Thursday, June 11, 2009

Cerpen saya yang jadi juara dua di lomba apaaaa gitu....

Bukan cowok cool
Gue orangnya kalem banget. Nggak banyak ngomong, nggak neko neko, nggak ribut dan nggak bertanduk. Nah, sebagai orang yang punya citra pendiam dan cool (ngarep), gue selalu jaga imej dimanapun gue berada. Semua temen temen nggak ada yang berani ngeledekin karena segan dan takut karena gaya gue yang cool dan badan gue yang atletis luar biasa(kayak Aming).
Suatu hari gue ikutan kejuaraan pencak silat tingkat kabupaten buat memperebutkan seorang cewek muda (ya enggak lah..). Gue turun di kelas E karena berat gue Cuma 50 kg (sementara tinggi gue 178…..kayak aming banget kan???). Semua berlangsung dengan indahnya dan gue masih cool dimata orang orang hingga sebuah tragedy yang merubah dunia persilatan terjadi. Cerita bermula dari sini (dibawah)
* * *
Sehari sebelum hari Z (kenapa harus selalu hari H? sekali kali gue mau pake hari Z), gue bingung ntar di pertandingan mau pake baju apa yah? (emang mau karnaval) soalnya gue masih anak baru yang cool jadi belum punya baju pertandingan. Buat latihan aja cuma pake kolor sama kacamata doang….(walaupun miskin yang penting cool). Setelah berkelana mencari relawan yang mau minjamin seragam silat dan rela menanggung penyakit kadas, kudis, kurap dan borok yang bakal gue tularin lewat pakaiannya, gue berhasil meminjam baju dari seorng senior yang baik hati dan nyolong celana dari jemuran senior yang kulitnya sehat (kami sekolah di Boarding school, jadi bisa nyolong jemuran orang dengan riang gembira). Akhirnya urusan pakaian beres……..tapi tunggu dulu, gue lupa satu hal, celana yang gue colong ternyata nggak ada tali pengikatnya. Pinggangnya juga kegedean buat pinggang gue yang gede bange segede lampu neon. Gue jadi pusing lagi…..soalnya nggak mungkin gue dateng kerumah si senior berkulit sehat dan bilang kedia “bang, celananya kegedean…..boleh di kecilin nggak?” padahal gue nyolong dari jemuran. Akhirnya gue terpaksa make tu celana longgar ke pertandingan.
# # #
Pagi pagi banget gue keluar dari asrama karena takut kalau kesiangan bisa ketemu sama senior berkulit sehat dan gue dibanting trus di tindih sampe kempes (sekarang aja udah kempes….). Celana yang kegedean gue ikat pake tali sepatu. Karena baju silat itu lumayan panjang trus ada sabuk, jadi gedenya pinggang celana gue itu nggak keliatan banget.
Dengan gaya yang selalu cool, gue berjalan ke lokasi pertandingan. Di sana, gue daftar, trus duduk nonton pesilat lain yang lagi tanding. Giliran gue masih jauh soalnya pertandingan dimulai dari kelas A yang jumlahnya bisa sampai 8 orang. Gue pun hanya bias duduk dan bergaya sangat cool (sangat cool sekali, bahkan tingkat ke”cool”an gue mencapai puncaknya saat itu). Menurut guru gue, gaya cool sebelum pertandingan sangat dibutuhkan buat bikin lawan takut. Karena gue adalah anak yang baik, patuh pada guru dan orang tua, pintar dan rajin menabung, maka gue ikuti perkataan guru gue itu.
