I journey back home with a strange feeling. For the first time, I am traveling back home alone. I am left to my own thoughts and memories of home.

While in Hawaii, I come across other locals around my grandparents age from the west coast. As I was chatting with one man in particular, Henry, we found out that he and my grandfather know one another. Told me about him growing up and how my family were great hunters (a side I have heard of, but never seen first hand). Henry would back and forth between English and Chamorro. To my own surprise, I could tell what he was saying by the context and a few key words I recognize. I would respond in English as I cannot even bring a sentence together. Although, I found that I started using the slang and started pronouncing my words a little bit differently.

One distinct characteristic Chamorro has is our ‘si’. Whenever we say a person’s name, we always add ‘si’ in the front of it.

The following is a snip-it from my conversation with Henry.

“What’s your last name?”

“Siongco, sir.”

“Do you know si Roque Siongco?”

“Yes, sir. Matter of fact, he is my grandfather.”

“Small island, big families. Always gotta see if you’re related” is a common motto that I always embrace.