Christmas Chapters

Chapter #1 - Simple Celebration
12.30 PM - Thursday, December 24th, 2009 - Taize Secretariat, Makati, Manila

after had a simple yet beautiful midday prayer special for celebrating Christmas, all of the volunteers, the brothers, and the sisters gathered together in the secretariat to had a lunch together. today's lunch is special because the brothers cooked it, especially Br. Joseph because he just arrived in Manila last Sunday and i just know that he also the main cooker in the community. haha! so the lunch is buffet, we placed a table in the middle of the room and put all the food and soft drinks on top of the table. as usual, before we start the lunch, we sing a song. and then, the party begins! ;p and the funniest part is, after lunch some of us played a game which is quite not monastic game ahahahaha ;p

Chapter #2 - Blessed Bread
19.00 PM - Thursday, December 24th, 2009 - Arnaiz Avenue St., Makati, Manila

suddenly Florian invite me to join his little spontaneous project before we depart to Tondo, to buy some Pandesal (Philippines' bread) and give them to the beggars in the pavement near our secretariat. so after we bought a dozen packages of Pandesal, with the other volunteers who each of us holding two bags, we walked along the pavement near our secretariat and saw that there's many beggars sat. ok it's time! so while we walked, we gave the bags to the old women and the children and also didn't forget to greet a Merry Christmas to them. and at a glance, suddenly many children came from every direction and surrounded us but we don't have any bags left. it happened so quick, less than a minute! and after walked quite far from them, we smiled with joyful to each other. great!

Chapter #3 - Jesus Was Born!
21.00 PM - Thursday, December 24th, 2009 - Sto. Nino Parish, Tondo, Manila

we went to Santo Nino Parish, one parish in Tondo where Florian work with them...
it's one of our Christmas schedule, that we will celebrate Christmas Vigil Mass and afterward we will stay one night in one family in this parish. so when we came, it seems that the previous mass is still going on and there's a lot of people there! so we go to the back of the church and we found the youth members already in the costume because they gonna perform "Panululuyan", the play when Marie and Joseph knocking on the doors in Bethlehem to find a place to have a birth. they gonna perform it during the 21.00 mass. so we have a little conversation with them and took some photos.

so around fifteen minutes to 21.00, the youth coordinator accompanied us to find some places to sit because the previous mass is already finished. but surprisingly, all seats already occupied! so what we did?? we sat on the floor just in front of the front seat. ahahaha it's my first time experience to sit on the floor during Christmas Vigil mass! but the surprise didn't stop yet. Florian already know very well the parish priest and he's the one who celebrated the mass on that night. so after the Panululuyan show, the priest gave the homily. but it seems that this priest is use to approached the people and ask them some questions in his homily. so it's predictable that this pries begins to approached us and he asked our names and where we came from one by one. it's sooooo nervous! imagine! i sat on the floor and this priest with mic in his hands, came to me and asked my name and where i came from with thousands eyes looked at me! even we can see ourselves in the projector!
another interesting part is, after the priest gave final blessings, Maria and Joseph show up again bringing the baby Jesus and many many people surround them try to touch the baby Jesus. and those people followed Maria and Joseph until they reached outside the church, of course with more effort because it's not so easy to walk between the crowd. and also we followed them, and the youth coordinator invite us to bless the baby Jesus by kiss the feet, and so we did it.
afterward, the youth coordinator invite us to meet the parish priest and also the host family that will host us for one night in their house. it's nice, we took a photo together and have a little conversation. and afterward we have to go as soon as possible to our host family house because the food is waiting there.

Chapter #4 - Surprise, Surprise!
23.00 PM - Thursday, December 24th, 2009 - Host Family, Tondo, Manila

this host family is a surprise for us. first of all, their house. more than our expectation! second thing, apparently the whole big family, relatives, and their friends already wait for us for a Christmas Party! ooooh my, even it's already 11pm in the evening, they still waited for us and didn't touch the food yet until we came! so when we came, quite amazed with the decoration, so many people, the karaoke machine, and the foods, we start to have our very late supper with them. it was soooo nice there were many children so sometimes we played with them. and also some people already grab the mic and start to sing the karaoke.
after we finish our very fine dinner, apparently they have a game and session for us. so we played the game, one of them is we have to hit the pot which hanging on top of us with stick but in closed eyes. inside the pot it were powder and candies. i'm as the first person who attempt to hit it, successfully failed, haha! and afterward we were dancing together, yeah of course "Nobody Nobody but You!". then it was performance from some teenagers who dance and a ballroom dance by the grandmother and her dance instructor. then for the final session, we had a slow dance number. and we closed that party with giving gifts to the family and we went to sleep around 2am.

