My son is ill...

Upon returning to Ames, in Denver airport, I learned that Jalu, my son, was hospitalized. I felt so horrible, feeling so helpless, feeling as if I were a bad irresponsible mother...

Was I making a false decision by pursuing my dream of studying abroad and leaving him back home? Am I too selfish, putting my career in the top list of priority? In this moment when he needed me the most, I was not by his side, giving him all the comfort and attention that he needs in his critical age. I felt so terrible. I was left crying in the midst of busy Denver international airport.

Thank God, Yudi was there with him. Thank God, I have him as a full supporter of my life ambitions and he is willing to share the tasks of parenting. I will make up for the lost of time of me being here, that's for sure, that's the least that I can do.

Jalu is fine now, although he has not recovered his huge appetite. He is now more into pizzas and french fries. Whatever, as long as he is willing to eat. Jalu, be well, Kid. Ibu is going to work hard, to finish this damn study, and to be back at your side, loving you even more...

Tempe, Arizona

Arizona here I come...

Chris Rozendaal, who had nicely agreed to take me to Des Moines airport, picked me up at 4.45 AM. We picked Yared and Daniel, his friend, and off we go to the airport. The email that Candice Chisentagid sent us stated that our carrier would be continental airlines, departing to Houston at 7.30 AM.

As usual we proceed to the ticketing counter of Continental Airline, expecting nothing bad would happened, as Candice stated in her email that we only need to print our email and show our ID. But, shit happens sometimes and OUR NAMES WERE NOT LISTED ON THE PASSENGER LIST FOR THE FLIGHT!!!!

Yared was so pissed off that he could not think of any steps. I realized that I needed to do something and act and not panic. As the ticketing officer would not be able to help us, I instantly decided that I needed to get hold of IIE officers. Somehow I knew that they all must have gone to Tempe and stayed at the hotel. We did not have the number of the hotel, but instinctively I knew that if I called the operator, they could put me through. So I did. And I got connected to Candice. I had to wait until five calls because it was still 5.30 AM in Tempe and she must have been fast asleep. But I got connected. And it turned out that our flight was United Airlines, leaving to Denver at 9.30 AM. Lucky we were early, if not, we would just miss it! Bad....

So we waited for the flight. Got to the flight to Denver. And met Abi in Denver!!! Waow, I was so happy that we were in the same flight. When we finally landed in Phoenix, we found another Fulbrighter. His name was Muhammad and he was from Yaman. He's studying in an MBA program in Drake University in Des Moines and guess what??? He used to be Yiendra's roommate! What a small world....We also met Mira from Finland.

Phoenix international airport has four terminals. Abi and I tried to locate Jaha because he said he would arrived at 1 PM, just like us. Obviously he was in another terminal. So we called the hotel through the courtesy phone, and we waited for the hotel's van. When the van came, we hopped in, went to another terminal and Jaha was there!!! Oh, I was so glad to meet him! He looked like 'pangeran dangdut' with his long hair :))

When we arrived, we checked in and got our keys. We were also given a Fulbright T-shirt, pin, and folder containing the materials for the seminar. I also met Alphonce and Camilia who went to Florida during the orientation program. It was fun meeting them again...

Well, the three days have gone so fast. We did some seminars, visit the Cactus garden, and did volunteer work for American hearts association....

I love fulbrighters!

Pics of people are here. Pics of of no people but learning are here.

My secret bro is...

OK, the moment of truth: my secret brother is...

Cipto!!!

Darn! Tau gitu dari kemarin gw perhatiin dia, ya ampun... sorry ya Cip, gw yg mati-matian nolak elu sebagai brother gw, heheheh..abis gw gak tau sih! You're nice, sweet, know how to treat women well. Thank you yah udah perhatiin this old sister of yours selama dua minggu, walo gw gak nyadar *lg kolaps*. Ya deh, gw hadiahin puisi ajah yah...

You are
The person that
steals the secret
of my day
Came undetected
when things are all
cleared in the midst
you stood
Lesson of the day:
never waive a smile
never neglect a caressing
gesture
never let love passes by
World is full
of compassion
of passer-bys
and bless you
to be the center
of perfectly laid
feelings
Again, thank you!

