Attending a wake.

Before yesterday, the last time I went to Naic, Cavite a little over a week ago, it was for Tita Nila's birthday celebration. Little did I know then that it would be her last birthday, as she had passed away early Thursday morning. My return visit to Naic yesterday was for her wake.

Arrived at around 3pm yesterday afternoon with my mom, Tita Elvie, Tita Citang, Kuya Gil and Ate Susan. Paid my respects to Tita Nila, then spent most of the time in the dining room with Ate Vonic as MM and Joshua attempted to compromise with their totally different playing habits. Hahaha, along with Kuya Nonong, we had noticed that MM walked and ran in a funny way that was so much like Kuya Bobot's.

My mom and I went to attend afternoon mass, which we were told begins at 5pm. When we arrived at the nearby church, we found out that one mass had ended a little after 5pm, and the next one began at 6pm. Oh well. Plus the mass ended almost half an hour later because the parish priest spent about 20 minutes bidding the congregation farewell because he was moving to another church.

Had dinner when we returned to the house, then I moved to one of the bedrooms upstairs. One disadvantage I have on my mom's side of the family is that I don't know how to speak Zambal, their dialect. Hahaha, when my mom and aunts joined me in the room, I even quipped that I was an alien among them, as I fiddled with some game on Ate Neneng's laptop.

When Nina, Ate Cherry, Kuya Bong and Tito Ben arrived, I was finally relieved to have someone closer to my age range to talk to. Joined them for dinner (had more of the spring rolls with the yummy vinegar sauce that Kuya Totoy made) and then chika mode with Ate Cherry, mostly about schools, theater, her li'l business, and religious beliefs. We joined Nina, Ate Neneng, Kuya Nonong and Kuya Bong in the kitchen after a while as they exchanged ringtones and such from their phones.

Bugged the oldies in the living room when we got bored. Ate Neneng whipped out her camera and we ended up laughing nonstop as we came up with these wacky photos, mostly just picking on my mom and Tita Citang, hahaha. We were all practically rolling on the floor with laughter, and we all bet that if Tita Nila were still there with us, she'd be one of the people who'd laugh the loudest. My cousins and I even sat around with our moms and aunts as they talked about unseen spirits, even though some wanted to steer away from that topic, especially since our moms were the most afraid of those.

Spent the rest of the night, er, morning, with Ate Cherry, Ate Neneng and Nina in the dining room. Chikahan galore, and with Ate Neneng's laptop with us, we tried uploading all the crazy photos to Nina's Facebook account, but the darn internet connection was super slow. My goodness, we were just there talking until 5 in the morning, until Nina and Ate Cherry had to go back home with Tito Ben and Kuya Bong. I then went upstairs to the bedroom to get in at least a couple of hours of sleep, as I had to commute home with Kuya Gil at around 9 this morning.

I have to admit, despite the circumstances, it was fun being with my cousins again. I haven't talked this much with Nina since our Zambales trip 3 years ago.

I'm attempting to make a photo blog inspired by Project 365, the one where you take a photo a day. Only one entry so far, but the link to that blog is here.