Jam 2 siang pertandingan kelas D habis. Artinya pertandingan kelas E akan segera dimulai dan itu adalah kelas gue…….gue langsung tancap ke toilet. Benerin celana, cuci muka, cuci kaki, tidur…..yaa enggak lah….gue ke toilet, pipis, benerin celana, trus keluar dengan gaya yang masih sangat cool.
Lima menit kemudian, nama gue dipanggil. Gue udah siap…yeaahhhh……..
Di atas matras atau arena pertandingan, gue langsung pasang gerakan gerakan yang cool. Cewek cewek yang nonton semua meneriakan nama gue karena lawan gue orangnya nggak cool (baca: lebih cakep dari gue). Semangat gue makin membara. Kami lalu saling menyerang, bertahan, jatuh, banting, tending, pukul. Ronde pertama masih biasa. Semua masih terkendali. Gue Cuma jatuh sekali. Nggak masalah.
Masuk ke ronde kedua, gue mulai bermasalah dengan si celana kendor. Gue nggak sadar ternyata waktu gue jatuh tadi, tali sepatu yang gue pake buat ngikat celana itu copot. Supaya bisa tetap cool dan keren, gue pura pura nggak peduli aja sambil berdoa moga aja celana nggak melorot. Cewek cewek yang nonton berteriak makin keras dan brsemangat. Otomatis, gue juga jadi makin terbakar. Gue lalu bertarung dengan semangat menggebu gebu seperti asap knalpot vespa bokap. Ternyata inilah akhir dari ke”cool”an gue di dunia ini. Semangat gue yang menggebu gebu membuat keki gue jadi makin lincah dan gue menendang lawan gue tepat di perutnya. Namun, saying sungguh disayang, lawan gue bukanlah seperti yang gue lihat di filem filem. Dia bergerak lebih cepat. Menangkap kaki gue (bagian bawah celana maksudnya), lalu mundur selangkah dan membuat gerakan berputar berlawanan arah dengan kuda kuda gue dan……………..bruuuukkkk……gue jatuh. Namun itu belum seberapa, yang parahnya, celana gue copot total……..
Tidaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk………………………………..
Celana gue copot dan kebawa oleh lawan gue sehingga dia juga ikut jatuh. Gue saat itu belum terlalu sadar dengan apa yang terjadi, sehingga gue berdiri lagi. Trus pasang kuda kuda, tapi ada yang aneh, cewek cewek yang tadi berteriak menyemangati gue sekarang malah tertawa sambil pura pura nggak liat. Gue curiga, lalu gue lihat kiri kanan. Wasit dan juri juga ikut tertawa dan pura pura nggak liat gue. Kecerdasan gue yang tinggi lalu menuntun kepala gue untuk menunduk sedikt lalu mat ague malihat kearah bawah dan…..gue Cuma make kolor merek Spider warna biru muda dan pelindung kemaluan ukuran S (ha ha ha ha ha ha) warna putih kotor.
Oh tuhan….hancur sudah citra ke”cool”an yang gue jaga selama ini. Saat itu gue ingin rasanya lari ke toilet, ambil tali sepatu terus gantung diri di pintu toilet yang tingginya 176 cm. waktu seakan berhenti dan hanya tinggal gue seorang diri. Gue seolah mendengar suara ribuan lebah mengerubungi gue lalu menggigit gue hingga mati…….huuuuaaaaa……dan begitulah pertandingan berakhir dengan gue kalah telak 3-0 dari 3 juri. Selanjutnya gue menanamkan dilubuk hati yang paling dalam bahwa di masa depan, gue akan ngembaliin celana senior yang gue colong dan gue nggak akan nyolong celana yang kegedean lagi.
(kisah ini nyata dan benar adanya)

