the street singer

when I was a little girl I had a dream to perform singing on street. yet I haven't had it come true.
until this morning.
waktu kecil aku punya mimpi untuk ngamen di jalanan. mimpi itu belum jadi kenyataan
sampai tadi pagi.

I don't know what I would call it, a coincidence or what. but Ibit had the same desire. she said it's not about getting money but to have experience. Ibit and I planned this about few weeks ago. we've chosen some songs and practiced. yes we needed to coz I am not an expert who can instantly play to any song. I always need to find the chords and practice. some songs have complicated chords and when I meet those songs I usually give up and choose the simple one.
ga tau namanya kebetulan atau apa. Ibit juga punya keinginan yang sama. katanya sih bukan soal cari uang, tapi lebih tentang cari pengalaman. jadi kami merencanakan untuk melakukannya sejak beberapa minggu yang lalu. memilih lagu, lalu latihan. soalnya aku bukan pemain yang ahli, yang bisa langsung main begitu denger lagu. harus cari-cari dulu chordnya. banyak lagu chordnya rumit. kalau ketemu lagu-lagu yang begitu biasanya aku nyerah dan cari lagu lain yang sederhana.

so.
every sunday morning is car free day on Pemuda Road from 06.00 to 09.00 AM. we decided to perform there. people do many activities during the car free hours. biking. skateboarding. skate-lining. playing futsal. or just walking. some photographers find this as a field of objects to shoot. but no one did what we were about to do: singing.
jadi.
minggu padi adalah car free day di Jalan Pemuda, dari jam 6 sampai jam 9 pagi. kami memutuskan untuk main di sana. banyak yang dilakukan orang selama car free hours. bersepeda, main skateborad, inline skate. main futsal. atau sekedar jalan-jalan. pecinta fotografi menjadikan semua ini lahan untuk mencari obyek menarik. tapi sepertinya belum ada yang melakukan apa yang akan kami lakukan: ngamen.

early before we went, I asked the children to prepare. Ar and Ir seemed so lazy and I heard conversations...
 Ir: let's just stay at home and play video games. I don't want to sing on the street...
Ar: but we will get money...

pagi sebelum berangkat, aku suruh anak-anak untuk siap-siap.Ar dan Ir ogah-ogahan. aku sempat dengar percakapan:
Ir: kita di rumah aja yuk, main game. aku ngga mau ngamen...
Ar: tapi nanti bisa dapat uang...

however they came along with us. I brought Aik too. off course Dan should be in charge while I was  performing. only Ibit would sing while I played my guitar. Ar and Ir, ah... I just let them go and have some fun.
toh akhirnya mereka ikut juga. aku bahkan ngajak Aik. tentu saja Dan yang harus momong sementara aku dan Ibit ngamen. Ar Ir beneran ga mau, jadi aku biarkan saja mereka bersenang-senang...

it wasn't easy to start. Ibit got a stomachache, just like any time before she performs on stage. nervous. I was okay and tried to build up Ibit's confidence.
ternyata susah mau mulai. Ibit sempat mules, seperti biasa kalau gugup sebelum manggung. aku sih baik-baik saja dan coba menyemangati Ibit.

one song, and there came a girl put two coins of 500. Ibit sat down and whispered, "a thousand for a song? I'm not doing this"
setelah dapat satu lagu, seorang gadis mendekat dan menjatuhkan dua koin 500an. Ibit duduk lalu berbisik, "satu lagu seribu? aku ngga mau lagi..."

I reminded her that we this wasn't about money so she stood up and sang again.
"what if people think we are just practicing, or sing for nothing?"
"no problem. but I believe they will understand what we are doing"
kuingatkan lagi tekadnya bahwa ini bukan tentang uang, akhirnya dia berdiri lagi
"bagaimana kalo orang-orang pikir kita cuma latihan atau main-main aja?"
"biarin. tapi nanti lama-lama pasti mereka tahu kita sedang apa"  

another song and a man with a camera came. he took Ibit's picture, and I believe she realized that. taa daa. here comes the spirit. people are watching and they know we were performing. more camera shots and more money dropped...
dapat satu lagu lagi dan seorang pria datang dengan kameranya. Ibit difoto. aku yakin dia sadar. taa daa. semangat. orang-orang mulai memperhatikan. lebih banyak kamera memotret -- dan lebih banyak uang dijatuhkan...

we performed for about one hour and gained 42.000 rupiahs. I think that was awsome.
kami ngamen sekitar satu jam dan dapat 42.000 rupiah. menurutku sih keren.

on our way home Ar asked Ibit how much money we got. and this is what he said, "great. twenty for me and twenty for Ir. right?"
di jalan pulang Ar bertanya Ibit dapat uang berapa. katanya setelah tahu, "berarti dua puluh buat aku dan dua puluh buat Ir. ya kan?"

hahaha... no way.  I think Ibit deserves all the money for what she has done. I told her to give Ar and Ir 2000 each. they protested. but Dan told them to join their sister singing if they want more...
hahaha... enak aja. menurutku Ibit berhak dapat semuanya. aku minta dia untuk bagi ke Ar dan Ir masing-masing 2000 aja. mereka protes sih. tapi Dan bilang, kalau mau dapat lebih banyak harus mau ikut nyanyi...

that was a great experience, even for me. I asked Ibit if she wants to perform there again one day, or in some other crowded. but she said it was enough for now. she's done what she wanted to.but maybe, some other time, some other place. no problem.
seru seru seru. bahkan buat aku. aku tanya apa Ibit mau ngamen lagi minggu depan, cari tempat yang lebih rame. tapi katanya cukup buat kali ini. yang penting sudah pernah. kapan-kapan lagi kalo pengen...

be there when we do, and drop much money for us, okay. don't only take pictures! :D
pastikan kalian di sana kalo kami ngamen lagi. dan kasih uang yang banyak, jangan motret doang ;)