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I’ve been away from my family during Eid celebration for the last 4 years. Alhamdulillah there are many friends with whom I can celebrate this special day. This year celebration was also special because I had some reunions with my old friends in The Netherlands, Belgium, and France. I made the trip with Vivi, a friend of mine from Eindhoven. Vivi had never been to France, so we planed to include France in our short round trip. It’s the best thing of living in a Schengen country, everywhere is so close!

We started the trip by visiting Mbak Wiwi in Rotterdam. Mbak Wiwi is an old friend from Muslim student association in Rotterdam. She kindly invited us to break the last fasting together with typical Lebaran food such as lontong and gulai Padang. The next day we went to Santoso Center and celebrated Eid with the Indonesian community there. Santoso Center is a special culture center where you can find a large group of Indonesian, Dutch and Surinam Muslim people mingle together. No wonder the Eid speech was given in three languages: Dutch, Indonesian, and Javanese!

In the afternoon we departed to Brugge in Belgium to visit Mbak Imelda and her husband, Bang Nico. Mbak Imelda used to live in Rotterdam and she is going to deliver her baby soon. Brugge is a famous and touristic city in Belgium. Its city center looks like an open museum where buildings from the 17th centuries are still well preserved in their original shapes. However, due to railway construction, we arrived late around 7PM. We went straight to the city center and took a couple of pictures in Brugge city centrum before Mbak Imelda and Bang Nico, picked us up. We visited their home in Beernem and ate Belgian fries and fish sate! It was a nice reunion since I haven’t et her since Feb 2006, too bad it’s too short.

Around 10PM they drove us to Fatima’s place in Deinze. I lived with Fatima for 2 months when I did my Master in Rotterdam. In December 2005 she moved to Belgium to study nursing. At first we planed to go to Euro Disney in Paris, but due to time restriction (since we have to catch an early train to go back to the Netherlands) the plan was changed. On Sunday morning we went to Lille, a city near the border between Belgium and France. The city is beautiful, especially the Vieux (Old) Lille. After a few hours walking around, we returned to Belgium.

To our surprise, on the train there’s a French lady who politely talked to us in Bahasa! "Halo Mbak, datang dari Indonesia, ya?" asked Melanie Martini to us. Melanie was so happy to have chance to talk to me and Vivi in Bahasa. She lived in Jogja for 2 years  and she told us how much she loves Indonesia: the country, the people, the culture, and the food. How proud we were to hear it from a turned out to be a former CCF Director. Before saying good bye Melanie gave us her name card and invited us to come again to Lille, how sweet of her.

After almost 2 hours trip by train we arrived in Antwerpen CentraI Station to change train to the Netherlands. We took a small round tour nearby the station. Antwerpen is the city of jewelry. The first things we saw when we walked out the station are diamond shops along the way its main road. Too bad they are too expensive hehehe… The second thing we recognized was the strong smell of Belgian wafels; so tempting! So we indulged our self with some wafel and ice cream!

It’s almost 9 o’clock in the evening when we finally reached Hertogenbosch, a city located 10 minutes by train from Eindhoven, our final destination. In this station I was almost separated from Vivi when the train door was closed in front of our very eyes while Vivi was still on the platform. Vivi rushed to one officer and persuaded him to open the door, and thanks God the door miraculously was opened and we laughed all the way imagining how things would be if we were separated.

So in overall it was a pleasant trip although we felt so tired on our trip back. I slept over at Vivi’s place in Eindhoven and on Monday, after making pictures with the giant bowling, one of the Eindhoven’s landmark, I took a morning train back to Utrecht, straight to my office.

To Vivi who is going to leave for Scotland to start her PhD in November, all the best for your study. I really had a fun trip! Hope I could visit you in Dundee before I leave the Netherlands

When I got my US visa in March, I never thought that I am going to use it so frequently until my last days in Canada. The whole trip was started with the American Thoracic Society conference in San Francisco in May. I am lucky enough that my institute in the Netherlands always encourages  its students to give presentations all over the world with full trip coverage. 

