Savana Rinjani

Originally posted on Instagram Ada satu hal unik dan berbeda dari acara pernikahan di Atambua-dan juga hampir semua daerah di NTT. Kalau di kota seperti Jakarta, tiba di lokasi acara, salaman sama pengantin, makan, bersua dengan yang lain (kalau ketemu yang kenal), kadang foto bersama, lalu pulang. Disini berbeda. Tiba di lokasi, salaman sama pengantin, makan, lalu DANSA! Teman saya bilang kebiasaan ini sedikit banyak terpengaruh dari Portugis yang dulu pernah menjajah tanah Timor. Jangan tanya seberapa besar saya menyukai dansa saat acara kawinan di NTT. You don't wanna miss this, bro! Awal awal datang ke acara, saya hanya menonton dari bangku ketika para tamu (termasuk teman-teman kantor) mulai turun ke lantai dansa. Langkah ke kanan, langkah ke kiri, putar sana, putar sini. Kok seru ya. Lama lama ingin coba. Saya bilang ke teman saya (salah satu staf kantor), "Kak, beta mau coba, tapi sonde bisa, kasi ajar dulu e." Sedikit dag dig dug waktu pertama kali...

Originally posted on Instagram Bakar ikan adalah kegiatan yang hampir kami lakukan setiap minggu di kantor. Bahkan bisa sampai dua kali dalam seminggu bila ada moment yang mendukung. Biasanya kami bakar ikan ketika ada kunjungan staf dari Jakarta, ada yang ulang tahun, sambut baru, naik jabatan, atau kalau lagi ada ikan segar mengapa tidak? Jenis ikan yang sering kami bakar yaitu ikan cakalang dan gargaheng. Kami dapat dari Atapupu, sebuah daerah pesisir sekitar 25 km dari Atambua. Fresh from the oven! Selain dibakar, sering juga diolah menjadi ikan kuah asam. Awiii ini menu kenikmatan yang hqq. Wajib coba. Tak lupa ditemani sambal khas Timor yang asem kecut kaya kenangan. Namanya sambal luat. Paduan cabai, irisan tomat, daun kemangi, sejumput garam, dan jeruk nipis inilah yang sukses membuat kami terus mencidukkan nasi ke piring. "Kakak Gita, tambah sudah. Kasi habis e." Well, kebiasaan seperti inilah yang membuat suasana tinggal di kota kecil kian hangat. Ke...

Originally posted on Instagram Atambua punya tempat tersendiri di hati saya. Di kota inilah saya pertama kali merasakan yang orang bilang "Welcome to the real jungle" a.k.a dunia kerja. Btw, Atambua itu nama kecamatan ya, kalo kota/kab nya itu Kabupaten Belu, provinsinya Nusa Tenggara Timur. Bekerja di daerah terpencil adalah salah satu life goals saya selepas kuliah. Awalnya saya ikut seleksi IM dan berharap besar untuk lolos. Tapi Tuhan punya rencana lain. Dia wujudkan impian saya melalui kesempatan yang tak kalah baik. Masyarakat Atambua itu ramah banget. Kalau di Bekasi saya termasuk kaum mayoritas, di Atambua saya menjadi minoritas. Namun tak ada diskriminasi selama saya tinggal disini, saya sangat dihargai dan dijaga. Banyak cerita lucu dan menarik selama saya merantau. Dari Atambua, saya belajar banyak hal. Yang pertama, tentang syukur. Yang kedua, tentang hidup sederhana. Bos saya sering bilang, "Hiduplah sederhana, pak." dan itu seperti mant...

When you practice self-love, you realize your happiness is your top priority. You put yourself first then things will be different. “Detachment doesn’t mean not caring. It’s taking care of yourself first and letting others take responsibility for their actions without trying to save or punish them.” – Pinterest. This is the second lesson I’d like to talk about: Don’t force the situation. Shit happens, including in relationships. A moment when your inner circle doesn't invite you to movie time. A moment when your best friend is getting far because s/he spends most of the weekends with his/her lover. A moment when you need to talk to your ex but s/he avoids you and remains silent. A moment when you are slightly forgotten or left. I know it hurts, dear. The truth can be ugly sometimes. But, that’s the truth. Nothing more valuable than a plate of truth on your table. Now it is your turn to define a response. This kind of situation made me upset in the past. I blamed them at fir...

Detachment. This word caught my attention when I was reading an article about self-healing on a website. It is the opposite of attachment and I expect it would be an interesting topic to discuss as these days some people feel easily attached to mundane things. Afterward, I googled to learn more about it (mostly from Pinterest) and got startled, like, Damn, why I just found out this lesson by now?! Here's my personal summary on detachment. It has many beautiful deep thoughts but I love to start with two: 1. Allow others to be who they are 2. Allow yourself to be who you are By fully understanding these lessons, things will come lighter. I feel more relieved to accept any kind of situation (not only about a heartbreak thingy), especially during hard times. One big point I slowly realize is that I can't control things that have happened, but I can always control my response to them, right? I can choose the action that I'm aware would be the best version of myself. B...

"The only constant is change." - Heraclitus My friend sent me that quote after I conveyed something to her, "When I graduated, my desire was to get a job far far away from home. That was why I felt very happy when I got a chance to work in Atambua. However, I didn't expect that a feeling could change. Now, I just want to spend more time at home, haha, I don't know why." A quote from Heraclitus makes me suddenly realize that a feeling I've once had is not wrong. A feeling could change someday. And, probably, there's nothing wrong about showing an emotion we experience. The only wrong part is some people in our society cannot accept any expression that they don't commonly see. A social construction forces us to welcome only values the society has been believing since a long time ago. Pardon. I'm just getting random. This morning, I found that quote and could relate it a little bit to something I experienced in my last relationship. One day,...

Hello. It's been a long time. Many things happened, the painful ones. Thus, I need a little time to gather all the courage and get back to my normal rhythm. 2017 was just as wonderful as my previous years. I signed up for several trail races. The adrenaline rush and I enjoyed it a lot. I was in my best condition both physically and mentally. Closing the year, a heartbreak happened, the worst I've ever had in my life. I hit the lowest point as a human being. The only mindset I currently had about myself was just uselessness. It led me once to a thought to donate one of my kidneys if it could make me feel useful again. LOL. "Sometimes, we forget to appreciate a tiny progress we have made on a day. We only focus on the big result. I give you one Chinese proverb, man man lai. Pelan-pelan aja. Santai, Git. Apresiasi setiap progres, walaupun kecil." RD, 2018 Regarding the hard times I have been facing, I just realize I did many things in recent months. I le...