hello, sweetie

I'm back. The pilot for my plane back to Manila is apparently a speed demon, because even accounting for tailwind he squeezed a 70-minute flight into 25 minutes. My mother felt oddly cheated.

Anyway, I met a bunch of new relatives -- my grandfather's family. They're all awfully lovely and funny and nice and madder than a box of frogs and so very, very Waray. Fortunately my working knowledge of Bicolano (which is a pretty closely-related dialect, and one I was exposed to very early on thanks to my grandmother's family) served me well. Still, felt a bit like an interloper at times. Which is only natural, I suppose.

Reunion is still in full swing back there, however. I think it's a dinner-dance tonight.

*should've used a River Song icon. Why don't I have a River icon?