talangka

I am now back in Toronto after a 9 day stay in Atlanta. The heat was unbelievable and felt like my skin would get toasted each time I went outdoors. The temperatures were teetering at the 100’s F. Luckily, I was almost always indoors in the cool airconditioned comfort of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Buckhead where my review course was held. To my pleasant surprise, a good handful of the attendees are Filipino. And of course, we all flocked together. The questions I got asked the most were “San ka sa tin?” (Answer: Bulacan); “San ka nagpa-practice ngayon?” (Answer: doing my fellowship now in Toronto); “Ah, so sa Canada ka na?” (Answer: hindi po, babalik ako sa Pilipinas). The last answer would draw the most reaction – shock, disbelief, incredulity, “really?!”. But eventually, they hear me out and we’d move on in conversation. There was this one particular American (hilaw..Pinay pa rin sya) who approached me and when she found out my plans, she cajoled,”Ano pa mangyayari sa yo sa Pilipinas? Sigurado ka na babalik ka? Bakit?!” I was so put off. Bakit nga ba hindi? Paki mo. May kasabihan nga tayo,”Ang hindi tumingin sa pinanggalingan, hindi makararating sa paruruonan.” I wish I said all this to her out loud. But unlike her, I am just too polite. I did not question them for venturing overseas in the supposed land of milk and honey. Sigh. To each his own, we all have our different means to fulfillment.
It was refreshing to sit down next to a woman of Indian origin. She has been in New Jersey for 16 years now and still has some years of practice ahead of her. She basically asked the same questions. When she heard my plan, “Oh, that’s great. Best to go back to your own country. That is what I will be doing next year. Good luck on that.”
Amen.