Tuesday, September 13, 2016

M.A.T.I

September 13, 2016 0 Comments
Banyak kejadian belakangan ini yang membuatku terus berpikir tentang hidup dan mati, berapa lama seseorang diberi free-access atas dunia dan kehidupan, apa yang dialami seseorang ketika sekarat dan apa yang dirasakan oleh keluarga dan orang-orang terdekat ketika menyadari bahwa hanya waktu yang tau kapan seseorang yang mereka cintai itu akan pergi meninggalkan mereka.

Selama sebulan lebih ber-“mukim” di rumah sakit, merawat dan menunggui adikku Bungsu dalam 2 kali operasi terakhir, seminggu menginap di lantai lorong ICU yang dingin dan basah, aku diberi kesempatan untuk merasakan, mengalami dan melihat sendiri betapa hidup ini bukanlah milik kita seutuhnya. Perasaan hati diaduk-aduk tak menentu, setiap perkembangan adikku dan pasien-pasien di sekitar memberi sensasi roller-coaster yang sungguh melelahkan. 

Setiap waktu bagaikan tawar menawar dengan Tuhan agar tidak mengambil orang yang kusayangi sekarang. Jangan sekarang. Jangan besok. Jangan dalam waktu dekat. Untuk pertama kalinya aku merasakan paksaan untuk merelakan segalanya untuk orang lain selain diriku. Oh, begini ternyata rasanya jadi orang tua. Bersiap melakukan apapun ASAL jangan ambil milikku. Yap...menawar dan bertaruh. Entah dengan siapa. Dengan nasibkah?  Dengan Tuhan-kah? Aku tak tau. Aku bahkan tidak tau apakah kita bisa tawar-menawar dengan Tuhan, setauku manusia hanya bisa memohon dan meminta dari Sang Empunya kehidupan.

Bungsu dirawat di ruang ICU selama 1 minggu dan tak terhitung berapa banyak doa yang telah aku dan keluargaku panjatkan di sisi ranjang yang dikelilingi berbagai alat-alat penunjang hidup itu. Aku berani bertaruh bahwa lebih banyak doa yang terucap di ruangan kecil yang terus berdenyut oleh elektrokardiogram (EKG) yang masing-masingnya memiliki bunyi dan nada yang berbeda itu dibanding di rumah ibadah manapun. Entah sudah berapa pasien yang keluar dari ruangan dingin tersebut dengan badan dingin, kaku , tak bernyawa dan berapa orang yang telah “naik kelas” ke ruang perawatan biasa. Yang kutau, selama di sana tak kurang dari 10 orang telah dipanggil ke sisi Bapa dan 4 di antaranya pergi pada hari yang sama. 

Aku tak tau apakah harus bersyukur atau menyesali “privilege” yang kudapatkan dengan melihat langsung drama yang terjadi ketika seluruh keluarga berkumpul mengelilingi seorang pasien yang sedang meregang nyawa dan akhirnya menyerah atas ketidakberdayaannya atas hidupnya sendiri dan akhirnya dinyatakan meninggal. Pemandangan memilukan itu tidak hanya membuat para keluarga menangis dan meraung-meraung karena tak rela melepas orang yang mereka cintai, tapi juga membuat kami para keluarga lain menitikkan air mata sekaligus ketakutan. Akankah kami merasakan hal yang sama setelah ini? Pasien di ranjang mana selanjutnya yang akan di "panggil"? 

Pernah suatu kali aku melihat detik-detik ketika seorang ibu muda berusia 32 tahun berjuang antara hidup dan mati. Dia masuk ke ruang ICU pada malam sebelumnya dalam keadaan koma karena tekanan darah tinggi. Karena ruang ICU tidak dapat dimasuki keluarga di luar jam besuk, mereka semalaman menungguinya di lorong luar ICU, tak terkecuali suami dan anak semata wayangnya yang masih balita. 
Mereka menunggu tapi ajal tidak. 

