Language and culture

Preface: There is a tradition here in the Philippines that whenever you visit someone it is always good to bring what is known as 'pasalubong".    It does not have to be anything big, just something to say, thank you for welcoming me into your home.  

Ok, so yesterday I went to Goa to visit my old friends at the radio station, and of course I brought pasalubong, this, in the form of a bottle of ginebra.  But before I get into that, I want to comment how I am constantly amazed how this place has to power to transform itself  And yesterday, Goa was no exception.  Here's the scene this time:  I get off my jeepney and notice that the streets were filled with flowers!  Every sidewalk was packed and there were ladies selling flowers... buckets and buckets and buckets of the most beautiful and colorful tropical flowers!  Many them were arranged in vases of bamboo, while others were stuck into small coconuts.  Where did they all come from... and where were they going???

Well, I got through the jungle of flowers and walked probably around 3 miles to the radio station.  My friends there were happy to receive me of course - especially when I unveiled my pasalubong!!! No worries, that Rick was actually on air at the time, but hey, anytime is the right time to share laughter, right?  I was happy to receive an invitation to do a PSA on disaster preparedness that they would be happy to do for me.  All I need to do is come up with what to say and they will translate it and do the spot for me!!  So, that is a good thing, right??!

The gentleman you see sitting next to me (if you look close, you will see that sneaky ginebra finding its way in the shot as well!) is actually a retired english professor who worked at Pardito State University just down the road.  He's the one who hosted the PCV I spoke of in an earlier blog.  Anyway, no surprise that one of his favorite topics of conversation is language, and this time we were speaking about the filipino language - or should I say myriad of languages!  There are hundreds of dialects here and the differences between them are quite remarkable. Its not like having a "southern accent" vs. "New England"; Im talking about different words for the same thing,  If that weren't enough, the language itself is complex.  For example, take the word "cut".  Of course, in English, 'to cut' is well understood, no matter if you are cutting a hair, or a tree.  No so here....  there is one word to describe cutting hair, another to describe cutting a tree and yet another to cutting a piece of cloth.   And there is no formal classroom rigor in the subject of Tagalog, or Bicol or any of the other dialects here.  They only formally study one language and that is English.  Yet, most of the filipinos I know easily speak at least 3 languages fluently... English, Tagalog and Bicol.  I comment on this because I wonder how this is possible when in the US.... English is our official language, we teach it for nearly 12 years in a formalized curriculum and yet, many children still struggle with achieving a passing grade - not to mention being completely unable to learn a second, or third language...  

Say you live on one of the 1000+ islands in the Philippines and your island is say, roughly 5 milesx5miles.  Imagine that there is a large towering mountain in the middle of the island that used to be a volcano and that it is covered with jungle vegitation.  That pretty munch sums up a lot of islands here.. anyway, it is very likely that the village on one end of the island speaks a completely different dialect than the one on the other side!  

Now imagine you are standing on the shore of your small but beautiful tropical island here in the Philippines.  You look out over the water and see another island in the not too distant horizon.  It is likely that you SHARE the dialect with THAT island, even though you speak a different language from the folks on the other side of the tiny island you live on!!!  I find that fascinating!!!  Of course, this has everything to do with trade, and fishing, and the relative impenetrability of the mountains over here.  Ok enough of that....   

I made it home before too long because

I was interested in watching the cemetery ceremonies.   Let me try and set the picture for you.  First, it is important to understand that a filipino cemetery is like a Lousiana cemetery and not like the cemetery you are probably imagining.  That is, people are not buried under the earth.  They are placed into crypts, and in this case, concrete crypts.  Also, as you can see in the photos, they are placed on top of each other (in condo style) to save space.  Well, last night this place was aglow.... nearly every crypt had candles on them and the place was just jammed with people casually walking through.  Of course, many would stop at the crypt of their loved ones.   It was not a rollicking event.  I saw no singing, no alcohol, no music inside the cemetery.  It was much more respectful than that.

I had to go back this morning to get the pictures you see below.