Happy day~

There are these days when I really do complain so much and think so badly of the life I'm currently living. But then there are those days, those spontaneously miraculous days when my mind is cleared and I'm reminded of just how great a life I'm leading. Those are the days when I realize just how perfect all of this has been set up by Allah SWT. Usually I complain about the backwardness and humdrum life in Jatinangor, but on these special days I literally fall in love with everything in this town. I love the constantly cool weather (this is often the reason why I don't want to go back to the humid grip of Jakarta as frequently as some of my friends do). I love the warm and polite Sundanese natives (even the supposedly 'bad-boy' type kids here have a degree of politeness that Jakartan kids just completely lack). I love hearing them speak their lusciously lilting language (just hearing them talk all the time has made me wish I could speak Sundanese like them). But most of all, I love all of the unexpected experiences I've gotten while living here.

When I'm in class I almost feel as though I'm living out an episode of Spongebob Squarepants where Squidward decides to move to a new housing complex that's filled with squids who look, live, and have the same hobbies as he does, and he feels as though he's died and gone to Squidward heaven. This may be a bit hyperbolic I admit, but this is exactly how I feel when I'm with my HI friends. My friends in high school were great, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I really had to make an effort to be able to fit in and connect with them. With the kids in my class now though, just being myself is enough for me to be able to connect to them. I can talk to them about history (my all-time favorite subject), about the current going-ons in the world, about travelling, about our futures as diplomat wannabes, and best of all, I can talk to them about books. The fact that most Indonesians haven't developed an appetite for reading (other than comics) is among the top ten things that saddens me about this country. So imagine my delight at finding a crop of Indonesian kids that actually share my love of reading. And not just any books, mind you. During this last term break, my friend asked me if I could buy a book for her in Jakarta called "Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar". If you haven't guessed already by the title, this book is not one of those chick-lit readings or another one of those putatively inspirational memoirs. This thing is straight out of a philosophy course discussing the ideas of everyone from Plato to Descartes, yet served up in the form of playful jokes and banter to help it become more accessible to the public mind. I though this book was the kind of obscure gem that only people like me would enjoy reading, but hah, how happy was I to be proven wrong.

And you know what, Jatinangor, no matter how much I hated it initially and how much I still hate it occasionally, really can feel like my own little version of paradise sometimes. The weather here is deliciously cool, especially in the mornings and afternoons. And for a person that loves cold weather like I do, living here is the next best thing aside from actually living and going to college in a more temperate region abroad.

And another thing, you see, in high school I had Rohis, and now, despite not being a part of the official 'Rohis' (or more commonly known as DKM FISIP here), I find myself amongst the same community as I had back in my high school Rohis. The only difference is, I didn't voluntarily sign up for this community. I just somehow ended up here, amongst these wonderful women and sisters of mine that pretty much share the same views on life and Islam as I do. And although I was reluctant at first, I really think I've found my place among them and am ready to be guided by them in this life and the next. And while Rohis or DKM perhaps are more of a formal organisational group and sometimes feel as though they're more focused on organizing events at school/campus (although many will deny this). This community that I'm in now is focused solely on the spiritual development of each and every one of us, just us girls, no guys, so there really is no temptation to have a.. istilahnya mah niat yang melenceng gitu.. whenever we're called to attend the weekly gatherings. This is especially important for me since in high school, this was something I wasn't able to control so easily.

I know that compared to other universities, UNPAD isn't exactly top of the notch. And compared to other towns, Jatinangor is probably on a level of its own in terms of isolation and un-modernness. But, you know what, when I'm having these kind of days, I really couldn't care less because no matter how 'supposedly' not great my life seems here, I have only these words to say: I prayed for the best to happen in my life and God gave me exactly that, sometimes more, but never less. And I'm having a heck of a time making the best of it all :)

Btw, naik motor dari atas gerbang baru sampe kiara payung (ataupun sebaliknya) itu dahsyat nian, asli. Dan pemandangannya - to die for - kalo gue sempet ke sana lagi nanti gue fotoin deh. That's all for now~