SURVIVAL Pt. 1

SURVIVAL was the name of the game I had to play very well after I had been admitted to the university.  With no money in hand, I entered a commitment that seemed impossible to accomplish for a seventeen year-old neophyte.

Feeling very excited to share the good news to my family, I rode a Baliwag Transit to go home to Cabanatuan. However, I was overwhelmed with strong, mixed emotions.

I was very excited and yet very afraid.

I had hope on one hand and doubt on the other.

My will to go on was very strong but I felt too weak and helpless to continue.

The needs ahead of me were great and many.  I needed a place to stay. I needed money for food, books, school supplies, drawing instruments, a scientific calculator, bus fare, allowance etc. These were the road blocks that seemed insurmountable for a poor and helpless boy like me.   A part of me just wanted to resign and give up but the will to persevere became stronger.  Again my mind was singing:  Alam kong may magagawa ang Diyos. (I know the Lord will have his way for me.) I knew another miracle would come to pass because God is good to me. And I began humming my toddler Sunday school song:

God is good to me. God is good to me.

He holds my hands and let me stand.  

God is good to me!

Then my hopes rose up again!!!

My wide beaming smile was still there when I came home. Mother wondered where I’d been the whole day.  “Anak, saan ka galing?  Hinihintay kitang samahan ako sa bukid para igayak ang pataniman natin ng palay sa isang lingo”.  (Where have you been?  I was waiting for you to go with me to the rice farm to prepare for next weeks rice planting.)

“Inang, hindi po ako magtatrabho sa bukid at hindi rin po ako matatrabaho sa construction. Nag-enroll na po ako sa college at natanggap na po ako sa CLSU,” I replied.  (Mother, I won’t work in the farm nor in the construction.  I’ve already enrolled for college and I got admitted in CLSU.) Mother thought I was day dreaming again as I always did.  “Ha?”, Mother exclaimed.  “Paanong nangyari yon?  Nangangarap ka na naman”. (What? How did that happen?  You’re dreaming again.) We sat down and told her the whole drama of my CLSU admission.

With tears in both our eyes, we embraced. It was then she said this piece, which I had heard many times before, but with a warning in her voice: “Pero anak, may sasabihin uli ako sa iyo.  Hiningi kita sa Diyos at ipinanata ko na ikaw ay magiging pastor.”  (But, son, I have something to tell you again. I asked you from God and I made a vow that you will be a pastor.) To which I answered,  “Inang, mahal ko po ang Diyos at marami pang paraan para ako makapaglingkod sa Kaniya.” (Mother, I love the Lord and there are many other ways I could serve Him.)

 I saw fear in her eyes.

“Tatanungin ko sina Engr. Sevilla kung matutulungan ka sa iyong titirahan.  Alam ko meron silang kamag-anak sa Munoz.”  (I will inquire from Engr. Sevilla if they could help you with your housing, I know they have relatives in Munoz.  Mother proposed.) The Sevillas were the benevolent family who took me in so I could finish my evening high school classes. I was their houseboy and mother was the laundrywoman.

“Oo mayroong paupahan ang mga kapatid ko sa Bagong Sikat at ang kapatid kong si Ely ay graduate ng Agricultural Engineering sa CLSU.”  (Oh yes! My siblings have a rental house in Bagong Sikat and my brother Ely is a graduate of Agricultural Engineering from CLSU),  Mrs. Sevilla excitedly told us. “Baka merong umuupa ngayon pero subukan natin baka may bed space para sa iyo.” (There might be people renting the place right now but we will try if maybe there’s a bed space for you.)  My mouth opened wide as I heard this possibility.  Another miracle?

Bagong Sikat is the neighboring community just northwest of CLSU and it is walking distance from the campus…a perfect outside housing location for CLSU students.  With a short note from the Sevillas, I went to meet the Ruiz family in Bagong Sikat. The God-fearing benevolent family gave me not just a bed space but my own private room in their rented house!  FREE!!!  Of course with the kind accommodation of the renter family, headed by whom I called Kuya Boy.

Housing need? Check!!!!

Food, books, school supplies, clothes, shoes, bus fare, allowance?  No check!!! But…. should I worry about those?

I learned later that the certain Ely was Dr. Eliseo Ruiz,  magna cum laude graduate of Agricultural Engineering and later became the president of CLSU.  He was the editor-in-chief of the CLSU Collegian during his days.  God was setting me up for some good connections early on.  When I started my agricultural engineering studies I had Dr. Ruiz as one of my models.

