Where Are We?

In my 20s, I: Met my true love at the age of 20. Finished my undergrad at the age of 21. Did my first real fieldworks at the age of 22 (Indramayu, Anambas). Got my first scholarship to Russia at the age of 22 (first trip abroad). Celebrated my 23rd birthday so faraway from home. Landed in Stalingrad at the age of 23 (dream came true). Traveled abroad with boyfriend for the first time at the age of 23 (this was actually a winner!). Started cooking at the age of 23! Survived the first year of graduate program in the coldest Russia which also was the first time I lose my shits at the age of 24. Began internship in Jakarta in 2015. It was also my first working experience in Jakarta, pretty stressful but happy as I got to meet my grandpa (Pak Luhu). Received my 25th birthday letter from Garik that arrived exactly on his birthday; it lightened up my night! Earned my master degree at the age of 25! Dad, I fucking made it! I didn’t want to go back to Indonesia. Started working in PolGov at the...

So, this is my second post under the same title and we are four days away from new year. To be honest, it feels so strange leaving this year. Mostly cause I don't feel like I've lived it enough, and neither do any of us, I think. But it is what it is, twenty twenty is ending. I don't know if I should be grateful, as if my gratitude would make any difference. I look forward to see what twenty twenty one has to offer but I also have mixed feelings considering how gloomy twenty twenty has left us feel. I am in Jakarta right now. Yep, another homecoming to celebrate my mom's bday on Christmas. It's been almost a week now and I'm still working. Yes, you're right, I'm not taking any leave. Well, truth be told, I feel bad for coming home, again this year, as I got to leave my team working alone without me. Though on the one hand I think it's a good exercise for them, but on the other hand, I think that I should've been there for them though I know they...

Oh hi, I just turned thirty last week. I know right?! It's frustrating, how can I suddenly be thirty? It was a happy day. I booked a hotel room and spent a night with my closest friends. I planned on staying up late but I got too tired that I fell asleep at 9pm. So there was neither making wishes nor blew the candle. I turned thirty in my dream and when I woke up, I already was thirty and was officially older than Garik. Someone asked me recently about my thoughts of turning thirty. I haven't thought about it but I definitely will write a long email to him explaining how thirty has been treating me. Now that I think about it, well.. I think it's humbling and sad. I certainly feel a lot more mature now than I have ever been, but at the same time I terribly miss Garik even more than I have ever felt. I miss my days in Russia; the Christmas dinner, the winter stroll, the chilly weather, being the stranger nobody wished to meet, I miss coming home to talk to him, I miss waking ...

So, I have this favourite place I've been visiting since I was in college. It takes about 10 minutes drive from home. It is called Lotus Mio , Pak Rudi introduced me to this place when I was still volunteering at Kolong Tangga. I remember he bought me ice cream one afternoon when we were busy preparing for the Pameran Celengan  in Benteng Vredeburg. Writing this, I try to remember when exactly was the Pameran Celengan, and guess what! It was ten years ago, you can check it here https://www.antaranews.com/berita/228394/museum-anak-kolong-tangga-gelar-pameran-celengan. A lot have happened since that day, Lotus Mio looks a bit different these days, but thankfully, they still serve my favourite mint chocolate chip ice cream and apple pie that I love so much. When I drove through Tirtodipuran this noon, I remembered about Dana, Garik, and Pak Rudi who just passed away recently. Dana passed away in August, 2018; while Garik departed from this earth in May, 2019; Pak Rudi left us all last...

It's been four months since I came here and a lot have happened, yet still.. happy days are the hardest. I actually came here often, I've been putting out so many words but then I got lost in the middle and quit. It's hard to read your mind when you still don't know which piece is missing. And you know what? I got the scholarship! I'm halfway to get to the place he had always been, the place he often asked me to visit and only when he's no longer there that I'm about to make it. Now, you see how frustrating it makes me. I remember seven years ago when he emailed me telling that he got the scholarship and he's coming back. A few days after I also got an email saying I got that Russian scholarship. I didn't have the guts tell him on email, instead I told him when we talked. On the letter he gave me before my departure, he wrote me I have missed you in America, now I am going to miss you in Indonesia . It just seems impossible to write anything without ...

May 8, 2019. It was Wednesday last year, I remember vividly I was teaching my first class of the day when Garik texted me asking if I had time that day to talk to him. I told him that I'd be fully occupied til 12pm, but I'd be around at lunch time. He said he had to go to bed early, so long story short, we didn't talk that day. Little did I know, that was the last message he ever sent me. It's been a year since. My body still aches remembering that day, the more I think about it, the more I regret. I'm still trying to figure out what had happened last year, I often found myself scrolling my gallery just trying to figure out the feelings I had in 2019. Nothing. I saw glimpses, soulless encounters, empty moments, did I lose myself last year? I don't know. Love is simply the hardest thing to do, and once it's found, it becomes the hardest thing to forget. How funny, I used to be so cynical about it but look at myself now, have never been more miserable. ...

Oh hi, I honestly have not much in mind but I feel like writing something, so here I am. I just recently bought a new bike! Woohoo.. that was fun. I haven't ridden a bike since the end of 2016. My butt hurts, but I need to start moving my ass during this quarantine, otherwise by the time this is over I'd look like a pig. It feels weird to drive again after days using the bike as my main transport haha I know, that's too much.  I talked to Yenny the other day. It was 3,5 hours of deep conversation on the phone, something we rarely do. We talked about so many things; about how our best friend is the reflection of ourselves, about being honest, about letting go, acceptance, about catching opportunity, spending ramadan together as none of us could gather with our family, and stuff. But among all else, as one of those people who know me best, she gave me a clear advice about how to go on living, and about taking the control back while doing it. Yenny knows exactly...