اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ
Hello. It's been a while blog sayang. Sorry, laptop rosak and computer dekat campus doesn't allow me updating you. :'( So, here I am, typing these words using my new lappy. hehe.
It was quite stressful for me earlier this semester sebab I am taking two 400 level courses and both are hard. Both classes are at night. Which makes it worse. And so, it was so stressful that I thought of escaping. So I did.
It was an unplanned plan. Lewl. I started asking around about the bus schedule and place to stay on Monday. Oh yeah, I was super stressed on Sunday and that was the day I decided to escape, literally.
At first, saya tak bagitahu sesiapa except the people that I asked. Even #thejirans sorang pun tak tahu. I went to buy the bus ticket on Thursday. At first, I thought of going to Nebraska (Hazirah's Uni) but then I started to contemplate knowing the fact that it's going to take about 5 hours give and take to arrive there. Fuhh, lama sangat for my first escape. HAHA.
Also, the fact that I have another exam on Monday makes me think twice whether to go to Nebraska or not. So, the conclusion, I bought the ticket to Des Moines, just 45 minutes away from Ames by car. Gedik sangat tak nak #thejirans tahu, I even bought a Cyclone tshirt because I worked on Friday. So, takdelah pelik travel while wearing the ISU Dining shirt. And my bus was on Friday evening.
Know why I decided to not let #thejirans know? I had a hard time to not tell whatever happen in my life to them. Sampai one point I thought, that maybe probably diorang pun bosan kut nak dengar. *lewl, childish I know*
I tried my very best to refrain myself from telling about the escapism to any of the #thejirans. Tapi sebab I have usrah on Saturday, I had to tell Ib sebab nanti dia tercari2 pulak. I told Ib that I'm going to Des Moines until Sunday morning. I told Ras that I'm travelling alone, somewhere. And I told them to not tell anyone else. (gedik sangat)
I packed my backpack the night before and put a few more things on Friday morning and Izs saw me. HAHAH. She asked where am I going and I said I have a camp. (sorry Izs).
After class at 3, I went to State Gym to play badminton, sempat lagi tu. Hahah. Okay. Focus.
My bus was late for 10-20 minutes. Like seriously? *roll eyes* Naik je bus, the bus was fulled. Fuhh, I planned to sit beside any women tapi takde pun yang perempuan duduk sorang. Pergh. And there was another passenger behind me, looking for a seat like me. So I just walked until at the back of the bus and sat beside a big muscular guy.
Honestly, my first impression, he looked scary. Really, dengan tattoo besar kat lengan. Pergh. Telan air liur berapa kali entah. He's too big that he even used my space a bit. Nasib baik cheq kecik (eheh puji diri). If I remember it correctly, he said he's 33 years old. Oh yeah, my phone battery was dying. I looked for a plug but there was none. That guy noticed what I was looking for and he said, "Usually there's a plug but this bus doesn't have it. I looked for it earlier." with Mexican slang which was hard to understand actually, at first. I just smiled.
It was raining that evening and me being me, I was shivering. I didn't bring my sweater because I wanted to minimize the things that I have at my back. He said, "You feel cold?" I just smiled and didn't say anything. I folded my arms to make the coldness more bearable. He took his bag underneath and he took out a black/grey cloth (very blanket like looking) and gave it to me. "You can use this and cover yourself. You looked cold. Don't worry, I washed it earlier. It's clean." Lost for words, I did. Feeling cold, I just grab the cloth and wrap it around me. The warmth makes me smile. "Thank you, are you not cold?" I asked when I noticed, he too, was folding his arms. And he said "no, I'm fine, you can use it."
Then, instead of listening to music (which was my initial plan), we talked. He is Mexican, and he came with his friend, who's sitting at the seat in front of me and he's thinner. He asked me about my hijab. Like why I'm wearing it and do I wear it when I'm inside the house (which is a common question for American/Mexican people to ask). And I explained it to him before he asked, "Do you ever commit sins?" Being honest, I was. I said, "Honestly?" And he nodded. "I'm not an angel so yes. I make mistakes and so does people out there." And laughed (quite loud considering we were in the bus), and said "Yes, you're right. We are not angel. Good point."
He asked if I ever drink, and of course I said no and, "Unbelievable. You're kidding me." he said. I said, "No, I'm not. Actually, all Muslims are not allowed to drink." "Why?" still can't believe me that Muslims can't drink. I said, "Well, there's a lot more things to drink aside from beer or wine or anything that makes you drunk, right?" And he smiled, able to find some common sense in my sentence.
Then, we talked about religion. He said he was a Catholic before he changed to Protestant (If I'm not mistaken or is it vice versa). Can't remember. He said he changed because being in one of the group; either Protestant or Catholic, it's easier because the preacher used themselves as an example when they are preaching. So, it's easier to relate and understand.
Just like how we, Muslims make our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. as an example in our life. Then he quoted some verse from the bible. I can't remember which one.
After that, he asked. "What's your God?"
I said, "Allah."
He paused. Smiled and said, "Again?"
"Allah."
"You know what, I don't why is it, but when you say it, 'Allah', it sounds so peaceful. The word itself sounds peaceful."
Then we arrived at Des Moines. Before I went to the bus station earlier, I bought sandwiches. Just in case I got hungry on the bus. Before I went out, I took out the sandwiches. Knowing the fact that he still have about 12 more hours to go before arriving at his destination, I gave him the sandwiches. "You can have this sandwiches."
"No, you're a lot smaller than me, you need it more than me." He said while laughing.
"No, I'm going to my friend's place after this and I'm sure they have foods ready for me. You still have a long journey to go through, you have it."
"Thank you. You have a good day and it was nice meeting you."
So, that was how my first escapism went. Few weeks after that we had a session with sasterawan Negara, Puan Nisah Haron. And she always like to travel alone and she said. The most important thing to do when you're travelling alone is niat. Anything can happen, right. But you need to berhusnuzhon dengan Allah.
Maybe next time, I'll try to travel further. Nebraska mungkin. We'll see.
To the Mexican man, I forgot his name, thank you, for the conversation and blanket. I hope everything went well for you. :) And thank you for telling me that I looked younger than my age. (hikhik.
