AFEW thoughts on Fiesta Señor 2011: Solemn procession. That rain didn’t dampen the Cebuanos’ devotion to the Sto. Niño is not surprising. Our old beliefs don’t actually consider rain pouring as bad; rather, we take it as God “showering” us with his blessings. So when the rain falls when, say, we are in a procession, no complaints. We endure the wet feeling. If not, there’s this thing called umbrella.
Heavy rain poured right smack into the solemn procession one day before this year’s fiesta. I was in the Sun.Star office with my son Khan-khan when we noticed the blackish water rise along Don Pedro Cui, P. del Rosario and Junquera streets. Meaning, we were trapped. So too were some of our fotogs, who had to wait for the rain to ease a bit and for the flash flood to subside before they could get out of the building.
The main routes of the procession were a block or two away (Osmeña Blvd. and, farther south, V. Rama Ave.). That was where some of the people that passed our office came from. That meant a portion of the crowd had seen enough and were going home wet, with some of them still carrying images of the Child Jesus.
I decided to go to E-Mall, where part of the procession passed, to buy an umbrella. I guided my son through streets that still had blackish water flowing into the canals in some areas. Visions of illness caused by dipping one’s feet into the dirty liquid worried me. We managed to cut through the procession both at the Osmeña Blvd. area and along the road across E-Mall. After buying the umbrella, we headed back to the office. (more)
