Odisseus’ Mom

Assalamuálaikum wr wb.

Dearest Ody my dear soleh boy, and My Passompe, 

As I already told both of you before, this Thursday morning, I went to Spain. After dinner we had one night before, I still have to prepare myself for my vacation and also (huh…) the coming exam, therefore I bring my books along with me. I went alone, since Hana could only go after her exam this morning. I took 07.04 international train from Den Haag Holland Spoor to Brussels Centraal. I did it on purpose, since I have never been to Brussels, why dont I take this chance to visit Brussels as well, even only for a short time. At 9.10 am I arrived at Brussels Centraal Station, Brussels is a hilly and old city, up and down, cathedrals, shopping center, parks, and museums covers almost the the city surroundings. I took a walk from the station to enjoy the morning there. People at Brussels speak French and Dutch. But they could also speak good English. People were nice there, two old ladies queueing at the ticket counter replied my question nice and politely. Two primary school students at the station which were on their study trip with their class said “au revoir” and wave their hands good bye for me,  when I was about to leave.

I had to catch the train which goes to Charleroi Sud (South) Station and from there took a bus Line A which goes to the Brussels South Airport. It was a small airport, (I also consider Tegel International Airport in Berlin as small, since it is smaller and less busy than Schiphol, Amsterdam). People was queueing for check in and so did I. It took 1 hour 25 minutes to arrive at Barcelona, Girona Airport. Girona locates out of the Barcelona, a province at northeast of Barcelona. I took shuttle bus, 1 hour 20 minutes to reach Barcelona centrum. I kind of like this city, it warmer than Den Haag, the transportation system is very good and give clear direction, thank God I could arrived savely here and not being lost. I met a girl which also took the same flight and bus with me, her name is Salma she is from Belgium, she speaks French and little English, she has a short course study in Barcelona. She gave me her phone number at the time we separated at Catalunya  Metro Station, “Just in case you have a trouble here, just call me at this number”, she said.

I follow Dinas direction to go to Ideal Youth Hostel, the place where she stayed at Barcelona 4 months ago. Finally I find it, here at Liceu. Fortunately I also found an internet cafe which is very save and clean next door to the hostel. Right now, I am waiting from Hana which will be arrive at 11.25 tonight. I have not booked the room yet, since I consider to meet Hana and then stay at her friends (Sophie) apartment here. Hopefully the metro here operates until pas midnight, so that I could meet Hana at Collblanc Metro Station, at least I hope they operate until 1 am like metro in Paris.

When I arrived at Liceu, Plaza Catalunya at 6 pm, coming out from underground station, I found myself in the middle of the crowd, a cozy one. In front of me a huge open market called Mercat de La Boqueria, it seems it is quite famous here because people stop and take pictures here. Merchants are selling fruits, flowers, suvenirs, etc. I entered the Mercat and bought one kilo of grape, it is very sweet, I like it. Then I took a little walk and found myself had already entered a souvenir shops. Gaudi Park and Sagrada Familia Cathedral is the most famous landmark here, the shop I entered had a good price for Gaudi and Sagrada souvernirs. No need to wait longer I already found myself paying for some souvenirs, I could not resist the temptation, they are very nice and beautiful.

Now, I still have to spend my time here, at least to wait for Hana. I think this is the time to get back to the readings since the last time I read them on the train, but first I have to find a good and save place to sit. Wish me good luck both for my trip and my exam (of course..:), Ody and My Passompe. May Allah SWT bless our family. Miss you both a lot. I wish my little story could be a light heal for our separate times.

With love,

Wassalamuálaikum wr wb

This week has been a colorful week for me. I kind of enjoy it, even though something bothers me happened, I got a little bit irritated by one of my friends attitude, but I learn to let it go. Monday, I work almost all day to finish my RMD assignment, it took three full days to work on that assignment since Saturday until Monday (the due date). On Tuesday, I had a leisure time, me and Herni walked to the centrum and eat Turkis pizza there, buy some food supplies, and cook for our dinner. The 4 Musketeers Philipinos students at ISS are: Cates, Jason, Rommel, and Agnes, they invite us to have dinner with them at Jasons room at Gondelstraat, Scheveningen. We cooked sayur lodeh and sambal goreng tempe. He had dinner until 10.30 pm. This is my second time to have dinner with Philipinos, the first I had at Cates room at Bazaarlaan. Here are some pictures.

And on Wednesday, like we (me and Herni) had organized, we had a praying together (solat gaib) in our room for almarhuman Chandras mom, and Diahs grandma, then followed by dinner together. I organized the agenda and Herni organized the cook. We cook at the afternoon, we invite all Indonesian students at ISS which is about 20 people and the 4 Musketeers from Philipinos, also Aki from Japan. Well, its also a “farewell” for our beloved friend Chandra, since she has to go back to work for RCTI. But its ok, we will always remember the good times we had together. 

I cooked sayur pare with tempe, hehehe… very Indonesian right??? :) Also ikan asin and sambal terasi, but our guests enjoy them very much… Well, it seems that it was made with and receive compliments. Thanks guys…:) We organized it so that everyone could contributed. Herni cooked ayam cah jamur brokoli, Dina and Avi prepared pempek Palembang, Mirna with her Padang empal, Ita with her Chinese cap cay, Mas Dayat with rice, Budi with his ayam goreng kalasan, Kay with her Bihun goreng, Tono with his lumpia, Adrian and Mas Wira with their fruit desserts, Chrysant with her slagroom, and Chasan as our Imam solat. It was very exhausted,but we were all happy and cherish a memorable times. See you soon Chandra, be tough girl! We love you and will miss you. Here are some pictures.

Me: from Liceu, Plaza Catalunya, Barcelona.