That Old, Familiar Feeling...(part 1)

i beg the indulgence of the wayward soul that finds its way into my thoughts posted in this my blog...may pagka-senti ni dyutay ang mga posts ko for this week until the end of the month...feeling balikbayan daan si ditch. hehehehe

whenever one finds himself back in the place that he has considered home for such a long time -- and considering that this person had just come back from several months of "self-imposed exile" (baw!), there are just a few places that immediately beckon to this long-lost traveler. Places that have been considered havens of most cherished memories and one just had to make the pilgrimage and indulge in the ambience of past memoories if for a fleeting moment...

in less metaphysical terms, there are just some places that I had to visit once I got home. Sort of like a self-imposed itinerary. And these places are chosen for various reasons, most of them sentimental (others monetary hehehehe)

Now that I've made "bisa" at home and to my loving family circle, I just had to visit my next most memorable place...none other than my Alma Mater the University of Negros Occidental Recoletos.

cue Alma Mater Hymn...ready one, two, three...

It was the strangest feeling as I was coming through the gates of UNO-R. I half-expected that I would be accosted by the guard and then made to leave an ID and register on the logbook like any ordinary visitor to the school but I wasn't having that...I swaggered in like I owned the place (or rather, like I was still employed by the University and occupied a/an (quasi)administrative position in one of the departments hahaha)

Maybe it was because of the "aura" I projected that the guard didn't dare to hinder my entrance with an "Excuse me sir? Visitor ka? Bilin di anay ID sir..." and so I entered the portals of my Alma Mater unmolested. The guards still knew me gale...

whew

Coming back to UNO-R after just six months I immediately noticed a lot of new things...like the new information booth advertising the wifi zones on campus, the retiling of the Caritas et Scientia Park (daw wala pa man five years nga gin renovate na, renovate naman liwat?), the covered walkways, the multitude of tarpaulin banners hanging around campus, the directories and the "you are here" maps...basta, kadamo ko bag-o makit-an...

But all of those were to me only fleeting landmarks as my goal was to reach the High School Department. I wanted to see my former colleagues, my old friends, and my former students again.

My pace quickens...maybe it was excitement, or maybe it was just because I was hurrying so that I would not be seen by my formers students which will result to a mob of fans gathering around me. (daw feeling artista ba...hahaha)

But despite my best efforts, my timing was still off. I was walking along the corridors at the exact moment that the bell signaling the next period had rung, and the students who were exiting the computer lab and pouring into the hallway were the first to glimpse the long-haired me.

I could hear whispers behind my back...

"Daw si Sir Ditchella man na?...Oo, si Sir Ditchella gid!"

Then came the inevitable...

"Siiiiiiiir!"

ITUTULOY....


Stand Alone 1.16