A Heartfelt Letter for Karim & Donna in Beirut (29.07.06)

My dear friends

Just so you know, you have been all over my thoughts since the very first drop of the bomb by the Israelis. I do not mean to talk politics here. Nor do I have the rights to do so. I just pretend not to care about who, why, what, how, bla bla bla.... All I care about for now is you two and your families.

I had attempted several phone calls with no luck (aaarrgghh, that alone has made my heart broken and I mean it!). I only wanted to hear your voices and to know you are all alright.

On the third day of the mess, was I glad to receive your email reply! Knowing that you were hanging tough out there made me feel relief. But *sigh* I could tell from the tone of your email that things were not looking good at all. I could only tell your hearts were broken too for the innocent deads.

And I could only tell these whole things have take me to a memory drift. A memory of the moments we all share together when Dita and I paid you a visit about 1.5 years back. I don't know how many times I have mentioned this to anyone that Beirut had impressed me in an unspoken way. Never did I imagine your country was more beautiful than one could have imagined. For now, I could only hope the rages would not destroy the historical sites.

My dear friends, for now I have lost contact with you two. But deep in my heart, I am convinced this is only temporary. And I want you to know that my prayers are always with you. Stay strong!

La 1ere Anniversaire de Nadia (09.07.06)

Perhatian: Ini Nadia yang ngetik....

Halo semua. Terima kasih atas ucapan selamat ultahnya. Maaf kalau baru sekarang aku bisa membalas ucapan2 selamat ultahnya. Abis, aku sibuk abis! Aku kan bayi sibuk (baca: ribet).
Terutama pas tgl 9 Juli lalu, karena hari itu sangat bersejarah. That was my very first birthday, although I don't know yet what birthday means. At this point, je m'en fou! (I don't care, kalo kata orang2 Prancis).

Tgl 9 Juli lalu, walaupun tidak ada pesta besar2an, tapi orang2 di jalan sibuk membawa bendera biru, putih dan merah dan membunyikan klakson mobil. Aku pikir mereka semua bergembira merayakan ultahku. Oh, ternyata aku salah, karena kata Papa hari itu para gibol (baca: gila bola) sedang bersiap2 nonton final Prancis lawan Italy. Aku bingung mau support siapa. Au' ah, 'elap! Yang penting aku happy.

Pagi2 sudah disambut dengan lagu happy birthday oleh Papa dan Mamaku. Papa juga sibuk membuat videoku, walaupun rambutku masih berantakan, baru bangun tidur (eh lupa, rambutku kan nggak banyak. Hehehe...). Kemudian kita keliling2 flea market dekat hotel. Walau gerimis sedikit, tapi tetep seru. Banyak barang2 antik. Mama sempet beli teko2 antik. Untuk di dapur, katanya.

Lalu kita siap2 pergi merayakan my 1st birthday with a lunch party di Altitude 95 Restaurant, on the first level of Tour Eiffel. Sampai di Eiffel, aku kaget meliat ular antrian para turis. Puuuuaaaaannnjjaaaaaanggg sekali. Aku baru sadar kalo pas summer Paris selalu dipenuhi oleh wisman. Sementara kata Mama, orang2 Parisnya sendiri pada ngabur alias liburan. Tapi untungnya Papa udah made a reservation. Jadi para tamu restaurant bisa lewat jalur khusus. Nggak perlu ngantri panjang.

Mama terus pesan kue ultah kecil dan lilin untukku. Lalu aku nyanyi dan tiup lilin (as if I could! Ahahaha...). Le petit gateau est tres tres bon. Juga menurut Papa, les cuisines francaises sont excellents. Seperti biasa, aku 'menebar pesona' ke tamu2 yang lain. Senyum sana, senyum sini. Nyengir sana, nyengir sana (hey, I'm the birthday girl, you know. I can do whatever I want!).
Setelah lunch, lalu kita foto2 sambil menikmati kota Paris dari Tour Eiffel. Usual stuffs, mais c'est manifique! Maybe 20 years from now, I'll look back and realize how I lucky I was to have had such a moment.

Terus, kita go home, siap2 untuk nonton final bola. Sampai di rumah, tiba2 Mama nyiapin 3 piring yang isinya masing2 uang Euro, pensil & ballpoint dan makananku. Awalnya aku bingung. Tapi lalu aku ingat, ternyata ini tradisi di keluarga Villanueva untuk para cucu. Menurut Nainai, uang itu simbol harta, alat tulis simbol kepandaian dan makanan simbol... apa ya... perut kenyang kali??? Sekarang aku disuruh memilih. Wah, pilihan sulit, karena aku suka semuanya!!! At the first attempt, aku tertarik sama Euro (ih, mata duitan ya). Tapi nggak jadi, karena sebelum aku ambil duit itu dari piring, sorakan Papa dan Mama mengagetkanku. At the second attempt, aku ngiler dengan makanan (shoop, shoop...), tapi nggak jadi lagi. Akhirnya aku pilih pensil. Aku nggak ngerti sih, cuma pasti Papa dan Mama berharap aku jadi anak pinter. Amin.

Permainan pilih-memilih ini membuat aku capek sekali (padahal kan nggak usah mikir ya? Hehehe...). Sayang, my birthday harus berakhir. Aku jadi nggak nemenin Papa dan Mama nonton Materazzi ditanduk Zizou. Tapi asal kalian tahu, Zizou itu idolaku (kalo kata Miss Indonesia 2006, Miss Nadine: "my admirer is Zizou - of course, it was an error), karena kita sama2 botak!

Bonne nuit a tous. Moga2 ultah kedua, aku masih di Paris (walaupun nggak harus ngerayain di Tour Eiffel lagi). Terima kasih Tuhan Yesus for everything.