reflections from lent

I miss the olden days - when as a kid i despise the holy week so much because there is nothing left to watch on the telly. These days, you have everything! Cartoons in the morning, movies, documentaries and what have you. I miss the days when the only treat i could get was The Ten Commandments, Quo Vadis and nothing else. :(

So Maundy Thursday came and i was late from work. I did not anticipate (how could i not?) that it would be a problem going home because of the throng of people walking from all sides of the metro to Antipolo. The fanaticism was hurting my head, especially since most of the people walking didn't look like they we're in it for the essence of pure sacrifice. Groups of teenagers passed me by and they would either be (a) taking pictures, (b) hugging their partners (c) shouting for no apparent reason, or (d) running and bumping people along the way.

I was at home by 10:30pm, thanks to kuya who came to the rescue. There was this documentary on TV, about a poor barrio where kids had to endure shortage on school desks. They had to walk kilometers of dirt from home going to the school buildings and they would have to spend the whole day sitting on the floor, no desks, no chairs, nothing to support their backs during the length of the school day. :(

One kid had to bring her own chair everyday , to and from school, scared that someone will take it when she leaves it in their classroom. She's lucky, though her chair is not comfortable because it has no back support, at least she doesn't have to sit on the cold floor. In the middle of the story, i started crying. I realized how lucky i was, that even if I was in public school for the duration of my primary years, i did not have those problems. I have a good desk, i have roof above my head, i have books, i have pens, paper and everything i needed. One barrio did not even have paper and pencils for the kids. They had to chop down banana leaves on the way to school and use it as paper while charcoals would be their pens :'( And these are the kids who are so intent on finishing their studies - despite the lack of support :'(