Olinda

A: Hey Yoseph, guess what?
Y: What? (uh oh...)
A: You'll be working at Olinda next week
Y: Woww!! (oh my..)
A: Yeap, and you'll be the coordinator
Y: Oh wow!! (oooh my God!!)
A: And you'll also be the night guard at Olinda
Y: Whoow!! (oh my dear Lord.. no!!)

well, I will have to work at Olinda next week...
and I just know that sooner or later I will be given this task..

Olinda is a place for families located at Ameugny, a neighbouring village 10 minutes walk from Taize.
It's not about the distance or the families that worries me.. it's the children!!
I will be responsible for all the children there for the whole week and defo willl be part of the animation team who has to do all this skits and drama for them, not to mention playing with them during bible discussions for their parents...

Another bonus is that I will have to sleep there as well.. which means that I will be all alone during the night.. it's not what I'm hoping for sure..but then again, I know this is part of the moulding and shaping process which IB hav to endure.

But IB believe that it is the best for me.
And since it's the best for me, I hope that I can make the best of myself for them...

It's gonna be a fun week!

T-Spot

yesterday Sixto just showed me the T spot. his best spot in Taize, and I have to agree with him..
Now I have the best T-spot here..awesome! 

Aber du Weisst

Stefan

He's an Austrian permanent guy and his story is just amazing, and he's a very nice guy with only one hand..
will update the story later... and I think I might go to Austria once my Taize time is over... this is way cool!

mental handicapped and social work

Hein

walk on water

welcome to the world

Tricolore

tricolore

Quinta!!

that's her name.. strange for a dutch name, but she's fascinating. She came here two days ago and from the moment I saw here I knew that there is something interesting about her. Coincidencely I was the one who welcomed her in the church and from then on my eyes are set on her, especially during prayer time when I can see her more often. Normally she has a spot near to where I sit btw =P

She's just so adorable, sweet and beautiful, and people have been talking about her, even the Petite Morada boys too. In the church people can't stop looking at her and there's this guy who approached me and asked me things about her, which I can only answer by a smile =D. She came with an epileptic old man and her job is to help this guy when his epileptic symptoms occured since she knows when it will happen..pretty amazing I have to say, coz she can really calm this man down from his symptoms, or at least help him take his medication before the symptoms occur...

She didn't talk much compare to the guy... but yet above all people this week.. she's the one that captured both my eyes and this is gonna be an interesting week.... at least will be different then other weeks... we'll see how this progress and let's see how many much I can write about her.. dunno her age tho, but maybe it's not that important anyway...

Well today she didn't showed up in church. apparently the guy's symptoms broke out since yesterday evening until today.. so I didn't get to see her, hope to see both of them during evening prayer though...

so about the epileptic attack, it happened around 30 minutes and it needed half a day to recover... but they showed up in the evening prayer and I got to chat with them for a while...

she has been working for this guy for three years now and he told me that before quinta worked for him everytime the epileptic attack came he had to go to a hospital but ever since quinta was there he never has to go to hospital anymore...

from all the stories I heard, it's quite obvious that Quinta is very patient...and I mean very very very patient, something in which I need to learn at this point of time....

the story finally continued, or ended? probably the second fits in better...

well, i didnt meet her that often during the weekend.. mostly just in the church during prayer time.. and I saw the epileptic strike a few days ago.. on thursday the more exact.. and it was a bad one... she had to accompanied this guy for a looong time and can't do nothing much.. what a pitty...but she already tried to warned him before it happened but it was a bit late...

one of this guy's friend told me that the latest strike had make the guy rested for 2 days because it was really tiring for this guy after the strike.. there was a metal placed in this guy's chest that needs to be electrified whenever the strike is about to happened because it was part of the brain that cause this deseace and it can be calmed down by electrifying it... and since Quinta knows when it will happen, she has been a life savior to him eversince...in fact, if it were not for Quinta, the guy might not be alive anymore now...

and now she's gone.. I will never see her again in the church, being so nice, sweet and silent...
she left with the whole other 800 people who were here the whole week..
too bad I didn't get the chance to take a picture with her...

oh, btw, she a golden retriever.. a very sweet and adorable golden retriever...
how often do you get to see a dog in the church..
and she never barked in the church, not even once...

