We should hang out some time.

I met this dog on vacation. As you can see she was too cute not to approach. She licked my hand and kept trying to lick my face. She was also the smelliest dog I’ve ever met. Maybe I should bring gloves when I plan on handling animals from now on.

I wonder what caught the girl's attention on the far right.

Found this picture preloaded on a Kodak digital Photo frame. I still keep it in the normal rotation of pictures. Everytime someone asks, I make up a new story of how it came to be.

Lovely Tennessee weather

While driving in inclement weather, I find that yelling obscenities helps me concentrate on the road ahead.

Kristos (penitents dressed as Jesus) lie on the street in front of the church.

A message of support painted on one of the crosses.

Judases (usually friends of the penitents) beat the penitents in front of the church. This usually signals the end of their penance.

A penitensiya (penitent) at rest. You can see the set of razor cuts made into his back to start the flow of blood.

I found speckles of blood on some of my clothes later that day. Flung from the flail of a random penitent. I remember seeing this spectactle of religious fervor as a child and wondering why someone would do this to themselves. Forgiveness for sins, I assumed. I found out that some join in to ask for blessings from God. My cousin’s friend has done it for the past few years hoping that his son’s illness would be cured. Faith inspires. I suppose.

The whole event seems to have changed from when I remember it as a child. I see tourists (myself included), foreign and native alike, gawking and taking pictures and filming. Catching grizzly mementos of the day. It used to be more of a community thing, if my memory from over a decade ago serves right. Now it feels like most of it is for attracting people to the town’s shops and restaurants. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t see it as being better or worse, just different. I wonder if in the future you’ll be able to buy plastic penitent dolls with real self-whipping action. I’ll be sure to buy a couple.

I just came back from a month long stay in Philippines and to be honest, I can’t wait to get back there. It seems as if I’ve barely begun to learn about that place. Only the first traces of experience. I long for it as if I knew it enough to feel the pangs of separation. It feels like an opportunity left behind.

This is the start.