Idul Fitri

It’s known that a lot of people go to big cities for their luck. They stay there, find a job – if they are lucky – or do something or anything to earn money. That’s why big cities are always crowded. Most of them go back to their village just once a year namely on Idul Fitri day.

Today is the last day of fasting for Muslims and tomorrow is Idul Fitri, at least for most Muslims in Indonesia. You hear lots of news about the trip people make to their village. Yes, this is the time to visit family in their village, time to ask forgiveness and to forgive. But also time to share stories and to show your success in big cities.

The rush starts already 7 days before Idul Fitri and ends or becomes less 7 days after. The crowd has moved from big cities to villages. Here in Malang it is visible. Actually I expect that Malang would be a bit more crowded than usual. Malang is not a big city. You can say, it is a big village. In history Malang was a resting place for pensioners, so it surprises me that a lot of Malang residents are apparently outsiders. Just like us.

It is quiet on the roads in Malang. Schools have holiday already and a lot of small stalls along the road are closed. The streets look wider and cleaner. It reminds me of the street in Holland when I lived there. Except in high ways it is mostly quiet there, at least for me who get used to the crowd and rush in Indonesia.

If Malang becomes quiet you can imagine how quiet Jakarta, the capital city will be. I think this is the best time for going to Jakarta. Normally you don’t have time in Jakarta now you have sea of it. Normally you just can ride around 30 km per hour now constant 50 km per hour is easy. People who have never been in Jakarta, maybe think, What? 30 km per hour? Don’t they have asphalt road? Yes, Jakarta has nice, wide asphalt roads. That’s not the problem. The problem is that there is much more people than area, much more cars than roads and much more rules than willingness to obey them.

The stillness is not just visible outside the house but also inside the house. This is the time that servants take holiday too. This has also happened with ours. We have two servants. Please, believe me, it doesn’t mean that I can sit the whole day peacefully and do nothing. Like to your children you also have to spend a lot of time and attention to them and you also get headache. Don’t get me wrong, you know what I mean in my story about it. The eldest went already this morning and the other stays at house till four o’clock after I pick up my children from school. So tomorrow and the day after tomorrow there are just three of us. Actually four of us, no, not with my husband. I forgot to say that he too went this morning. No, not to his village in Holland but to another country for his work. So the four of us are my 2 children, me and Browny.

In previous years I’d get short of breath just to think about this period. It means that I have to do almost everything by myself. Yes, the children could also help me but it was not the problem. The problem was because I was perfectionist. I demanded of myself that everything had to be like in normal period when the servants were in. It was not just about the house, laundry, food, and garden but also homework of the children and going out. The children must have enough time to do their homework and we had to be able to go out and having clean and neat house. Now I can say calmly, it is impossible. It takes time to have a change in your mind but I am happy that this has happened to me.

Now I am looking forward to get up lately together with my children, to make our breakfast together and doing other things without hurry. I also have plans to make cakes or cookies with them, to wash Browny, to play water. In short it means to spend nice time together.

Pelangi really wants to go to Jakarta this holiday to visit her Grand Ma, Aunties, Uncles, and cousins. But we cannot leave Browny alone. Beside we can do more at our home.

I just received an invitation via text on my hand phone from a friend, which lives not far from us. On Saturday we can go to her house and enjoy the day and the food they make special for Idul Fitri.

Idul Fitri is a day for family and friends. The last one can mean more than the first one especially if you live far away from your family and cannot visit them. Just like us.