return to upd

For the second time this month, I was transported back to the past. It's been 10 years since I graduated from college, and this spur of the moment trip to my alma mater, the University of the Philippines, sent me careening back to my years in the expansive Diliman campus.

A lot has happened in the decade that has passed. I have since then earned one more degree, started working, lived away from home (and had gone back to the nest), changed the color of my eyes and I have now taken to wearing my hair long. My friends and I kidded about not having taken lots of pictures back then...but that was the age when cameras still needed films and the most popular cellphones were Nokia 5110 -- no camera phones yet. So we took to going to the most significant parts of the campus, and took long-overdue photo ops.

We had agreed to meet up at our erstwhile home -- at the heart of the Institute of Biology, known fondly to us as IB Lobby. But as these planned things go, we ended up meeting up instead at the Casaa food court, the oasis of food and drinks for us bio majors. Outside, Cassa looks virtually the same. Inside, it was a bit different. The only remaining familiar stalls are Gloria's, Sizzler and the soda fountain. The vinyl-topped tables and plastic seats are still very much the same, though, as well as the stiffling heat and viand-aroma that envelopes the eating area. We stayed long enough to get some refreshments, then with drinks in hand, we trooped to the IB lobby.

A wave of nostalgia again hit me when we entered the now empty lobby. The familiar long tables and benches are still there, and glass-covered display cases still line the walls. The previously un-labeled specimens inside the cases are now coupled with their family, genus and species names. The guard table had been relocated to the IB steps, no longer situated beneath the wall clock in the lobby. The "house" cats were noticeably absent...had they all grown old and died without leaving a progeny? Because summer class has ended, we had the place to ourselves. I felt like a residual haunting, a ghost re-living what once was the motions in the monotony of daily life.

Soon, IB will be here no more. A new building is being constructed in the new science complex, and everything in this old structure will be relocated there. The new building and complex look promising and modern, but I hope this old one will not be bulldozed down. We had lunch at the Chocolate Kiss, somewhere we really never went to dine during our undergraduate years. It was a sumptuous meal of comfort food: bagoong rice, dinuguan, longganisa and chicken kiev. Dessert was, of course, the famous Devil's Food Cake, sans rival and blueberry cheesecake. With bellies full, we trooped to the university shopping center...to eat again. Fishballs and kwek-kwek this time.

From SC, we went to the new science complex and quickly drove around it. I couldn't help but feel envious of the students who will get to study there. It was spacious and very modern, and the different institutes of the college of science were all within walking distance of each other. It looked so modern and so foreign, but I knew it would foster a more invigorating ambience for learning.

With winds picking up and the sky turning gray, we headed to perhaps the most famous UP landmark: the Oblation. Good old Oble was still as naked as he was on the day he was born, arms stretched in unabashed freedom and chin thrust with the arrogance of a Maroon. With the clouds shielding us from the harsh afternoon sun, we had our photos with the UP icon.

As the first drops of rain fell, we retreated to our sanctuary. Outside Pavilion 4, we bumped into old professors, personalities that will forever be pillars of the institute. I doubt if they remembered me, but it was heart-warming to see their eyes light up when they realized that we were their students a decade ago. There was an unspoken joy in their aura as we recounted old college tales, and a hint of pride as they found out how well we were now doing. It was very touching how they said with the utmost sincerity that we are all part of the IB family.

It felt good to be reminded of things like this. College was certainly not all smooth-sailing for me, but seeing everything again from eyes that have aged a decade, it is definitely one of the most wonderful chapters of my life. The familiarity of everything felt oddly comforting, making me wish that as much as I want UP to move on with the times, I also want everything to stay as it is.