By: Telly Gonzaga-Ocampo
Magay, Sejapo ug Maribojoc
The Christmas Trees of a Happy Childhood
I was born immediately after World War 2 and Christmas celebrations then were joyful and simple. Christmas decors were home-made. Christmas was a time when the making of the Belen and of the Christmas tree was a family affair. It was the time when creativity was at its best; it was a time when family solidarity was defined well.
Stars hanging at our windows were made of Japanese paper or papel de Japon. Our neighbors’ star decors were far better than ours. They were shining brightly with lighted candles inside and figures of the Child Jesus which kept on rotating and moving inside, too. The scene was magical to me. I kept on wishing we could do that much but that remained as a child’s wish.
It was a treat for us children when we were brought to the district of Manga to see the Christmas belen of the Matuod family. It was beautifully placed at the groundfloor of the Matuod ancestral home. Their belen depicted the journey of Joseph and Mary, from Nazareth to Bethlehem in compliance to the decree of Caesar Augustus for the census. It was there where Jesus was born. Didto gyud sa pasungan sa hayop. It was because there was no room for them in the inn. The belen also depicted the killing of the holy innocents as decreed by Herod. He ordered the killing of innocent young boys for fear that one of them would replace him as king as it was prophesied. The belen scene culminated with the plight of Mary and Joseph with Jesus to Egypt.
On our way home from Manga district, we would pass by the Coca Cola plant, the only place where you could find blinking lights and a well-lighted Belen.
During our elementary days in our Home Economics class, at the start of December our industrial project were Christmas decors shaped like balls and bells. We made our own paste made of tayobong and we gathered the silver cigarette wrappers to make silver chandeliers for our Christmas trees.
Then we would go out into the fields to look for bunga sa magay (from the maguey plant) . Magay then was part of our landscape since there were still women spinning magay fiber materials for mosquito nets brightly colored in red, green and yellow. There were women selling jubos, suwa and bawnos in the market. Ang jubos maoy gamiton sa pagtina. Suwa and bawnos alang sa shampoo sa buhok. Kon wala gyud mi makita nga bunga sa magay, amoa lang putlon ang mga sanga sa sejapo ug maribojoc. Mao na kadto ang among himoon ug mga Christmas trees. Panahon kadto sa among kabatan-on.
That was truly the time when Christmas was a family affair, when the meaning of Christmas was deeply rooted in our hearts.
With all the trimmings now available in malls and on line, my heart still yearns for Christmas celebrations in the past where everything was simple and joyful. We were never bothered by any scandal about ghost flood control projects. We were never bothered by alleged corruptions committed by politicians and public officials. We were never worried about where our taxes went.
And you?Just the same, Merry Christmas and the hope for a joyful and prosperous New Year.