A Taxonomist's Guide to Pag-ibig

7 - Scientific Names

It's been a month since the plants arrived in my life. Dinibdib ko ang responsibility na iniwan sa akin ni Bodj. Every morning, I watered the cuttings just enough to keep the soil damp. Then I brought the pot inside the unit before I went to class para di masyadong maarawan. The cactus plant was much easier to keep. Winiwisikan ko lang ng tubig every week or so, and I made sure it got enough sunshine. After the first week, I started talking to them. I greeted them good morning and bade them good night. Minsan pa nga, in between reading transes or samplexes, I also sang to them songs from the albums of Madonna's Ray of Light and Eraserheads' Ultraelectromagneticpop! Towards the end of March, nagkukuwento na rin ako sa kanila tungkol sa tatay nila, na kesyo nasa field lang siya at babalik din agad to check on them kaya kailangan nilang maging masigla pag nag-meet uli sila.

"Hoy, nababaliw ka na ba?" ang sabi ni Aggie nang mahuli niya akong kinakausap ang mga halaman habang pinapasok ko sila mula sa balcony. Katatapos lang ni Aggie magbihis para sa aming morning class. "Nakailang oras ka ba ng tulog kagabi?"

"I had enough sleep naman-- mga five hours. Besides, mino-monitor ko lang ang development nila. Don't you think the cuttings are doing quite well?"

"Ang lago na nga! Pero that's not the point. Hindi kaya transference lang yang concern mo sa plants sa pag-aalala mo sa cute chinito friend mo?"

"Ilang beses ko bang sinasabi sa iyo, asexual yun! Huwag ka nang umasang malalandi mo yun."

"Crush lang naman! Ang selfish nito. Pero seriously, miss mo na ba si Bodj?"

It had been two weeks since his last message when they got back to Puerto Princesa. Sabi niya, nakakuha sila ng ilang samples for processing. Some specimens were already pressed and preserved, ready to be stored at the Jose Vera Santos Herbarium, tapos yung ibang leaf samples naman ay na-preserve na sa ethanol para dadalhin naman sa DNA Barcoding Lab for the molecular work. After that, bumalik na uli sila sa pamumundok. I was already excited to hear from him again as I wanted to send a series of pictures to show the weekly progress of our plants. Our plants talaga! "Yeah, nakaka-miss din yung sarcastic remarks niya."

"Naku, huwag mong iparirinig yan kay Renz at baka magselos yun!"

"At bakit naman siya magseselos, eh hindi naman kami?"

"At bakit nga ba hindi kayo? Ang dami kayang naghahabol sa kanya. Tapos mabait naman."

That made me think. Bakit nga ba? Napaka-dedicated ni Renz sa akin, despite my best efforts to discourage him. If I had to be objective, brownie point yun, di ba? Pero dedicated din naman yung friends ko sa akin, lalo na si Bodj. Tapos pareho rin naman silang mababait. Pareho rin silang attractive, in their own way. Yun lang, mas funny si Bodj. And reliable in his own quiet way. Plus he had this kind of thoughtfulness that made me feel he had my interest at heart. And I felt at ease whenever I was with him... Wait lang, did I just set Bodj as my standard for a boyfriend? I suddenly shook my head. "Teka, bakit ba ako kailangang i-pressure magka-boyfriend? Hindi naman ako naghahanap. I have other priorities at the moment." Like these plants, for instance. I instanty thought that was funny, then I suddenly felt confused at the same time. "Tara na nga, late na tayo sa class!"

We just finished Pedia 250 and were already headed for Figaro Coffee at Robinsons Place to study when I remembered that Dexter was supposed to be at the Bone Laboratory in Calderon Hall today to continue his measurements for his Master's thesis. I decided to drop by to check on him, pero nag-tag along na rin sina Renz, Aggie, at Gab.

"Hi, Dexter!" I greeted when I entered the Bone Lab. He was beside a long table at the far end of the room, with at least two full skeletons all laid out. May laptop at camera rin sa tabi niya habang nagsususkat siya ng pelvis gamit ang isang ruler. Napangiti siya sa akin habang pumasok ako at isa-isang sumunod ang med friends ko.