Nur Shafa melirik pada gadis di sebelahnya. Heran melihatnya tidur bahkan sejak pesawat baru mulai lepas landas dari Bandara Abu Dhabi. Head set masih terbungkus rapi, diselipkan begitu saja di antara buku-buku panduan keamanan. Personal TV yang menyuguhkan berbagai hiburan tak menarik perhatiannya sama sekali.
“Mbak, mbak! Mau makan apa?”
Gadis itu sedikit membuka kelopak matanya. Membuka selimut yang terbentang menutup tubuhnya. Kakinya sekarang bergerak perlahan ke bawah sementara tangannya menyiapkan alas tempat makan dari kursi depannya.
“Saya pilih yang menu ikan, please!” katanya singkat setelah melihat daftar menu.
Tahi lalat besar sekarang terlihat di dagu kanannya. Matanya masih sayu, lelah sekali sepertinya.
“Dari mana mbak?” Tanya Nur.
“Maksudnya asal atau berangkat dari mana?” Gadis itu balik bertanya.
“Dua-duanya”.
“Owh asalku dari Jogja tapi terbang dari Swedia”.
“Kalau di Saudi gajinya berapa?”
Gadis berkerudung hitam itu berhenti mengunyah dan menatap Nur, ”Swedia”.
Menangkap raut kebingungan di wajah Nur, dia berpaling pada Personal TV di depannya. Gambar peta dunia terlihat di sana.
“Swedia itu di sini”, Tunjuknya, ”Eropa Utara”.
Nur masih bingung. Dia masih saja mengira bahwa gadis bertahi lalat itu adalah TKW, Tenaga Kerja Wanita, seperti dirinya. Dia menanyakan berapa lama perjalanan untuk ke Abu Dhabi dari Swedia dan apa yang dilakukannya di sana.
“Saya baru akan bekerja”.
Setelah itu masing-masing sibuk dengan makanan di hadapan mereka. menu utama, buah, puding, biskuit, dan segelas air putih. Pramugari datang lagi mendekat, menawarkan segelas teh, kopi atau coklat hangat. Nur memilih untuk meminum teh sedangkan gadis di sebelahnya minta segelas coklat.
“Namanya siapa mbak?”, Sambil mengajak berjabat tangan.
“Nur Shafa”.
“Saya Nurul”.
Nama depan mereka sama, menggunakan kata dasar Nur yang berarti cahaya dalam Bahasa Arab. Umur merekapun sebaya, Nur 28 tahun sedangkan Nurul 26. Hanya saja nasib mereka berdua berbeda. Nur adalah seorang TKW sedangkan Nurul mahasiswa. Perbedaan ini semula terkesan menghalangi pembicaraan mereka. Namun keduanya saling memiliki ketertarikan terhadap lawan bicaranya.
Di satu sisi, Nur tidak habis mengerti mengapa ada seorang wanita, single, yang jauh-jauh pergi ke Swedia untuk menuntut ilmu. Padahal umurnya 26 tahun. Tak jelas apakah beruntung atau perlu dikasihani. Beruntung karena bisa berjalan-jalan bebas seorang diri sampai ke ujung dunia. Ataukah perlu dikasihani karena masih sendiri dan masih saja bersekolah. Di sisi lain, Nurul juga tidak paham mengenai hidup seorang TKW muda. Apalagi setelah tahu Nur sudah mempunyai anak yang berusia 14 tahun. Ini berarti dia menikah di usia 14 tahun.
“Rasanya gimana mbak, masih sekolah dan sendiri?”
Nurul hanya mengedikkan bahu dan tersenyum sekilas, tak tahu harus mengatakan apa. Tapi akhirnya dia menjelaskan bahwa hidup itu mengalir. Apa yang ada di hadapannya itulah yang harus di hadapi. Tidak perlu repot memikirkan hal- hal yang belum ditakdirkan. Jatahnya sekolah ya sekolah. Harus kerja ya kerja. Kalau memang belum menemukan jodoh ya terima saja status ‘single’. Semua ada waktu dan tempatnya.
* * *
Ryd Centrum. Gadis berkerudung hitam itu membacanya di halte bus tempatnya berhenti. Dia membaca lagi sebuah sms petunjuk di HP Samsungnya.
“Naik bus no 3 dan turun di Ryd centrum,” Bunyi sms itu.
Tangannya sibuk menekan tombol-tombol di Hpnya, berusaha menghubungi seseorang.
