All Best of the Philippines

Love! Love! Love……
So where is your date this coming February 14?
Are you Loveless?
Scared to tell what truly your feelings for her?
Or still don’t know how you will start it to show and prove it that you have clean intension!
Hhhmmm….. Well! If you are brave men you should try this effective way.

The Month of February is literally known as the Month for Lovers, as celebrating the Valentines Day.

Despite of very hard of catching up a Sweet Yes! Answer from a girl that you truly loved, many Filipino are still using an effective way of courting a girl (mostly in provinces) and we may still considered as Best in the Philippines in a Filipino’s tradition.

By this time let’s get it back how do we do this…

The Harana : A Filipino Serenade

No test of patience can be as difficult as the one in the arena of love. To profess love during the Spanish colonial period (1500’s-1800’s) in the Philippines, you should have the guts to stand outside a lady’s home, sing love songs as best as you could, and wait for judgment. This is American Idol in the Spanish colonial era. And the judges? Her parents. In some parts of the world it was called the serenade or serenata. In the Philippinese, it called the Harana.

With no portable sound system at that time, a young Filipino counts on his trusty guitar. If he’s not musically based, he asks the help of his friends. With fervent hope, they wait for that one flicker of the lantern light that can mean all this musical effort is being noticed.

At last, the lights turn on! Could it be that she also likes him, or is it simply to stop him from waking up the neighbors? Two things can take place when the windows are opened: either the lady and her parents have encouraging smiles or the parents have a pail of water to splash on the hapless suitor!

But if all goes well, the young man can start sending a stream of love letters. His fortitude is tested when all these endearing notes of rejected. But if he carries on, the courtship reaches the next level where the young man serves the family as willing slave. He fetches water, gathers and chops wood, helps in cooking and cleans the house. Indeed, it is a test of endurance for almost a year! If it weren’t for the promising reward, he might as well wish that he had been a carabao instead!.

Reference: TRAVEL+LIFESTYLE February 2009

Well for me if that’s the only way to prove my truly intension to my loved ones of course I will not hesitate to do that. Because I am proud to be a Pinoy to bring it alive and do it that kind of way of courting or the Harana, even I have no voices for singing.. Lol! I know that this is one of the sweetest ways for catching up the sweet Yes answer of a girl. Wow.. I Hope so… hehehe…