HINENGGEN MAN ÅMKO'

 

Mungnga umo'mak yanggen masahahalom ha' hao trabia.

Don't shower if you're still sweaty.

When we were kids playing in the streets, hitting empty tin cans down the street with sticks, or playing catch and racing each other, when we'd come home some of us would want to take a shower right away because we were so sweaty from our games.

But some saina, often the nånan biha or grandmother, would forbid us to. "Cha'-mo umo'omak sa' masahahalom ha' hao trabia!" ("Don't you dare shower because you're still sweaty!")

We'd have to dry off before they'd let us shower. So, we'd take off our sweaty shirts and just keep our shorts on and it didn't take too long to dry off. They'd never allow us to dry off standing in front of a fan, either. 

The fear was we'd get sick if we took a shower while we were still sweating.

Is there a scientific basis?

Although science does not say showering when still being sweaty will kill you or make you sick, medical people and health experts generally advise people to cool down before showering after they've sweated from playing sports or exercising. Water, either hot or cold, will have an effect on the body, one's heart rate and body temperature, so it's best to subject the body to cold or hot water when the body is in its natural rest state.

Others say if you take a hot shower while still sweaty, your body still needs to sweat in order to cool down the internal organs, so you'll end up sweating after the shower anyway. Wait, then, till your body stops sweating and then take a shower.

Still...

I think or man åmko' had other concerns when it came to showering while still sweaty.

They really believed you could get sick if you did. 

My Filipino friends tell me they had the very same belief. Tropical people think alike. Parents believed that showering right away would shock the child's body. Remember that Filipinos generally shower with cold water, just as almost every Chamorro did before the war and even after. The body needs to cool down, both Filipinos and Chamorros believe(d), before the body can properly deal with the water from showering.