HANZKY

I just went downstairs to the cafeteria to get some food..only to find out that it’s closed already..damnit..i’m starving here ..and it is super HOT out there jadi males banget keluar untung beli makan, lagian tanggung sih bentar lagi juga balik.. The school here started today..and that’s why I was so excited cause that means the cafeteria is going to be open..it’s been closed the whole summer since no body is here anyway, except on Friday. It was open this morning though, but it’s closed at 1.00..should’ve gone there earlier.


My job is going OK here..it’s been 3 months since I worked here, the people who work here and the committees are nice, visitorsnya *the members of this foundation* aja yang suka rese..since they pay a membership fee, they pledge and give donations once a while they thought we owe them something since we get paid from their money..jadi suka seenak enaknya gitu. Beberapa hari yang lalu there was this one guy who asked me about the school..i told him the school starts today and he asked for more detail information about the registration which I didn’t know the answers to any of his questions. So I asked him to come back or call the next day so he can talk to the school administration as they were already closed at that time. I work for the foundation, not the school..so I don’t know a lot of thing about the school. Eh dia nya malah ngasih nomer telfonnya dia and ask me to call him the next day when I have found out all of the information that he needed. Idiih…emangnya gue sekertarisnya apa and like I have nothing else to do?..akhirnya gue tekenin aja lagi kalo gue nggak ada hubungannya sama sekolahnya..mendingan dia sendiri aja telfon langsung as it is not my job to help him with that matters. Trus kemaren, ada cewe…she seemed like a college student..dateng bawa kertas beberapa lembar yang isinya alamat2 orang. She asked me if I could type all of those address and save it in a disc and give it to her cause she wanted to have it in her computer. Dia bilang komputer di rumahnya lagi rusak, jadi dia nggak bisa ngetik sendiri…heh??..I told her to go to her school or kinkos and use the computer there..cause we don’t provide that kind of service here…sembarangan aja deh minta2 tolong…if it’s for something that’s related to the foundation sih nggak pa pa, tapi ini buat personal use gitu lho.


Anyway..most of the things I do here at work is coordinating the events or activities that are hold by the foundation…designing and mailing the invitation, contacting the guest speaker, arranging the transportation, accommodation and everything for them..I am now a regular at expedia.com..hehe, kerjaannya nyari2 flight terus..udah gitu speakernya suka picky lagi kadang2..maunya berangkat dari tempat dia jam segini dan nanti baliknya jam segini..dan maunya direct flight aja…kalo emang pas ada sih nggak pa pa..tapi seringnya kan nggak ada yang sesuai..you’re traveling with commercial here..not a private jet. Right now, I’m trying to have Jeffrey Lang to speak at one of our events, but he’s fully booked until end of next year..but he said maybe he can squeeze in some time in December for us..hmm…let’s see…


Selain itu kerjaan lainnya have a lot to do with publication, dealing sama media media juga, designing and printing the Islamic literatures to post in the racks/bulletin boards, atau untuk di bawa ke prison, we do a lot of Da'wah there. Trus hampir setiap hari disini ada aja group2 yang dateng, group gereja ini..itu..orang2 dari Israel temple, ada group dari sekolah2/universities…they just want to learn about Islam. Nah tugas gue juga as a contact person between them and the education committee in here, nge set schedule nya, speakernya siapa dan materi apa yang mereka mau denger..sometimes I help with creating the powerpoint presentation as well. Trus selain orang2 yang kesini..we get invited a lot to speak at their events. Ada juga student2 yang dateng individually..karena lagi bikin paper atau ngerjain tugas sekolah tentang hal hal yang berhubungan sama Islam. They are all nice, tapi ya gitu deh..kadang suka nanya yang aneh2, maksudnya kalo nanya sejarah or some facts about Islam sih nggak pa pa yah, tapi kalo udah seperti ngajak berdebat dan pertanyaannya menjurus ke..”kenapa elo percaya tuhan..kenapa elo percaya agama ini..?”..dll gue suka males. I don’t like debating about religion cause it’s a personal thing and there is no use of debating and comparing religions because there are just certain things that you could only understand with the heart…so intellectualizing about them is just a waste of time.