So, when my supervisor told me that I’ll be attending  the ATS conference in San Francisco, I contacted my high school friend, Ratih, who has been living in San Bernardino, LA for  almost 7 years.  As a movie lover I told myself that would not pass a lifetime chance visiting Universal Studio in LA! So, in May I flew to LA to have a short reunion with Ratih. It was a pleasant reunion! On my arrival Ratih and her husband, Mas Faisal, took me directly to Hollywood hill where we made pictures with the letters, Hollywood sign! Ratih was such a good host; she took a day off to accompany me to Universal City. We spent  one full day  at the studio and later in the evening  we visited the China Town in downtown LA. Ratih also kindly asked her relative, Mas Dudin to take me around Downtown Los Angeles. I never dream that I could step on Britney Spears’ star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but I did! After spending a night at a hostel located in Santa Monica, I finally ended my trip in LA walking along the white sand beach with palm trees on the side, kinda reminded me of Kuta Beach in Bali.

Felt the reunion was too short, Ratih and I promised to have another reunion in New York City before my return to the Netherlands and her return to Indonesia for good. We set a date: meeting in NYC somewhere in September before the Ramadhan. We both were excited, but unfortunately Ratih couldn’t make it to NY. So, I decided to join Mas Dudin and Mas Taufik in their road trip from Washington DC to NYC!

After 12 hours of traveling by bus, on a very hot afternoon in September I arrived in Washington DC . Again I was lucky to meet a kind Pakistani lady, Jamila Khan, on my way to Washington. She was so worried that I’d get lost in the city that she took me to my hostel with a taxi. I couldn’t thank her enough for her kindness… The next few hours I found myself in a public tour in the Library of Congress. Such an impressive historical building! Later in the afternoon finally I met Mas Dudin and Mas Taufik in the Federal Triangle area (where you can see the Capitol, the White House, and the Washington Monument from distance), and from there my road trip with them was begun. 

I took the chance to visit old friends from my institute in Utrecht. In Washington I met Anjoeka, who is now working at the National Cancer Institute. She took us to Woodley Park/Zoo before we went out for a dinner in Goergetown with a Potomac river nightlife view.

The next morning we left Washington for Baltimore to visit Jelena who is doing a post-doc at John Hopkins School of Medicine. After a few hours exchanging stories in her apartment, we went to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland state, to visit the annual seafood festival. On our way back we had a short round in Baltimore city centrum, before heading to Allentown in Pennsylvania to stay over at Mas Dudin’s uncle’s residency, Pak Ibrahim and Ibu Fatima.

The craziest thing about this road trip was that we did not have GPS or a big road map. We naively put our trust  in Google map! Luckily we managed to reach all the meeting points without so much trouble. However, our trip to Allentown took us longer than expected because somehow we got lost and made a D-tour by passing Philadelphia! Anyways the city centrum had a great night view, so we couldn’t complain

Finally, on the last day of my trip we drove to New York City . Following traveling tips from Pak Ibrahim, we parked our car in the Central park area and then took the subway to the main attractions. Learning from experience, the first thing we did was buying a map of Manhattan! But believe it or not, we got lost in the subway  hehehe… So, there we were walking around the city because we missed the ferry that could take us for a boat trip around Manhattan island. Anyways, we made our way to the Ground Zero and visited the memorial in Battery Park.  We also took picture with the Empire State Building, the tallest skyscraper in NYC, and the famous Time Square. Time fled so fast and I went back to Montreal later in the evening whereas Mas Dudin and Mas Taufik continued their trip in NYC and Philadelphia.

A lot of people was amazed that we visited 6 cities in 4 different states in one long weekend. Thanks to Mas Dudin and Mas Taufik who took me as their companion and kindly accommodated my  reunion with Anjoeka and Jelena. Our road trip was unbelievably fun, hopefully I could join you in another road trip!

