my favorite bontoc word

i was never the best with languages. my foreign language in college was spanish, and beyond donde esta el tabac, there was never really much i could say.

i always like to think that the Fates have an incredible sense of humor when it comes to toying with my life, because my first job ever was in a place where i couldn't understand a thing -- tagalog and english were secondary languages, and the language being spoken there sounded like a mix of F and CH sounds, and there was not a trace of english or tagalog anywhere.

the Fates decided that i was to be a teacher, and my naive little mind had visions of becoming an Anne of Green Gables sort of teacher. but as the Fates have an ironic sense of humor, i did not prepare for the surprises that awaited me. every single nightmare i've had of being a teacher came true then -- from firecrackers exploding in the classroom, to blank faces in the classroom when i tried introducing my idea of high-brow literature, to staff meetings in ilocano that i had no way of understanding, to every high school child's belief that it was his birthright to make teacher's life as hellish as possible.

but my favorite Bontoc word saved me and provided the much needed equilibrium i needed at that time in my life. every child in all my classes knows that this is my favorite word. and this word brings back fond memories of a different life.

werwer.

this is a Bontoc word that means naughty, makulit, matigas ulo. but to me, it is that and so much more.

werwer is children writing their dreams for their futures and me sealing them in a ziploc bag and us burying them in the school garden. and gleefully enjoying an english period spent out of doors.
werwer is spellcheck wednesdays, where the children would fall all over each other getting a pink star drawn on a yellow post-it.
werwer is the class laughing at the teacher because she spent two days under the sun wearing sunglasses, and came to class with a Batman sunburn on her face.
werwer is children sitting near the window teasing a ray of sunlight and having it dance on the blackboard, causing teacher to slap at it, making the entire class laugh.
werwer is marvelling at the children bringing their own floor wax and brooms to keep their own classrooms clean.
werwer is listening to U2 songs in class and finding the metaphors and similes in the song lyrics.
werwer is reading a student essay about tree planting on a hot day, and remembering how the sentence "my feet is cook!" made teacher's day.
werwer is the students sympathizing with teacher's scratched up hands, because teacher did not know how to do her laundry by hand.
werwer is thursday afternoons spent in the town cathedral, rehearsing mass songs and getting out of lessons for one afternoon.

werwer is the thought of the children who helped make me an adult.
children who are now adults themselves, who have led interesting lives and who have grown up without me knowing.

but they will always be children to me, and it is with much love that i remember them all today. agannad kayo, and thank you for bringing the werwer into my life.