Inang sent me off to school with heavy luggage.  Kuya Freddie, my brother-in-law who was supposed to hire me in his construction business gave me fifty pesos ($6.25 at that time).  He pledged to give me fifty pesos every week!  There was rice, dry pork adobo (cooked a bit saltier than usual so that it will last longer even without refrigeration), tuyo (dried fish), tinapa (smoked fish), some vegetables, few packets of sky flakes and a can of Milo chocolate drink.  What made the luggage heavy were the cooking utensils. I cooked my own food and carefully budgeted what I had so they would last longer.

I felt like floating on air walking to my first class.  I felt good and grateful for the opportunity I had before me. There was so much hope and anticipation in the air. I said a prayer of gratitude.  Thank you Lord!  I groomed myself wearing a clean white shirt and bell-bottomed pants with a flair in the back.  My hair which normally stood up (turo) was neatly polished down with Beatles pomade.  I did not notice the four kilometer walk along the dusty, stony road from Bagong Sikat to College of Arts and Sciences, although it made my elevated leather shoes dirty and scratched .  I did not know anyone, but I did not feel like a stranger.  I felt I belonged there. I walked pass the men’s dorm and dreamed to live there some day with other students.  I passed by the statue of Dr. Jose Rizal right by the registrar’s office and across from the cafeteria.  I made a salute to the national hero as I remembered his word about the youth: Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.  The youth is the hope of the nation. It made me more determined. I had a responsibility not just to myself but to the society who was giving me this chance of having an education. I heard the bells from the water tower ring so loud as I passed by it, signaling  me to walk faster lest I be late for my first class.

I handed my class card to Prof Flor Amor Monta.  Everyone knew I was a new student because all of them had given their class cards more than a month ago.  The prof asked me to introduce myself.  Should I make a flash? Should I make an impression? I stood up, flashed a big smile, and humbly introduced myself.  “Hi everyone, my name is Gil Valenzuela. I am with the Study Now Pay Later Plan. You know I’m  enrolled late, so I need your help.”  At the end of class, many approached me and offered to share their books and notes. In all other classes, my classmates graciously offered help.  This solved my problem with books!

Saturday came and I was excited to report to my ROTC drill class.  I reported in my civilian clothes while everyone was sharp in their military uniform.  I was told that I should order my uniform as soon as possible.  “Yes sir!!!” I answered with a salute.  But I wondered, where in the world will I get the money for a new military uniform and boots which would cost hundreds of pesos?  I went home that weekend to attend church and see my family.  Everyone at church wished me well.  I told my Ate (Sister) Fely –whose husband was the construction guy–about my need for a military uniform.  “Mayroong lumamg uniform si Manggoy, titingnan ko baka pwedeng ibigay sa iyo.” Manggoy my brother has an old ROTC uniform.  I’ll see if he can give it to you.  He rushed out of the house and came back in no time.

Kuya Freddie excitedly handed me a paper bag containing the uniform and the boots. “O ayan sige isukat mo nga?” ” Here, will you fit them?”  I came out of the room looking like a clown.  Manggoy was a well-built man who stood five ten and probably weighed one hundred seventy pounds.  While I was small built, thin, stood five three and weighed one-hundred ten pounds.  I was crying and laughing at the same time. ” Hindi ako kasya, masyadong malaki!” (I don’t fit in it.  It’s too big.) Everybody in the house started laughing!! Mother quickly retorted,  “Walang problema diyan, pwede nating i-repair.” ( That’s not a big problem, we can repair it.)  Mother took my measurements and started the repair job that took her the whole night because she knew I needed to travel back to CLSU at five in the morning the following day. Her sewing ability saved the day for her only son, and I was so proud of her.

The repaired uniform looked good on me, it just needed a name badge.  But the problem now was the military boots.  They were three or four sizes bigger than my size 7 feet.  And there’s nothing we could do about it!  But I had a plan: I would just double my socks and stuff the front with tissues. That’s the best solution. Who would
notice?  But one day during a rest time from military drills, the guy next to me noticed something.  “Bakit ang laki yata ng sapatos mo?”  Why do your boots seem too big for you?  I seldom get annoyed by people, but this time I was.  I told him to shut up and mind his own business! But the truth was, the over sized military boots were very difficult to use. I had to be careful all the time or I would fall down on my face, which almost happened a number of times.

But I learned to balance with them as I was learning to balance my unbalanced life.  When would I get a new pair of marching boots?  I could only dream.

 

More stories of survival in my next blog. Stay tuned!