Count on Communication

Chiko sounded so noisy today. He was meow-ing loudly and could not be calmed. We used to have better communication, but not today. He likes to greet us when entering room, meow-ing so loudly till someone shouts back. I talk to him. I use human word and he understands! Cousins often laughed at the way we communicated because he reacted the way I wanted. Yaa, it depends on how we treat someone or some-cat. Smile.

IJ sister, ER, came this morning. She’s tall and mature, looked bright. She’s two years younger than IJ. I welcomed her to work for me with one-month probation. I always asked new staff to go thru 1-3 months probation. Fair for us.

Later in the afternoon I found that she is naturally more communicative than IJ. She asked me about Chiko. Wow! IJ too became more open recently. She initiated a talk. So nice. She discussed tape ketan hijau (fermented sticky rice) -- ER brought from kampong -- with me. How long it takes to be ready, what temperature, what leaves (guava / banana) they use to wrap,.. It’s nice that they make it in small size – almost bite size. For oleh-oleh, they carry it in a bucket -- literally bucket! -- and can take buckets of it! It’s watery. Practical idea.

I had two packets after late lunch. Ooh so sweet! No alcohol taste, sometimes the alcohol tastes stronger. This is perfect for dessert. Ehm..

Today I’m not so productive; only domestic chores and preparing photos for RM to be sent tomorrow. I will have a busy week starts tomorrow so I take my time today.

I still owe a lot to many. CEN, GOP, YUG (she called the other day, she has gift for me from her 4-year old son),.. I owe a lot of reaching out while I’m thinking about my nephew graduation two days ago (I got the picture just this evening), MT in Singapore who goes thru life change, AT in KL who inspired me to stretch my communication. Below is AT’s email to her art friends in Yogya. She is fantastic with her language limitation. It's the thought that counts. Salute!

Hi Semuoanya,

Saya sangat terkejut lihat dan dengar berita dari gumpa bumi di Yogya.
Saya mau tahu atau anda masih bisa terima email saya dan semoanya
Sembuh?

Kalau bisah, kasih tahu saya,

Saya sedih sekali, saya lihat masalahnya ini di T.V.

Salam, dan saya simbayang untuk anda, keluarganya dan rakyat dari Yoga dan daerah estimewa ini. Saya simbaying untuk tak ada "disaster" lagi, dan saya kirim anda "healing" untuk apa terjadi dengan anda...

A