Sekitar pukul 20.00 WIB ketika sedang jam besuk dan keluarganya berkumpul di sekeliling ranjang, mereka menyaksikan bagaimana perawat berjuang memberi oksigen dan berbagai alat bantu lainnya ketika keadaannya sekarat. Suaminya meraung-raung sambil memeluk tubuhnya yang kaku, ibunya menangis memanggil nama anaknya dan terus menyebut nama Tuhan, para keluarga mengeluh dan mengaduh atas ketakutan mereka ditinggalkan oleh saudari mereka terkasih. Sampai akhirnya garis-garis lengkung pada EKG berubah menjadi lurus dan bunyinya pun menjadi datar, semua serentak menangis dan berteriak, “He So’aya,hakhosi todo ndra’aga, boi halo, So’aya. Fangawuli”. Kasihanilah kami Tuhan, jangan ambil. Kembalikan dia. Sungguh ketika alat yang diciptakan manusia itu menyatakan bahwa jantung si ibu muda tersebut  telah berhenti berdetak, mereka masih terus bermohon agar Tuhan mau mengembalikan si ibu muda tersebut kepada mereka. 
Menawar takdir. 

Tak lama kemudian seorang dokter jaga datang, melakukan hal-hal yang aku tak tau apa itu dan kemudian memberi isyarat kepada para perawat.  Seperti mengerti bahasa isyarat, para perawat pun mulai melepas semua selang dan alat-alat yang menempel di tubuh ibu muda tersebut dalam diam.  Tak peduli seberapa kerasnya keluarga memohon agar alat tersebut tetap terpasang, kalau-kalau si ibu tersebut akan bangun lagi. 

Seketika itu juga aku seperti bisa merasakan pilu yang dirasakan oleh suami dan keluarga si ibu tersebut. Terlebih lagi melihat anak balitanya yang kebingungan melihat ibunya hanya tidur sementara semua orang di sekitarnya menangis meraung-raung.Entah kenapa berbagai macam kemungkinan berkelebat di benakku mengingat anak malang tersebut.

Aku berdiri  menghalangi pandangan Bungsu agar dia tak bisa melihat kejadian tersebut. Aku tidak ingin dia merasa takut atau sedikitpun berpikir bahwa nasibnya akan sama dengan si ibu muda. 

Aku ngeri dengan betapa tak berdayanya manusia atas hidupnya sendiri. Bahkan untuk mengklaim tubuh sendiri pun kita tidak mampu. Aku tersadar akan kefanaan dunia dan hidup. Betapa kita begitu terhanyut dengan ide memiliki dan dimiliki. Kelak semua akan kita tinggalkan ketika kita MATI. Kita akan pergi tanpa membawa apapun dan yang tersisa hanyalah duka bagi orang-orang yang merasa memiliki.



Friday, August 12, 2016

Throwback: Trip to Pahawang Island, Lampung

August 12, 2016 0 Comments



It’s weekend and I have nowhere to go nor things to do so I end up in front of my laptop going through all my folders and “accidentally” hit this folder of photos of my first and last time trip with my High School best friends before I moved to Nias Island for work. The memories rush in and suddenly I realize how I miss my then life, my friends, my choir group and the craziness of the big city. Not that I have sad days, boring new (and old) friends  and my life is miserable in here. It’s just, you know, people keep coming to the past because it’s familiar :)

Well, back to the topic. Since I’m already exposed to this memories and I never had the chance to write about this nor  share it to my friends other than those whom I had this trip with, I decid to make a throwback post in my blog. This is gonna be photos heavy, because somethings are not as beautiful as what we have in our mind when being described.

As I have mentioned before, I had this trip as the first and last time with my -already 9 years of friendship-High School friends. Since college, they did a lot of getaways together like hiking, mountain climbing and island hopping. Some friends and I never had the chance to join them due to different schedule of holidays and different locations of campus (Medan, Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya). So when I finally had the chance to join them, I was super excited. Soooo..to Pahawang Island we went.

For those who still don’t know Pahawang Island, it’s a beautiful island in Sumatera, around 3 hours drive from Lampung and 2 hours by boat. This island is a perfect object for snorkeling since the underwater view is so amazing. In fact, there are some other islands nearby but Pahawang is the most well known from all islands in the territory because it’s usually where the backpackers and tourist would stay and from there, they would do island hopping to other islands.  