Ruddi nefid
Berry College, GA, USA

Monday, May 11, 2009

masuk koran lageeeeeee

‘Salam, y’all’: From the mountains of Indonesia to the hills of Rome, 3 young men have embraced their second home.

by Charlotte Atkins
9 hrs ago | 123 views | 0 0 comments | 0 0 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Syaweli Saputra, left, Ruddi Nefid and Nugroho from West Sumatra in Indonesia wear traditional attire from their Minangkabau culture. They demonstrated the martial art form pancak silat at First Baptist Church after thanking church members for their support this past school year. (photo by Charlotte Atkins)
Syaweli Saputra, left, Ruddi Nefid and Nugroho from West Sumatra in Indonesia wear traditional attire from their Minangkabau culture. They demonstrated the martial art form pancak silat at First Baptist Church after thanking church members for their support this past school year. (photo by Charlotte Atkins)
slideshow
Syaweli Saputra loved the experience of Darlington’s senior prom — especially donning a dapper tuxedo.
Ruddi Nefid loves to paint, so much so that he changed his major at Berry to studio art. This is his self-portrait.
A highlight of Nugroho’s year at Shorter was the chance to visit Universal Studios during spring break.

Jan Williams created a nonprofit foundation to help youths from other cultures get a strong secondary education. Williams is shown with the Indonesian trio Syaweli Saputra, left, Ruddi Nefid and Nugroho after they performed a pancak silat demonstration at First Baptist Church after thanking church members for their support this past school year. (photo by Charlotte Atkins / RN-T)
Jan Williams created a nonprofit foundation to help youths from other cultures get a strong secondary education. Williams is shown with the Indonesian trio Syaweli Saputra, left, Ruddi Nefid and Nugroho after they performed a pancak silat demonstration at First Baptist Church after thanking church members for their support this past school year. (photo by Charlotte Atkins / RN-T)
slideshow
They came to the land of “y’all,” venturing 10,000 miles from the mountains of West Sumatra for the chance for an American education.


Three young Indonesian men — Ruddi Nefid, Syaweli Saputra and Nugroho — were brave and blessed enough to leave their villages to come to Rome to learn.

And learn they did. They learned lasagna and steak are mighty tasty. They learned the national monuments and museums of Washington, D.C., are “amazing,” and the same goes for spring break at Universal Studios in Orlando.

One learned that his true passion is art. Another learned how handsome he looks in a prom tuxedo. They all learned that we Southerners love to hug.

And now they do too, if their visit to First Baptist Church was any indication as members stopped by their table at the Wednesday night dinner to wish them well as they wrap up their school year. More than once the young men stood for hugs.

The church has been a support system for them in their inaugural year in the United States as it has been for Jan Williams, the Rome woman who founded a nonprofit group to help young people like these three.

Several years ago, Williams lived and worked in Indonesia, teaching tennis to students. There she experienced how motivated and bright they were, and yet few educational opportunities beyond high school exist in the world’s largest archipelago nation.

So Williams helped found the Ruble International Education Initiative. It’s based here in education-rich Rome, where three private educational institutions stepped up and pledged their support.

Ruddi, who is from Bukittinggi, attends Berry College on a four-year scholarship, while Nugroho, from Sawahlunto, attends Shorter College on a four-year scholarship.

Syaweli, on scholarship for the year, will graduate from Darlington School next Saturday. That same day, he’ll board a plane home to his village of Maninjau halfway around the world. He plans to attend medical school in Indonesia with further support from RIEI.

The year has held surprises and challenges as they’ve navigated a new culture. But with the guidance of people like Williams, fellow church member Allison Brooks, board member Tina Rush, First Baptist minister of faith development Prissy Tunnell and others, the students have had a loving network to help them adapt and cope.

Major decisions

When asked what’s the most surprising thing to learn in their first year, Nugroho said, “I was surprised that American college students change majors so much in the first one or two years.”

Funny he should mention that. You see, Nugroho has always loved science and his dream is to be an engineer.

That path was unlikely for him until Williams and her group presented him with an unfathomable opportunity. He’s loved his first year at Shorter, where his study focus was business administration.

He now has another opportunity, a full four-year scholarship to Mercer University to get his degree from its School of Engineering. “If I could do anything, in my heart, I want to be an engineer,” he told Williams.

But his bags are not yet packed for Macon. For that to become a reality, RIEI needs to raise the $8,000 a year for room and board. It was difficult to consider transferring because he has built a base of support and friendship here in Rome, he said. But he also knows a blessing when he sees it.

“Sometimes we have to do things to get what we want. Engineering is what I want to do.”

Ruddi, too, discovered his passion in his freshman year at Berry. He was on track to study computer science.

