In observance of the Holy Week, the three days starting with Judas' kiss and the Crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, are the most crucial for Christians, for which reason brisk and flamboyant activities outside the home are to be limited. With the deadline for this column at hand, and with no other recourse for a subject, I turned my attention  to the girl seated next to me, an eight-year old fifth grader in Long Island,  New York, Alessandra Marie Palapos Llubit (APL), my second grandchild,  who is as assertive as any Pinay raised in the American way could be.             

The second tallest (five feet and two inches) in her fourth grade class of 20 pupils of mixed races, Ally was into ballet, swimming, gymnastics and voice lessons. At four she can sing, with corresponding dance steps and gestures, the whole repertoire of the Broadway Musical, “Hair Spray.” Now, she excels in curricular and extra-curricular activities. With the grade of 4  (as the highest ) in majority of  her subjects, she is the fastest runner in her grade level, a member of the basketball and soccer team, she just received a National Physical Fitness Award signed by USA President Barrack Obama. She plays the flute and is a member of the School Band.

This is an interview in a few settings, interspersed with varied activities and household chores, which stretched into a couple of days. 

 LMP: How's school?

APL: We're on our Spring Break of two weeks. Classes here start in the month of September end in June. I am presently enrolled in Howell Road Elementary School, in grade four. Classes start at nine o'clock and end at three-fifteen in the afternoon. I buy my lunch at the school cafeteria, usually at one dollar and fifty-cents. Once in a while I pack my lunch. We have Math and Social Studies in the morning. After which we have a Special Classes (Music on Monday, Gym or Physical Fitness on Tuesday, Art on Wednesday, Library on Thursday, and Gym again in Friday). After lunch, we have have tests, usually in Math, especially now that the New York State Test for Math and Science is coming. We had our ELA (English, Language, and Arts) test before the Spring break.

LMP: How are you in your classes? 

APL: Doing great. My Mom and Dad monitor all my activities in and outside of school. It's usually my Dad who motors me and fetches me from school. 

LMP:  You must have some friends in school, or in the neighbourhood here at Valley Stream, Long Island. 

APL: Some very close, others just like acquaintances.  Two kids right across the street have been my playmates since we transferred here from Brooklyn three years ago. Naiya and Alain are from Guyana, Africa. So is Katelyn, my classmate. Sarah is Spanish, and Veronica is Irish. In our school you can find pupils whose parents come from different countries. 

LMP: And your teachers?

APL: Most are Americans, a few Blacks. They are all good.

LMP:  Are you competitive? To what extent? 

APL: What do you mean by competitive? Doing my best? That's what my parents and teachers tell me all the time. Especially in sports. Aspiring for good grades should be everybody's concern.   

LMP: I remember, you were into gymnastics. What happened?

APL: Yes, I was into it for quite a while. In fact, until now I can still perform the routine. Until my coach noticed that I was growing tall for my age. Besides, I was into sports where I excelled, like athletics and the ball games.

LMP: You were into ballet and swimming, right?

APL: That's for the summer break. Besides, my preference now is hip-hop dancing and mountain climbing.

LMP: Alone?

APL: Of course, not. We are a group. It's fun in a group. I cannot imagine myself mountain climbing or trekking alone. Even in occasional cycling, I am with my friends. 

LMP: I just learned that you play the flute.

APL: It started in our class in Music. All of us are made to choose the musical instrument by our teacher.

LMP: Does the school provide the instruments?

APL: Every pupil buys his own instrument and all other needs, like the book of musical notes which we have to learn to read through our instrument of choice.

LMP: For all? Even for those without any inclination nor talent for music?

APL: It's not compulsory. Our teachers and trainors know who have the talent. And they inspire us, give us their time and exert efforts so we will learn. The biggest motivation is the membership in the School Band, which becomes a part of some school activities and gets invited to perform outside of the school. It is an honor to be a part of the School Band.  

LMP: What is your favorite subject and who is your favorite teacher?

APL: All of my subjects are my favorite. Each is a challenge I always learn something from, whether it is academic, co-curricular, or extra-curricular. But if I have to single out one, that would be Social Studies. It is very interesting to discuss about cultural differences among my classmates with different nationalities, and therefore, with varied traditions and values. 

LMP: And you have absorbed the American culture?

APL: Of course. And I can't help it. All of us foreigners in class are already a part of America. My parents are now American citizens. In class we have concluded that USA is the melting pot of all races.

LMP: But you are a pure-blooded Filipino.

APL: Yes, did I deny that? Although I am an American citizen, because I was born here, I am still a Filipina. Look my skin. Neither black nor white.

LMP:  So, what is the Philippines for you?

APL: The land of my parents. I was there only a couple times: the first when I celebrated my second birth anniversary with the children in Sunshine Home; the second was almost two years ago, remember? There was a time when I approached a group of girls my age playing in the basketball court. When I asked them if I can play with them, they ran away. Until now I am still wondering what I did to scare them.

LMP: I already told you, they were shy. And they heard you speaking a foreign language. 

APL: But they were laughing when they fled; and when I was gone they regrouped and played again

LMP: You will understand... some years from now, when you are older.

APL: I am just confused. Maybe I would find it hard to adjust to the kind of life here.

LMP: What would you like to be in the future?

APL: The future? Like, next year?

LMP:  When you grow up, years from now.

APL: I really don't have any idea, nor do I think about it.  My Lola said I will be a Nurse, just like my mother; but I don't like her schedule. She leaves very early in the morning, and arrives home late at night. I think she has two jobs.  I like my teachers. Possibly, I could be a teacher some day.

LMP: You can't be a teacher just because you like your teachers now. Something you love doing.

APL: Last week we had a field trip. I saw a lot of farm animals. I love them. A doctor who takes care of animals. 

LMP: A Veterinarian. 

APL:  Well, could be. I really don't know. There are a lot of things I still don't know.

 Alessandra Marie P. Llubit is a typical Filipina born and raised in another culture so different from what her parents had. Compared to girls her age in the Philippines, she is trained to be independent, to be able  to care for herself, like the early morning chores she has to manage herself before she goes  to school. Of course, with the corresponding monitoring by her parents. She has imbibed that kind of assertiveness manifested by her classmates, and that openness that sometimes shock the conservative mind, a frankness that is not within the Filipino value system. There was a time when she was in Bohol and I introduced her to a friend-Mayor we chanced to meet. In her innocence, she exclaimed without any inhibition: "You have a very big belly, much bigger than my Lolo. You must eat a lot."  What is the future of Boholano children in foreign shores, like America?  Compared to their parents, they have better chances in the rat race. But how about their Boholano roots?

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(Website: www.loypalapos.com ; Email: loy.pal@gmail.com ; Cellphone: 09981701129)