How did we get there?
We were still in our batik and work attire when we gathered at the meeting point, Slipi Jaya Mall, at 6.30 pm. There were 13 of us and we were all High School classmates. We joined an open trip with other groups but due to comfort and safety, we asked to be put in seperate group beforehand. We took bus from Pijay to Merak Harbour at 8.30 pm and arrived at Merak around midnight. Then we took ferry from Merak to Bakauheni Harbour. That was the first time for me and some of us to set foot in Sumatera other than North Sumatera. Were we there, yet? Nopeeee...It’s still a long way to go to reach our destination. Our rent cars were waiting for us at the harbour and then we drove around 3  hours to Ketapang, it’s a village where we would take our boat to Pahawang Island.

02.30 a.m at Merak Harbour

What was in it?
What I loved the most about snorkeling here was that finally I could see the famous little cutie fish from the Finding Nemo movie, it was the nemo itself. The underwater was so crystal clear, we could see them swimming in herds.  At some spots, we saw coral reefs from different size and colours.



I must admit that I was a little scared being too close to the big reefs, i always imagined that it was actually a sleeping sea monster and I might awake it by being too close. Who ever knows what could come out from a deep dark underwater, right? We also did island hopping and of course played around at the beach.


Last words
Travelling is good for your soul. Yes, It may empty out your wallet but it refills and refuels your soul. Find good place to travel to, but whom you travel with is even more essential. I love my trip to Pahawang Island for it’s beauty and the hospitality but what made it unforgettable was my bestfriends. Thanks for dragging me down to this place, guys.

Never ask the theme of this photo. That's just the way they are and ya..boys never grow up :)






Lots of love :)

Monday, July 11, 2016

One Fine Day with Family at Hiliamaeta, Teluk Dalam

July 11, 2016 0 Comments

As I have mentioned in my previous post, it’s been 10 months since I moved back to Nias Island and not even once I spent time together with my big family till the last Eid holiday. Not so often we got the whole week away from work and rush so I decided to enjoy my HOLIday and made the best of it.
This time, I didn’t hang out with friends , it’s totally family time and we decided to pulang kampung to Teluk Dalam, my mom’s birth place, where all my big family live. The reason why we opted for Teluk Dalam instead of Mandrehe (my daddy’s birth place) was not completely for holiday alone, it was because my cousin’s wedding as well. But I’m gonna go into the details of the wedding anyway since I didn’t really understand nor enjoy the event (?). All I knew about it was that the room was full of people and they spoke really (like reaaaaalllly) loud. Yaaa..that’s just the way we, from the south, do the talking. So just bear with it (no, I couldn’t) LOL.

So, let’s just jump into the fun part anyway.

Our idea of spending family time together is not going to some fancy restaurants nor going to the mall (cause we don’t have one in here) nor watching movie nor have karaoke at home. Family time means we’re going outdoor and have picnic together. This time, we decided to go to Nanio Beach, it’s a deserted beach not far from my uncle’s house. 

Everybody knows Lagundri or Sorake Beach but Nanio?

We prepped some fishes, seasoning and everything needed for the barbeque at the beach. We also bought some snacks and cakes for the kids since kids would always go for some dessert instead of the main course. Don’t they? 

To reach the beach area, we needed to walk along a narrow shruby pedestrian trek for about 20 minutes. Like I said before, it was a hidden beach away from the street, located behind the wood and coconut plantation. The walk was a bit tiring since it was a sizzling noon and we had kids and so many things to bring for the picnic. But we really enjoyed the view we found along the way. There was a wooden bridge, mangrove plantation and a river. 




As we reached the beach, we found some ruins of houses or quay or bulding, I wasn’t so sure what It was. But I thought the ruins, sunset and beautiful beach would make good pre wedding photos :P


We started our picnic by looking for some branches and coconut fiber, set the fire and let the men did the roasting while the women and kids prepared the dish (and took selfies :P) 



I myself watched over my cousins and then went explore the beach with my brother, Paul, and took some photos.

