No Fairies Allowed (bxb)

Chapter 30: Trilingual

Sash above

(Ravine POV)

"So this is the main library of The Growling Tigers University and it's called Miguel De Benavides Library. It is known to be one of the largest libraries in the entire Southeast Asia. It is a six-story building and it also has a mini-coffee shop on the ground floor. It's perfect for a study session with your friends and professors." The upper year student said as she was doing a tour for the freshmen year students.

"Bah!" Someone said startling the daylights out of me. I looked to see who it is and to my surprise, it's Sash!

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked.

"Guess we're course mates after all! I am in Mass Communication too." He said.

"Oh..."

"I guess you're my first friend here." Sash said with a charming grin on his face. Just by looking at it, I can tell Sash didn't come from an Asian descent.

"I know this is super random but what's your ethnicity?" I asked.

"I'm pure French but I have been raised here in the Philippines so I know how to speak Tagalog fluently." He said.

"But do you still know how to speak French?"

"Of course! My parents taught me too." He exclaimed.

"Wow! So you're trilingual if I am not mistaken?" I asked.

"I guess you can call it that. Do you want to hang out for lunch?"

"Sure thing." I laughed.

Later...

During lunch break, I kind of wandered around the streets due to so many intriguing street food stands and I'd like to see them myself. There's this one particular food that managed to capture my attention. It looks like a barbecue but I know that it's not. It looks like an intestine on a stick.

I came over to the old lady and asked her what it is. I know I am supposed to use Tagalog but I think I got a little bit mental blocked in a way.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Isaw! (Chicken guts)" She said.

"Pabili po. (Can I buy some?)"

"Ilan? (How many sticks?)" She asked.

"Dalawa lang (Only two)" I answered.

"Prito o Ihaw? (Would you like it fried or grilled?)" The old lady asked and I couldn't answer her because I had no idea what she just said.

"Inihaw na lang po ibigay niyo sa kanya. Padagdagan na rin po ng apat na pritong Isaw.Salamat! (Just give him the grilled chicken guts please. Can you add four more fried chicken guts for me? Thank you!)" Sash said, totally rescuing me from the communication issue.

"My God! Thank you. What did you just say to her if I may ask?" I said.

"I told her to give you the grilled ones. I also bought four fried chicken guts for myself." Sash answered.

"You really are a fluent Tagalog speaker." I said.

"Thank God I saw you over here because if not, you would've struggled badly." Sash joked.

"I know. It's funny because my friend trained me for like a year to prepare for this and I don't know. I guess I didn't learn much at all." I said.

"Hey! You don't have to be a defeatist about it. Every foreign students in Growling Tigers is having the same issue as you. You're not the only one struggling. It takes years of living here for you to master the Tagalog language. Don't beat yourself in the head too much." Sash said.

"Dalawang inihaw! Apat na pritong Isaw! (Two grilled and Four fried chicken guts for both of you!)" The old lady said before handing over our food to us.

"Salamat! (Thank you!)"

"Walang Anuman! (You're Welcome!)"

"Where do you want to go now?" Sash said.

"It's quite windy, don't you think? Let's eat at the field then." I said.

"Sure thing."