“Aku sudah di Ryd Centrum,” Katanya.
Matanya sekarang menatap sekitarnya. Berusaha mengenali area baru di sekitarnya. Daerah ini adalah daerah tempat tinggal mahasiswa di Linköping. Area pertokoan kecil ada di belakang halte bus tempatnya berdiri. Ia berjalan menjauh untuk melihat seberapa besar toko itu. Kemudian berjalan bebalik melewati halte bus. Di sebelah kirinya terdapat sebuah tempat parkir.
Ia memasukkan tangannya ke dalam saku jaket setelah melirik jam tangannya. Pukul 13.00. Angin memang bertiup kencang. Hujan baru saja berhenti sehingga suasana terasa lembab dan menyejukkan. Bulan Juni ini memang terasa aneh. Awal Bulan sempat suhu mencapai di atas 20 celcius. Tapi seminggu ini suhu turun lagi berkisar 10 sampai 18 celcius.
Di dalam halte, seorang gadis kecil terus menatapnya dan tertawa ke arah seorang wanita di sampingnya. Kembali menatapnya. Jaket yang dikenakan gadis berkerudung itu memang sama dengan yang digunakan oleh wanita di halte itu. Bagian lengan berwarna hitam dan merah muda di tengah. Tulisan ‘mount Everest’ terdapat di dada kirinya.
Sepuluh menit kemudian seorang gadis muda mendekatinya dari belakang.
“Salam, my sister!”
“Wa’alaikum salam warahmatullah”, Senyumnya terkembang melihat sosok berkerudung merah menyala di hadapannya. Sesaat mereka berpelukan dan menatap satu sama lain. Saling mengucapkan sanjungan untuk membuka percakapan.
Mereka berjalan beriringan menuju tempat tinggal gadis berkerudung merah. Ia telah memasak khusus untuk tamunya. Saling bertukar kabar waktu yang terlewat dan mengenang saat pertama bertemu. Meski itulah satu-satunya pertemuan mereka di Bulan Oktober 2007. Itu adalah pertemuan mereka sebagai sesama penerima beasiswa Swedish Institute. Setelah itu, komunikasi melalui surel (surat elektronik), sms dan sesekali telepon lebih mendominasi.
Mereka tiba di sebuah ruang berkumpul yang hangat. Melewati meja makan, ia duduk di Sofa yang nyaman menghadap sebuah TV. Dari dapur, kedua tangan temannya kini sibuk mengangkat sebuah panci.
“Nurul, kuharap kau suka makanan berbumbu,” Kata Nurangez Abdulhamidova, 28 tahun.
“Tentu saja tidak masalah. Itu seperti nasi goreng?”
Kemudian Nurangez menjelaskan bahwa itu adalah makanan tradisional Tajikistan. Mereka menikmati makanan itu bersama sambil bergantian bercerita. Bahan pembicaraan apapun terasa menyenangkan. Setelah dua tahun berselang, setelah beberapa kali berusaha bertemu. Mereka akrab bercerita mengenai kuliah mereka, rencana masa depan, mimpi, dan keluarga mereka. Ayah dan ibu Nurangez adalah dokter spesialis penyakit dalam. Ia sendiri mempelajari hubungan kerjasama antara uni eropa dan negara-negara pecahan Uni Soviet.
“Aku berencana bekerja di Tajikistan setelah ini. Mungkin di sebuah lembaga internasional”, Katanya.
Dengan latar belakang keluarga yang berkecukupan, sebenarnya ia tak perlu terburu-buru untuk mencari pekerjaan.
“Wah ide bagus itu. Aku juga tertarik. Tapi saat ini obsesiku adalah menulis. Kurasa aku tidak akan menyesali hidupku jika aku bisa rutin menulis”.
Waktu bergulir terlalu cepat. Hingga akhirnya mereka memutuskan untuk ke IKEA. IKEA adalah manufacturer dan retailer perlengkapan rumah tangga terbesar di dunia. Nurul sangat menyukai untuk mengunjungi IKEA. Kebetulan ada bus gratis yang bisa mengantar mereka ke sana setiap hari Sabtu dan minggu.
Empat jam di Linköping berlalu dengan cepat. Nurul harus segera ke stasiun untuk kembali ke Norrköping. Di sana teman- teman PPI, Perkumpulan Pelajar Indonesia, berkumpul. Ia harus kembali ke sana untuk mengucapkan selamat tinggal kepada teman-temannya dan mengambil tasnya. Sore itu juga ia harus kembali ke Stockholm. Perjalanan panjang lain akan menyambutnya besok pagi. Mulai dari Stockholm ke Frankfurt kemudian Abu Dhabi, Jakarta dan terakhir Yogyakarta.
