Selasa, 14 Agustus 2012

When virtual friends become real friends

dipindah dari yohanesss.multiply.com 20 Desember 2006


Very often we get virtual friends from some webs such as www.sms.ac , www.hi5.com , www.christianpenpals.com ,www.penpalworld.comhttp://ppi.searchy.net etc, etc. In some cases they just vanish away after one or two mails, but some can get longer time.


This is my experience of getting along with a Finnish man named Ismo Porna whose name I got from a website about Asterix books. I was just trying to collect Asterix books in many languages when I came across his name. And he offered me Asterix book written in the Finnish language and also in some local dialects in exchange of the Indonesian Asterix. Of course I agreed. He sent me three books and I sent him some Asterix books, I forgot how many.

I thought that was the end, but about a year later he sent me an email, expressing that he intended to arrive in Jakarta and wanted to hire a car from Jakarta to Denpasar. I said that it was not possible to hire such a car with his condition.

A year has passed, and about a month ago he emailed me again saying that he has planned to arrive in Denpasar, then he would fly to Yogyakarta, then back again to Denpasar, fly to Dili (Timor Leste), back to Denpasar again, and then he would fly back to his country. He asked me if I would like to join him to Dili.




 

I agreed at once, but after asking the price of the ticket to go there I almost cancelled it. But my wife urged me to go, so I went with him. Without this occasion I wouldn’t have been in Timor Leste.

I am also lucky that I have a friend in Dili. Her name is Celice Casimiro Martins but she is called Nina. Wow, how far is the nickname from the real name. I really forgot how I got to know her. I wonder if it was also from one of the friendship websites or from any other media. We have never met, though, but we corresponded via emails several times.






So at one time, I met two of my virtual friends and now they become real friends.

Ismo arrived in Yogyakarta on December 5 after three days staying in Denpasar. Then he spent two nights in Yogyakarta. I drove him to the sultan’s palace and also to Borobudur and Prambanan temples. On Dec 7 we flew to Denpasar, spending one night there. The next day we flew to Dili. Arriving at the airport we were met by Nina and brought to the hotel.




 

On the evening we went to Nina’s house. Nina’s mother has ten children and her first daughter has nine children, and most of them live happily in one house as you can see from the picture here.





From Nina's house we went to visit Sister Pasquela. She has finished studying in Yogyakarta and she is a good friend of us.




 

The next day, Saturday, Ismo and I went to some other districts. It took about ten hours before we got back to the hotel in the evening. The taxi was not very comfortable, even the front windows could not be opened or closed very easily.






Ismo has planned to go back to Denpasar on Monday and from there he would fly to Hong Kong, but he was afraid that the plane from Dili to Denpasar would be late and he would be left, so instead of going back together on Monday, he changed to go back on Sunday. So, on Sunday morning we went shopping for souvenirs, but Ismo’s main interest was only for a doll with a traditional dress and unfortunately this was not available there. So he did not buy anything. As for me, I bought some bags and purses. I tried to find key chains and T-shirts but they were not available too.




 

In the afternoon, accompanied by Nina, I went to the statue of Christ. Wow, it was very tiring to go up there after 180 steep steps.



 




Monday, Dec 11, was my last day in Dili. At 9 o’clock I asked the taxi driver to take me around the city. First I went to the bank where I change some coins. Timor Leste has 1c, 5c, 10c, 25c, and 50c coins. For banknotes the country still uses US currency.





 

I also took some pictures of schools. Then I went to the president’s palace. I was ready to meet the president, but it was not my luck then because the president was away to another country.


 



 

After that the taxi driver took me to the parliament, where Nina works there as a secretary. We talked and saw the conference (which was in the Tetum and Portuguese languages), and after that I drove to the airport. Only in the airport I can see key chains with the picture of the country’s flag (it cost $2 each) and T-shirts which cost $10 each.


 




Well, I have visited a neighbouring country then.

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