Yes, I learned something from this game, I learned something more about people around me, people who I never get acquinted before. Sometimes you just don't pay attention to people who are close to you and you take them for granted. I learned that sometimes your initial judgement of people is quite wrong. You've got to take time to get to know them and sometimes your final finding can be quite contrary to the initial one!

I'm also glad that the event of valentine evening went well. We had discussion about love and relationship and I've got to talk as the keynote speaker for the forum. Everyone was having a good idea about what love and relationship is and the only job that I have to do is to put it in a wider perspective using their experience and mine. We had great fun figuring out and finding out who was our secret bro/sis *with lots of mistakes and surprising revelation*. We danced poco2 and had dinner at Perkins afterward. What a splendid valentine celebration!

Though I felt so sad because Yudi was not here with me, I feel that being so far away from your love one can be quite revealing sometimes. I talked about Yudi during the forum, re-visited and told the story of our love, and the conclusion is always the same: I'm lucky to have him, I'm blessed with his presence in my life, I'm glad that it is him who became my husband. Love is not entirely the base of our relationship anymore. Now we have reached the stage that we're partners in life, we're bestfriends, and the 5 years of our marriage is the proof of our commitment.

6 of Feb: Happy anniversary, Hon! I don't only love you, but I also admire you.

As a fan of Harry Potter...

You guys must have known that I loveeeeee Harry Potter series and I have read all of those books.

Just now, I tried this quiz to know which character in Harry Potter that resembles my character. So here we go:


Which HP Kid Are You?

Oh, man! It's so true!!! Golly gosh, of course I can imagine myself being smart, funny and becoming the center of attraction, but I just can't imagine me being the naughtiest kid in Hogwarts! I'd rather be Hermione who was studious, but at the same time everyone knows that I'm da funky chick!

Valentine Victim (VV)

Guess what, somebody accused me of being his secret sis! Crazy enough, but OK then, it's not true, but I got his rose and chocolate and of course being a good friend, I can't lie and I delivered the gift promptly to the real secret sis. Anyway, it felt so good having someone paying attention to you! :P

Here is the guy: Cipto Kurniawan!!!

My Valentine...

MUDIKA is holding a special event this year for valentine celebration: Secret Brother and Sister. The rule of the game is: everyone is assigned to someone *drawn with lottery* whom s/he has to pay attention SECRETLY. S/he can send anonymous email, give gifts, or whatever, as long as it is secretly hidden from his/her bro/sis. On valentine's day, all will be revealed and everybody will receive a gift from his/her secret sis/bro! Yay!!!

I've got great fun, paying attention to my bro *nope, I'm not going to tell you who is my bro, dont wanna him to know who I am :)* and he doesnt have a clue of who I am!!!!

But, where is my secret bro???!!!! I haven't received any mysterious email up to now!!!!

Friendster...

Does anybody love meeting old and new friends?

Well, I do! And I've met many interesting people who are my friends or later become my friends.

So check this site, create your account and add me *type neny_priyanto@yahoo.com*!

I have fun reading the testimonials from my friends and I feel so lucky to have them all as my friends!

Welcoming Party Spring 2004 a.k.a The semester has begun...and I'm overwhelmed...

The semester has begun and of course, being a graduate student is always overwhelming! I got tons of assignments from my dear professors, and this is the real life of a grad student!

However, on the lighter side of my life, on Friday, Jan 23, 2004, Permias held a welcoming party for new students coming in Spring. Of course, being the only Indo band in Ames, the other 8 performed. Here is the song list:

~ The Remedy (voc:Neny, Edward; guitar: Yierick; bass: Ari; drum: Raymond)
~ Blue Forever (voc: Edward; guitar: Yierick, Raymond; bass: Ari; drum: Yiendra)
~ True Love (voc: Edward; guitar: Yierick, Raymond; bass: Ari; drum: Yiendra)
~ Seribu Tahun (voc: Neny; guitar: Yierick, Raymond, ; bass: Ari; drum: Elaine)
~ Falling Apart (voc: Neny; guitar: Yierick; bass: Ari; drum: Raymond)

Apart from small mistakes, we did well... and we're beta-testing our own song! Yay!

Edward and I were also the MC, gosh...the audience probably got bored of us being on stage all the time...


Pics by Permias Ames