The New Girl in Town

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Dedicated kay Blacklily

 

“Room 204, nasaan ka na?” Nakakangawit sa leeg paghahanap ng classroom. Oo simula na ng klase ko ngayong araw. I’m currently on the 8th floor ditto sa Department of Chemistry. Chem 10A ang una kong class. Kahit Masters na ko ng Public Health, I still have to take extra units dahil yung ibang subjects ko from College ay na-neglect dahil iba ang curriculum nila dito. May extra courses din ako na dapat itake para makahabol sa normal students.

“I’m sorry, but did you just speak Filipino?” Narinig ko may nagsalita sa likod ko. Napalingon ako at nakita ang isang babae na medyo mas matangkad sa akin. Golden brown ang buhok nya at kulay blue ang mga mata nya. Nakatingin sya sakin at hinihintay ang sagot ko.

“H-hi, yes I just did. I am a Filipino. Do you speak the language too?” I smiled as I replied. Maaga pa naman, kaya siguro I can make friends pa naman. Kailangan ko din to.

“Uhm, no. But my grandmother is a Filipina and she speaks a lot of Tagalog in our house back in LA so I’m kinda familiar with the words.” Sagot nya habang parang natatawa. “I’m Natalie, by the way.”

She offered her hand and I gladly accepted it. “Hello, I’m Belle.” Ngumiti ang ng matamis. I guess I have a friend now, don’t I?

“So, it’s your first year here?” Nagsimula syang magtanong habang naglalakad kami.

“Uhm, sorta. I’m taking my Masters in Public Health.”

“Wow, you’re already in Masters? You look so young!” Hindi sya makapaniwala. Well, ako rin e! Haha

“Yeah,” I simply answered. Nakita na namin ang room 204. Nalaman ko din na classmate ko sya sa first class namin na Chem 10A Lecture. Biology ang course ni Natalie at second year college na sya. Scholar din sya dito sa Cal dahil part sya ng Women’s Swimming Team. So most likely, makakasama ko din sya ng madalas dahil nagdodorm din sya. Magkatabi kami naupo sa may bandang gitna ng lecture room. Parang sinehan ang itsura, malaki ang room at pababa ang flooring. May giant screen sa baba na nagsisilbing projector at may desktop background na nakasulat “Welcome back to school Bears!” May mahabang table din na lalagyan siguro ng gamit ng prof, may sink and faucet din para siguro sa mga demonstrations ng simple experiments. Wow, ibang iba talaga dito.

“—you just moved out? Since when?” yun lang ang huling narinig ko. Nagsasalita pala si Natalie at tuluyan nang naputol ang pagmamasid ko sa paligid.

“Actually, I came all the way from the Philippines last Saturday. I was qualified for a scholarship here.”

“Wow! Really? I mean, you practically live alone?”

“Yeah, I feel so fortunate that you found me and now I have someone to talk to. I felt so nervous the first time I stepped my foot here in the US. It’s so hard to live alone in a place that you know you’re not comfortable about. This is far from my hometown, 12 hour-flight away. I am actually new to this environment, lifestyle and everything.”

“Ok so I think I want to introduce you to my family this weekend. You wanna come with me?” Natalie pleaded with her hands clasped together.

“Would that be any hassle to you?”. As much as I wanted to come, medyo nahihiya pa din naman ako kahit papano. Pero pagkakataon ko na din to para makameet ng kapwa Pinoy dito, para mas mabilis na rin siguro ako makaadapt.

“No, no! Not at all. Gosh! I’m really excited Belle! You’ll surely love my cousins. In fact we have some small gathering during Sundays. All our relatives just around here in Cali come to our house for dinner. I’ll introduce you to them.” She explained.

Naputol ang pag-uusap namin nang dumating na ang prof namin. Agad na natahimik ang buong lecture room. Naglakad papunta sa gitna yung prof pagkatapos nya ayusin yung mic.

“Goodmorning! Welcome back to school! My name is Professor Ralph Durden and I’ll be your lecturer for Chem 10 A,  Advance Organic Chemistry 1. My consultation hours are flashed on the screen so in case you have questions regarding a certain topic, please, do not hesitate to ask me.” Magsusulat na sana ako sa notebook nang naflash na ang susunod na slide.

“Don’t worry guys, the slides are uploaded in our students website. Our lecture code would be 049387ZA. Enter this code and you can access our Lecture Page. Now I want to conduct a survey on about how much do you know about Chemistry? Under your desks are the survey devices, you just need to push the button of your choice.” Tinignan ko ang ilalim ng desk ko at nakita ang parang remote control na may apat buttons na may label na A B C and D. Cool! Ganito pala dito pag may tanong ang teachers. You don’t really need to raise your hand to answer. Maganda to para mga mahiyain tulad ko. HAHA Naflash na yung tanong sa screen. I-rate daw yung sarili kung gano daw ka daw sa tingin mo kagaling sa basic Organic Chemistry. Agad kong pinindot ang button C.

Isang minuto ang ibinigay sa amin at pagtapos ng oras ay agad na naipakita sa screen ang percentage ng sumagot ng A, B, C at D. Maraming sumagot ng C gaya ko.

“Well, I guess you won’t be here if you don’t know the basics, am I correct? I’m glad that most of you answered 75% because if all answered 100%, I think I won’t do a recap for the Basic. Class, I can’t promise you anything but I will make sure that when this semester ends, you’ll learn something from me. Alright?”

I’m so pumped up with this system. It’s very new to me, napakahigh-tech, napaka-organized. Don’t worry sir, I promise I’ll be attentive.