{may 30, 2003 friday 5:21pm}

may 31= traffic

i've been inside the bus for about four and a half hours already and still there’s no hope of moving.

you might want to know the cause of the traffic -- it’s the annual tradition of Flores de Mayo. as a rule it’s the procession of the "reynas” & their “consortes” that’s causing all the commotions but most of the time it’s their “alalays” who are blocking the way of the passing vehicles thus casing the traffic. People more often than not hate this season because of the traffic. but i don't. i love this time of the year.

according to my grandmother, the "reynahan" started as a religious tradition. the priests or the "prayles" during the spanish time commemorated the search of Reyna Elena (the mother of Constantine the Great) for the cross that the romans used to crucify Jesus Christ.

the month of may is also considered as the flower month & the month of the Holy Mother. according to the tradition, the farmers, after a long period of summer season, would offer flowers and fruits to the holy virgin asking for the start of the rainy season. and every year, if you would notice rain would start falling as early as the last week of may.

when we were just a kid, my grandmother, whom i fondly called inay, used to put a pinch of mud in our navels whenever the first rain in the month of may drops. she said that it would protect us from a number of illness specially tummy aches.

while i’m already 23 years old now and equipped with proper knowledge on what to and what not to believe, i would still love to sit beside our window, watch the rain fall and wonder whether inay’s stories are real or just a silly tradition (which I hope is not :)