![]() ![]() Sun protection might've been part of it, but as I got older, I began to understand that there was more to the phrase than concern about sun damage. My mom and aunts often used this phrase when offering me an umbrella or hat to wear before I went out in the sun. The literal translation means " you are black," but it can also mean " you'll turn black." In fact, I’d heard it often when I was growing up. But one phrase repeatedly came up and stood out: "Ma itom ka." ![]() My Lola started screaming as soon as we walked through the door, and I could only understand parts of what was being said since she was speaking Bisaya, the local Filipino language. ![]() Late one afternoon, after spending the day at the beach with my little cousin Yana, I went back to my Lola’s (grandmother’s) house. In the summer of 2010, I took a trip with my family to the town my parents grew up in the Philippines. ![]()
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