Today was training day at the office, so I got up early and got to the office early. While waiting, I heard a familiar sound from the people who were already there. The wavy tones, the lambing accent. And my heart raced, a mix of excitement and relief. It turns out, TEs from Visayas and Mindanao flew in for the training as well. The familiar sound, I realized, was the sound of home.
It’s crazy how much weight language carries with it. An entire region in its vocabulary, culture and history in its tone, and countless memories in the slang.
I switched seats from the back to the middle of the group; It’s been a while since I found myself within a large crowd of fellow Ilonggos. And for the rest of the day, it felt like I flew home for a day.