¿Coño/Conyo?

The misusage of conyo/coño is very interesting. So coño in spanish really means bastard/cunt and we pinoys use it as a derogatory adjective to refer to a person that is someone that is Spanish. The Filipinos hated the Spanish before as you know because of all their cruelty. So every time a pinoy sees one, it's automatic "conyo" because they were bastards to us.

Nowadays it has evolved to someone that is mayabang/speaks english. Why? Well first of all we have to look at its usage before: We used conyo to refer to someone that is Spanish because the Spaniards were cruel, mayabang and different from our society. It sort of retained it's meaning because to most Filipinos, especially the masses, if you speak english, you're mayabang and different from the society.

Why I think SUMAN is called Suman.

Suman may have came from the Spanish word SUMIR which means to add or to come together. Suman is it's conjugated form in the 3rd person plural subjunctive tense. So I'm guessing its called that way because it's all that sticky rice added up and put together. What do you guys think?

Why is Rellenong Bangus called Rellenong Bangus?

Today is Thanksgiving in America and I was telling my chinese classmates here in Spain that the Americans eat turkey during this holiday. They wanted to cook it but I told them putting the stuffing might be difficult. I didn't know what stuffing was in Spanish so I looked it up and to my surprise, it was RELLENO. I suddenly realized why Rellenong Bangus (stuffed fish) back home in the Philippines was called that way.

Cool huh?

Careful with your articles

Spain Fun Fact 1: "Dia del Espectador"

Did you guys know Spain has a thing called "movie goer day" or as they call it "dia del espectador". ONCE A WEEK movie tickets are 20% cheaper in all cinemas. The day varies per city. In my city Alcalá de Henares, it's wednesday. Damn, sana may ganito rin tayo!

Francisco Franco has a pinoy half-brother!

Click image to enlarge

Awesome discovery today during my research for Spanish History Class. Did you guys know that Spain's late dictator, the famous Francisco Franco had a pinoy half brother? Apparently Franco's dad who fought for the Spanish army was assigned in the Philippines and got a 14 year old girl pregnant. Her name was Conception Puey and the son's name was Eugenio Franco Puey. 

More info at: http://www.altera.net/nueva/libros/franco_republicano.pdf

Dear Reader

Hi, I'm Diego!

I am an enthusiast of the Spanish Language and Culture. I'm currently studying in the university of Alcalá de Henares, Madrid taking up (yea you guessed it) Spanish language and culture. I chose to study here because I am highly intrigued by the Spanish. Why? Because once upon a time my country was once a colony of Spain for more than 300 years and up to this very day we still sort of act like them. We don´t speak Spanish anymore but most of our words in Filipino have Spanish origins. We take siestas. We are family oriented. We both share the same major religion. We both had a badass dictator ALMOST at the same point in time. We both take our fiestas VERY seriously. Most Filipinos have Spanish names... and many many more...

Discovering these connections really interest me and even though I know the Spaniards and the Filipinos are not 100% alike, I think it is important for a Filipino to discover his/her roots. To know why we act and speak the way we do - And what better way to start than by studying and immersing myself in the country of our foremost colonizer.

Furthermore, I want to bring the Spanish language back to my country. I believe the Spanish language is the mother of our mother tounge. Filipino contains a mountain of borrowed words  from Spanish. I also want to show my fellow countrymen how beautiful it is, not to mention how useful it can be because it is the third most spoken language in the world. Our national hero spoke it, a vast majority of our nation's great minds spoke it and used it to their advantage. The Spanish language is most definitely NOT dead my friends.

Initially I created this blog to update my friends and family back home about my life here in Spain, but then I realized why not make it a way for me to show people what I have learned here as well. I will try to make every post as educational as possible.

I hope you enjoy!

Un Saludo,

Diego Galán