Tulisan ini hanya sekedar coretan mengenai tiga wanita bernama Nur, cahaya. Sama-sama berada di luar negri untuk kurun waktu tertentu. Sama- sama berusaha mewujudkan cita-citanya meski mempunya cerita dan latar belakang yang berbeda.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Seven things I miss the most from Sweden
1. Thermometer
This is about one of the most frequent topic of conversation in Sweden. Swedes really like to talk about current or forecast weather. Simple sentence like, “Today is so sunny, isn’t it?” will be enough for you to start a conversation. Besides, you need to check thermometer to start your day. Make sure that you read the number in it before you go to the store or visit your friends, to work or whatever. This is basic survival kit you should be familiar with.
One day, I misread this tool. I was in a rush to catch a lecture in the morning. I was pretty happy to read that the temperature was minus two.”Wuaoo it’s warmer than yesterday,” I said to two of my koridor mates. They were Swedes. I remember how they stared each other after i said that sentence. I wondered what wrong was with my sentence while walking out of the building.
Several steps were enough to answer my hidden question, ”It must be below minus 18”. My nose told me. It was difficult for me to breath. I could feel the hair in my nose became sticky or icy maybe. I needed to cover my nostrils with scarf which i didn’t wear at that time. Fortunately, i wear veil. It helped me to solve this problem. At least i understood why my friends stared each other. It shocked them to hear minus 22 was warmer than minus 24 from an Asian student like me.
2. Banan, Apelsin Choklad, ICA
ICA is Sweden. We can find this supermarket easily throughout this country. From ICA in Ålidhem, i often ate banana (Banan in Swedish) for free. They provide several baskets of these fruit in the entrance. Well prepared food to provide instant energy in the easiest way that we can find.
“Nurul, i need sugar”. When they said sugar, it referred to chocolate. All i can say was i had it in my bag, always. Don’t ever think that i ate chocolate that much. I had it just in case i need to boost my sugar level. But most of the time, it seemed that i was their logistic officer who can provide them chocolate. And they will never complain because the only option that they had was apelsin (orange flavoured) chocolate.
3. UniversitetBibliotek
As a public health student, most of my friends went to medical library. But don’t expect me to be there. I rarely went to this library, not even once in my second year study. I felt more and most comfortable to be in university library, universitetbibliotek. I could be there for hours. I left this place after i heard an announcement from the officer, 15 minutes before they closed, 10 pm. I walked 20 minutes easily just to be there, to be in magazine room, silent room or research room. Browsing the internet, reading magazine, meeting with friends in a cozy cafetaria upstairs. I called this place as ’my beloved place’.
4. IKSU
I never thought before that I took a double degree master program. One was master in public health (Umea International School of Public Health_UISPH) and second was master in IKSU (MI). Hehehe IKSU is a sport centre, the biggest one in north Europe. Surprisingly, it lies in Umeå, a north and small town. I was glad to be there. I was member for two years. One or two times per week i spent my time in this place with one till two hours training each.
I continued practicing yoga routinely. I practiced several new sports e.g body balance (mixture between tai chi, pilates and yoga), pilates, beach volley ball, squash, badminton, etc.
We, me and some UISPH colleagues, played badminton each Sunday or Saturday for two hours in two courts. I had special time with Anne Neuman each Saturday 10 am in Lissabon room for body balance. I played squash for many times with her and Ailiana Santosa also.
5. IKEA
I could spend hours in IKEA without buying anything, gladly. Even though i had only three chances to be there within two years. First, i visited IKEA Stockholm and then Sundvall with Nawi Ng Family. In my last moment in Sweden, i visited IKEA Linköping. A free bus took me and my friend, Nurangez Abdulhaminova, from Ryd Centrum. I really like the concepts that they have, simple but elegant. I wish i can be there again. I brought some catalogues back home.
6. SJ
SJ, Statens Järnvägar, is a train company that is operated in Sweden. My first trip using this train was done on June 2008 from Stockholm to Linköping. It followed by several special memories also. One day i was lost in Stockholm. I should take a train to Akalla instead of Hjulsta. But i was too sleepy to recognize the difference. To make things worse, that train was the last train for that day, around 00.30 am. Fortunately, a very nice train driver took me to Rinkeby. He tried to help me to get night bus with commuter train. I was so impressed, that long and sophisticated train was moved in order to help me. And i stood next to him, in the very front space of the train.
