Sunday, June 29, 2008

it's (gonna be an) oh so quiet (week)

there'll be no sound of them fighting
crying
laughing
or whinning... 'Buuu....!'

yes, my kids are going to stay for this whole upcoming week in their granny's house, during their academic year end holiday. and may be one more week if they wish.

hmm.... what will I do then?

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

washing and gossiping

nyuci sambil nggosip



what mothers did, what mothers do?
apa yang dilakukan ibu-ibu jaman dulu, apa yang dilakukan ibu-ibu jaman sekarang?

long ago, women in java and in many other places, washed clothes in the river, yes they did. some women even still do in some places. washing clothes is a precious moment, when they can have women talk while washing. any talk about kids, husband, cooking, or gossiping.
dulu, di jawa, dan di banyak tempat lain, ibu-ibu nyuci di kali. sampai sekarang juga masih ada. mencuci di kali adalah saat berharga, karena para ibu itu bisa sambil ngobrolin apa aja. anak, suami, masakan, dan... ngegosip!



picture taken from here




nowadays, mostly in cities, they no longer do it that way. they use this:
sekarang, terutama di kota-kota, ga ada lagi namanya nyuci di kali. pakai ini:

means, they do it in their own houses, can't meet other women who may be doing the same thing at the same time. does it mean they can't do gossip thing while washing?
artinya, mereka nyuci di rumah masing-masing, ga bisa ketemu ibu-ibu lain yang mungkin sebenernya pada saat yang sama juga sedang melakukan hal yang sama. apakah ini berarti sudah hilang saat-saat bergossip sambil nyuci?


not really, they still can do it. they don't even have to do the same thing. a friend was washing, I was in my office, and another friend was baking something while we were having conversations using this:
ga juga, masih bisa kok. bahkan ga harus lagi nyuci semua. ada yang sedang nyuci, aku lagi di kantor, yang lain sedang memanggang sesuatu di oven; dan kami bercakap-cakap pakai ini:



seems like technology doesn't change women's natural habits :)
tampaknya teknologi tidak mempengaruhi kebiasaan alami perempuan :)

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

the tears


have I told you that Ir has a golden hart?
aku sudah pernah cerita belum, Ir itu berhati emas?

yesterday Ibit and all her classmates visit an instant noodle factory. when they went home, they brought a gift pack of some various kind of the products, including 2 'cup instant noodle'.
wether Ar or ir wanted to have one, but only one cup left, because Ibit who was feeling as the owner also wanted one.I was ready to see a fight between Ar and Ir over the cup. but no, there wasn't any fight. Ir who has held the cup first, handed it to Ar and took the ordinary packed noodle.

kemarin, Ibit dan teman-teman sekolahnya ada kunjungan ke pabrik mi instan. pulangnya mereka dibawain gift pack yang isinya macem-macem. termasuk 2 mi cup.
Ar maupun Ir mau satu. tapi Ibit yang merasa menjadi sang empunya juga mau satu. aku sudah siap-siap melihat Ar Ir berantem rebutan mi. tapi ternyata tidak. Ir yang sudah pegang cupnyc duluan, memberikannnya pada Ar dan mengambil mi yang bungkusan biasa.


this morning, they wanted to eat their noodles for breakfast and I let them do. so in front of TV they faced their own bowl each and started to eat. but not so long after I heard Ir crying, I was in the bathroom taking a bath. I heard Dan asked what happened. Ibit answered, that Ir didn't like his noodle because it didn't taste good.
'it's okay if you don't like it. would you like just to eat bread?', Dan said.
I thought Ir nod his head.
'okay, Bapak will eat your noodle, you eat bread. now stop crying'
case closed, I continued my bathe.

pagi ini, mereka mau makan minya untuk sarapan, dan aku iyakan. jadi di depan TV mereka menghadapi mangkok masing-masing dan mulai makan. tapi tidak lama kemudian aku mendengar Ir menangis, aku sedang di kamar mandi. aku mendengar Dan bertanya apa yang terjadi. Ibit menjawab, Ir tidak suka minya karena rasanya tidak enak.

'ya sudah kalau nggak suka. Ir mau makan roti saja?', kata Dan.
kurasa Ir mengangguk.
'kalau gitu Bapak akan mi Ir, Ir maem roti. sekarang jangan nangis lagi'
kasus ditutup. aku melanjutkan mandi.


