Pages of Mariskova

A week without a computer, already my head was full of voices. I call them ideas, me-gut-fren Mickey call them first signs toward schizophrenia... .
"I need to write. I'm hearing voices again."
"Then write."
"I don't have a computer."
"That's ironic (he made it sound like pathetic). Most people don't have the net."

It is indeed ironic. To Er, In, Ra, another Ra, Dy, Nu, and Je, your emails were safe in the computer. The computer was safe with Papap who was in Hokkaido. Yeah, he was gone only for awhile, but I missed him terribly and the computer. I was luckier, of course, because he missed his son's fourth birthday. Now that he is here again, I wrote this post especially to answer your emails...

First, I am fine, thank you, though the weather is a bit irritating. It's been raining the whole two weeks and on some days the rain didn't stop at all. And they say it is summer. The rain has caused a lot of damage. More damage than last year's flood. This time more people died, more houses are ruined, more victims are without homes. I'm not sure how Japan learns from this. I haven't heard the learning thing from TV. Honestly, though, I kind of expecting it was an ice-rain again like what we had before. It was fun to see, but I heard the wavy-next-to-curly univesity bus driver said, "Abunai yo! Sonna ame da!" (bahaya, tau!)

And yes, it is summer in Japan. And another yes, it is HOT, although for some unknown reasons (except it feels nicer) I still enjoy a hot bath. Pencerahan plisss?

Next, Honjo just held a summer festival. This will be our last Natsu Matsuri in Honjo. Sad, to think about that, but on that day we had great fun. While Papap was busy taking pictures for his blog, Hikari was busy pointing his index finger to the crowd and shouting, "Mamaaa! Mite! OSHIRI da!" (Liat, Mak, ada pantat!). There! Some people thought it was funny, some hundred others didn't think so.
"Please, God, make me blend."
"I can't. What will I make of you? A caffee-latte?"
Next thing I know I encouraged Papap to take pictures of more butts... Yiiiihaaa... we were butt hunting.

Then, you guys asked me if I had some parties? Well, sort of. We were invited here and there, to visit this and that. We visited Sanden factory in the neighboring town. Don't imagine a conventional factory we had back home. This factory's compound is vast and surrounded by forest. If it was not for the rain, we would go hiking around the forest to find some beetles. These beetles -people here call them Kabutomushi- are very famous as pets as well as anime characters. That's why the children who joined the trip expected to find some if it was not for the rain. Hikari got one, though. The host captured some beetles and gave them to Hikari and other children. Oh, do you know that Indonesian beetles are more famous here and also more expensive? I could get rich just by selling those beetles...
And then Papap returned to his favorite pastime: cooking. We got some fresh jengkol from a friend a few days back. Papap urged me to find the recipe for Semur Jengkol. I agreed with one condition: I didn't want to have anything to do with that jengkol. The smell of it can give me a morning sickness! So, that day, after studying the recipe thoroughly, Papap indeed made Semur Jengkol successfully. Fortunately, the other Indonesians love that smelly thing so that Papap could have a party with them. Or else, he would be a drunken jengkol eater . I, on the other hand, am still a modest cook (and still don't enjoy cooking). I tried to make Gobo Tempura but failed. Gobo is a kind of vegetable root. It tastes yummy when fried as tempura. Then, a friend of mine invited me and some friends to her house. She taught us to make Miso soup, Inarizushi, and Onigiri roll. They are deliciiiiiiioooouuuuuusss . *For those who question the food I eat, let me just tell you that you can still eat things and be safe.* Look at my inarizushi! The outer is a fried tofu seasoned with Japanese sauce (shoyu) and the inside is rice seasoned with vinegar and salt. Sluurrrpp... Email me for the recipe hehehe... But, wait! I didn't stop there. My Bangladeshi friend taught me how to make Lachcha Shemai, a kind of porridge milk. The milk is boiled with sugar and some spices, and then shemai (a very small noodle-like thingy) is put into the milk. Another slurrrppp...
There are still many other parties and get together. It seems like everyone here really needs one . Or may be the dormitory needs a bit of a cheer-up. Next get-together that we will attend -and we openly look forward to- is a hanabi, watching the firework. In Japan, it's the time for hanabi already. Wanna join us ?

Okay, that's the latest news for you, guys. I'm sorry I answered all your emails like this. It's more fun (for me), and it spares me from writing the same thing for many emails . Ya, ya, I know I need a pinch for that. Hug me instead?
Now, I've got to go. This whole party thing delayed me from packing. What? I'll be right over there at the end of September. Hopefully. Okay?