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E-mail me! I love to hear from people who have dropped by the site! |
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After a couple blocks I saw a procession of men dressed in
black hoods, wearing crowns of palm leaves, whipping their bloody backs with a bundle of
water-soaked bamboo sticks tied to a rope. I took this as a good omen. I figured they were
headed to the crucifixions. Where else would flagellants go? I followed them. |
They stopped every hundred meters or so, hitting every religious spot in San Fernando. Sometimes they had more slits drawn on their back with a block of wood with shards of glass embedded in it to draw more blood. They were careful to keep things sanitary: after every person they wiped the blood off with a rag. The same blood-soaked rag.
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At some stopping points the flagellants pronated themselves and had friends whip and beat them. Occasionally they stopped for a cold drink of water or a beer. Why not? If you are going to pay heavy-duty penance, why not make it worth your while?
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The crowd picked up. We walked under a banner
"welcoming friends and tourists to the San Pedro Cutud 'Lenten Rites'". Big La
Tondena "First" mineral Water and Magnolia "FunChum" juice drinks
sponsor logos framed the banner. Lenten Rites. Somebody had to work on crafting that
phrase. I don't suppose you can get sponsors to cough up money if you call it
"Bizarre Crucifixion Ritual" or "Bloody Flagellation and Nailing People to
a Cross Day." Maybe in New York, Chicago or LA.... Soon we were part of a stream of Filipinos and tourist flowing down a dry, dusty road. The sun flagellated us. Every step kicked up little poofs of dust that hung in the air until some sweat-soaked body brushed past for it to cling to. Stands lined the road selling ice-cold mineral water, soda, beer and buko juice (coconut milk with strips of raw coconut floating in it) out of ice-filled coolers. I drank and sweated back out a half-dozen buko juices in rapid succession. |
[Back] [More...]
Almost Leaving Manila April 24, 1998
Good Friday Crucifixions, San Fernando Pampanga April 10, 1998
Return To Coron, Palawan, Philippines March-April 1998
Old Travelog Dispatches from the Philippines (1997)
Dispatch #4; The Early Days in Coron
Dispatch #3; The Boat Trip To Coron, Palalwan
Dispatch #2, Northern Luzon and Manila Yet Again.
Dispatch #1, Arrival In the Philippines and Third World Culture Shock
Last updated: Friday, July 24, 1998 05:21 PM
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