Bilingual Problems: A New Series

So, this happened yesterday...

Barista says " Soy latte" & my pre-coffee brain hears "I am a latte," thinks he's making a bi-racial reference #BilingualProblems #Brooklyn
— Tish Valles (@TishValles) January 12, 2013

This has happened before - to me, to my friends. Growing up in a country that was conquered by Spain, then liberated by America, Filipinos are most likely bilingual and certainly multi-racial. If you come from a part of the country that speaks a dialect like I do, then BAM you're trilingual.

Every single time something like this happens, I am amused. So I thought to share these snippets so you can laugh with me or laugh at me. I'm a riot, I know. And no, I am not referring to the mountain in the Philippines because that would be Arayat.

Waka-waka-waka.

Cowboy or Koboy?

The Philippines is the lone Americanized country in Southeast Asia. America brought us democracy, our educational system, Coca Cola, dreams of white Christmas, Spam, the English language. Certain American concepts also found their way into the culture and language. Colgate is the generic word for toothpaste. Kodakan was the verb for taking pictures. Jeepney is a form of public transportation born from refurbished US army Jeeps.

Koboy is an interesting construct that has been repurposed within the Philippine culture. Borrowed from the idea of the cowboy, Koboy takes the rugged swagger and unrefined essence and pushes it further to the edge. At least that's how I understood it. The recent conversations about gun control and gun rights have left this accidental American at a loss for words.

600 teachers have applied for free firearms training: ow.ly/gByzP
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) January 7, 2013

I cannot imagine any scenario wherein the Filipino cowboys or koboys would ever put guns in children's classrooms. It seems the radical right are reclaiming koboy and redrawing the line. Now the new edge envisions a world where children are in the hands of armed grown ups.

You can keep this one, Joe. We won't be infusing this thinking into the emerging Filipino way.

When Choosing Among Little Black Dresses

Some of my concerns run deeper than others. For instance, right now I am contemplating which of three black dresses to wear. It's a consideration of body-consciousness, sparkle or bare shoulders. You see, I'm getting ready to ring in the new year and my girls and I have decided to glam it up this round.

In truth, such musings reflect deeper explorations in feminism, liberation and freedom of expression. I have had the fortune (and along with it the responsibility) of always being able to choose for myself.  

On the brink of a new year in which this millennium becomes a teen-ager, many other women are living in societies which continue to suppress their voice and impede their rights. There still are women who can't decide what to wear, which school to go to, which bus to take. 

Well aware of this, my girls and don't take any of these freedoms for granted. We give voice and fight and platform to the many women who don't have the good fortune we have.

We wear our stilettos with pride, we choose our black dresses with mindfulness and we move forward into 2013 we welcome the sunrise of better days for women everywhere. Happy New Year, you look gorgeous!

Fortune Cookie Wisdom du Jour

America's Broken Heart

Love makes room. When tested, love reveals true character.

My love affair with America is complicated and rewarding. It lives deep within me, the visceral fiery part where fist and buck and growl live. It lives on my bosom, where it is soft and warm and dizzy.  It sits in my hands that work and hold and move.

Because a big enough part of America feels heart-broken these days, the heart of America is breaking. Because so many of us love America, we all feel this heartbreak in varying ways. And because this is OUR beloved America, we must make room. We must calm the buck and relax the fist. We must reach out and open up. 

We love America, and as America's heart is breaking the only way forward is for us to make room for different views so we can let America do what it has always done. America makes room.

America loves us, so she makes room for all of us.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151249672501749&set=pb.6815841748.-2207520000.1353087245&type=3&theater

The Virtuous Cycle

Last week, I started an Indiegogo fund-raiser for a dear friend who is facing a serious disease, and just a week later we are 55% on our way to our target! I continue to be amazed at the generosity of people. I continue to marvel at how, when you start a ripple waves immediately come.

We all have the capacity to start a virtuous cycle, to question what is wrong and move towards what is fair and just.

It is truly amazing what we can do together.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/246254?c=home&a=142232

New Season, New Digs

The awesome window in the new digs

 A couple of weeks ago, I was walking around Brooklyn with my poetry family and we were counting the number of times we had moved in our lives.  I counted 12 in the past 12 years (including 4 1/2 countries). 

As New York finds herself in the early days of her same-time-next-year romance with Autumn, I find myself in the early days of a new romance with an space that I could really love. And this space, I think it knows the kind of loving I need. It's bright and airy, with giant windows of blue sky and moon. Buzzing in the daytime and smooth at night, this space gets it so right.

I occupy myself and my spaces with newfound confidence as my focus and energy are clearer and fuller than ever before. I am strong in my body, in my heart and in my mind. I am blossoming with creativity and purpose.  

Could I be entering Act 3 in the story of Tish? Oh hell, yeah!