the end

2nd Week Schedule

so, this is my second week schedule...
8.15 morning prayer
9.0 breakfast with Petite Morada boys
9.45 - 12.0 El Abiodh Kitchen Cuisine
12.3 midday prayer
15.0 -17.0 Church Work (too many sweet girls helping in the afernoon church, distracting, and way too many people =D)
19.0 supper with the brothers
20.3 evening prayer

Every Monday/Tuesday and Friday there are always a bible study for the volunteers...
The weather so far this week has been wonderful! and I'm enjoying more of my stay here too
This week I have time to play some Freesbee with the boys though, and we plan to do it regularly.. thank God =D

First Week

First week has ended, thank God... pretty slow in adapting this time... things are just not the same and I need to put in more efforts than before.. which I didn't do much apparently ...
Heart issues.. well I think I was still having heart issues, haven't done yet over the past months..

The weather were pretty much not so friendly for the whole week, and yesterday was the worst, 13 degrees in the beginning of summer. What a summer!

And the food, despite I'm lovin' it so much, think gave my stomach some additional acid and gas.. So I skipped supper today just to sleep. and it was a wonderful powernap.. a looooooong nap that was hahaha...

Several farewells for Melvin, Milda and Michael.. a good M's coincidene this week...how wonderful.
I hoped I blend in well with the Petite Morada boys.. certanly haven't got time to talk much with Jose...
but hopefully this week will hae more fun with them..

So, second week is here, better put vitality, strength, excitement, joy and compassion in to place now!

The not so good Sunday

Everytime  you go to church on Sundays, people always greeted you and say "happy Sunday"... I always wonder why they only do it on Sundays and not on other days. But in Taize, Sunday is definitely not so good for the pilgrimage (or we called them people in the fields) because it's farewell day.. since Saturday evening you can see sad faces around and the cold weather really help their mellow mood... after the Sunday Eucharist you can see tears and more sad faces around.. people hugging and just never wanting to leave this place... and Michael, the German permanent also leaves today too.. and yea, I always never like farewells...
but at the other hand, Sundays are good for the permanents (volunteers) coz they can finally take a break from a very busy week of work.. but still most of us think that Sundays are not so good here.. way to emotional.. 

A kid Who Wants to Share his World and Life

I'm just like a naive little boy who wants to share everything in my life. All the excitements, joy, sorrow, tears and pain,.. it's all my life! and I want to share'em especially to people that I care about... sigh, or maybe I just suck at relationship... coz you know, what do a little boy know about relationship except for being selfish and self centered? forgive me, again...

Dream

Having finished reading Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture" book which was really inspiring, I jotted down all my dreams that I can think of, and here they are : (not in alphabetical order nor according to priority)
1. Have and put a Darth Vader or Storm Trooper or Batman (but off course!) costume and walk arund with pride =D
2. Design my own sport shoes
3. Having a Youth Center
4. Teaching children in villages or small islands, but overall, teaching
5. Doing ministry together with my love ones
6. Go to Anfield n watch Liverpool games
7. Open a restaurant, become a chef and have my own original recipe
8. Photography! photography!
9. Diving

Well, I still have more dreams but lets keep this number for now...some of them I have achieved, some of them just partially, but some others I haven't get the chance to do. And yep, being a pastor is not in the list, although I believe I can be a good one...

What's your dreams?

Temperature Drop

The temperature has dropped from 18 degrees to 13 today.. not much of a number but boy you can really feel the difference. I guess it doesn't only effected an Asian like me but to the whole community here too. my Asian skin is just trying to survive here.. it's freezing! Hope the sun and the 'so called' summer wiill show up soon..

settle

I guess what had happened to me lately really influenced me. Last year during my first week I would be jumping arund, having the hype and then feeling sad because I'm gonna miss my new friends, but now I'm just settling in... it took me four days to be able to be 'normal' again, and this is definitely not normal! well at least now I can enjoy everything in this beautiful hill with all the people around...n most importantly, to feel the peace again..

Michael

a small corner named insecurity

a

Food

I find that I'm always hungry and craving for food here.
Maybe it's just because of the weather (everyone seems to agree with this idea =D)...
well, here are the foods that I ate here,... so far....

