The First Few Days

The 'first few days' of a big change has a way of lodging itself into memory. It comes waving a deed to a specific spot in the brain and claims it. It is my first few days here in the States after the recent trip to the Philippines, and everything's weird. Everyone spoke English, and people don't drive crazy, and there are people whose eyes are not brown or black! Gotta get used to driving to go wherever, instead of taking a tricycle or a cab.

I recall my first few days at grade school. I was so scared. All the kids were bigger than me, and they stayed that way till we graduated 6 years later. Still, nothing could compare to the first few days when homework was a novelty, friends were to be made, and we had to get used to wearing uniforms and break our shoes in.

The first few days of moving to a big city for college was an even bigger change. It was boot camp for growing up. No more ready breakfast the minute I wake up (and I normally wake up hungry!), no more Mama who devotedly wakes me up every five minutes after 6 am. Not even roosters that usually help waking me up. Nope. Gotta settle for an alarm clock that irritates me out of sleep. The first few days, it was hard. But I was determined to make them proud and make it through adulthood boot camp.

I pretty much slept through my first few days in the States. Not much happened. The times when I wasn't sleeping, I was constantly surprised at whatever I see around here. One of the most unusual things to me was watching Darren's volleyball team play at a tournament. I've never seen so many blond people. And they all look alike!

My Filipino friends here told me about their first few days here. One of them didn't know how to cook, so her husband would dutifully cook rice for her(FYI: Authentic Filipinos require rice at every meal).

The first few days are always memorable. I wonder what the last few days are like, if we didn't know it was coming. If we know, we normally try to make it last or at least make the best out of it. One thing is for sure: the last few days mark the coming of a new set of first few days that are bound to be memorable.