His grandfather and father loved to paint. So does Ruddi. “We have an artistic nature,” he said. He took an art class his first semester at Berry, and it rekindled his love of art. Now he’s decided that art is his new major.

A Tiger at heart

For Syaweli, the path has been clearer. He came to attend Darlington School for a year before returning to Indonesia to pursue his medical education. With his graduation and departure just days away, it’s obvious his emotions are stirring.

“I am excited to see my family, yes, but so sad to leave my American friends and all the things here,” said Syaweli.

“I love America, and I hope this is not my last time to come here.”

But he made the most of his time here. He has been an A-B student at Darlington — as they all have at their respective schools — and was involved in the school’s drama program. He went to his first prom, which he said was thrilling.

And for spring break Betsy and Georgia Awsumb, Darlington English teachers, took him with them to Washington, D.C. He saw the Capitol, Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument and visited the Museum of Natural History, the White House and the Space Museum.

But when he speaks about Washington, he mostly effuses about the Awsumbs. “They feel like my American grandparents,” he said.

His love of Darlington is obvious, and his excitement about graduation is palpable, even though it’s tinged with the sadness of saying goodbye — not only to his Rome friends, but also to his cohorts who will remain in Georgia to complete their college education.

But the three vow to keep in touch. And they will do that the same way they have been able to stay in touch with their families back home, through e-mail and the Internet.

Cultural ambassadors

When they first arrived in Rome, Ruddi was shy and the quietest of the three. He’s still no chatterbox, but now there’s a budding confidence and a willingness to engage. He smiles more, especially if he’s talking about art or pencak silat, the martial art form of Indonesia.

All three students studied it in high school, but Ruddi is more advanced and is instructor-level. He may teach pencak silat next year at Berry. “We will work this summer to make that happen,” he said.

He explained that there are two basic styles of the martial art form, but there are thousands of variations. “Every village has its own style.” He said the “focus is not so much on attacking an opponent as it is on defense of self.”

The trio demonstrated pencak silat at the First Baptist dinner as well as other events in town, such as the Rome International Festival, garbed in traditional Minangkabau attire with a colorful wrap called a sampiang and a head scarf that’s called a deta.

While Ruddi played a flute, Syaweli and Nugroho performed a modern pencak silat style known as “Satria Muda Indonesia” for their church patrons. Ruddi then did a greeting movement “Salam” (which is their culture’s verbal greeting or salutation meaning “peace”) of the traditional style called “Silek Tuo.”

All three say sharing their culture and religion has been as fulfilling as their experiences and learning about American culture and ways.

Along the way, said Nugroho, stereotypes have given way to mutual understanding of one another’s culture.

“That’s a large part of what we hoped would happen,” said Williams.

RIEI’s mission

The foundation that had its seed in Williams’ heart continues to reap support. Not only has Mercer offered a scholarship, but Wesleyan College in Macon has also offered a full scholarship for a female student.

Ruddi, Syaweli and Nugroho have shown Williams and others that their mission is a worthy one. Her First Baptist family has been a cornerstone of its success, says Williams.

“They have been a source of support in a wide variety of ways. Whether it’s been prayer, financial, sharing their homes or collecting items, they have rallied around anything we have needed.”

A crucial component, says Williams, is that these young men will return to Indonesia and make a difference in their country. A condition of being allowed to be educated in the U.S. is that they’ll return and work under contract for four years with the Indonesian government.

“They will be giving back so much when they return,” said Williams.

Those who have borne witness to the past nine months rejoice in the young men’s success so far.

“It’s been so exciting to see how they’ve changed this year. They’ve adapted so well and are so much more at ease,” said Allison Brooks.

‘A million thanks’

The value of the opportunity to immerse themselves in American life and get a top-notch education is not lost on these young men. Nor is Williams’ role as the linchpin that made it happen.

“If she didn’t give us this chance, it all would have just stayed a dream, a wish that never came true,” said Nugroho. “We would like to thank her and everyone who made the chance to let us experience American college life and continue our education.”

