MARGIENARY

A month ago, I saw a repeat telecast of an episode of OPRAH. Among her guests were the cast of the award-winning movie CRASH. They were talking about the word ‘nigger’ and the hostess wanted her black guests to share their view as to the use of ‘nigger’ in modern America . One of them said that he and his friends call each other that when they are in a bantering mood and he further suggested that it would be nice if that n-word would be redeemed and have a positive meaning associated with it. However, Oprah and two others were strongly opposed to that. They said that the word has too much of negative connotation and brings back a lot of bad memories, that using it now to identify themselves is like agreeing to all the crimes, and evil that was committed against their race just because of their skin color. Here in the PI, there is an expletive that is commonly heard among women and gays; the word ‘BRUHA.’ From my younger years until lately, the picture that comes to mind w...

Following are events that made my first week in Manila remarkable (i.e. funny & unhumdrum).   I’m not sure if you can affix un- before ‘humdrum’ but when you are in the field of linguistics, you have the right to make up words.   Right???     Early one evening, Bong and I received a shocking news from down south that brought my husband to a state of catatonia, at least for an hour or so.   He won’t eat nor talk so I changed my clothes in haste (without turning on the lights) and dragged him to the nearest theater to see a movie and try to get his mind off the bad news.   Along the way, I saw a man looking at me weird—like up and down, side to side.   I looked at myself and to my horror, saw that my pretty blouse is inside out with all the threads and edges of the clothe hanging down.   I told Bong and he looked at me and said, “Go to the nearest CR and do something about it!”   He was laughing then!    I wasn’t keen on bei...

Following are events that made my first week in Manila remarkable (i.e. funny & unhumdrum). I’m not sure if you can affix un- before ‘humdrum’ but when you are in the field of linguistics, you have the right to make up words. Right??? Early one evening, we received a shocking news from down south that brought my husband to a state of catatonia, at least for an hour or so. He won’t eat nor talk so I changed my clothes in haste (without turning on the lights) and dragged him to the nearest theater to see a movie and try to get his mind off the bad news. Along the way, I saw a man looking at me weird—like up and down, side to side, and even kept looking back at me when we already passed each other. I looked at myself and to my horror, saw that my pretty blouse is inside out with all the threads and edges of the clothe hanging down. I told B and he looked at me and said, “Go to the nearest CR and do something about it!” He was laughing then! I wasn’t keen on be...

TO ALL KALANGUYAS and other people out there who like listening to local music, check this out! http://ironheart2.multiply.com/journal/item/41

What would you do if, say, you were about to enter a public place (e.g. a mall) and you realized that you're wearing your top inside out?

Dear praying friends and family,   I arrived in Manila at half past 3AM yesterday and was welcomed by the humid, polluted air that is characteristic of Manila .   I went directly to B & E’s apartment where I will be living for the next 8 weeks or so.   NV is hot and humid too but it’s nothing like the Manila heat that seems like a leech that just hangs on to your skin.   The bus ride from Bambang was uneventful except for the fact that the aircondition chilled me to the marrows.   Praise YHWH for a safe trip.     After having my measurements taken (for school uniform), the program director asked me to print out a whole book from an e-library but before that, she gave us a tour of the whole school (like I never studied there) .   It was good though, cuz I did have tours before as a student and not as a teacher.   Today, I met with my mentor.   She bought me lunch at a food place nearby as we started to get to know on...

This one, you're not going to believe! I went home to my village in the highlands two days ago to attend a wedding of a cousin and I had a chance to talk to a former teacher of mine back in my elementary days. She is not really the talking personality but I was surprised that she volunteered so many information that night. Let's call her Teacher A. She has been in the profession since I was three. That's two decades and 7 years ago. But never in her teaching years have I ever seen her so distraught and frustrated about her work or a co-teacher. It's not that they can't get along. It's that this other teacher (let's call her Teacher B) is so incredibly 'strange' that my teacher thinks she doesn't belong in a classroom and these, among others are her reasons: Professionalism: 1. Teacher B seldom teaches her classes. 2. She came with a baby grandchild that she babysits in her classroom and so her classroom looks like your typical laundry room...