Global Pinoy for Better Philippines

.. my first job was teaching.. there were other choices such as clerical job as entry position but i believe that teaching was better  since it has more room for advancement and growing up.

.. though still part of the Bikol Region, i’ve never been to the island of Catanduanes yet (the location of my first job)  but, being adventurous by nature, i took the challenge and flew in one early morning in june 1980.

.. the island was a peaceful place though relatively small and simple.. no TV at that time, not many cars were around as it was accessible by wooden hulled boats only.. means of transportation was tricycles, motorcycles and bicycles.. there were buses and pinoys (tamaraw) plying around the province.. local telephone was a 3-digit dial., long distance calls were served through stations where you had to queue in to make a connection.. the opeartor dials your number and everybody hears your conversation..

..the moment i came in i knew my life would be different.. i rarely went out and i had no new friends.. for one straight school year my route was home-school-church-post office only. i did not socialize and my life was a complete recluse.. there were few souls who tried to befriend me but i had chosen only two of my male-students and three female neighbors.. my landlady, Yaya was my constant companion. we shared the same bedroom..

.. i handled basic subjects in commerce: marketing, economics, finance, management, accounting.. my students were older than  i was.. since i was a neophyte, i wore the same wardrobe i had in college: maong pants, t-shirt or blouse and a worn-out favorite adidas rubber shoes.. at first the students were teasing me because i was younger than most of them.. they provoked me with irrelevant and confusing questions which i all wittingly (or unwittingly) answered.. but maybe, i was just smarter than they were because nobody was able to intimidate me..

..towards the end of the school year, one of my students (a chinese) courted me.. i was young looking and few believed i was already a teacher.. i went along with this man so he presumed we were already a lovey-dovey. he showered me with attention, food, magazines and even gave me a wristwatch, a ring and a necklace (her mother was a jeweller and they had a retail store). he showed me around virac and neighboring towns and was always around everyday. most of all, he befriended my landlady, YAYA.. every night while i prepared my lesson plan and read books for next day’s lessons, he would buy me a siopao and softdrink. everything went on smoothly until we became comfortable with each other as well as he and my foster family (tio joe and tia bettry buebos).. in today’s parlance, we call it MU.

.. on my second year of teaching, life had been different.. my MU drafted to the fraternity where i was also a member in his attempt to get closer to me. he had been pre-occupied with his pledgee activities and our time together was practically reduced. another thing, he was always seen in the company of his girl-co-pledgee.. having been used to his presence, i was really affected and therefore, i sought other friends and joined their pastimes.. i met and mingled with other new friends until i and my MU drifted apart.. i gave him back the ring and necklace he gave me.. i told myself, maybe it was bound to happen because i was a teacher and he was a student. 

.. with my new friends i opened myself to new possibilities. i declined the offer for me to enroll in accounting course and decided that two years of teaching were enough. i should already be looking for a new job outside the small province. with this in mind, i started to socialize.  anyway, i would be out of the province after the school year.  with this,  new wave of events unfolded.

.. i had a student who was my age as we graduated from highschool on the same year. this guy was really charming, talked a lot and laughed a lot and he was everybody’s friend. i couldn’t deny he was goodlooking. his name was Ely.

 ..one day we bumped at the school canteen and we casually talked. we found out we had many things in common. i and his sister graduated from the same university and he said he had already been to my former school. i also learned that he was a folksinger and that he was a regular at the folkshouse (Magicpan) where i and my bestfriend back in college frequented. during the years i was in school, he was also in Legaspi City which was the reason why he hadn’t finished college yet. our topic had turned interesting so we regularly talked at the school canteen on our free time. he would sang my favorite songs of neil young and CSNY. at night, he was a regular at the rooftop of the hotel just accross my residence. they were four in the group and they called themselves “d’ greenpage’.

..the frequent talks turned regular until one day he confided to me that her girlfriend was jealous of me. he said they would fight everyday because of me. i just shrugged off my shoulders because i wasn’t guilty. i did not even went out with the guy and i treated him just another acquaintance as he was in fact one of my students.

..during that time, my friends were prodding me to have a boyfriend already so we can go out together in pairs. they suggested names of guys who had crush on me but i could not pickout one until they suggested the guy at the canteen who was a regular at the folkhouse nearby. the guy turned out to be Ely. they said he was interested in me so they arranged a blind date for us. my friend’s bf invited Ely and my friend took me to a discohouse named “Year2000″ where we would meet. that was the first time i went on a nightout with friends and with Ely.

..inside the discohouse Ely proposed to me but which i repeatedly turned down because i already learned he had a gf who was so jealous of me. he told me his gf left for Manila without asking for permission and that he doesn’t want her back because she was already violent everytime they fought. he also said he doesn ‘t want her gf’s attitude.

..being gullible by nature, i believed him. i said to myself there’ll be no harm if i give it a try. hence, we made a pact that night. we will give each other a try until his gf returns. i, too would hate being a second fiddle so when her gf returns and he figures out who he wants from us, i would give up. deep inside, i was just playing around..

..boy! we have been inseparable since.. after that night, he would always be by my side.. he would fetch me from school after my classes at 9pm and we would go straight to the nearby barbecue house. if he had gigs, he would made sure he sends me home and calls me during breaktime. when his gf came home, he told her they’re off and introduced me as his new one. i could feel the pain in his ex’s heart but at the same time i felt the sincerity he had towards me.

..one year after we gave ourselves a try, we got married in hush civil ceremony to the chagrin of the people around us including my parents. to appease the people who looked up at me being a respected teacher yet disappointed for marrying one of my students, i resigned from my teaching job.

..25 years after i married my student, we are still inseparable with two grown up kids.

..i never regreted leaving my first job because i found and married my last love.