Syaweli enthusiastically added, “a million thanks! If not for her, I would not have gotten to come here to have all these experiences.”

Ruddi just quietly shook his head and then said, “There are no words enough to express how much this means to us.”

But there is one word that’s been heard to slip from at least two of their mouths that is perhaps telling of just how adapted and fond they’ve become of Rome and the people here — “y’all.”

To learn more

For more information or to help, visit the RIEI at rubleinternationaledu.org or e-mail Jan Williams at jntwilliams@aol.com.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

rome international festival







Alhamdulillah hari sabtu, 18 april 2009 patang ko, kami disiko tampil di acara rome international festival di Downtown Rome, GA.
Awalnyo kami sempat ragu waktu di tawarkan untuak tampil di acarako. sabananyo acaranyo ndak formal bana do, tapi kami kurang persiapan. waktu kami talampau sampik dek karano banyak tugas ditambah lo kini lah mendekati ujian, jadi sekitar 5 hari nan lalu kami kecekkan ka panitia kalau kami mungkin ndak bisa tampil. eh,..kironyo jadwal lah sudah. panitia arok bana lo kami bisa tampil. yoo...tapaso kami atur jadwal untuak latihan. sampai sampai ambo nginap di asrama si nugroho hari jumat patang dek kami latihan jumat sore jo sabtu pagi. pas nginap di asrama si nugroho, indak bisa lo ambo lalok dek karano kawannyo dikamar. jadi tapaso lah kami nongkrong se di student center sampai tangah malam. si nugroho lai laloknyo..kalau ambo bukak2 youtube se lai dari jam 11 malam sampai jam 4 pagi.


alhamdulillah, pengorbanan kami ndak sio sio, penampilan kami lai mandapek apresiasi dari penonton walaupun ado beberapa garakan nan salah atau kurang mantap. untuanglah penonton lai indak tau ha ha ha ha ha ha....

Alhamdulillah lo liak, tadi pagi kironyo kami masuak koran. halaman muko lo lai....jadi headline. potonyo ambo sadang mambantiang si nugroho, tu si putra pasaang kudo2. padiah bana ko a.

ok lah sanak kasadonyo.....lah malam pulo hari disko. bisuak ka kuliah jam 11 siang. ado kuis jo dr. sundblad.....

Wassalam

Saturday, April 4, 2009

performance

Alhamdulillah, tanggal 4 april patang ko ambo tampil di acara world festival di kampus.
ambo tampil main pupuik sarunai, bansi jo basilek.....ko di bawah ado videonyo..tapi bagian yang main pupuik sarunai ambo potong....masalahnyo bunyinyo labiah mirip musik india daripado minang.. he he he he he he
maklum se lah, baraja maambuih pupuik sarunai baru patang ko baru....

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Hmmmm.....Salamaik datang sanak kasadonyo...

Assalamu'alaykum....
Mulai dari postingan yang kini, ambo ka mambuek blog ko manjadi blog babahaso urtang awak... blog babahaso minang. yeah......it's so cool sanak....
Kini kito mulai dari hal yang paliang pantiang bagi ambo. kini ambo sadang libur spring break kalau bahaso awaknyo libur dek karano musim dingin alah habih dan ka mamasuki musim semi. dua minggu nan talampau ambo dapek hasil grade dari tugas lukisan ambo yang katigo. Alhamdulillah sanak, nilai ambo yang tertinggi di kelas. Ambo dapek 93 samantaro rato2 kelas cuma 81........
o iyo ikonyo lukisan ambo tu........


Ambo tadi sadang seteres..he he he he he he h antah apo nan takana di kapalo ko, tibo tibo se ambo ambiak hp, ambo pakai kopiah haji, ambo pakai kacomato, ambo naiakan sarawa sampai ka dado.....mode ko potonyo jadinyo ha.....

Sakian se dulu yo sanak kasadonyooo............ambo ka mambuek mi ciek dulu....lah litak paruik, sampai sampai bacaruik caruik galang galang didalamnyo ha ha ha ha ha ha ha....
Wassalam