Where Manilans Spend Maundy Thursday

My mom and I went into Intramuros yesterday, so she could see some of Manila aside from the compound and shopping malls. We took a walking tour recommended by some new coworkers: http://celdrantours.blogspot.com/ Half way through, we thought about ditching the tour and just exploring on our own, but decided to stay and, in the end, decided we enjoyed it. I'll have to try it out again without 103 people on the walking tour.

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are national holidays. Most Manilans head back to "the provinces" for Easter festivities. Traffic on the streets is minimal. Shopping malls are closed (gasp!). I could bike down to the embassy and not worry about being hit by a charging bus. It's really a completely different city, with over 50% of the population gone.

But I found out where those who stay in the city go: Intramuros. It was jam packed. We got there about 3:30, and stalls were set up in the small windy streets selling strange foods on sticks (I wasn't adventurous to try, and have no Tagalog skills to ask), cheap toys, and cold sodas. At first I thought an impromptu festival had been set up - after all, with schools and offices closed, people must go somewhere.

Then, as we walked from the Cathedral to St Augustin church, I realized why so many people were flocking here: huge set ups of the Stations of the Cross (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stations_of_the_cross) in the plazas front of and inside the various churches of Intramuros.

To date, my non-work experience of Manila has been pretty much limited to shopping malls and restaurants. I've met one woman who works with the Ballet Philippines (looking forward to July's performance!), and we found a weekend outdoor market. Before coming here, we were warned not to expect much "culture" after being in culture-rich India.

Seeing such a large cross section of the population reading out of prayer books at each station, though, shed a new light on my view of Manila. Families gathered round as one person (usually the matriarch) read out each passage to all. Groups of teenagers walked from one station to the next, in matching t-shirts or carrying their own mini crucifix. And many individuals, too, prayed with rosaries in front of each cross.

Culture does exist here -- you just have to dig a bit under the facade.