My last two weeks of 2008 was spent with nieces and nephews in the suburb on the east side of Jakarta. The house where I stayed in during the holiday is situated in a small housing complex. Having spent most of my time in the hustle city center of Jakarta, this was quiet an experience for me.
In that housing complex, your neighbours are practically your extended family. You can leave your keys at each other house so you do not have to leave it under the mat or flowers pot; you can share food; you can listen to each other’s grief and/or joy; you can even fight we each other.
What is more interesting to see is that children actually played outside their houses with their kites, bicycle or soccer ball. You could hear them chat, laugh, scream and cry from your porch. The sun are their ally and the rain their companion, the morning birds cheer them and the night crawlers intrigue them. What a rare view indeed, something that you will not be able to see or experience if you live in the city.
So, though I have to stay home most of the time because I was sick, I was actually enjoying these past two weeks. I could say that it was the most interesting holiday that I had in a long time.
In that housing complex, your neighbours are practically your extended family. You can leave your keys at each other house so you do not have to leave it under the mat or flowers pot; you can share food; you can listen to each other’s grief and/or joy; you can even fight we each other.
What is more interesting to see is that children actually played outside their houses with their kites, bicycle or soccer ball. You could hear them chat, laugh, scream and cry from your porch. The sun are their ally and the rain their companion, the morning birds cheer them and the night crawlers intrigue them. What a rare view indeed, something that you will not be able to see or experience if you live in the city.
So, though I have to stay home most of the time because I was sick, I was actually enjoying these past two weeks. I could say that it was the most interesting holiday that I had in a long time.
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