HOW was your Halloween “scarybration”?
It was fun hiding in a dark corner and pouncing on unwary relatives. This is the most horrible season of the year. Ironically, people like to participate in it by throwing parties or decorating the house with cardboard bats to mark Halloween.
“Horrible season of the year?” my cousin Norste asked. He is on vacation with us and will fly back to Manila in January after the Sinulog celebration.
“Play of words, Norste,” I replied.
“Oh, dear me, I thought you were referring to the upcoming political election and how some candidates for public positions have started to campaign,” he replied.
Uncle Gustave added, “And very cleverly, too. They do it through advertisements on how to uphold good health or improve the lives of farmers, har, har, har.”
“Are there other horrible seasons of the year, Obz?” my cousin Dona asked.
“Some people find Valentine’s Day horrible and being single,” I replied.
“The only horrible thing is our point of view,” said Pollongoy, my pag-umangkon sa pag-agawan. In Philippine relationship terms, the offspring of a first cousin is your niece or nephew. That offspring becomes your pag-umangkon sa pag-agawan or a nephew/niece through a cousin.
“Uncle, is that horrible lecture of yours related to food?” my niece Kyrstalle asked.
“Horribly so. The more people there are in the house, the less there is food for all. A home keeper must know how to stretch raw ingredients to prepare a meal.”
“So, what are we having in your horrible column this week?” Tita Blitte asked.
“Tawgi,” I replied.
“Call who?” she asked.
“No. It’s mung beans or tawgi.” In Cebuano, the word tawag means call. To use it in a sentence: “Tawga imong papa (Call your father).” Some Cebuanos use tawgi instead of tawga: “Tawgi imong papa.” I don’t know why the sound change has occurred.
For years I have been teasing friends with replies such as, “Tawgi? I will do better than that. Monggosan pa ta ka (I will make mung bean soup for you).” It’s the most horrible joke of the year.
“It sure is a horrible joke, but I laughed despite myself,” said Peetong, Dona’s husband. “And that’s really scary.”
“What horrible dish are you going to make using tawgi, Uncle O?” asked Ellen, my other niece.
Pannon, my nephew, corrected her: “Tawgi is delicious. It’s uncle who’s horrible.”
“Come on, guys! Your uncle scared you green with his pranks last Oct. 31 but it’s not good getting even now that Halloween is over,” Tita Blitte said.
They all said: “We do love him. Horribly love him.” Well, there goes my tawgi.
Till next week.