Project 365

The sun was out today!!! It was sunny and lovely :). But it was SOOO cold! It reached —1 degrees Celsius when I left my house in the morning. I wonder. shouldn’t it be spring already?!

Nevertheless, I had such a lovely day! I met my high school friend, Wiza, who has been sending me postcards from all over the world these days. She has been traveling in Europe since November last year (envy her!!) and she’s ending her travel here, in The Netherlands.

So I met up with her in Den Haag. I hadn’t really talked to her ever since I finished high school in 2003. I did met her a few times whenever I went to Jakarta, but we didn’t get a chance to talk that much. We weren’t THAT close anyway when were in high school. I was a bit worried that we wouldn’t be so connected. You know, it would be boring to spend the whole day taking about dull topics 😛

But it turned out, we had such a great time!!! Talking and talking until we forgot about time!!! Hahaha! I didn’t realize that we had a lot of things in common (besides traveling, of course). We also went to Kinderdijk to see the windmills. I always loved Kinderdijk :). It’s a lovely place. If it weren’t so cold, it would be perfect to sit by the canal!!

Anyway, one thing she said: "We are the citizen of the world. That’s why we don’t have ‘home’!" Hehehe! Yeeeep, maybe that’s the reason why 😉

Despite my busy schedule and a 2-hour sleep last night, I can still do this!!! weeeewww!

I’ve been so grumpy and cranky lately. I can’t believe I haven’t traveled for 6 months!!! I can’t wait any longer. I promised myself not to travel until I graduate, but it doesn’t seem to work! I’ll end up insane if I don’t travel.

My friends and I were planning to do a road trip in Spain, but the flight ticket is so expensive! We’ve been waiting for more than a month and it doesn’t get any lower. So last night, I said to myself: THAT’S IT! Let’s change the destination! Let’s just drive somewhere!

You know you’re so desperate to travel when you open the whole map of Europe and try to pick whatever places to visit. Pasrah? Yep. I just need to get out.

Then my friend suggested  this route shown above. I immediately AGREE with it! Lyon — Nice — Monaco — Torino — Geneva — Lausanne — Montreux — Luzern. The cities are still not confirmed yet, as we’re still discussing about it. But I’m so excited already! Finally, I’ve got something I’m so looking forward to in 2 months time!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHH….

Ok, I need to sleep. Nitey nite!

A blogger friend once tweeted:

Love is NOT enough to become the basis for a marriage. A much stronger foundation is a commitment.

He went on to say:

Definitely, a loveless marriage is very painful. However, you may have also noticed that people in love for years, got married – then divorced quite soon. A strong commitment may enable the couple to develop solutions to their problems – conflict management, etc. A strong commitment will help dissolve each egos – and let a new personality, your partnership, to emerge.

It’s true. Many people these days got married because they’re deeply in love; failing to realize that they’ve signed the "contract" for life.

Indeed, commitment is such a powerful thing. Sometimes I do think that, for some people, commitment overrides love. No matter how many times your husband or wife betrays you, ending a marriage is still not an option. For some people like me, we would have questioned, how could it be not an option?!

And for me, the questions remain unanswered: How do you know that you’re ready to spend the remaining years of your life with that person? How do you know that you’re willing to be committed and stay true to that commitment for the rest of your life? How can you be so sure? How does it feel like to be sure?!

Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world.
The forms may change, yet the essence remains the same.
Every wonderful sight will vanish, every sweet word will fade,
But do not be disheartened,
The Source they come from is eternal, growing,
Branching out, giving new life and new joy.
Why do you weep?
The Source is within you
And this whole world is springing up from it

— Jalal ad-Din Rumi

The thing I love about Rumi’s poems is the different interpretation and meaning that can be made on each of them.

This is one of the many examples. My first glance of this poem was this: it talks about the world we live in now (which is temporary and is therefore will vanish) and the afterlife, which is the eternal and unseen world.

After reading it over and over again, I can also say that the poem is a simple reminder that joy is not always there. It will vanish and fade into different forms that we may not like. Sorrow is unavoidable. But we shouldn’t be weeping for the vanishing joy, because it will eventually come again, giving new life and joy.

The third interpretation may well be about the death of a person. Each of us comes from one eternal Source, i.e. Allah SWT. Knowing that He is within us (i.e. we spend our time to be devoted to Him), we shouldn’t be weeping about someone’s death right? Because whoever dies will come back to the one and only Source.

Perhaps you have another interpretation? I’d love to know! 🙂

Today, I got a phone call from a contact person at TU/e and he said that they’ve decided to sponsor our event, Eindhoven League!!! I’ve been stressing out that we may not be able to get enough sponsors for this event so this is quite significant!!! They’ve chosen the platinum sponsor which amounts 2,500 euro!!! OMG! I can’t be happier! Alhamdulillah! 🙂 A great achievement!

I couldn’t believe my eyes when one day I received SIX postcards at once! It turned out my CouchSurfing friend (who surfed at my place last year), Vinda, was the one who sent me all these postcards!!! Wew, she’s been traveling a lot! Paris, Budapest, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, and Bratislava. Here are the two out of six postcards:

A high school friend of mine, Wiza, has been traveling in (some parts of) Europe and North Africa, among them were Morocco and Spain. Good thing she sent me this postcard from Fuerteventura, because I’ve got some postcards from Spain already… 🙂 She’s supposed to be in the Netherlands this week, so I’m still waiting for her call to meet up!

Last but not least, a postcard from Machu Picchu!!! I doubt I’ll ever go there, but oh well, don’t ever stop dreaming hehehe. This is one of my favorite postcards!!! Thanks Ikmal!

My heart will never seek another heart,
Or smell another flower, knowing you.
Your love has made heart’s field a desert waste;
No love other than yours grows in that place

— Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Such a powerful and beautiful poem that describes about Rumi’s love of the Divine. I wonder if such love exists between human beings? 🙂

I’ve had little memories of my years in Egypt. Yes, I was born there. But I only lived there for 4 years until 1989. I managed to visit the country for a month in 1997, but sadly I didn’t have that much things to remember. We were there during summer, making it harder to enjoy our travel as it was SOOOO hot!

So I’m planning to come back. I’ve been planning to come back for so long. The one city that I’ve been wanting to visit is definitely Luxor. I’ve been to Alexandria and Suez, but I’ve never been to any cities in southern part of Egypt. I want to see Abu Simbel toooo! (and all temples around Aswan!)

Wait for me, Egypt. I’ll be back for the third time. I’ll visit the New Egypt, insya Allah.

Oh soul,
you worry too much.
You have seen your own strength.
You have seen your own beauty.
You have seen your golden wings.

Of anything less,
why do you worry?
You are in truth
the soul, of the soul, of the soul.

— Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Though I’m busy with thesis, I don’t want to completely disappear from the world. Most of my friends do that and I don’t think I’ll be able to afford that. There needs to be a balance in everything. Thesis, social life, organization activities, and faith/religion. Ya Allah, I won’t be able to do this without You. Always guide and help me please :).