‘Kamusta ka?’ is ‘how are you?’ in Tagalog. If you are one of the Filipinos who’s new in this land [United Arab Emirates] then get used to the versions of ‘kamusta ka?’ available in different accents.

First, it was the Asians [in Dubai] that surprised me with the Filipino words they know. That amazed me… how many gazillions of Filipinos are here again? How come almost everybody knows a bit of our language? As I remember it was the Arabs and South Asians that made me laugh with their Tagalog accents. But later on I come to know that the Westerners are into it too! What the?!

It’s friendly that they know at least one sentence. That one sentence breaks cultural boundaries easily. Believe me, having greeted by your own language by somebody from the other side of the world feels great and odd as it makes you wonder how that person knew your language. What more if you meet some of the linguists here and outsmarted you with your vocabulary in your mother tongue!…

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