The Long and Quiet Easter Weekend

Like the rest of the world, we have spent our Easter weekend different from how we used to celebrate it. Before moving to Australia, we would usually start the celebration quietly on Holy Monday, observing our Catholic traditions. On Thursday, we would do the Visita Iglesia, where we would visit 7 churches and recite the station of the cross. On Friday we observe Jesus' crucifixion and from where I grew up (in Navotas), I would have the privilege to witness the people doing their penance - either re-enacting The Way of The Cross and even be crucified (safely). We then celebrate the ressurection on Sunday, where we all wake up early and witness salubong in our parish or simply the re-enacment of Jesus' rise from the dead. Sunday would be the happiest day as we can again feast and eat meat, after sacrificing and eating seafood for a week (or 40 days for some).

Then, we had to adapt to a slightly different way of celebrating the Holy week (or Easter Week) here in Sydney. Instead of having Thursday and Friday as a holiday, it is Friday and Easter Monday here. And because there's work on Thursday, we had to do our Visita Iglesia or Stations of The Cross on a Friday. And because we rarely get to have long weekends here, as a family, we usually take this opportunity to travel and do a road trip around Australia.

We would have been in the Philippines by now but Covid happened. I remember how excited we were when we booked our flights back in January. We never realised that the virus will escalate and the rest of the world will go on a halt. We prayed that things would get better closer to the date until the lockdown in Australia happened. On the brighter side, Flight Centre refunded our flight charges on a form of credit that we can use to book flights when things get better.

 We were in Canberra in 2017, in Brisbane Queensland and in Jervis Bay last year. For the first time in our three years in Sydney, we had to spend our Easter Weekend at home. I had no idea what to do at home with my 5 year old so I improvised an easy, indoor easter egg hunt at home I bought heaps of chocolates for Leon which made him the happiest. Easter morning, he woke us up with exciting news that the Easter Bunny hid so much chokkies inside the house and he found (most of) them.

We also did parlor games in our yard with Leon making the rules and eventually winning in all of them. I prepared a sumptuous Easter lunch for us and also managed to walk around the block too.

Paolo and I in Anna Bay Sand Dunes Easter 2019

Photo of myself looking at Byron Bay, Easter 2018

We may not be able to travel for Easter, or travel in the near future, Paolo and I are still grateful for the quiet and quality time we were able to spend at home. On another bright side, we're spending less money now so we are able to increase our savings and increase our time together.

How was your Easter weekend?

Much Love,

The Mommy Roves