock over the horrific events of September 11. Fox 5 continues to air their coverage on the "War on Terror" while NBC still had Katie Couric on the Today Show.

Another thing we didn't see during the cold month of December: SNOW! No thanks to climate change, the DC area was left out of getting some good ol' snowstorms throughout much of the winter season. It only snowed a month after Christmas and the snowstorm lasted for only a day. I learned that it has something to do with this natural weather system called the "Gulf Stream".

Winter fashion was a dread for me. Having already gained a peak of 120 pounds, basing from my frame then is a bit overweight, I have to wear three different layers of clothes before going outside. First, it's the regular t-shirt followed by a long-sleaved sweater, then a very thick jacket that when worn, I could hard reach my back when I needed to scratch it when itchy. Got to wear winter gloves and a scarf as well.

But despite the odds, the Habitans found a way of celebrating the holidays the old Pinoy way. First of all, my dad kinda "came home" to us after making an LOA from his work in the Philippines so the whole family could spent Christmas together. (Some people thought my parents are divorced because of this 2-year arrangement with my mom being a rep to the World Bank at the time while my dad had to remain in Manila for obvious reasons)

Second, he brought a parol along so we could hang it outside the balcony of our apartment, facing Haycock Road for all people to see. I think we're the only ones in the neighborhood with that kind of a bright decoration considering people did kinda notice that colorful star shining outside the building.

Third, we got to spent Misa de Gallo/Simbang Gabi at the neighboring parish a few blocks away from where we live despite the harsh cold. Imagine the distance of going there from home with the distance of going from UST's design and arts building going to the college of law. We had to call for a taxi to pick us up.

My nose turns red the moment it sense a drop of temperature outside our apartment, talk about harsh.

One thing I noticed, the way they celebrate a Christmas Mass seems to be more solemn than how Filipinos do things. And not much people crowding an otherwise small building. Choice of songs sang on Mass are either English or Latin and the people wear really formal clothing, as opposed to how we usually dress up for a regular Sunday Mass at home.

At home, we had our noche buena. Forgot what food we prepared for the occasion but I remember that all in the family are enjoying every bit of that moment.

A legacy of our first American Christmas is still visible in the household especially during the holiday season, our big Christmas tree. It's been with us for the past 8 years and still going strong.

Amidst the cold Christmas night the family spent in the US, a sense of warmth kept us together, both figuratively and literally.

That's because I remember that later after Misa de Gallo, my sister took me for a warm comforter and hugged me for some warmth. LOL!


MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!