Mistaken Identity

One lovely early Saturday evening. Waiting at terminal 3 in CGK. Butterflies in my stomach. Can't wait to see my brothers and sisters.  "Mau kemana Ci?" a middle age woman asked me as she sat next to me. My complexion is dark. And my eyes are big. Wait! Maybe she meant ma' Cik? :-)

Oceangirl

Oceanman Krabi, Thailand 2019. One fine evening. I was walking along the beach on the way to the event's welcome dinner when I met a young girl. A 14 years old Canadian. She competed in the same category as me: half Oceanman distance, a 5 km open water swim race! Yes, that was quite an impressive stats for a young athlete but what impress me the most was the fact that she was picking up trash along the beach on her way to the venue! Oh, and did I mention that she ranked third in her age group?

Keladiator

When I was in Eragayam I longed for bread and fresh salad. "I'm going to eat nothing but bread and salad when I go home for holiday!" So I thought. After two weeks of bread and salad I'm craving for ubi, keladi and the likes. Eragayam what have you done to me? :-)

Banana Run

Di Eragayam pasar hanya ada hari Selasa, Kamis dan Sabtu. Tidak setiap kali lari hari Sabtu lewat pasar dekat puskesmas lihat mama-mama jual pisang. Langsung mampir. Untung kali ini bawa uang. Cukup untuk membeli sesisir pisang. Walaupun harus pulang lari naik turun tanjakan pegunungan Papua sambil menggendong pisang. Mama yang jual pisang hanya punya plastik hitam dan saya tidak bawa tas pakai-ulang. I'm going banana over banana! :-)

Torches Of Joy

"The holy spirit is like a dog", a Dani missionary said with gusto. John listen as the analogy developed. "When the Dani people go into the forest to hunt for possum and other animals, they take their dogs along. Without a dog it would be hopeless to spot the animals, but the dog smells them out and gives the hunter a chance to shoot them. That's the way the Holy Spirit convicts the Christian of sin and gives him a chance to put it out of his life," the Dani explained. John Dekker with Lois Neely

Pendidikan Babi

Di Subrayon 5, Eragayam, Papua, harga yang harus dibayar untuk lulus UAN adalah 1 ekor babi untuk setiap siswa. Dinas Pendidikan, guru dan orang tua berkonspirasi demi selembar ijazah. UAN yang harusnya memetakan kemampuan siswa disalahgunakan untuk kepentingan pribadi. Dan anak kelas 4 SD pun bisa ikut UAN SD. Lalu kalau anak jadi malas kerja, tidak mau usaha untuk memberikan hasil yang terbaik, tidak jujur dan menghalalkan segala cara untuk mencari keuntungan sendiri, itu salah siapa? Action speaks louder than words.

Theory of Relativity

Waktu beberapa minggu yang lalu saya lari ke kali Muli semua orang yang saya sapa dan bertanya, "Kali Muli masih jauh kah?" menjawab, "Ah sudah dekat, di bawah saja itu!" Untuk orang Eragayam jalan kaki 5 kilo naik turun tanjakan pegunungan itu dekat saja. 

Bapa

Sabtu siang yang mendung. Lagi lari di tengah hutan dan jalan setapak yang sempit dan sepi menuju kali Muli bertemu seorang bapa (baca: laki-laki) yang membawa parang dan senapan laras panjang. Hampir enam bulan tinggal di Eragayam melihat laki-laki kecil, muda dan tua membawa parang sudah biasa. Tapi ini senapan. Sedikit was was. Langsung memperkenalkan diri, "Saya ibu guru Ob Anggen, sekolah bahasa Inggris," berharap titel guru bisa menyelamatkan hidup saya. Bapa heran bukan main saya lari seorang diri dari sekolah sampai kali Muli hanya karena ingin melihat kali Muli saja. Jarak dari sekolah ke kali Mui kurang lebih 7km. Rasanya dia tidak percaya karena ia tidak juga beranjak pergi malah mengikuti saya. "Jangan turun, air deras, tidak bisa menyeberang," katanya berulang-ulang. Ketika saya tidak mengindahkan nasihatnya ia bertanya, "Bu guru mau kemana? Bapa (baca:suami) ada pukul kah?" tanyanya kuatir. Saya hampir tersedak menahan tawa. Apparently wanita lari sendirian ke kali Muli di Eragayam berarti ada masalah dirumah. Bapa itu menunggu saya mengambil foto kali Muli. Dengan sabar ia menjawab pertanyaan saya karena saya heran melihat lebar kali yang begitu besar tapi aliran airnya hanya kira-kira 1/7 bagian saja, sisanya kering penuh batu dan pasir. Apa lagi waktu diceritakan bahwa aliran sungai bisa berpindah-pindah. Sebenarnya masih ingin berlama-lama disitu sambil menghayal betapa kerennya foto di bagian kali yang kering. Tapi Bapa itu tidak mau meninggalkan saya. Mungkin dia kuatir saya akan mengahiri hidup saya di kali Muli karena dipukuli suami di rumah. LOL. Ahirnya pulang ditemani bapa yang baik hati sampai di pertigaan puskesamas. Sepanjang jalan ia bercerita banyak tentang hutan Papua dan kekayaannya. I love Eragayam!

