Noche Buena

Christmas Eve, December 24, is the morning, day, and night before Christmas Day, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In the Philippines , Christmas Eve ("Noche Buena") is celebrated with the Midnight Mass. It is one of the traditions most families celebrate. It is a night without sleep and a continuous celebration. Filipinos are very religious and family-oriented by nature. Nothing could ever measure to being with your family and love-ones on this special occasion. It is celebrated with a dinner, as every family celebrates the birth of Christ and shares the feast of the best and special food.

Due to current financial crisis, we didn't receive the Christmas gifts that we usually receive when the economy is still good. Usually we are receiving ham and wine that we are consuming during Christmas Eve. But now we will need to get those from our tight budget just to have a food to shares on the Christmas Eve. This mean we need to reduce our budget for non basic needs, like jewelry and electronic gadgets.

There is a small advantage though; we will be able to select the food we will prepare for the Christmas Eve. I have a plan to become a vegetarian to fulfill my goal of eating for the planet. As I mentioned on my Eating for the Planet article, I rated poorly in that area, because I do not exert any extra effort to convert my diet from meat to vegetables.

But the absence of these gifts should not stop us from being happy on this holiday season. We should bear in mind that Christmas is not about material things. This is the season of reflection and love. As long as we are with our love ones, we have no enemy and we are not doing anything wrong, no matter how simple our celebration is, we should be contented and that will make us happy and fulfilled during this holiday season.