Kebaya

It was Thursday evening, late June 2014.  I was back from SMP Negeri 1 Blora to accompany English fellow teachers having training of Curriculum 2013.

Nabhan was in front of our house when I parked my motorcycle.  I got down and asked him to take my picture.  The kebaya was new.  It is our school uniform. The skirt is mainly a piece of cloth that I bought when I was in Bangkok in 2009.  The shiny color is actually the pictures of elephants.
I just feel that both kebaya and skirt match and I feel free to ride motorcycle because I only tie the skirt on the top.

The sapodilla tree behind me has been there since Abiyyu was still in my womb.  We bought it from a colleague.  It hasn't born any fruit yet. The papaya tree is really a tree, I means it has no leaves because we always take the leaves for kind vegetable to make urap. Besides, we make use of the tree to put on the string to dry our clothes.

Abiyyu

He is a cute thirty-month kid who is always curious about everything.

He always asks,

"What is it, Ibu?"
"Why is so?"
"What does it look like?"
"May I use this machine?"
"What kind of plane is it?"

At home, he likes to play in front  of our house.  He climbs up the gate and move it over and over.  He gets down and laughs out loud when somebody pays attention to him.  Then he runs around the corner to see our neighbor's yard through the wall.  Hehe..he joins me cooking in our kitchen which is just next to his bedroom.

"Ibu, may I see what you are boiling?"
He climbs up the chair that he moves by himself to peep what is inside the pot.
"Biyyu, it is not allowed to climb on that chair while the stove is on. I am worried.  It migth be slippery."
He giggles, hops down, and lays on his stomach on a mat we usually sits on.

I sometimes bathe him early and force him to drink his milk by breastfeeding him first.  He almost never drinks milk since he was born.  I tried to change many kinds of brands but I do fail.  I also changed his milk-bottles but nothing happened.  I, then, spoon-feed him while he is being breastfed.

I used to escort him to school, he has been going to school since he was fifteen months old.  However, someone is going to and fro with him now.

When he goes to musola with his father and brothers, he recites "Aamiiin" so loudly before the Imam finishes his Al Fatihah. He prefers to have saroong instead of trousers.   Something that makes his father worried is every time Abiyyu is out, he always goes to the place where people take ablution.  He opens the tap and wash his face, hands, and legs.  Automatically, he gets wet through.

His favorite food is something crispy and cheese.  He always knows where I put it.  He doesn't like bolu kukus, lunpia, and milk.He likes yakult, instead.

One of the Hadith he always recites loudly is Don't be angry, and for you is Jannah. He can counts from one to twenty in English, Indonesian, and Javanese.

Assalamu'alikum and Good Morning


I couldn't wait for today.  Almost every day, I am excited to know what happens at an animal-school.  It is really interesting to have known all the animal-student characteristics.  As I had read one of Munif Chatib's books, I forgot the tittle but perhaps Sekolahnya Manusia, all the animals are taught to be able do and achieve the same knowledge, skills, and attitude no matter what animals they are.

First the animals are eager to come to school in the new academic year and all of them are looking forward to meeting smart teachers and principal.  Some teachers are unique and some others are so obedient to what they are told.  Whatever they are told, they are doing as if they are slaves who are dependent.

The rabbits and the cats who have different abilities are getting to have sports class and they have to join in swimming.  What happens, then? Their teacher, without any further consideration, reprimand them for not being skilled in swimming.  They are told to be more ardent in exercising outside the swimming class.  Rabbits and cats still hope that in another subject, they will be able to catch what they teacher mean.  Some teachers who really understand the students' intelligence give them their freedom to develop their own skills. They give students chances to hop, to climb, to crawl, to speak up as they have already learned from their parents at home.

The rest of the teachers, the unqualified ones,  sometimes blame the other teachers of their being active at school.  When the active ones succeeds to make students champions, the unqualified are glad and clapping their hands loudly so many times as if they are involved.  When the ardents fail to hatch winners, the unqualified will laugh loudly.