Let’s Talk Pinoy!


May day is Lei day in Hawai‘i. I remember when May 1st was the day when all the children in Elementary gather and perform various rehearsed dances in front of friends and family. Every school has their own May Day performances with each class from Kindergarten to 6th grade performing, followed by the royal court performance representing each island, and ending with the “King” and “Queen” dance who were voted by the students. Although it is a bit different now, and the dates have been scattered so as not to overlap, the bulk of the performance is still intact. I love to see culture and tradition maintained and remembered. Do you remember any of your May day performances? Please share it with us online at www.facebook.com/letstalkpinoy.

Her eyes widen, feeling his body next to hers. She can smell his faint, sexy cologne from his shirt, and stares at his strong masculine kamot (hand) wrapped gently around her wrist. She catches her breath, staring into the sunset and thinks to herself, “I hope this araw (day) never ends.”

“Achoo,” Michael suddenly sneezes profusely Startled, Angel jumps, and cups her ear.

“Jeez, what the heck Michael?”

“I’m so so…” Michael attempting to speak, painfully juggling the urge to sneeze again and the grief of this shattered opportunity of a romantic moment. He reaches for her.

“Oh, no get away from me!” Angel begins to laugh.

Michael continues to sneeze deeper and heavier. A group of tourists stop and stare at the exhibit happening nearby.

“Michael, OMG, are you ok? Do I mavuyu (stink)?” she raises her left arm and begins to sniff with a smirk on her nawong (face) glancing at Michael.

Michael is now coughing and sneezing.

Teary eyed, and now adding laughter and embarrassment to his growing list of things to manage during this microsecond-crisis of his. He hunches over.

Angel rushes over to him, rubbing his back, she asks “Really, are you ok? Let it all out.”

Michael nods signaling that he is ok. Even waving his gamat (hand). “Ahhh,” composing himself, he stands up straight while rubbing his rupa (face). “No you don’t mabaho (stink), you smell so nice like ikan (fish)… I mean….”

*Whistle Blows* TIME-OUT

Oh NO! Ok, have you ever had one of those moments of pure awkwardness? A moment that you wanted to go and hide under a rock but couldn’t? A humiliating text message, a quiet fart that didn’t turn out to be so quiet, a joke that no one else laughs at, something stuck in your teeth that you didn’t know about, or a stain during that time of the month on your favorite skirt. FYI, this so never happened to me! Yes, this… is one of those moments.

*Whistle Blows* TIME-IN

“What?” Confused, Angel looks at Michael grimacing like a child. “I smell like an isda (fish), Michael?”

Disastrously thinking of something too witty to say or do to salvage another shattered moment.

“I… like… abakan (fish),” Michael replies. And they stare at each other for what seems like an eternity.

Angel bursts out a fierce laugh. “Oh my goodness! Michael, you are so funny! You say the craziest things I never heard of before. You are so cool,” as she grips her side and rubs her eyes.

Humiliated but contented and relieved, Michael asks Angel to get in the sasakyan (car). “Let’s go to Lahaina.”

“Yes, sir!” she replies while giving a salute.

On their way, Michael points out to the tubig (water) where he can still see a few whales as Angel tosses and turns in her seat, and even has to lean over him to have a better look.

Michael’s thoughts: “She really does smell nice. I can’t make out the scent but it definitely is a perfume that I never discovered before. Her skin is soft. Every time she touches me, I get butterflies.”

They approach the Pali tunnel. “Ok, here, you have to hold your…” and he turns to her, Angel had already gulped a lung full of air. With both her cheeks full, he pokes at one of them, and she moves his kamut (hand).

The next 15 minutes the two get to know each other. Michael learns her favorite foods, music she listens to, and that she has two siblings; a brother named Johnny and a baby sister named Maribeth. She loves to cook but hasn’t really cooked any of her favorite foods since she came to America. Her father, Angelo Reyes would be 54 years old now. He had an injury that left him unable to work.

Previously, he had been a master power plant electrician but now spends the days just watching TV from his wheel chair.

Her mother, Marivic Corpuz from Brgy. 30, Cadaratan, Bacarra, was a homemaker but since her father’s incident, she had to find work on the rice farm and sells cooked foods and desserts in the plaza.

Michael: So, your full name is Angel Corpuz Reyes?

Angel: Actually it’s Angel Ramos Corpuz. I didn’t attain dad’s last name because when I was born, they were not married yet.

Michael: Makes sense. How did you end up here on Maui?

“Um, it’s a long story…” she pauses and stares out the car window.

A gloomy cloud loomed over them and a few minutes of awkward silence turned into a few more. Angel’s eyes begin to water.

Angel: “I’m sorry Michael, it’s just that… ”

Michael: Knock, Knock.

Angel: Huh? Michael: Knock, Knock. Angel sniffles. “Who’s there?”

Michael: Kiss.

Angel: Kiss who?

Michael: Kiss me.

A brief pause, as Angel turns to Michael who is now flush red and clinching the steering wheel with the grip of death, looking straight ahead. Angel bursts into a laugh, and wipes her eyes.

Bold move Michael! I know if someone said that to me, I think I would slap them but if he looked like Thor, maybe not, Oy! What do you think is going to happen next in our story? Even I don’t know what happens next! You will just have to wait and see next month.

For now, let’s just leave it to your own imagination. Your homework this month is to say “Thank you” and “I love you” to your mother or the mother of your child(ren) in different languages located in the table. Happy Mother’s Day to all the Nanay, Inang, Inay, Yena, Ima, especially to my mom, Dolly Butay.

Agyamanak iti pinangipateg mo ken pinangdunggom kanyami. (Thank you for loving and caring for us). Ay-ayaten ka. (I love you).

Anyways that’s all I have. Keep an eye out for my article every issue. I’m Dulce, helping you to master your Filipino Languages. Like always, let’s laugh, let’s listen, and Let’s Talk Pinoy! Hanggang sa muli! (Until next time!) Ingat! (Take care!).

Dulce Karen Butay was graduated from Maui High School and earned her Associate in Arts in Liberal Arts from Maui Community College and her Bachelors of Science in Business Administration, specializing in Accounting, from the University of Hawai‘i – West O‘ahu. She is currently the Administrative Officer at the County of Maui, Department of Finance. Butay is a licensed Resident Producer of Life Insurance with World Financial Group and an Independent Consultant of Saladmaster. She recently became part of the Travel Club of Saladmaster and won an all-expenses paid trip to Cancun, Mexico with the love of her life. Butay recently returned from a trip to Texas as one of the delegates from Island Healthy Solutions, a dealer of Saladmaster here on Maui.