My brother, Paul. He took almost every photos I posted in this post.
I ran out of idea of good photos. I decided to run on the beach and twirled as if I was dancing and VOILA...some witty poses of me!
While exploring the beach, we found some interesting spots and objects. The beach itself was not only sand and bush, but also ex mangrove plantation area and trees which made the panorama was so unique. It was like a swamp at the same time. With perfect angle, we could take some photos that mimic the horror movie background LOL.


We also found so many sea shells and some sea animals. I didn't know the names, but my brothers and I usually just name kepiting and undur-undur for every little creature we find at the beach..LOL.



FINAL THOUGHT
I really enjoyed my time with my family, they’re so lovely and funny. It’s not everyday I can feel lots of love and laughter around me. The scenery and the beach was mesmerizing  and quiet. It was like having the whole beach for ourselves. I’m looking forward to the next quality time with my loved ones :)
 
Meet the krucils. Two of my cousins, Advent and Noble. The selfie expert. Never leave your cellphone somewhere they can reach, they're gonna make your gallery overloaded by cuteness.
The squad :)

Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with  a few nuts
 

Monday, June 20, 2016

A Little Story About My Brother: Family’s Struggle for Kid with Special Need

June 20, 2016 2 Comments
It's been months since my last post in this blog and now I come up with something a little personal. I share this story because I think it’s ok to be different and it’s not something shamefull. No need to hide and cover it up. We don’t choose our family, they are God’s biggest blessing in our life. Even if one (or some) of our family member was born differently, it’s the love that makes the family perfect at the end of the day.


My youngest brother, Teguh Andreas Hia a.k.a Bungsu has been in a boarding school for 4 years now. This boarding school is specialized for children with special needs. Yup, you got me right, SPECIAL NEEDS!!! My brother is perfect physically but he always has issue to communicate with people and overcome problems. People call my borther autist, but the psycholog we consulted before putting him to boarding school said he is not. He is somewhere between normal to autist. I don’t know how to explain this and I won’t even bother to explain it. I don’t care if people understand cause we’ve been through worse condition when he was little. He never had a tantrum, never had a roller coaster emotion, he barely cried and not even try to hurt people, but his lack of self esteem,  not being able to speak at certain age, his rambling about his imagination, his habit to isolate himself,  made people called him crazy. Yup, littterally CRAZY, they said it utterly. He was late at speaking, the sound that came out of his throat didn’t sound like any word you know in any language. That’s why he only spoke to his family especially me and my third brother, Ridho. Being one of the two persons he spoke (and speaks) to the most gives me the feeling of responsibility to keep him safe, understand and love him even more.


I know that it’s not polite to barge into someone’s kitchen without permission, but I don’t think it’s fair to yell at a child and call him crazy for that. He might not know that people treat him unfairly and rude, but it hurt my family, my parents, especially my mom. My brother also had trouble keeping up with the school curriculum while in elementary school. The teachers, books and curriculum didn’t suit him. He was always the stupidest student in class aaannndddd...the trouble maker which I knew that he was not. His classmates used to make fun of him for being too quiet, slow and mostly because of his big posture. My brother spent 2 years at second grade (or third grade, I forgot) and he stopped (or the school made him stop) at the fourth grade. No hard feeling, I know that it was for the best. It’s still the best elementary school in town since my brothers and I went to that school, we all graduated and had our moments there. It’s just that the schools, teachers and curriculums didn’t suit children like my brother. It was for the best that he was not in that school anymore so that we could move on and sought another school for him.

The days after being expelled from school, he still woke up in the morning and prepared for school, he didn’t know that he wasn’t obliged to attend school anymore. My mother said to him that it’s still holiday, no school for today. He did buy it on the first and second day, but then he knew that my mom just made up excuses when he saw his friends with school uniform went to school passed our house. That day he asked my mom why he was not allowed to school but he didn’t wait for answer, he cried. His “imbecile brain” apparently told him why. That’s the first time (well maybe not) he realized HE IS DIFFERENT. It broke my heart to pieces when my mom told me this story. I was not in town at that time, I was in boarding school away from home and only met my family twice a year on long holiday. 

