i. USA, HERE I COME

She was slowly getting down the runway into San Francisco International Airport, this Philippine Airlines Boeing 747-200B Flight PR 108 from the Philippines. I peeped through the window and wondered if I was only dreaming. I was now in the United States of America! It was too good to be true.

The plane left the Philippines almost twelve hours ago. We had lunch on board not too long after takeoff from Manila International Airport.  The courses in the menu were very strange to me, and I had no idea what they were like. I settled with a choice without any inkling on how it would taste. I had "Turkey Roll Menudo" for lunch. It was served with "buttered broccoli", "tomato provencale", and "potato and carrot croquette", as listed in the menu. I had never eaten these foods before. I asked for a shot of Johnny Walker Black.  As the plane gained altitude, I could see nothing but blue below and patches of snow-white clouds.  This was my first airplane ride ever. I put on the headphones and listened to music.

There were four full-length movies being shown one after the other throughout the 11-hour direct flight from Manila to San Francisco. I could not focus on any one of them. I closed my eyes and I could see my wife and my two-year-old son. Ah, how terrible it was to be separated from them. Just a few hours ago, I was saying goodbye to them and other family members who came to the airport to see me off. I did not know how I was in that pensive mood. I do remember the flight attendant offering me a hot towel. Soon another flight attendant, in a pretty Filipino costume - sheer kimona and a floor-length purple skirt, was asking me what I wanted for breakfast. I had to go over the unfamiliar strange-sounding list in the menu. I chose one quite familiar to me - grilled smoked boneless bangus,  salted egg,  half tomato,  and garlic fried rice. Now, that was Filipino!  A variety of snacks, desserts, beverages, including wine and beer, were served throughout the lengthy flight.

Three Filipino women fellows were traveling with me in the Mabuhay class.  The four of us were among ten public school teachers who were chosen, after a thorough nationwide screening of nominees, to pursue graduate studies in American universities.  The Teacher Fellowship Program was undertaken by the Technical Assistance Unit of the Program for Decentralized Educational Development (PRODED).  The technical assistance was the component that provided for the awarding of fellowships and availment of experts/consultancy services to strengthen the technical capability of the top-level management of the central office, the regional as well as the division offices in order to fully implement development programs.

Three of us had been admitted to the University of Iowa in Iowa City in the Midwest region. One fellow was to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

San Francisco, California was our port of entry. We had a four-hour stopover in this famous city which is known to many Filipinos because of the Golden Gate Bridge which was on the cover of a brand of spiral notebooks used in the Philippine schools. We picked up our luggage at the conveyor which brings the pieces of luggage around a carousel for the owners to pick up. There was a luggage (maroon Samsonite hard shell) that looked exactly like mine. Whenever it would go past me, I would attempt to pick it up, only to find out from the name tag that it was not mine. I finally found the right luggage after several more tries.

We had to go through the usual routine at the immigration check-in counters. After having our passport, visa, and Form 1-20 checked,  we were assigned an admission number and were allowed to go.  We piled our luggage ready for loading back on the same plane for Chicago. We walked to Concourse D as directed, and waited for the boarding time which was at 12:00 noon.

San Francisco International Airport was a model of aviation security.  It was the second airport on the West Coast to install low-level windshear monitors to signal potential shears that can interfere with plane landings and take-offs.  The most unique aspect of the airport was its permanent art collection. Since 1977, about $2.6 million has been spent on the collection - among the first art exhibits set up at a major airport in the U.S.A.

It was the first week of February, 1986.  We expected to see snow for the first time, but we were quite disappointed.  We were told that the San Francisco weather was mild compared to that in the Midwest where we were headed to. It was drizzling that morning of February 2, 1986. Through the glass panels of the airport, one could get a clear view of the outside. I could have called a friend who lived in San Jose, California, but his telephone number was tucked inside the luggage I checked in.  Time seemed so short. It was time to board the plane for another three-and-a-half hour flight to the windy city of Chicago, Illinois. Most of the passengers coming from Manila had disembarked in San Francisco, so there was room to sleep. For lunch, I had beef steak Filipino (bistek), "vichy" carrots, buttered green beans, and of course, steamed rice.

It was dark when the plane landed at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.  The lights in the buildings and on the runway were on.  There was a slight delay before we finally got off the plane. Traffic was heavy in the world's busiest airport at the time.#

(From my unpublished memoirs of my stay in the U.S. while working on a master's degree at the University of Iowa 1986-1987)