Banana

Master Oogway, the wise turtle in the animated movie “Kung Fu Panda” once said, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. But, today is a gift. That is why it is called present.” I guess that kind of wisdom best describes our journey to postulancy as of this time. We live each day one moment at a time. Each day brings experiences which vary from being familiar, dull, exciting, challenging, novel to being funny. Each experience is significant since it is part and parcel of a wonderful journey of formation.
We ended the month of June with a bang as the Jubilee anniversary was celebrated here in Dumaguete. The three of us, after having just finished our short-lived mission exposure in the parish areas were again busy for the grand fiesta celebration. One notable project we had was a mural painting which was to be used as backdrop both for the variety show the night before the feast, and as a part of the decoration during lunch on the very feast day. We had sleepless nights just to finish that project since it was given to us only a week prior to the fiesta. If collegians are having the thought that in postulancy, gone are the days of working until the wee hours, they better think again. The library in the monastery which served as our workplace looked as if it were struck by the bagyong Feria, signal no. 4! Anyhow with utter perseverance and dedication, we finished our Obra Maestra just in the nick of time. That experience gave us lots of lessons about teamwork, patience and commitment. It also strengthened the working dynamics of the batch as we poured out our talents and skills, each contributing for the success of the project.
Our involvement in the Jubilee anniversary celebration didn’t just end there. We also had assignments at the variety show which showcased the talents of many parishioners and people from the area. During that night, we had a discovery about the Dumagueteños: Their very, and I mean very, enthusiastic about healing. Here’s how we came to know that:
That night, the talents being showcased were becoming monotonous. For some reason, most were dance numbers with music that could only either be Jaiho (by the Pussycat dolls) and Poker face (by Lady gaga.) It was obvious that many were becoming bored already most especially the aged people. Others were leaving while others were just waiting for their turn to present and soon they would be off as well. One of our tasks was to animate the audience by teaching them the Banana dance. (If you have no idea about that icebreaker, better consult the SACFH collegians who are fond of doing this dance.) Anyway, it dawned on us that in order for the people to be participative about the activity, we had to disguise it to something that would have an appeal to them. Bombit and I thought that they would surely cooperate if we’ll say that the activity was about healing. And we were so right. After announcing that it was a healing activity, the audience ran closer to the stage. Just imagine, even the nanays who were at the gate of the church, clearly about to leave, came back. I said to them, “Tonight, we will call on the Espiritu sa Kaayo for us to be healed.” Of course, I really didn’t mean that since obviously neither my companion nor I had the gift of healing. To even impress the audience more, we had the special participation of Fr. John Michael Salatandol, C.Ss.R. who served as the mananabtan, invoking the Espiritu or whatever that is. With Gregorian music, Fr. John slowly danced with moves I could not understand. I was already trying hard not to burst into laughter. But the people bought that, imitating every move of the mananabtan, I mean Fr. John. Judging from the looks of their faces, the people were falling for the activity. Suddenly, Peter Paul grabbed the mike and sang with a very high-pitched tone, “Ba…na…na…” The people were shocked. Their jaws dropped. But they had no choice. It was too late for them to realize that it was a prank. And so we sang, “peel banana, peel peel banana… chop banana, chop, chop banana…” Along with the thumping beat of the drums, what the people could only do was to dance with us. All burst into laughter since they were all victimized by our simple prank.
The people thought it was healing, but were stunned finding out that it was a prank. As for me, I still thought that it was healing. Only that it was of a different sort—the kind of healing brought about by laughter, joy and happiness.