Two years being an “unemployee”, Bungsu spent days at home watching his favourite movies, listened to his favourite singers and wandered around sometimes. Up until now, he knows every updates on tv, idolize K-POP stars and tell me unending stories of every tv shows he watches. I remember back at the day when he was so deep into Justin Bieber, I saw him eating with left hand. I said, Dedek, kok makan pake tangan kiri?tangan kananlah, he then replied me with an unexpected and witty answer, Ih..kakak ini gimana sih? Justin Bieber aja main gitar pake tangan kiri. I never wanted to critisize him ever since, I respect everything he did and he does and the fact that he was even smarter, wiser and funny at the same time gave us hope that one day we would find a school that suit him.
Long story short, we finally found a boarding school for children with special needs. We were so gratefull and excited to enlist him into that school. And he was even much more excited than us. Bungsu, Ridho and I went shopping for new uniform, luggage and school supplies. My mom asked us to take him to the shops since he always listened to us (my mom usually use us to make him do what my mom says).  It’s not our Bungsu’s things going to the market with my mom. He detested the crowd. But that was an exception, he was finally going to school. Yeaayy...\0/

Now, it’s been 4 years since he entered the school and has a lot of improvement in speaking, socializing and finding his self-esteem ever since. He is now able to speak to people other than his family, he can show excitement toward something, and express his feeling utterly. He attended school camp and talked to me about it like a thousand times. He draws and paints, he plays organ and violin. He won several competition and got a role in school concert (I’m gonna talk about this on my next post). We always love him for what he is. His beautiful face, smart and witty twaddle and his overwhelming cuteness are all we need in our family. We never stop thanking God for giving this bundle of joy into our family. We accept him with all his lack but this 4 years is his best time and we were never prouder of him.



Love you, Dedek :*








Monday, April 4, 2016

Surfing and Stone Jumping in Teluk Dalam

April 04, 2016 7 Comments
It’s been 6 months since I moved back to Nias Island and I haven’t set foot in Teluk Dalam, yet. It’s a little weird since Teluk Dalam is just 2 hours drive from Gunungsitoli and my big family are all there. And after months of wishing to visit Teluk Dalam again, finally my officemates and I decided to spend Saturday there. How exciting! 

How to Get There

Teluk Dalam is the capital city of South Nias Regency. It’s well known for some tourism spots that are so interesting, both the culture and the nature. It takes only 2-3 hours drive from Binaka Airport or Gunungsitoli to Teluk Dalam. For first timer, it’s not difficult to find rented cars or public transportation to get there, you can easily find it either at the airport, seaport or bus station. Rented cars are usually around Rp 400.000,- to Rp 600.000,- per day including driver and if you’re traveling alone, you can use public transportation and it’s only Rp 50.000,- each person.

Getting to Teluk Dalam was not a hard work at all. The road was smooth and it bends along the sea shore on the left side and forest on the right side . The best time to start the trip to Teluk Dalam is just exactly before dawn so that you can still witness sunrise at Laowomaru Beach. The beach is located in a foothill which is covered with so many vegetations such as coconut and pine trees. There’s a cave inside of the hill namely Laowomaru Cave (Gua Laowomaru), this cave is famous for its myth. There’s not much to see as we passed the outskirt of Gunungsitoli, there were only houses on both side of the road. Beautiful scenery came to view again as we got closer to Teluk Dalam. Then the real tour began.

Genasi

Genasi is usually a pitstop for those who are in the middle of the trip from Gunungsitoli to Teluk Dalam. It’s located in a foothill where you can see a picturesque scenery of the sea. There’s no sandy beach, people can only admire the beauty of Genasi from the huts on the street side up above the sea level. The water is so crystal clear on a sunny day, people can see right to the bottom of the sea. It’s also so calm, not wavy at all so, the view from above is more like a lake than a sea. After spending a moment, letting ourselves mesmerized by the great scenery of Genasi, we continued driving to Teluk Dalam. The road was a bit bumpy from there to downtown. 


