Ang Init!

I kind of have an agreement with my friends: if one of them says, “ang lamig!” (it’s so cold) or “giniginaw ako” (I’m cold), I laugh at them. Our ideas of “cold” are very different, so they understand and take no offense.

BUT . . . when a Filipino says, “ang init!” (it’s so hot), I believe him/her without hesitation. I’ve heard this phrase several times over the past week or so–even the weather reporters are commenting about the heat.

There are basically two seasons here in the Philippines, the dry season and the rainy season. I affectionately refer to the weather variation as “hot and hotter, wet and wetter” (I picked up this joke from a missionary that served in Indonesia). We are now in the dry season, and it is a scorcher so far–low to mid 90’s every day (not to mention the humidity).