Aubrey

    Everywhere in the world, we celebrate Christmas, it may be with family, friends, colleagues, and maybe even alone. In the heritage city of Vigan, citizens, better known as Bigueños, take Christmas or "paskwa" quite seriously. Bigueños are very festive and combining that with Christianity, they celebrate Christmas like no other. In the Philippines, you can often sense the spirit of the holiday as early as September, which the locals call "-ber months." So it is no surprise that the blessed event is a big deal throughout every household in the city.      Christmas is a religious occasion honoring the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25. Bigueños and the entirety of Catholic Filipinos have something called "Simbang Gabi" or "Misa de Gallo". People attend mass as early as 3:00 AM to 5:00 AM every day from December 9 to 24. Aside from being religious, Bigueños love music. They blast local and foreign Christmas songs on their speakers, and of cour...

    These words mark the end of a semester. It felt as if the cold breeze swept up my worries now that it finally had come to an end. The past two months or so have been challenging indeed. I speculated that the second quarter had something to do with coding, and I was correct. Coding or web design is something I am unfamiliar with, so I was a bit worried that I may not perform well. Though to my surprise, I comprehended it quite well. I created simple web pages that contained various tags that do all sorts of commands thanks to knowing the basics of HTML. I am satisfied with my work and hope to do more splendid things. This proves that just like everything else, we can learn and improve.      I've faced minor challenges along the way, which held me back a little. These difficulties include non-functional tags, glitches, and occasionally not understanding the instructions effortlessly. Thankfully, these problems were easily solved using the internet or trial and...

     On the twenty-fifth of January, the heritage city of Vigan celebrates its fiesta. This special day commemorates the feast day of the conversion of their patron saint St. Paul. The bigueños or the citizens of the city make an effort in making the fiesta memorable for locals and tourists alike. It has food bazaars, art competitions, shows, dance parades, and carnivals. With all these festivities, you are sure to have an exciting time in Vigan, even if it's just for a day.      In late January of 2020, the first case of COVID-19 in the Philippines was reported. Back when quarantine wasn't as strict, citizens still roamed around freely without masks, even attending major festivals with hundreds or thousands of people. So when the number of patients skyrocketed, the entire country went into lockdown. Mass gatherings and non-essential events were canceled or postponed. Fast forward to the previous year 2021, our situation in the pandemic didn't improve. So t...

In a blink of an eye, the year 2021 came to an end. For the past two years, we have spent our lives in a pandemic where we worry about putting ourselves and others in harm. I am proud to say that we have made progress as a country and I have matured as a human because of these experiences. Many core memories were made last year and I hope that it will be the same case for this year. I only wish for this year to be filled with a “better normal”, brighter days, more discoveries and achievements.             I spent the last minutes of 2021 and the first hours of 2021 with the people I love the most without any worries. That is a privilege not everyone has and therefore I am very grateful for my experience. Recently I turned 15, and the thought of that hasn’t kicked in fully. Many challenges have come my way, specifically mentally. These challenges have made me open my eyes to the “real world” and how it can affect me and the people ...