Lagundri and Sorake Beach

Lagundri and Sorake Beach is two tourism sites located next to each other. Lagundri Beach is a great place to play and lay around with friends or family since the beach is vast and the sand is white and soft. The wave is also not too big, so it’s relatively safe to play in the water. Coconut trees and other vegetations make the area so shady and windy. Since this place is located in a bay, the land bends along the sea shore, thus people can see the other side of the land especially the highlands. 





Sorake Beach is a paradise for surfers. As we entered the area of this beach, we found many motels or bed and breakfast on the left and right side of the street. It’s like entering a tourist village. Each motel usually provides surfer boards for rent, so for those who want to try surfing but don’t have the surfer board, worry not :) The beach is a little rocky and the wave is big so people need to go a little further from the sea shore to really enjoy the water without getting hurt by the coral. So, I don’t recommend new beginners and people who can’t swim to play around in here, surfers only. I got an information from locals that every June-July, they hold an international surfing event and there are cruises from Bahama that bring tourists from America, so there will be traditional ceremony in order to welcome them. About the cruises, I don’t know if the information was valid but for those who want to see the big event and the culture of South Nias exhibited, June-July should be the perfect time.

Stone Jumping (Lompat Batu) at Bawomataluo

Have you ever seen this picture? 


Yup it’s a picture of stone jumping on a copy of Rp 1000,- money which is not in the currency anymore. This picture was taken at Bawomataluo, the biggest village in Teluk Dalam. In ancient time, every man in Teluk Dalam had  to be able to jump over a 2 meter height and 90 cm width stone. They wouldn’t be admitted as an adult and strong man before jumping over that stone. Nowadays, they don’t use it as an indicator anymore,  it is merely a traditional attraction shown only on special occasion such as traditional ceremony, wedding and to welcome guests. On the day we visited Bawomataluo was not a busy day. There were only eight of us as guests. This gave us more time and space to wander around the village (we didn’t though :P) and went inside the biggest tradiotional house in Bawomataluo. 





Nias traditional houses are built on stilts and this is underneath the big house of Bawomataluo. Can you imagine how big is the house?
Baloho Resort

Baloho is a resort located in a beach around 1 km from downtown. This tourism site consists of hotel, restaurant, swimming pool, play ground for kids and karaoke. This resort is great for family or office gathering since this place provides all the facilities for that and the view is also so beautiful. Altough the location is in a beach, visitors are not allowed to swim in the sea, that’s what the swimming pool is for. If you want to swim in the sea, you might need to go a little further away from this resort. Feel free to wander and have picnic at the beach but the negative side is, there’s no place to buy some food or drink in the area other than the restaurant so you might need to prepare some food supplies beforehand. 



Final Thought

Teluk Dalam is a very nice place to spend weekend or holiday. The scenery is wonderfull, both the beaches and the highlands. The transportation mode is not difficult to find and many motels and homestay to stay the night. The people are also so nice especially the ones we met in Bawomataluo, they really knew what to do to make us feel welcome. Besides speaking their mother tongue, they speak Bahasa Indonesia and English as well. There was one thing that really impressed us while visiting Bawomataluo, the kids were so great at taking photos. We hesitated at first giving our gadgets to them and ask them to take photos of us, but the results really surprised us. They did know the perfect angles to make us look good. Lol.

The internet connection is also way better that the connection we have in Gunungsitoli, this is totally a must for those who work during holiday, love to share their holiday on social media and do anything through the internet.  

But I had a little concern, once we entered the tourism sites, other than the motels or the resort, it was  quite hard to find shops that sell food and drinks. This is a little unfortunate for visitors who don’t stay at the motel. Gifts and souvenirs shops could be added as well. Not only shops selling sculptures and other souvenirs that really represent Teluk Dalam, but visitors can also use shops selling travel essentials such as hats, sandals, bags, sunglasses, etc. Besides giving livelihood to the locals, this also will attract more tourists and make the trip much more fun, enjoyable and comfortable.

The last but not least, I really enjoy every visit to Teluk Dalam either to see my family or for a trip and the view I mentioned above is always and will always be my own opinion. Thanks for reading and Yaahowu :)