Warchild

Introducing my cool new e-book! It's sixteen pages long, with 12 poems and cool photos of me as a kid.

It's available for $2.50 and you can find the link on my sidebar. (Sorry to all my honeybugs who've had to deal with me posting about this everywhere). I worked really hard on this and there are some silly pictures so I hope that if you do purchase it, you will like it! ♡

—

I had such a busy day with my aunt today! (I'm going to explain my family tree to you guys so that you don't have to get huge headaches every single time I talk about them).

I'm most involved with my family from my mom's side. My mom is the youngest in her family and has four older siblings. From first to last and the names of who they're married to and what I call them. The plus sign means they're married to that person. I also listed their kids (ie my cousins) too.

NAME (what I call them) + NAME (what I call them) 

>kid

>kid
>kid

Listiyani (Wa Ie) + Herman (Wa Tio) // JOGJAKARTA

>Riris

>Ratri
>Reza

Ariany (Ji Ie) + Achung (Ji Tio/Om Achung) // PEKALONGAN

>Vicky

>Feli
>Adi
>Bella

Benny (Ku Benny) + Yulianti (Kim Yuli) // SERPONG

>Kevin

>Cynthia
>Josephine

Liliaswari (Ie Lili) + Thomas (Om Thomas) // JAKARTA

>Clive

>Jovan
>David

and then my mom:

Prajnawati (Mami) + Tirta (Papi) // TEXAS

>Theodora

>Matthew
>Evan
>Ansel

So that's all my family from my mother's side. And since I'm in Jogja, I'm now with Wa Ie and Wa Tio.

This afternoon we went to deliver rambutan to the local seminaries in Jogja, as a sort of welcoming gift for the new year. Afterwards we picked up an old Royal typewriter from Wa Ie's friend. It's at least thirty years old but seems to be in good working condition. The ink was all dried out, so we stopped by a crafts store near our house and bought an ink reel. I'm excited to use it and expect to start writing tomorrow! Wish me luck.

After we delivered the last of the rambutan baskets we went to one of the local churches in Yogyakarta to pray. My aunt lit three candles, I cozied up in a chair behind her, and then we began praying separately. If you're curious, I'm nondenominational Christian (I think I've mentioned this before) and she's Catholic. I'm trying to be more grounded in my faith, and more open with it too. After such an odd beginning to the year I can't help but be comforted by God and by the love of my aunt who has been praying for me each night without fail for over two years. (Without her I don't think I would have the second chance that I do in this lovely country).

There's so much work to be done and lately I'm often feeling overwhelmed (that sensation of being trailed by heavy blankets comes and goes). I think I'll do my best to focus more on school so that I can do better next semester. I still don't know if I'm going to stay at Swiss German University or if I'm going to move somewhere else, but I'm sure that as long as I believe in the best, everything will turn out alright. 

Living in Indonesia is a strange experience that continues to surprise me each day. Having such a large family is both wonderful and headache-inducing. We're all going to Pekalongan this February for Chinese New Year, and I'm very excited for that because I'll be able to see my mother's side of the family all at once (excepting, of course, my own immediate family). 

That wild flirtation with Manis came to an abrupt end the other day. It was fascinating, truthfully: like watching something explode in slow-motion while you are only a meter from it. There are no more stolen hours or New Year's Kisses to be exchanged between the two of us—only mild disappointment and halfhearted "I'll miss you"s. Now we are miles away, each watching the wreckage from our respective little enclaves.

On a very random and perhaps heartwarming note, I was up very late last night watching Cardcaptor Sakura. I wasn't sure if I'd watched all the episodes so I thought I'd reminisce a bit. Turns out I definitely have watched all the episodes (there are 70) but it was still so much fun watching their adventures with the Clow/Sakura cards. I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where magic is tangible.

(I am currently boiling yams to eat with my aunt and that is very exciting. I live for these little joys).

All my love,

Ebi

Literary Babies

 There are two parts to this post: first, I'll tell you stories about my lovely weekend vacation with Rain, and then, I'll talk about my New Year's Eve.

Channeling my Doctor Eggman.

I love this photo so so much. 

at Ace House in Jogjakarta!

This was homemade wine, and absolutely wonderful, and after 3 cup-things I got tipsy.

I'M SCREAMING BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW THIS PHOTO WAS BEING TAKEN.

So if you didn't know, my face gets really really red as soon as alcohol enters my system.

Boys Will Be Boys.

Rain's mother's friend (whew) has a villa in Seyegan, which is a part of Jogja, and that's where we stayed from 27 December to 39 December. We talked about boys (of course) and ate lovely, lovely food, and we also went to Beringharjo to find typewriters for Rain and her wonderful German boyfriend. I had my own things to do, which I will...refrain from telling about.

—

My deers, it is now officially 2016 everywhere in the world. If you're reading this, I would like to congratulate you for making it into this year. It's now been a year since my SA, and funnily enough, I think I'm doing much better this time around. 

How was my New Year's Eve? Well, I went to dinner on the 30th to a Japanese restaurant, courtesy of someone's (let's call him Manis) family. Have you ever been to dinner with a very large group of people you have mostly never met before? It is nerve-wracking, and my anxiety acted up quite a bit that night.

Fortunately, I and some distant relatives and 2 of my cousins left early to watch Ip Man 3, which made me cry three times and which I recommend.

On the 31st at around 19:00 Manis' family started their New Year's celebration at the Wisma Pojok Indah, which is the guest house across the street from my aunt's house and which she helps run. (It's a large guest house). All in all it was a grand celebration, and I was able to talk more to Manis' family members, who are funny and sweet, if a little odd. Still wholly intimidating, but somehow it worked out. 

Anyways, it was a lovely New Year's Eve, and those of you who subscribe to my newsletter know what else happened 2 days ago.

2015 was a wild year, honestly. It involved so much self-discovery, self-reflection, anger, and heartbreak. I fell in and out of love. I ended the longest relationship I've had to date. I went through the ordeal of getting an Indonesian student visa. I slowly improved my Indonesian (that's ongoing). I met Madina and Rain and Moz and, of course, Manis, and so many other people that made my days so beautiful. I am saying goodbye to 2015 and all of its happenings. You were kind to me, monumentally so. 

And 2016, you young beast which will inevitably plague me and simultaneously bring me awful joy, I welcome you. Here's to more sleepless nights giggling because of corny jokes, and to stolen hours full of joy, to stories we don't expect. There will be many anxious days and debilitating loss, I'm sure, but the sun will still rise and we will move forward, together, wondering constantly at the infinite beauty that surrounds us. I am so eager to celebrate this life, and I hope that part of you is, too.

With all my love,

Theodora