NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Rashne: Hafa Adai Miget! Miget: Hafa Adai Rashne! Hafa bidadå-mu på’go? Rashne: Para bei fanegga’ kachido. Kao malago hao na ta hita na dos? Miget: Buente. Dipende nai. Hafa pon egga’? Rashne: Slumdog Millionare. Miget: Oh, bula hiningok-hu put enao. Gof maolek hun. Manggana gui’ meggai na premu. Rashne: Hu’u. Masusedi i mubi giya Mumbai, pinat gi sengsong i manaiguma’ siha. Miget: Ya taotao Mumbai hao no? Rashne: Hunggan, dumongkalo’ yu’ guihi. Meggaggai na hinasso-ku ginnen i tiempo-ku guihi. Miget: Pues siempre nina’lamahalang hao ni’ este na kachido. Rashne: Siña. Ti sumåga’ yu’ gi ayu na klasin songsong (ti taiguma’ i familia-ku). Lao yanggen mana’mali’e i otro na lugat Mumbai siha, siempre bei tungo’ siha, ya bei hahasso iyo-ku “home.” Miget: Teneki dinilok hao tuiguini put i hinatme giya Mumbai gi i ma’pos na såkkan. Rashne: Hunggan. Gof mahalang yu’ para i ciudåd-hu yan i familia-ku ni’ mañasåga’ ha’ guihi. Miget: Hu’u. Manggaisuette hit na tåya’ mandano’ annai ma

Thought I'd try out something new, because I was having trouble falling asleep because of my brother's trombone playing. Since I was living in the states for so long and often had little space to practice speaking or listening to Chamorro, in order to keep fresh my Chamorro language skills, I often came up with quick and easy practices to help keep building my vocabulary. One of these practices that I've shared regularly through this blog has been the taking of songs in English, Hindi and Japanese and writing lyrics to their tunes. The lyrics are sometimes related to the original words, but not always and sometimes I change the theme completely to accommodate my own interpretation of the mood of the song's music. Some examples are " Hum Aapke Hain Koun " from the film of the same name, " Call Me, Call Me " and the anime Cowboy Bebop/Cowboy Bopeep, and " Wave of Mutilation " by the Pixies. Another practice I sometimes do is when I'm li

Rashne: Put fin, mafatto hao! Miget: Ei adai, mungga taiguenao! Esta un tungo' na fihu gof åpmam i mubin Bollywood. Rashne: Hafa un egga' pa'go? Miget: Sarkar Raj. Rashne: Hafa enao? Miget: Este i mina'dos na Sarkar. Buente dos años tatte na tiempo, ma fa'tinas i fine'nina. Rashne: Ah, hunggan hu hasso. Para ayu ma dalalaki i estorian The Godfather, no? Miget: Hunggan, lao manmanusa familian Hindu, enlugat di un familian Italiånu. Ya ma pega i estoria giya Mumbai enlugat di New York City. Rashne: Ya gi i mina'dos kao ma fa'kopia The Godfather Part II? Miget: Gi i tinituhun i kachido pine'lo-ku na hunggan. Lao gi i finakpo' siguru yu' na ahe'. Siña na i direktot Si Ram Gopal Varma, ha kekekfa'baba hit. Ya gi un banda ha na'hahasso hit na kopia ha', ya ensigidas gi i otro banda, kulang nuebu! Rashne: Pues hafa i diferesia? Hafa ma tulaika? Miget: Kao siguru hao na ya-mu na bei na'tungo' hao? Rashne: Hu'u nai, siempre

While on Crooks and Liars today, I came across my dream come true. (or at least one of them) A website, where you can put your own subtitles over clips from Bollywood movies. I've made a couple and I'm posting them below, but let me give you some background first on why this is a dream for me, other than simply i guinaya-ku nu kachidon Bollywood siha. For those familiar with those blog, for the past few years I've had a regular feature on it called "Nihi Ta Fanchat Gi Fino' Chamoru put Hindi Movies" or "Let's Chat in Chamorro About Hindi Movies." In these posts, I basically create a dialogue in Chamorro between two people who are talking about a recently released Bollywood movie. For my first post, I used the film Swades , Ashutosh Gowariker's epic about diaspora, finding one's way back home, and the relationship between progress and culture in the "non-first" world, to create the dialogue. I'm pasting it right here for th

