Noon… Ngayon

…bakit sandali ka pa lang nagsusulat, masakit na kamay mo sa ballpen?
Dati, walang computer o laptop, may typewriter nga, manual naman pero di ka nagrereklamo…

Another “tula” about traffic in the Philippines

Sorry my English speaking and reading friends, but this is another Filipino/Tagalog post. But for your understanding, the word “tula” is Filipino for poem. The poem here as well as the last one I posted entitled Tula, were composed while I was back in the Philippines stuck behind the wheel in extreme traffic.

Tula

Hindi maintindihan kung bakit
Pakiramdam ko’y mundo ay nagsikip
At tila lahat ng sasakyan
Ay iisa ang patutunguhan

English as a Second Language

Ok, so we have been here in Canada for almost a year now and I thought that after enough months of practice and speaking in straight English, I’d somehow get so used to it that it will eventually come naturally when conversing. There are some days when my head is on straight and talking to my Canadian office mates is a breeze, no headaches and no blood coming out of my nose. But there are still those days when I feel like my brain’s batteries are running low and my English vocabulary seem to only consist of words like “Yeah”, “No way”, “I know, right” and “Uh-huh”. During these instances when my thinking is even slower than my office computer running on a 512mb RAM, words like “teka”, “ano”, “kasi” and “ewan” escape my lips when speaking. And only when I see the big question marked face looking back at me that I realize they didn’t understand what I just said.

In fairness to us (:P), we do get compliments about how good our spoken English is considering that it is not our first language. Some even thought we have been in Canada for years already coz our “Filipino accent” wasn’t as distinct (They should hear our call center agents back home who sound like they were born and raised in the States when they talk to each other (loudly) inside office elevators). When they asked where we learned our English and we tell them that it is the basic mode of teaching in most schools in the Philippines, they were surprised. They thought that since we have our own language, it was but natural that teachers would teach in Filipino, not English. Well, I guess we do have a pretty good grasp of the English language even if we still think in Tagalog.

PERO WAG KA! Filipino / Tagalog is the 4th widely spoken language here in Manitoba! Some establishments would encourage their staff to speak in their native language when talking to a fellow countrymen,  so it’s not really a surprise when you enter a McDonald’s store and you’d think you were in the Philippines coz most people are speaking in Tagalog.  And because the Filipino community in Winnipeg is the largest visible minority group in the city, you’re sure to bump into a Filipino practically anywhere you go! So we do get to speak to other people in our beloved Tagalog.

So what if our thinking process is slower because we have to mentally translate some of our replies from Tagalog to English? So what if some Filipinos inter-change “F” and “P”? The thing is, we understand English better than other people think…

E kayo, naiintindihan niyo ba ang Tagalog ko? Talo ka, diba.

Pam-pelikula!

Ang buhay natin parang pelikula. Siyempre ako ang bida sa salaysayin ng buhay ko at ang mga camera nakatutok lang sa akin.

Minsan parang drama-rama sa hapon, ala Flor de Luna, Anna Lisa at Mara Clara. May marinig lang na kanta na malungkot, parang dinudurog na ang puso at on cue ang luha sa kaliwang mata lang na gugulong sa pisngi habang nakatingin sa malayo na tila may tinatanaw. Pag may makita o mapanuod sa tv, may maamoy na pabango o pagkain, na magpapagunita ng mga malulungkot na alaala, parang may flashback na magaganap na may kasama pang background music habang naiisip ang mga sandaling nakaraan.

Minsan naman parang comedy lang. Ala slapstick ba kung saan may pag-plakda sa nagyeyelong kalsada, o pagtilapon ng sapatos sa harap ng madaming tao, at kahit napapaso na ang mga tenga sa kahihiyan, wala nang magagawa kundi tawanan nalang ang sarili at mag kunwaring nagpapatawa ka lang talaga. Anjan din ung wholesome comedy kung saan makikipaglaro sa napaka cute na aso na tila nabubuang sa paghahanap ng mga laruan niya at tatahol pa para tawagin ka at magpatulong pag di niya maabot ang gusto niya.

May action din. Habang nagmamadali sa papasok sa opisina, makakalimutang madulas ang kalsada, at dahil mejo mabilis ang takbo sa pag liko, hindi kakapit ang gulong at dire-diretsong iikot na parang trumpo ang sasakyan. At habang umiikot ang kotse na tila slow motion sa pagkawari ko, pinagdadasal nalang na sana walang  tamaang ibang kotse.

Lahat tayo may kanya-kanyang drama, comedy at action movie, samahan mo pa ng suspense, horror at mala documentary na kwento. Pero pag um-extra ako sa lifestory mo at natapos ang eksena ko, hindi ibig sabihin nun ay uupo lang ako sa trailer ko na may nagrere-touch ng makeup o magpapalit ng costume habang hinihintay ko ang susunod na eksena ko. May sarili akong buhay na patuloy na nag ro-roll ang camera. Walang director na sumisigaw ng lights, camera, action at cut. Hindi ako high paying actress na may contrata na tulungan ka sa mga drama mo sa buhay dahil kung ako lang ang masusunod, hindi kita kukunin kahit extra sa blockbuster movie ng buhay ko (kaso wala akong choice). Mas diva ka pa sakin noh!

Ang title ng chapter ng buhay ko na extra ka ay… “Nang dahil sa Flower Vase!”