Anothing thing that I do in here is working with the social services committee sometimes. We give financial assistances to the needy families or refugees yang bener bener susah banget hidupnya until they are settled. Tapi kan ngasih financial assistance nya nggak gampang gitu aja, there are some process they have to go through ..we have to review their conditions first, investigating and verifying everything..bener nggak nih dia emang bener2 butuh pertolongan, apa cuma males aja??..Most of the time home visit is required before final approval..trus kita juga bantuin mereka cari kerja, distributing foods and charity items, etc. I don’t know if it’s a good thing to put me in this kind of work or not..hehe..soalnya biarpun sebenernya gue orangnya nggak tegaan but for some things that don’t make sense to me..bisa jadi tegaan banget. Abis kadang orang aneh aneh sih…beberapa hari yang lalu ada cowo yang bilang kalo dia butuh financial assistance banget so I asked him about his situation..he said he is unemployed even though he has a psychology degree, his wife has a cancer so she can’t work..he has 2 kids dan sekarang istrinya lagi hamil lagi. He needs money for a lot of things, buat bayar rent rumah, bayar mobil, etc. Kasian sih kasian ya…but there are still a lot of things that he can do to change his situation kok. I know it’s hard to get a job, especially if you want a job that is related to your education, but you don’t need to work in a big corporate and wear a suit and a tie if you want to survive here. A lot of people I know work as waitress or dishwasher and they make a good living..kalo dia mau kan dia juga bisa kerja apa aja, janitor kek..ngapain kek. He can sell his car and get a cheaper one..and why is he even thinking about impregnating his wife?..Ngurus anak 2 aja susah..ini mo nambah lagi. Nggak ngerti deh dia akhirnya di approve atau enggak..kita nggak bakalan nanggung semua biayanya sih, palingan bantuin bayar listriknya aja, atau bayar rent rumahnya aja atau apa lah sebagian aja. 

Trus tadi ada orang lagi telfon nangis2……katanya her brother is dying in Kenya, no one helps him so she and her 2 kids really have to go to Kenya to help his brother and the problem is she doesn’t have any money..so she asked us to buy her 3 airplane tickets to Kenya!!..gila yaa emangnya disini apaan sih..masa minta beliin ticket pesawat..minta makan sih masih gue kasih deh..hehe.. ….pokonya suka aneh2 deh orang disini. The other day when I checked my mailbox, ada msg dari cewe..suaranya kaya ketakutan gitu..dia ninggalin msg nya around mid-nite..di msg nya dia bilang kalo she’s been harassed by an American..dan katanya di ancem mau di perkosa gitu..aduh..trus kenapa juga telfon kita in the middle of the night? Like someone has office hours at mid-nite in here?..kalo emang lagi emergency ya call 911 dong..kok nelfonnya kesini sih..?..isn’t it easier to press the 3 numbers than this office phone number..not to mention that you have to hear an automatic menu first, press the extension, etc. Ada2 aja deh..


Banyak juga deh pokonya suka duka nya kerja disini, pasti ada aja something extra ordinary happens, banyak kasus kasusnya juga. Kaya bulan lalu, there was this man *Ismail Royer, who is an author* who was –and I think he still is- detained by authorities in DC..katanya he’s related to Al-Qaeda. *read the story here* And this man used to live here and used to go to our mosque and if I’m not mistaken he converted to Islam in this mosque...his family and parents still live here. Ya udah lah jadi nya kita tiap hari di datengin FBI had endless meeting with them and the lawyer, belum lagi banyak banget local media yang mau nulis berita tentang dia. Nggak ngerti skarang kelanjutan kasusnya gimana…


One thing I like most about this job is I get to know a lot of people from different culture, background, etc..i get to meet new people everyday..jadi seneng aja bisa ngobrol ngobrol banyak dan denger cerita cerita mereka..and I learn a lot from this job too..not just work-related stuff but also some other things that i know i will never get it if i work somewhere else...