Miget: Ai adai, tinaka’ gof åpmam para ta egga ayu na mubi. Rashne: Hunggan mas ki tres oras i tiempo-ña. Miget: Lao, bai hu sangåni hao, gi todu i tiempon ayu na mubi – Rashne: Hafa? Miget: Ti hu hulat bumira i inatan-hu. Rashne: Mana’chetton i atadok-mu siha no? Miget: Hunggan, gof na’triste, gof na’bibu yan gof na’gaiesperånsa. Todu este siha na sinieñte manmayalaka gi este na tres oras put i lina’la’ este na gof matåtnga na låhi. Rashne: På’go, put i bidå-ña, guaha ma sångan na mas ki taotao este na taotao. Kulang matata’chong gui’ gi i chi-ña i tinataotao. Miget: Interesånte. Rashne: Ya put i gaige-ña guihi guatu na lugat, siña ha li’e todu i prubleman yan i kualidåt i taotao. Miget: Hu gof hongge enao lokkue. Gi este na mundo, todu ni’ manhihot, ni’ manggaigaige gi me’ñan i mata’-ta siña, fa’babachet. Este ni’ gaige gi halom i hinago’-ta, hinasso-ta na este ha’ todu i mindo. Lao ti ta li’li’e – Rashne: Ya ti ta espipiha – Miget: Hunggan, ti ta li’li’e hafa mas, hafa guaha chago g

Miget: Hafa Adai Rashne! Rashne: Hafa adai Miget! Miget: Maila halom, maila. Rashne: Si Yu'us Ma'ase. Hafa na kachido para ta egga' pa'go? Miget: Hekkua', bei aligaoñaihon gi i fanrikohiyan. Rashne: Kao guaha giya Hågu Dhoom 2? Miget: Ahe’, ti hu fahån gui’, lao esta hu egga’. Rashne: Ya hafa hinasso-mu? Kao ya-mu? Miget: Hunggan, ya-hu sa’ bula stunts, action, ya chalek siha. Rashne: Kao kinahnåyi hao lokkue nu i mambunita na famalao’an? Kao masakke i rason-mu? Miget: Ahe’, ahe’. Actually, gi minagahet, ti parehu este na kachido yan i meggaiña na otro na kachidon Hindi. Rashne: Sa’ hafa? Miget: Well, mafa’na’an este na klasin kachido “transnational.” Rashne: Ma agang siha enao put i diferentes na lugat nai ma fifilm? Miget: Hunggan, giya Dhoom, yan otro na kachido pot hemplo Don (i mina’dos na chinagi) yan Krrsh, ti manmaloloffan i fina’pos giya India ha’. Manhahanao i actors siha gi todu i movie, ya mañasaga’ gi otro na nasion, pat mambisisita. Rashne: Fihu hu li’

Back by popular demand! Puzzling to many, useful to few! My Nihi Ta Fan Chat Gi Fino' Chamoru Put Hindi Movies section is an interesting mix of sheer addiction, silly love and simple decolonization. If you are a Chamorro speaker or someone interested in learning Chamorro, and also love Bollywood movies, let me know a particular movie you would like to have a dialogue about and if I've seen it, then I'll post it on my blog. Rashne: Hafa Adai Miget! Miget: Hafa Adai Rashne! Mamaolek ha'? Rashne: Maolek ha', I guess, lao sen tinane' yu' put eskuela. Miget: Ai hunggan hu gof komprende enao, lao sigi ha'. Singko pat sais na sakkan tetehnan! Rashne: Po’lo ha’ enao…Otro fino’-ta, hafa na kachidon Bollywood un e’egga' halacha? Guaha maolek? Miget: Ai adai, kao este ha' iyo-ta relationship? Umakuentusi put kachidon Bollywood? Rashne: Lakisao, mungga matutuhun enao na kuentos. Miget: Despensa yu’ lao kalang machaleleghua’ i siniente-ku pa’go, put i

You might have noticed a slight change in my blog. For several months I've sported i banderan Guahan as my profile pick, due to the obvious nationalistic and ethnocentric character of my blog. It was also an important strategic choice, since when I started the Decolonize Guam blog, I wanted people who stumbled across it to still connect and feel familiar to it, even if the news posted on the blog might be completely new and strange to them (since the posts on the blog portray the US in a hardly benevolent light). When I started that blog though my profile pick was an interesting and confusing choice to many, this still from the film Mangal Pandey: The Rising, starring Amir Khan as one of the heroes of the First Indian Rebellion in 1857. Surely only those familiar with my random Nihi ta fanchat gi fino' Chamoru put Hindi Movies would have understood the choice. The choice was not only related to my love for Hindi movies, but also part of a much d