I dressed up and had my breakfast on the table with Dan. Ar and Ibit has finished theirs and played outside the house. Ir was still facing his plate in front of the TV watching spongebob squarepants.

aku bersiap-siap dan makan sarapanku di meja bersama Dan. Ar dan Ibit sudah selesai makan dan main di luar. Ir masih menghadapi piringnya sambil nonton spongebob squarepants.


the show was over and walked approached the TV to turn it of, because I thought it was enough for the kids to watched TV this morning. I never wanted my kids to watch TV too much. but I was so surprised to find that Ir actually wasn't watching the show. he was crying without sound. tears were overflowing his face. oh baby.
I hugged him and asked him why.
"I want cup noodle"

filmnya habis, dan aku mendekati TV untuk mematikannya, karena kurasa cukup acara nonton TV pagi-paginya. aku gak mau anak-anakku terlalu banyak nonton TV. aku terkejut karena ternyata Ir bukan sedang nonton TV. dia sedang menangis tanpa suara. air matanya berlinang-linang. oh sayang.
aku peluk dia dan tanya kenapa.
"aku mau mi cup"


are you feeling what I'm feeling? he let Ar have the cup while he wanted it as much as Ar did. he tried to cheer up himself by taking other noodle, but he didn't make it.
"stop crying, you can buy one at Titin's shop after this. is that okay?", I said.
he nod and hugged me tight.

dapatkah kau rasakan yang kurasakan? dia membiarkan Ar mendapatkan mi cup nya, padahal sebenarnya dia juga ingin. dia mencoba menghibur diri dengan mengambil mi yang lain, tapi rupanya dia tidak berhasil.
'sudah, jangan menangis. dik Ir beli mi cup di warungnya mbak Titin ya. mau?
dia mengangguk dan memeluk aku erat.


I gave some money, and made sure he was okay, and left for office. my kids usually will wave their hands untill my car gone in the turn. but this time Ir just looked at me from the window. he is a sensitive one, and it always touched my hart.

aku tinggalkan uang untuk dia beli mi, dan meyakinkan dia sudah baik-baik, lalu berangkat. biasanya anak-anakku akan melambaikan tangan sampai mobilku menhilang di tikungan. tapi kali ini Ir hanya melihat dari jendela. Ir anak yang sangat peka, dan itu selalu menyentuh hatiku.


Saturday, June 14, 2008

end of academic year


tahun ajaran berakhir

... is coming.
... sebentar lagi


Ar and Ir took part for the graduation celebration. they'll be in their second year in kindergarden next month.
Ar Ir ikut acara akhirussanah. mereka akan memasuki tahun kedua belajar di TK, bulan depan.



Ar participated demonstrating the daily prayers.
Ar ikut mendemonstrasikan bacaan doa sehari-hari

there he is.
itu dia.





Ir joined the 'choir' singing three songs.
Ir bergabung dengan kelompok paduan suara, menyanyika tiga lagu.



he loves microphone :)
dia suka microphone :)





Ar won a trophy for the best coloring.
Ar mendapatkan trophy juara mewarnai




and Ir watching his twin receiving it, with a real sad look -- he wanted one. he started crying few minutes after, and took time for me to calm him down.... I know it was so hard for him to deal with the reality..
dan Ir melihat saudaranya menerima itu, dengan wajah sedih. dia ingin dapat juga. beberapa saat kemudian dia mulai menangis, dan butuh waktu bagiku untuk menenangkannya... aku tahu pasti sangat sulit baginya menerima kenyataan ini...


I hope they'll do better next year! amen.
mudah-mudahan tahun depan mereka bisa lebih baik dari sekarang! amin.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Dan's Fear

yeah that's Dan



ibit






ar





dan











ir


and me.




this week's toot would be for Dan. he has beaten his fear of height, by climbing up over 10 meters (about 35 feet I guess) and slide down with the flying fox game.


actually we all did the game. but it was no problem at all for me and the kids. for Dan, with his phobia, it was a hard thing to do. but he did it.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

kejar-kejaran (run and chase)


aku perhatikan sejak Ar Ir umur sepuluh bulan dan sudah pintar merangkak, mereka suka banget kejar-kejaran. dan seru banget!
I noticed that since the age of 10 months when they were good i n crawling, Ar Ir had one hobby, run and chase. and they looked enjoyed it so much.

Ar akan lari (waktu itu merangkak) dari kamar A ke kamar B, dan Ir akan mengejarnya. begitu sampai, di kamar B, Ir balik lari menuju ke kamar A, dan Ar akan mengejarnya.
Ar would run (crawl) from room A to room B, Ir would chase him. soon as they got to room B, they'll turn around. Ir would run to room B, and Ar would be the one to chase.

begitu bolak-balik untuk waktu yang cukup lama.
it went that way in reverse for quite long.

