MABUHAY
Mabuhay is welcome in Filipino. The derivative
"buhay" means (life),
"mabuhay" means "to live."
And Filipinos do know how to live.
I was born in 
San Francisco. My parents were
Spanish Filipino.
My father was very ill at the time and was confined to a
sanitarium in Alum Rock, San Jose. That's how I came to be
born here in the US. He contracted the deadly tuberculosis
from damp tropical dug outs hiding from the Japanese during
the second world war. He was allergic to antibiotics and
just couldn't get well. So my grandma "abuelita" and my
Mom flew him to the states. He was three years in the
sanitarium, one whole year in an iron lung.
He spent a lot of time building things- some woodwork,
but mostly electronics. He would order parts from the
Lafayette and Popular Mechanics catalog and build radios.
He loved innovation and to tinker with things.
I think I got that from him.
When he got well, my mom got homesick.
We sailed back to the islands on the President Wilson.
I heard a lot of stories about the Japanese and the war
growing up. My parents were in their late teens through
their early twenties then. Not fully realizing or
comprehending the tragedy of war, it seemed so
adventurous and romantic. There were however, sad stories
as well - my mom's sister lost her husband and
all her children but one son. All brutally murdered
in front of her, execution style.
Mayon Volcano, Philippines
I spoke English and Spanish first. I had to learn
English to communicate in the US, and my parents
and family primarily spoke Spanish at home.
So as a new resident of the Philippines, I quickly
picked up Tagalog.
I thought I spoke it fairly
well and think that I still do.
I didn't think much of it, but my classmates
used to laugh at me because I spoke Tagalog
with a Spanish accent. I was and am what they call
"meztisa" (Spanish-Filipina). As a kid it didn't really
bother me, I thought it was great that I made them laugh. more
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