Last weekend we had a
friendship soccer game between  Montreal and Ottawa’s team. Please
click here for the pictures. This year, again  Montreal lost
from Ottawa.
But the Montrealers stayed cool and, as always, became a very good host by
serving such a delicious lunch for all players and supporters. I noticed that
the two communities are so different that even though this annual match has
always been meant to bring the two communities closer together, I don’t think
it will ever happen. Looking at how they behave, the Ottawa community somehow
reminds me of the Indonesian elite community, whereas the Montrealers more
represent the working class community, although most of the Montrealers are bachelor,
master, or PhD students; skilled engineers who work in aeronautics; they are
humble and cheerful. Maybe I am too judgmental here, but all I can say is that
I am glad that I spend my 1-year fellowship in Montreal,
not anywhere else in  Canada. Although the country is extremely cold, but you can definitely feel the warmth
of Montrealers’ hearts.

Bravo Montrealers!

When I am abroad, one important event that has always been interesting to join is the celebration of our independence day on Aug 17th.

Landed in the Netherlands in Dec 2004, I was given chance to join the celebration in 2005. I went with Made -my classmate for 10 years since we entered the faculty of medicine- and Shuyuan -Made’s roomate in Utrecht. There are approximately 40,000 Indonesians registered at the Indonesian Embassy in Den Haag. So, the celebration has always been a big party for the community. You can see the pictures on the following link perayaan 17 Agustus 2005 di Den Haag . However, the Embassy does not provide free snacks nor lunch. Instead, there are a lot of food stands with a large variety of Indonesian traditional foods. It’s always interesting because if you convert the price in Rupiahs, you have to pay Rp 10,000 for a small piece of simple snack. Something you’ll never do in Indonesia

Last Sept I flew to the coldest country in the world, Canada. I was lucky enough to get to know with the komunitas Indonesia Montreal beforehand thru their online website. I arrived during the fasting month and celebrated Idul Fitri together with my new friends and family.  I must say that the Indonesian bound among the community in Montreal is very strong, may be because the amount is much less than the one in the Netherlands.

So, yesterday there were about 80 people including children traveling by bus from Montreal to Ottawa to join the celebration of our Independence day perayaan 17 Agustus 2007 Ottawa. We arrived a bit late and thus we missed ‘pembacaan detik-detik proklamasi’ . However, the celebration was nice too, especially with free snacks and delicious lunch Around 4h in the afternoon we returned to Montreal. It was such a pleasant experience. Maybe I should start considering in which country I’d like to celebrate the next independence day

Merdeka!!!

Pagi ini saya bete setengah mati. Bagaimana tidak, baru buka email sudah ‘disambut’ oleh email dari pembimbing yang intinya meminta saya untuk merombak ulang laporan yang sudah hampir jadi. Hasil kerja dua bulan nyaris sia-sia dalam sekejap. Sepagian saya berpikir keras menyusun argumen yang tepat untuk pembimbing saya yang sebenarnya baik hati ini. Di tengah ke-bete-an itu, masuk email dari Eha dan Andi, teman di Utrecht, dengan isi yang benar-benar membuat saya terharu…

Sehari sebelumnya saya memang meminta bantuan kesediaan pasangan perawat muda ini untuk menampung teman saya yang belum mendapatkan kamar di Utrecht selama 1 bulan. Maklum, mencari kamar di Utrecht seperti mencari jarum di tumpukan jerami, alias sulit dan makan waktu. Apalagi teman saya akan membawa putrinya, membuat para landlord berpikir ulang untuk menyewakan kamar single bed kepada ibu dan anak ini. Tak disangka, Eha dan Andi menyambut dengan senang hati kedatangan teman saya. Kebetulan mereka memiliki 1 kamar yang biasanya dipakai sebagai musholla, jadi teman saya dan putrinya bisa tinggal di kamar tersebut. Tidak sampai di situ, Eha dan Andi juga menawarkan bantuan untuk mencarikan rumah di Utrecht karena saat ini teman saya masih di Indonesia. Eha menutup email dengan menyatakan menunggu kabar selanjutnya dari teman saya…

Alhamdulillah, saya tak terbayang betapa senangnya teman saya mendapat berita ini. Dan saya begitu terharu dengan ketulusan Eha dan Andi yang mengulurkan bantuan kepada orang yang sama-sekali belum mereka kenal, untuk tinggal di kediaman mereka selama 1 bulan sampai mendapatkan tempat tinggal yang tetap. Subhanallah, Eha dan Andi, semoga kebaikan kalian mendapatkan balasan yang setimpal dari Yang Maha Pemberi, amiin…

