Sabtu

Kami menghabiskan waktu seharian dengan Nathan. Mencamil stok makanannya, memakan tteokbokki yang ia masak (dan lalu saya tumpahkan di boneka Bastetnya), membeli gantungan dan lem di Daiso Menteng Huis, menyantap masakan Indonesia untuk makan malam, dan melintasi pusat Jakarta untuk menuju Bundaran HI—tempat kami akhirnya berpisah jalan. Banyak makanan, beragam percakapan. Hari itu menarik (Nathan orangnya menarik).

It had been a long time since we spend a day unstructuredly with other people. We—I—thought our days of unstructured socializing were behind us. We're older: we got things to do, relatives to visit, obligations to fill. So the last time we had long conversations was when we were hiking Ciremai and Gede (so it's been too long). Hiking is ideal for long conversations: we did that with Cori, Laurie, Chantal and Willy at different times. It's not that we can't have interesting conversations while staying put. Now that we have our own place we've had a great time having Akshay, Cesar, Monica, Kunto, Shu Min, and others coming over. Those were nice, but ambling around a city with a friend whom you shared a history were nice too.

Maka saya pulang dengan sekerat rasa sendu. Banyak teman menarik di Jakarta, sementara Boston jauhnya tak terkira. Sayang kita tak bisa memiliki segalanya.