Buah Yang Baik

Anyone who knows me well will tell  you that I don't like uniform. Untuk pertama kalinya saya merasa bangga, senang hati dan suka cita menggunakan seragam kebesaran (literally and figuratively). I am officially Ob Anggen team. Woohoo!

Less is More

Bahagia itu sebulan sekali makan donat coklat di Wamena. Setelah kurang lebih sebulan menu sehari-hari adalah nasi dan sayur daun labu ala Eragayam. I'm almost vegetarian not by choice but by circumstances. When you have less you start to appreciate things even more. I never thought a piece of donut can make me smile! Bahagia itu sederhana. 

Zero Carbon Footprint

Where in the world you can do the following things on your 15 minutes break from work: go home, wash your laundry by hand, hang them to dry and still have time to make a nice cup of tea and make it back to work on time. Only in Eragayam. Life is good.

Outfit Of The Day

Gooooood morning Eragayam! It’s 6 am now and it’s chilly and windy today! Don’t get disheartened, lighten up and chin up! Yes it’s freezing in the morning. But a warmer day with temperature in the 18s is expected today. But don’t dry your laundry yet because heavy rain is expected in the afternoon. With more cold wind and some heavy fog it will be another lovely day in Eragayam. Dress appropriately. Have a good one! 

For Real

Lovely Saturday evening in an elevator of UOB building on jalan Sudirman. On the way to 9th floor for IES Saturday service. In came three teenagers from B1. All dressed in black with sleek hair. "Besok udah gue siapin mobil sama ajudan buat lo ya," one guy said to his friends as he pressed 8th floor. "Ajudan lo?" his friend replied casually. "Nggak lah, ajudan gue sama supir udah jalan duluan. Jadi mobil gue dua-duanya udah siap disana besok pagi." Was I on candid camera or something? 

Mind Your Manners

One lovely lazy Monday morning in a supermarket. Vegetable and fruit section. A lady and her shopping cart. I would say late 30 something. I was admiring how neatly she organized her stuff in her shopping cart when she took a plastic bag from a plastic roll stand, gave it to a supermarket attendance guy without saying a word. The guy opened it and handed it back to her. She left without a word. Seriously? 

Iron Strength

Anima Sana In Corpore Sano. A sound mind in a sound body. Training your mind is as important as training your physique. Do whatever activities that can put your mind at ease. What do you do to keep your mind cool, calm and collected? :-)

Space Invader

Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me. So not true. One fine Sunday in a tiny sauna. I was just contemplating how good a sauna after a long run when a Japanese lady went in and sat next to me. Then she started talking complaining about the hygiene of the sauna. Nothing good came out of her mouth. I came out stressful instead of restful. I need to master selective hearing. Masuk telinga kiri keluar telinga kanan. :-)

Role Play

One lovely Tuesday in a lobby of an apartment. Two lovely ladies. One sat down on a sofa and the other stood up right in front of the first one. The one standing up did most of the talking with a resentful tone. "No. Not tomorrow. It's impossible. I told you I can only do Wednesdays and Thursdays and I don't think bla bla bla," she continued her monologue. Something about a schedule mishap. The one sitting down said nothing and constantly checked her mobile. Avoiding eye contact. Guess which one dress in a nanny uniform?

Sign Language

Lovely Tuesday morning. TVRI loop. A guy cyclist passed me. "Hey!" he startled me. Some meters later he turned his head & quarter of his body, pointed to my direction with his left hand, then pointed to his left chest and smiled before he took off. In return I gave him a thumb up, a wave and a big smile. Can you guess what his gestures meant? ;-)

Ouch!

Jatuh bego lagi sepeda karena pake sepatu cleat? Nggak heran. Jatuh bego lagi lari karena kesandung akar pohon? Sungguh sangat keterlaluan! Fokus. Fokus. Fokus!

Senja Di Jakarta

Ketika Suyono menginjak gas mobil kembali, tiba-tiba saja hatinya merasa gundah. Perasaan yang sudah beberapa kali timbul menyelinap kedalam hatinya, pada saat dia bercumbu-cumbu dengan Dahlia, ketika sedang makan enak-enak di restoran, ketika hendak menandatangani sebuah cek, ketika hendak naik mobilnya yang amat bagus itu. Semacam perasaan yang menggelisahkan dirinya, tidak dapat digambarkannya dengan tepat, akan tetapi seakan-akan dia merasa tidak enak, seakan ada sesuatu yang tidak patut, dan dibalik ini semua ada timbul sedikit rasa takut. Rasa takut yang juga tidak dapat ditangkapnya rupanya. Sehingga akhirnya dia merasa tidak enak saja, dan sering merasa kesal dengan orang-orang yang kebetualan ada didekatnya. Mochtar Lubis