Two months ago I met her for the first time. She was coordinating a fund rising bazaar for refining a mosque in Downtown Montreal. Pak Pipip, who introduced me to her, mentioned that this lady with her organization successfully managed to collect 250,000 CAD for Tsunami victims; more than half was donated for Indonesia. She also has a shelter with a complete facility, free of charge for the needy people. I was totally amazed.

Looking at her, I see a very cheerful, humble, and active lady in her sixty. One evening I gave her a visit just to have a nice chat with her. For the past 6 months she has been working at a small fast food restaurant, 12 hours on every working day. She’s responsible for almost everything: from serving the food, cleaning up the dishes and the shop, to accounting. Around 9.30PM she leaves for home by public transport. She also works as a cosmetic distributor, specially during the weekends, where she invites some ladies for a free cosmetic demo. About her family, she’s married to a French-Canadian convert, an architect, from a prosperous family. So, maybe you’ll have the same questions as I did:

Why do you have to work that hard?
I need the money to give the needy people, as simple as that…

Why are you so devoted to the needy people? I mean you don’t get anything back from them, do you?
No, I just think that it’s a pitty if you think that you only live your life for yourself, whereas at the same time you can do a lot for others. There is a lot of people that needs help, so we have to think creatively and work as hard as we can to help them out. I have no child, so it’s no use to collect money for myself, where will they go anyway if I die?

What about your husband, does he mind with all your activities?
No, I am very lucky to have a very understanding and supporting husband. He gives me freedom to do my activities, because he knows that they’re all for good reasons…

All true and I am glad to have a chance to know this lady in person. But there’s another interesting lesson I learnt that evening. I was helping her closing the store when she asked me to sweep the floor in front of the restaurant as well. For a minute I was thinking that sweeping the floor in a public place is more challenging than giving a presentation in front of a big class. She saw that look on my face and said, "Hey, are you shy? Let me do it!" I was struck and ashamed that, indeed, I was shy to do it. Then I realized how our society creates wrong definitions of good and bad. Our society respects people based on their wealth, education, career, and other social stratifications. Where actually in front of God, we are all the same. What differentiate us is mainly our deeds, how much good deeds we do and how straight the path we live our life…

For sister Sabriyah, thanks for the inspiration…

Looking back, I realize that I’ve chosen unpopular choices at least at 2 important stages in my life. First, at high school. When most of the students chose physics as their major, I was among the minority who chose biology. Why? Simply because my teacher gave me a 6-grade for physics, so I told my self, I wouldn’t survive in this major. It turned out that I loved physiology of the human body and later I got my self a "free ticket" to faculty of medicine in Jakarta.

Six years later, right after I got my medical degree, I decided to go for teaching in the community medicine department. I was among 2 of 165 fresh graduates who chose this option, while almost half of my colleagues went straight to a specialization program. Why? First of all, at that time it was already too expensive to do a residency. I couldn’t imagine my self asking my parents to sponsor my study while my sister who was studying in social science had been working since she was in the 2nd year of her college. Secondly, I love working with the community and I love teaching. There are a lot of things we can do in promoting health in our community. This department also has a special postgraduate program in occupational medicine, something that I have been interested in since my 4th year. Moreover, I observed that most of the staffs in this department got their master in public health in US with scholarships. So, I thought I might have a chance to have a free education abroad too… Still remember that night when I informed my plan to my parents. They were  wondering  if I made myself  a right decision, especially when the demand of specialized doctors were increasing and becoming a teacher in Indonesia was not something to be proud of, at least not financially.

