A whit of wit
"Ano it karuyag sidngon, 'matam-is'?" the college student said, continuing her interrogation. What is the meaning of the word 'matam-is'?
We stood before the glass display case of a bakery, ubiquities across the Philippines. She'd heard me speaking the local dialect and, like most people here, was surprised and intrigued. So, as I'd experienced many times before (and would probably experience till the day I departed), the college student decided to test me.
That's one of the things about being an anomaly in a comparatively homogenous country. For an expatriate who has live and assimilated a language and way of life, daily things like buying bread from a bakery become more or less normative. To paraphrase Camus, after a time, the human organism acclimates to just about anything. Yet, for the local who sees the rare foreigner, and rarer still, sees him speaking in her language, it is a cause for wonder.
"Sweet," I answered. Matam-is must have been one of the very first words I learned, soon after marasa (delicious). Such is the case when food is such an important part of the culture.
The college student nodded in approval. Wracked her brain for another simple Waray-Waray word."Ano it...'mahusay'?"
Beautiful. The word I probably heard most frequently, behind 'Good morning' and 'Good evening'.
In all honesty, I'm not a very witty guy. I've got a head on my shoulders, but I'm no Oscar Wilde, Timothy Levitch, Vince Vaughn, or Nick Courage. But for once I had a good line for this college student.
"Ano it mahusay? Ikaw." I answered dryly. What is beautiful? You are.
The bakery, surrounded by a dozen customers who'd been listening to this exchange, burst into laughter.
And I walked away with matam-is bread and a mahusay smile.
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