Cebuano Humor

While waiting for my flight to board, I was drawn into conversation with a fellow passenger who was also a kababayan. He was returning home after attending a seminar in Manila. He was funny in a Cebuano way. What do I mean by that, you might ask. Cebuano humor is something that only another Cebuano can truly appreciate. It straddles the thin line between corny and witty but funny nonetheless. But one thing it is, it is not sophisticated. It’s dry humor combined with a deadpan delivery of down to earth observations on life, work, and everything else under the sun. I can’t describe how it is different from other regions but it just is. Having been away from Cebu for a number of years, this realization was brought home to me during that flight back to the island of my birth and carefree childhood. Only Cebuanos can come up with lines such as the classic “Ikaw ba’y gwapo, lalim ba”, a line in a Cebuano commercial delivered by a popular Cebuano actor whose face even his blind mother will not call handsome. Another line that became popular after my time and something I heard from my wisecracking brother when he visited was “Bahala na saging basta loving”. It’s a Cebuano take on love conquers all even poverty. These lines lose their color in translation because your appreciation hinges on your understanding of the language (as it is in most cases). Such lines embody the Cebuano sense of humor: unsophisticated, quirky and refreshing.

Funny quips

Quip 1: (from an aunt)

Sorry ka na lang your relatives got just feet and the wheels of misfortune! You can choose amigas but not parientes.

Quip 2: (from an education commissioner during a research capability building symposium)

The thickness of your research paper may not be enough to cover the thinness of your thought.

- examples of Filipino humor from the same commissioner-

(Another way to say NCR or National Capital Region) National CR

Ph.D means Puro hangin ang Dala (a dig at post-graduates who got their doctorate degrees abroad)

Nanotechnology from the word unano (vernacular for a person who suffers from dwarfism)

Making a corner of hell in heaven

It’s getting very hard to go to work. It’s harder than when I first started. To think I was having a hard time adjusting during that time. I was not getting on well with my new superior. I had three bosses who had different ideas on what I should do and I was feeling very put upon. Now I get along well with my superior and my other officemates. I have two groups of great friends in the office. I know I’m blessed but it’s much harder when I feel am the problem. I feel that I’m not giving the job my best. The burden of guilt, of knowing that my best is not enough, that I’m not suited for the job, is making me uncomfortable. The problem is that I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m afraid to ask for directions. It’s much harder to cope with than dealing with external forces like suspicious bosses or hellish officemates. It’s hard filling up the hours with meaningful work when I don’t know the meaning of my work. Ignorance is not bliss. I’ve tried reading related literature to help me come up with the expected output but it seems too little an input. I just want to escape. I’m an insomniac lying in a bed of roses. Everything is cushy and comfortable but sleep is elusive. Aaargh!!!!

Summer

I love the flowering of the Narra trees. This marks the beginning of summer for me. The time before that scorching summer heat drives you to seek refuge in front of the electric fan. That fleeting and ephemeral period that ushers in the summer season. The tiny orange blossoms that fall gently and cover the streets and pavements remind me of my childhood. In my blue and white uniform, I would pass by a private stretch of road to and from school where one or two Narra trees grow at the side. I loved stepping on the flower-strewn path that coats dreary looking asphalt with a subtly scented orange carpet. It signaled the end of another school year and the beginning of the two most awaited months for students, two heavenly months of freedom from assignments and examinations. I’m nostalgic for those days where the only thing you dread is the end of summer. Now, the flowering of the Narra no longer signifies the start of a carefree existence. There is less anticipation for the summer season since there are no more long lazy days where your time is your own and playing with friends till dusk is all that matters. It’s no longer a beginning but just another day in a chain of days of work and toil where pockets of freedom start on Friday nights and end too soon on Sunday evenings.