However, with no solid proof of financial stability and with that vague dream of studying abroad, I registered myself as a teaching staff at my faculty.  In the first year I had to work double to earn extra money, because the  salary from the department alone wouldn’t cover my travel expenses.  Though, I had been enioying my works. During the day I taught the students, every 3 nights I had a night shift in the emergency room, and every Saturday I worked at the faculty clinic. After 7 months, that very chance finally came…

I conclude that as long as you know what you want and be aware of what you are capable of, just follow your intuition and your heart will guide you… I am now facing another big cross road in my life, with another unpopular choice. Only this time, it is more complex that logical thinking is not so helpfull in making the right decision. I just pray to God, He is the All Knower, may He shows me the right way, amiin…

These days I am overwhelmed with articles that I have to finish. I love writing my results; they’re beautiful, as everyone’s expected. But to write discussion about them is something else. I have all the ideas in my head, but it’s difficult to type them down. I guess these days the synapses in my brain do not function as I need them. Instead of writing lines of argumentations, I check my emails and write this blog hehehe… My officemate, the wise Roberto, told me that it’s a matter of preference. Indeed I love the math part of my analysis, I enjoy dealing with numbers to get my result, while he loves to discuss his findings and see things from a general perspective. Hhh… I guess I just have to keep on writing; no other choice unfortunately. Come on Eva, another day is passing by and there’re not so many days left if you want to finish on time…

This morning on my way to the office, a car stopped not far from me. I saw Mrs Sylvie, the center co-ordinator, opened the window.

“Hey young lady, want to have a ride?”
“A sure, Merci beaucoup Madame!”

As we walked down the small path from the parking lot to the office I told her how time flies so quickly. It seems like yesterday when she picked me up at the airport 9 months ago. Now I am counting down the days before returning to the Netherlands.

I feel sad just by imagining that I have to leave such sweet people that I’ve known so well during my short stay here. I’ve been moving around so often, meet new people and then leave them, though I do not want to. I found a perfect article that fits my story well. To all my knew friends and family, which ever you are, thanks for being part of my life… and thanks for Henny for sharing this with me.

***

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have
expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you
with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or
spiritually. They may seem like a God send and they are. They are there for
the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or
at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the
relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is
that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The
prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to
share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you
laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give
you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real. But only for a season!

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build
upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept
the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all
other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind
but friendship is clairvoyant.

My new office, a francophone hospital in the northern part of Montreal
island, does its best in keeping nosocomial infection to the lowest
level as possible. Everyday starting at 3.30PM you can see the cleaning
staffs all over the place and they will finish not earlier than 8PM.

Because I live so close to the hospital, just 7 minutes walking distance, I often spend my evening at my office in the hospital; witnessing the cleaning team on the left wing of the hospital do their daily duty. Around 6PM when there’s almost nobody left on the 3rd floor, a janitor - a middle age man, more or less my father age- will come to my office to sweep the floor. Usually I stand up and let him does his job sweeping the floor under my desk; in less than 1 minute he’ll be gone, cleaning other rooms. Other janitor, a pretty and friendly young woman, will come a bit later to collect the garbage bags. We usually greet each other with "Bonsoir" (good evening in French), and she’ll leave quickly.

Last week, as usual I stayed late trying to finish my analysis. The same janitor came and swept the floor. But this time, something  unexpected happened. All of a sudden, he returned quickly to my desk, and there it was, I saw a creamy candy  next to my keyboard! I was so surprised that  he left already without giving me a chance to thank him. I was still astonished by his act when I saw the young woman came. Suddenly I wanted to know their names. The next thing happened, we exchanged our names and Annie gave her smile before leaving. That night I promised my self that I’d find out his name the next time I see him.

Last Monday, I stayed late and the same janitor came. I was talking with my officemate, when for the second time he returned to my desk quickly and put another candy on my desk. This time I was succeed catching him before he left.

"Monsieur, quel est votre nom?"
"Michel"
"Merci beaucoup, Michel!"

His simple act moved me. I wondered what’s in his mind, he might has pity on me, "What a poor
girl, almost everyday stays late in front of her screen," hehehe… At first I don’t feel like eating his candies, then I decided to write this blog. For Michel and Annie, thank you for being  my  evening companion.  Indeed  a simple act of caring is sufficient to make someone happy.  Give your sincere smile to other and you might brighten up someone’s  day!