SANTO NINO EXHIBITS AND POWERBOOKS BOOKSTORE

Louie Nacorda, Val Sandiego, and some other Santo Nino devotees put up an exhibit of their beloved Santo Nino statues and images in SM Shopping center (reclamation area). There is another Santo Nino exhibit in the Cathedral Museum, and Nacorda et al had considered participating in that Cathedral exhibit, but they felt they needed more security guards for their prized statues and paintings. Apparently SM provided the three security guards, round the clock, for free, while the struggling Cathedral Museum couldn't offer the same.

The exhibit in SM had more statues and paintings with nice writeups, compared to the Cathedral Musuem's exhibit. However, the setting of the "bahay na bato" Cathedral Museum is more appropro for the Santo Nino Exhibit. In any case, both exhibits had a lot to offer.

My favorite in the Cathedral Museum was the the Santo Nino de Espina, an antique statue from Cusco, Peru, that shows the Child Jesus (in Peruvian garb) sitting on a chair, one leg crossed over the other, and the viewers can see that He has hurt his foot. In His hand,He holds a thorn in the shape of the Cross. I had several favorites in the SM exhibit, one of them a Spanish antique statue, around 4 feet tall, of the Child Jesus, in rich brocade clothing. There is another large statue of the Nino with curly blond hair - He looks almost like a female angel - and He has the sweetest face with a cleft chin. The SM exhibit also has a small Nino from Peru, the Sleeping Nino, which is quite charming.

Also in SM shopping center is the new Powerbooks bookstore, and to Cebuanos looking for my books, this bookstore carries quite a lot of my titles: Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, Behind the Walls, Growing Up Filipino, A La Carte, Food & Fiction, and Cecilia's Diary.

The storm in Cebu seems to have gone, and gone also are the nightly Sinulog drumming and dancing in the various barangays (communities).

All for now, from Cebu,
Cecilia