France Here I Come!

Today is June of the year 1883; I left Madrid to go to Paris to in order to study ophthalmology under the assistance of Dr. Louis de Wecker in order that I may be able to cure my mother’s cataracts when I go back home. At first I stayed at the Hotel de Paris but then moved to a cheaper hotel because of being low in cash. Like all other tourists, I was charmingly fascinated by the attractive scenery of Paris such as the beautiful boulevards, the Opera House, the Place de la Concorde, the Arch of Triumph, the Bois de Boulogne, the Madelaine Church, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Column of Vendome, the Invalides, and the Versailes. I closely observed the French way of life and spent many many hours at the museums. At this I became interested in mastering the French language. I could clearly remember that it was when I boarded the ship Djemnah, which was a French steamer that left Singapore for Europe on May 11 that I first attempted to converse in French, but then it wasn’t until today that I was able to use it again. Learning French for me isn’t all that difficult. Besides it will add up to the list of the other 21languages I am well conversed with namely, Tagalog, Ilokano, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, English, German, Arabic, Hebrew, Catalan, Dutch, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Swedish, Russian, Malay, Bisayan, and Subanun. To learn a new language, I memorize five root words every night before going to bed. At the end of the year, I was able to learn 1,825 new words and these I never forget. Hope that my visits to other European countries would be as unforgettable as this one! =)