Breakfast: French bread, butter (I really like butter!), chocolate bar and powder, cheese, jam, milk, coffee and tea. you just choose whatever you want
Lunch: Vegetables as appetizer, cellery, with olive oils and other spices, chipulatos (a kind of sausage), turkey, brat wurst (German sausage), bread, carrots, flower kol, mashed (and not mashed) potatoes, green beans, sometimes rice, chicken, yoghurt, fresh fruits and biscuits as desserts (+ fish and wine if you are eating with the brothers)
Supper: (always with the brothers) soup with bread, butter, cheese and boiled egg, lasagna, tisch, veggies and mostly similar main course and desserts.. normally for desserts we have canned fruits and off course coffee and tea never slips out from the table...
(to be continued)

farewell

I just hate farewells

trust

we dont need to know or to understand everything.
we just need to trust...

Melvin

He is an Indian permanent (volunteer) whom I met this week and we had to work together in the church. This guy is very particular and detailed. He wanted things to be done according to his way, or to how he knows or probably how he has been taught. He annoyed me sometimes coz for him it was like there's only one way to do things and that's it!... well I just smiled to him knowing  its part of what i have to learn here as well..

Looking at him managing people in the church last night i bet more people were annoyed by him, but there I found something and I can say I like this guy.. I believe he is a hard working and dedicated guy, kind and pure in heart. He's leaving today by the way, and I know him only for several days, but I know he's a good man and its my pleasure to meet him. I've  learned things from him and he's a friend to me now. Good luck for your next endeavour my friend. All the best to you..    

write

So many things to write, so little time!

Purple Umbrella

My purple umbrella just decided that it needs an adventure on its own and it has been move around the Taize compound without me eversince...
from a bunch of Lithuanian girls to an old lady, then to a single parent mom, then to I don't know who else...
never occured to me that an umbrella can be such a blessing for others...

Work Work Work

People think  that being in Taize you can relax and pray and pray and pray...
well guess again! Here we work more hours than ordinary people work.. It's actually more hectic and busier, and this is not summer, yet! Here is my schedule for this week..
8.15 morning prayer
9.00 breakfast with the Petite Morada boys
9.50 work in the church till 12.0
12.3 midday prayer
13.0 lunch at Tilleul with all male vounteers
15.0 bible introduction till 17.0
19.0 supper with the brothers and the boys
20.3 evening prayer till 21.3

well that's all.. but I still have other things to do, like yesterday, at 14.3 I was being interviewed for the Taize web video page (hopefully it gotten through, so you can see me in the Taize website hehe), then at 18.0 had a meeting with my contact brother... and after evening prayer met my junior from TTC who is having her intern here like me last year... and all that, if you stiill wanna hagout with the boys  to know them better, make sure you are in the common room with them.. so how many hours was left for myself? funny when people take time for granted and just waste them..
and again, this is not summer, yet! during supper one of the brother asked me what's my job this week, and when I describe him what I'm responsibe with, he just smile and said.. "ah, soft and easy start, no?" I smiled and nod as an ageement. so guess again when you think that we have plenty of time here...=D

work and pray, work and pray... this is the llife here...
I hope I can always see and give meaning in everything I do

Life is like a video game...

Paris

I arrived in Paris around 2pm and the immigration was never a problem here. The weather wasa just nice, around 21 - 22 degrees Celcius. On the way to Gare de Lyon (the train station) rain started to pour down, giving Paris a different ambiance, or a welcome for me?

Being in Paris, people always think about the Eiffel, NotreDame, Champs de' Elysse or the Louvre and say how romantic Paris is with their language. But for me, Paris pretty much reminded me of the 'Before Sunrise' and 'Before Sunset' movies... I'm dreaming  that I could re-live the scenes, walking down the aisles and alongside the riverbanks, crusing on the canals, drinking coffee at the same coffeeshop and off course watching the stars at the same garden.. pretty cool and romantic I should say..and by this I don't mean doing it alone for sure (nor with a guy) =D

But so far the one thing that I can't forget about Paris is the sound of the police sirens. It seemed that everyday at every hour at every part of the city you can just here those sirens...  

Departure

The Best is NOW! (and in the future too)

Endurance and Patience

Got it! gotta start working on it now! (altough it might take forever to succeed)

live and let learn

kita adalah manusia pembelajar yang terus belajar