Other story was about my ambitious trip on March 2009. I Travelled to Stockholm, Göteborg, Lund, Copenhagen, Malmo, Uppsala and back to Umeå. It costed only 600SEK in total, the same amount to get one way ticket to Stockholm, sometimes. It was done in the middle of my thesis. I got my supervisor’s permission to do this.
” My advice is to continue your trip”, He said.
In Lund, i changed my mind to skip Uppsala. I booked a ticket, direct from Lund to Umeå. But then i visited my friend in Malmo and i forgot where i was. The departure time that i kept in mind was the time from Lund (It takes 10 minutes only from Lund to Malmo). That was why i was late. It was so closed. I was there to see the train’s doors were closed. I saw the train moved slowly. “Good bye 600SEK”, I said to myself for the price of the ticket that i bought.
I continued my first plan to go to Uppsala. Unfortunately, the train was late for one and half hours to Stockholm. I couldn’t catch the last train to go to Uppsala. But SJ was so nice, they arranged a taxi for me to use. I also got a voucher 99SEK as compensation.
One other miracle was my trip to Linköping. I really wish to see my friend from Tajikistan. We tried several times to meet each other for two years. So June 2009 was my last opportunity to see her. I went to SJ Machine to book return ticket from Norrköping to Linköping. But no seat was available. But i was sure, there must be some empty seats. I asked to the officer. She suggested me to buy tickets on board. Luckily, i met no officer until i arrived. I got a ticket for free for the first time. :d
7. System Bolaget
It doesn’t mean that i am addicted to alcohol. I avoid drinking this liquid. But to be in Sweden is to know about their alcohol regulation. Monopoly system was used to sell alcohol in Sweden. You have to be older than 18 years old to buy a bottle of alcohol. This is a way to control alcohol consumption. One successful story of how public health influence to the whole community. Friday and Saturday evening are two most common days to be drunk.
I remember, i went to System Bolaget in Vasaplan, downtown, with Sasi. We wanted to buy free alcohol wine either red or white. Both of us were blind about wine. It took more than 10 minutes to choose. But one officer kept starring at us from the time we entered until we went to the cashier.
I just can smile at him. In my mind i think he asked to himself,” Am i drunk already to see two moslems wearing veil in system bolaget? Surprisingly being drunk without a single shot of alcohol?” hehehe
This is about one of the most frequent topic of conversation in Sweden. Swedes really like to talk about current or forecast weather. Simple sentence like, “Today is so sunny, isn’t it?” will be enough for you to start a conversation. Besides, you need to check thermometer to start your day. Make sure that you read the number in it before you go to the store or visit your friends, to work or whatever. This is basic survival kit you should be familiar with.
One day, I misread this tool. I was in a rush to catch a lecture in the morning. I was pretty happy to read that the temperature was minus two.”Wuaoo it’s warmer than yesterday,” I said to two of my koridor mates. They were Swedes. I remember how they stared each other after i said that sentence. I wondered what wrong was with my sentence while walking out of the building.
Several steps were enough to answer my hidden question, ”It must be below minus 18”. My nose told me. It was difficult for me to breath. I could feel the hair in my nose became sticky or icy maybe. I needed to cover my nostrils with scarf which i didn’t wear at that time. Fortunately, i wear veil. It helped me to solve this problem. At least i understood why my friends stared each other. It shocked them to hear minus 22 was warmer than minus 24 from an Asian student like me.
2. Banan, Apelsin Choklad, ICA
ICA is Sweden. We can find this supermarket easily throughout this country. From ICA in Ålidhem, i often ate banana (Banan in Swedish) for free. They provide several baskets of these fruit in the entrance. Well prepared food to provide instant energy in the easiest way that we can find.
“Nurul, i need sugar”. When they said sugar, it referred to chocolate. All i can say was i had it in my bag, always. Don’t ever think that i ate chocolate that much. I had it just in case i need to boost my sugar level. But most of the time, it seemed that i was their logistic officer who can provide them chocolate. And they will never complain because the only option that they had was apelsin (orange flavoured) chocolate.