sekarang umur mereka sudah lebih dari 5 tahun. dan mereka bukan cuma merangkak lagi, tapi lari. percaya atau tidak. dengan jarak yang lebih jauh, dan tingkat kesulitan yang lebih tinggi (pake acara mbrobos kursi, lompat meja, dan sebagainya...) hobi mereka kejar-kejaran bolak-balik itu masih mereka lakukan. dan sekarang agak-agak campur kahyal dikit, karena si pengejar akan pura-pura jadi monster, gorilla, beruang, atau bahkan hantu pocong....
now as they are 5 and over, and they no longer crawl but run, believe it or not, they still do the game. with longer distance, and more difficulties (such as crawling under a table, jump over a chair, etc). and this time with a little imaginaton, the chaser will pretend he was a monster, gorilla, grizzily bear, or even a ghost...

mengherankanku, bahwa dengan versi yang berbeda mereka masih melakukan hobi yang sudah mereka lakukan sejak umur 10 bulan.
it amazed me, how in different way, they still do the same game they've been doing since they were 10 months old.

Friday, June 6, 2008

a trial camping

Dan bought two 2-persons tents, and planned for a real camp for us in a camping ground one day. Before the day comes, we wanted to make sure that every body is ready to live a 'wild life' (ooooh, this sounds so exciting!). So that night we did a trial by sleeping in the tent, in front of our house. I can't believe that the children were so excited about it.

Dan membeli dua tenda isi-dua-orang, dan berencana mengajak kami pergi kemah suatu hari. Sebelum itu, kami ingin memastikan bahwa semua siap untuk hidup di 'alam bebas' (ooh, kedengarannya menyenangkan!). Jadi malamnya kami melakukan percobaan dengan tidur di tenda, di depan rumah kami. Ternyata anak-anak suka banget!


They got into the tent and went to sleep at 21.00. I and Dan still stayed inside the house for a while. At 22.00 it was a little drizzly, and we were a little worried that it was going to rain. But no, the drizzle stopped just few minutes after.

Mereka masuk tenda dan pergi tidur sekitar jam sembilan. Aku dan Dan masih tinggal di dalam rumah untuk beberapa saat. Sekitar jam sepuluh agak gerimis, kami sempat khawatir kalau hujan akan turun. Tapi ternyata tidak, gerimisnya berhenti beberapa menit kemudian.


So at 23.00 I and Dan assemble the other tent and accompany the children. It wasn't as cold as we imagined. It was warm actually.

Sekitar pukul 11 aku dan Dan merakit tenda yang satunya dan menemani anak-anak dari tenda di samping tenda mereka. Ternyata tidak sedingin yang kubayangkan. Agak hangat malah.


The children woke up at about four I guess, because not too long after we heard adzan shubuh (the calling for early prayer). So we woke up and brought the tents into the house before our neighbour think we are nutts, for sleeping in tents like that.

Anak-anak bangun sekitar jam empat kurasa, karena tidak lama kemudian terdemgar adzan shubuh. Jadi kami cepet-cepet bangun dan membawa tendanya masuk, sebelum ada tetangga yang lewat dan mengira kami tidak waras karena tidur di pinggir jalan seperti itu.



The kids enjoyed it so much. They even asked for one more night sleeping outside! Dan said no. He couldn't sleep well on the surface of hard paving block. His body was painful in the morning when he woke up hahaha...

Anak-anak menikmatinya, bahkan minta satu malam lagi tidur di tenda. Dan bilang tidak. Dia ngga bisa tidur nyenyak di atas permukaan paving block yang keras, dan waktu bangun badannya sakit semua...


Well, at least I know we can bring the children for a real camp one day. Soon I hope!

Yah, paling tidak kami tahu, kami bisa membawa anak-anak kemah betulan suatu saat. Secepatnya, mudah-mudahan!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

losing my english

i mean it
these last few days i can not concentrate reading english text. i always had to stop and think so hard: what does this sentence mean?
i still can write it easily, well because it depends on me. but reading others writings in english, especially they who have english as their first language, feels so difficult lately.
see, reading english text always requires more concentration and energy for me. i don't know where they've gone. seems like i lost passion in it, thing i usually enjoyed so much.
what is going on with me?

beneran.
beberapa hari terakhir ini aku ga bisa konsentrasi membaca teks dalam bahasa inggris. aku selalu berhenti dan berpikir, apa sih maksudnya kalimat ini?
aku masih bisa nulis dengan mudah, yo mesti karena itu tergantung aku sendiri, tapi membaca tulisan orang lain dalam bahasa inggris, terutama mereka yang memang penutur bahasa inggris, tiba-tiba terasa sulit.
membaca text berbahasa inggris bagiku selalu membutuhkan lebih banyak energi dan konsentrasi. aku ga tau ke mana perginya mereka. aku seperti kehilangan hasrat untuk itu, hal yang biasanya aku nikmati.
ada apa denganku?