Undas may well be one of the biggest customs observed in the country, marked by mass “migrations” from across the metro to the various cemeteries in cities and provinces. It can be a pretty trying time as we pay respects to and remember family and friends who have passed on. But these visits don’t have to be totally emotionally and physically taxing. Here are some ways to make your Undas more bearable.
Visit ahead or after everyone else
With everyone going on the non-working days, the crowds and traffic will certainly get heavy. Given this, some, including one of our content creators, Gela, opt to visit the cemetery a few days before or after Nov. 1 and 2.
Prepare and pack your own meals, drinks, and tableware
National holidays still pose major problems, not only when it comes to traffic congestion, but also in matters of waste disposal. Visita Iglesia during Holy Week, for example, sees not only an influx of visitors to churches, but also large amounts of trash left behind by these visitors. This is often composed of single-use packaging of food items. To avoid leaving this kind of trash after you visit your relatives in the cemetery, best to prepare your own meals and drinks and to bring them in reusable containers and tumblers. Don’t forget the utensils, too.
Pack a trash bag so that in case you do end up making trash, you’ll have one place to dump it in.
[READ: Keep Undas ‘prayerful not wasteful,’ bishop, Ecowatch urge]
Make yourself comfortable
Cemeteries may be the “final resting place” but not for us living. And while other visitors may spend not longer than an hour in the cemetery to offer prayers, others, especially big families, often spend almost the entire day there. For our content creator Bea, Undas becomes a kind of family reunion for her, as they meet with the rest of their relatives to visit four cemeteries.
Aside from preparing meals in advance for the entire family, the cemetery visit can be made more bearable by bringing your own mats, chairs, and even tents to make sure that everyone’s in the shade away from heat or rain.
Be sustainable
Be on the look out for things you can reuse! Our junior designer Clarisse shares that they take home the melted wax from their candles and reuse it into floor wax. Meanwhile, the women in the family of our content creator Christian, are resourceful and sustainable, he says: “They source the flowers they bring to the tombs—an assortment of orchids and ornamental plants—from our own garden. Sometimes they even reuse the [floral foam] for other occasions.”
Do you have other undas tips? Share it with us.
Header image courtesy of Inquirer.net
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