Maria Alyssa Rodriguez The Flanuers Map: The Ateneo Residence Halls

1) To torture land As both a dormer and a student of the Ateneo required to take up PE, I always took this shortcut to the Loyola Schools Covered Courts. A lot of dormers use this shortcut as well. I call it the torture land because among all my subjects, PE was the one I hated the most. 2) Waste Area This is the small shelter where the janitors and janitresses segregate dorm trash. 3) Eliazo The Eliazo is where female freshmen are required to dorm. Athletes and some other too-lazy-to-transfer upperclassmen can also be found here. 4) Cervini The direct counterpart of the Eliazo- Cervini where the male freshmen are required to dorm. Athletes and some cant-let-go upperclassmen are here as well. 5) ACELT or the Ateneo Center for English Language Teaching If you suddenly see foreigners in this side of the campus, chances are that they are taking lessons at the ACELT. 6) Viewing Area This area gives a great view of Marikina, most especially at night. I wouldnt say this is a well-kept secret since almost everyone in the dorm knows about this, but it probably is more apparent to lovers since theyre the ones that frequent this area. 7) Generator Fear not of power shortages for the dorm has a lot of stored energy! 8) Maintenance Tambayan/ Workshop Ive only actually been here once when I requested for something to get fixed. Seemed like a nice place to chill out after a days work. 9) Dorm Parking Area This parking area is allotted for dormers and their visitors. However, I see a lot of athletes, especially the basketball players, parking here most of the time. Oh well, really none of my immediate concerns since I dont have a car here! 10) Cervini Cliff This is where dormers meet up for all sorts of reasons! From group projects, Battle of Bel props making, video shoots, jamming sessions to surprise birthday celebrations! Admittedly, this place still isnt free from your usual couplesin-love and your occasional philosophizing Atenean. 11) Secret Entry There goes an urban legend that some girls used to let their boyfriends, boy friends, or gay guy friends enter the UDS through this fire exit. I can in no way attest to that though, since the last and only time my roommates and I had a guy in our room was back when we were still in Eliazo and I just basically let him use the stairs (no secret passages utilized) when the lady guard wasnt looking! 12) UDS or the University Dorm South This is where the female upperclassmen dorm. Unlike the floors in Eliazo where all the doors of the rooms face each other, the UDS is architecturally designed for us to just mind our own businesses. 13) Boom Gate The boom gate is the entry point of cars to the dorm. The guard assigned to this area is the person other UD guards refer to when they say, Boom, trike dito sa UD. or when they say Boom, tango. (Tango refers to cabs/taxis in the guards supposedly super secret language.) Although this guard is kept busy with

all these requests for tricycles, taxis, and what-nots, I sometimes find him seemingly looking lonely at this post. 14) Fake Rotunda Okay, maybe this isnt exactly a fake rotunda. It might have had some use years ago but I didnt reach that time and neither did I bother to ask Sir Tim about its previous purpose. I like thinking about it as a sort of appendix. It probably had some use before but has been rendered useless for already due to years of disuse and thus seemingly has no purpose now but to confuse some taxi drivers who have inattentive (or drunk) dormer passengers. 15) Labanderas Tambayan This is where our beloved labanderas like Ate Juliet and Manag Jovi linger while in the dorm. Although recently, Ive also seen them near the vending machine of the UD. 16) The Lobby This is the place where a lot happens! On one side you have the lady UD guard turned receptionist- accepting packages, attending to guests, and making phone calls. You also have multiple dormers who have not subscribed to ARSANET and now are wi-fi squatting. One also cant miss the UDN and UDS lovers whose favorite past time while in the lobby seems to be watching movies and/or series. As for myself, I rarely stay in the lobby and, as seen in my drawing, I have labeled it as a space where I go on ninja mode. The dorm council usually promotes their activities in the UD Lobby, and although I love my active ARSA (Ateneo Residence Student Association) friends who are mostly officers, Im just really not such an active ARSAN myself. And so on some days, the UD Lobby is where I try to pass by as fast as I can without being noticed by anyone. 17) Gesu This is where occasional big mass celebrations are held in the Ateneo. However, for Catholic dormers like myself, the Gesu is a place of comfort, family and shelter on Sundays at 6 oclock in the evening, as it is where most of us hear mass weekly for theSabbath Day. 18) Cervini Caf I admittedly dont eat here as much since Im too lazy to leave the comforts of my room once Ive been settled in. I usually eat lunch and early dinner at Gonzaga or somewhere in Katipunan. The cafeteria is now being managed by Urban Chef, which I think is a couple of notches above the previous managers, the Creative Dishes, Inc. 19) The Aerie This place sometimes serves as an extension of the cafeteria when it gets too packed but its purpose is really for meetings and other more formal functions. At night, it also turns into a study area for students who are cool enough to have friends study with them since, at least the last time I checked, you needed at least a number of four dormers to have the Aerie opened at night. 20) UDN or the University Dorm North The home of the male upperclassmen. Honestly, thats all I can say about this area since Ive never really had business to do here. Although, I hear that a couple of girls are learning the maneuvers of the boys and can get themselves in the rooms of some of these male upperclassmen. Urban legends, urban legends. 21) Pollock The big giant building that Ive yet to figure out the use of exactly or the building that I have yet to enter. Sometimes I see groups of people doing cult looking activities like lighting candles in the midst of darkness and all that but I dont really pay much attention to them. Moreover, this is where a lot of cabs usually get lost on their way to the UD.

22) Pollock Parking Area This is where people who have business in Pollock, whatever their business may be, park. Also, at the far end of the parking lot, one can find the stairs that lead to the Ateneo Faculty Housing. Another place which Ive also never been to as well.

For the case of the Ateneo Residence Halls, the gender and sexual identity formation of the urban individual is quite apparent in the segregation of the male and female dormers. It doesnt get any simpler than this: if you were born with a penis (excuse my language), you stay in either Cervini or the UDN and if you were born with a vagina, you stay in either Eliazo or the UDS. There isnt any consideration made for ones sexual preference; I dont blame the dorm management though, since this is the way the world we all belong to operates in. This gender segregation in the dorm residences is pretty straight forward, what I find more interesting to note is the neutral spaces in between these buildings just like the Cervini Cliff, Cervini Cafeteria or the UD Lobby. I have seen both sexes coexist together doing various activities in these spaces. Unfortunately, and although these spaces are neutral they do not seem to cater to gay people. Of course, youll see gay people (referring both to gay men and women) in the dorm but you usually see them with their straight friends. In the dorm, there doesnt seem to be any space for gays to be with other gays. And I think that this kind of spatial arrangement leaves the gays of the dorm having to find identification elsewhere. I have noticed, although there are few, that there arent many gay officers in the dorm council nor are there that many active ARSANs that are openly gay as well. Maybe this is because they find other spaces of expression more comfortable to them than in the spaces provided for by the dorm. This creates a unique identity of the gay dormer, an identity that expresses itself outside the bounds of the dorm residences.