3. UniversitetBibliotek
As a public health student, most of my friends went to medical library. But don’t expect me to be there. I rarely went to this library, not even once in my second year study. I felt more and most comfortable to be in university library, universitetbibliotek. I could be there for hours. I left this place after i heard an announcement from the officer, 15 minutes before they closed, 10 pm. I walked 20 minutes easily just to be there, to be in magazine room, silent room or research room. Browsing the internet, reading magazine, meeting with friends in a cozy cafetaria upstairs. I called this place as ’my beloved place’.
4. IKSU
I never thought before that I took a double degree master program. One was master in public health (Umea International School of Public Health_UISPH) and second was master in IKSU (MI). Hehehe IKSU is a sport centre, the biggest one in north Europe. Surprisingly, it lies in Umeå, a north and small town. I was glad to be there. I was member for two years. One or two times per week i spent my time in this place with one till two hours training each.
I continued practicing yoga routinely. I practiced several new sports e.g body balance (mixture between tai chi, pilates and yoga), pilates, beach volley ball, squash, badminton, etc.
We, me and some UISPH colleagues, played badminton each Sunday or Saturday for two hours in two courts. I had special time with Anne Neuman each Saturday 10 am in Lissabon room for body balance. I played squash for many times with her and Ailiana Santosa also.
5. IKEA
I could spend hours in IKEA without buying anything, gladly. Even though i had only three chances to be there within two years. First, i visited IKEA Stockholm and then Sundvall with Nawi Ng Family. In my last moment in Sweden, i visited IKEA Linköping. A free bus took me and my friend, Nurangez Abdulhaminova, from Ryd Centrum. I really like the concepts that they have, simple but elegant. I wish i can be there again. I brought some catalogues back home.
6. SJ
SJ, Statens Järnvägar, is a train company that is operated in Sweden. My first trip using this train was done on June 2008 from Stockholm to Linköping. It followed by several special memories also. One day i was lost in Stockholm. I should take a train to Akalla instead of Hjulsta. But i was too sleepy to recognize the difference. To make things worse, that train was the last train for that day, around 00.30 am. Fortunately, a very nice train driver took me to Rinkeby. He tried to help me to get night bus with commuter train. I was so impressed, that long and sophisticated train was moved in order to help me. And i stood next to him, in the very front space of the train.
Other story was about my ambitious trip on March 2009. I Travelled to Stockholm, Göteborg, Lund, Copenhagen, Malmo, Uppsala and back to Umeå. It costed only 600SEK in total, the same amount to get one way ticket to Stockholm, sometimes. It was done in the middle of my thesis. I got my supervisor’s permission to do this.
” My advice is to continue your trip”, He said.
In Lund, i changed my mind to skip Uppsala. I booked a ticket, direct from Lund to Umeå. But then i visited my friend in Malmo and i forgot where i was. The departure time that i kept in mind was the time from Lund (It takes 10 minutes only from Lund to Malmo). That was why i was late. It was so closed. I was there to see the train’s doors were closed. I saw the train moved slowly. “Good bye 600SEK”, I said to myself for the price of the ticket that i bought.
I continued my first plan to go to Uppsala. Unfortunately, the train was late for one and half hours to Stockholm. I couldn’t catch the last train to go to Uppsala. But SJ was so nice, they arranged a taxi for me to use. I also got a voucher 99SEK as compensation.
One other miracle was my trip to Linköping. I really wish to see my friend from Tajikistan. We tried several times to meet each other for two years. So June 2009 was my last opportunity to see her. I went to SJ Machine to book return ticket from Norrköping to Linköping. But no seat was available. But i was sure, there must be some empty seats. I asked to the officer. She suggested me to buy tickets on board. Luckily, i met no officer until i arrived. I got a ticket for free for the first time. :d
7. System Bolaget
It doesn’t mean that i am addicted to alcohol. I avoid drinking this liquid. But to be in Sweden is to know about their alcohol regulation. Monopoly system was used to sell alcohol in Sweden. You have to be older than 18 years old to buy a bottle of alcohol. This is a way to control alcohol consumption. One successful story of how public health influence to the whole community. Friday and Saturday evening are two most common days to be drunk.
I remember, i went to System Bolaget in Vasaplan, downtown, with Sasi. We wanted to buy free alcohol wine either red or white. Both of us were blind about wine. It took more than 10 minutes to choose. But one officer kept starring at us from the time we entered until we went to the cashier.
I just can smile at him. In my mind i think he asked to himself,” Am i drunk already to see two moslems wearing veil in system bolaget? Surprisingly being drunk without a single shot of alcohol?” hehehe
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