| Sep 5, 2006 |
| Parade and Sightseeing (finally!) |
It was an early day (the date itself was Tuesday, August 15th - Mother’s Day, in Belgium), as we had to be at the Basilica at 9:30 am (yes, this was early for us). The organizers had requested we all dress in Spanish costumes (probably because they were scared the guys would show up in church in bahags, hehe), but upon reflection, it worked out for the best that we were all in Spanish because it looked so bongga both in the church and especially walking in the parade!
Basilica
 It was so beautiful, like you would expect any old, European Basilica to be. Each group was to say something in their own language (go Myla!), and then mass was held. So solemn, with the saxophone playing in the background! KP performed Jota Manilena, and the raw acoustics made it sound even more beautiful, especially the Patay!
(pictures courtesy of Norbert De Prijck)
Parade 
Fortunately, the rain had stopped, so the performers braved the streets for a parade back to the festivalhal. We had hand-held Filipino flags which we waved around during the parade, but one by one, we started giving them away to little kids as we walked past. The cutest moment was when the Rondalla boys walked up to and serenaded a little girl to give her a flag (but she ran away)! What a fun time! I’ve never smiled and waved so much in my life! (funny though - the ONE close up pic the festival took of me during the parade I did NOT look happy - go figure).
The parade ended at the festivalhal. Panama was singing this chant:
“Ay mijente…con Panama something-something differente” (loosely it’s supposed to translate to “Oh my, with Panama you can have a different kind of fun!”).
Then they all engulfed KP and started singing it but changing ‘Panama’ to ‘Pilipinas’! We were all dancing and laughing and singing….what a great moment with our Panamanian friends!
We were supposed to perform (Variations B) at 2:30 at Hof Ter Linden (the Baron’s Castle / site of Rural in the Rain), but because of the unpredictable weather, we had it in the festivalhal, and then we taugh the kids Pangsat. This was the 2nd to last day of the festival, but it was the 1st night that we actually had off! What to do, what to do….
Brussels!
Our host family was quite busy - Paul was the Finance Director of the Festival, so he always had stuff to do, and Mimi ran a daycare out of her house. So that evening, their daughter and son-in-law Wendy and Jori were super nice enough to take us to Brussels. We visited all the sites, and had some drinks at a local pub. So European, and so different from the village of Edegem!
Tomorrow - Antwerp, and the last day of the festival... |
| posted by cristina @ 6:21 PM |
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| Worth Reminiscing |
| Royalties |
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