Chapter #5 - Christmas Charity
09.00 AM - Friday, December 25th, 2009 - Missionary of Charity's House, Tayuman, Manila

in the morning we woke up around 8am and took our breakfast. it's a very nice breakfast, with some rest food from the night. and the host parents drove us by car to the Missionaries of Charity house then we say goodbye to them. i can see the mother's eyes were sparkling, it's so touching.

after passing through the big blue gate written "Missionaries of Charity - Home of Joy", we asked one of the sister that we want to meet the Superior. so she introduced us to the Superior and she told us that we can help the lunch distribution but at the moment we can join the Christmas mass which will celebrated by Cardinal Rosales. wowh! so apparently on that time they held a Christmas gathering so they invite around thousands homeless people to come and celebrate the Christmas with mass and some performance.

it's like a double surprise for us! first, we really looking forward to work with the sisters of Charity because we adore them, especially me! and second, we didn't expect before that there will be a mass and celebrated by Cardinal himself!

so then we sat along with the other thousands homeless people and also with the other sisters of Charity to celebrate the mass. after the mass is finished, one sister took us to meet the Cardinal. so we have a very short conversation and took a photo with the Cardinal and the Superior. perfect!!
afterward, it's time to work! we put our bag and start to distribute the food. so all the people will keep sit to watch the animations while the volunteers and the sisters lining up and pass the food to the people. it's quite interesting to distribute the food and the drink because we only have to stand and pass the plates and the bottles to the person next to us. the best thing is when i pass the plates and the bottles to the people, it's nice to see how they smile with joy.

after around 30 minutes distributing lunch, we took our lunch. after i finished my lunch, i talked to someone and apparently he's a priest so he took me to visit the chapel. and the chapel is simple yet beautiful! we managed to have a short silence there and, it's beautiful.
just a second after i came out from the chapel, one sister greet me in Bahasa Indonesia. wooooooooowh! i met a sister of Charity who came from Indonesia! apparently she came from West Sumatra and we talked a lot. she took me to the place where they take care the homeless people who were sick. and it's very nice to see how they smile when they see me visit them.

afterward, we still thirst for work so we help the sisters to clean the area after all the people left. this is the best part because we can work together with the sister and manage to have some little conversation. i met sisters that came from Ireland, New Zealand, and India.

around 12 pm we have to leave not because the sisters want to have a prayer but also we have to catch the bus to go to Batangas, to visit Janice.

Chapter #6 - Night in Batangas
19.00 PM - Friday, December 25th, 2009 - Bauan, Batangas

it's 2 hours by bus from Manila to Batangas and around 3pm we arrive in Janice house after she fetch us in the bus station. apparently her cousin held a thanksgiving after get their house blessed just in the next of Janice house. so we join the early supper and suddenly Michio called Florian! so one by one we talked to Michio with joy! then Janice introduce us to her friends from her parish youth.
because six of us were craving to find a beautiful beach, Janice and her friends took us to the beach. it's already dark but it's nice to see water and rocks and spend our night there. we talked, we laughed, we shared. suddenly we forgot about our monastic life! ahahahaha ;p

around 11pm we decided to come home because among us volunteers want to have our time together to share. so when we get in the Janice house, we sit in the table and start to eat anything that we can found; chips, cakes, lasagna, ice cream, apple juice, etc. ahahahaha.

then we continued with midnight sharing. yeah after 2 months of being busy and never had a chance to be together, i think it's our first time to being together and have a deeper sharing about anything. we finished our sharing around 2am because many people already fall a slept.

in the morning we woke up around 8am and Florian was trying to drive a jeepney! ahahaha so cool! after say goodbye to Janice, we depart from Batangas by bus around 9am and arrived again in Manila around 11am. so we back to real world and also back to monastic life ;p

The Kingdom of God is Meetings and Papers ;p

hello there! i'm back from visiting parishes. and from 34 parishes i've assigned to, there's only 2 parish left that i still have to visit. but from now on i already can do the next step: meeting(s).

yes, either to have a meeting with the youth coordinator only, or with the youth officers, or with the parish priest, or with the parish council, or with all the youth members.

so what kind of meeting of it?

sometimes we call it an infomeeting, or informational meeting. a meeting that we inform about what is Taize and Taize Community (for those who never heard about Taize before) and the Pilgrimage of Trust and the more concrete about it.

so let me share about the simulation of one of our meetings here. at least these are what we always said (over and over again) in every meetings...

Taize is small small village, which even didn't exist in the map, which is located in France. in this small village, there's only around 40 families who live here. in 1940, a young man came to this village to build a community and be the sign of reconciliation. in that time, there's a lot of victim of World War II and this young man helped them and gave them refuge in this small village. then some young people came and join him to helped this refugees and later these young people became the first Taize brothers. years by years, a lot of young people from Europe start to visit this small village and this was not expected before. a large number of young people came every year, especially during the summer, to stay for a week and to have an experience of a monastic life, pray three times together, have a bible reflection, and the most important thing, to meet another young people that came from different background and different denomination to share their life. at the time, there are around 100 brothers came from 25 different countries welcoming around 10.000 young people came in every year from different part of the world; Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, Australia.

then the brothers think that they shouldn't wait the young people to come to Taize, but they will come to them, to their continents. so since 1970, the brothers held an European Meeting called the Pilgrimage of Trust in the end of every year in one of the big cities in Europe. and the brothers also held the Pilgrimage of Trust in other continent. in 2007 it was in Bolivia, Latin America. in 2008 it was in Kenya, Africa. and in February 3 - 7, 2010, they will come to the city of Manila, Philippines.

so this Pilgrimage of Trust in Manila is the second time we held. the first Pilgrimage of Trust in Manila is on 1991 and there was around 15.000 young people from different part of the world participate on the pilgrimage.on for the next February, we expected the same number that will come to Metro Manila.

the young pilgrims that come from outside Metro Manila, and also from abroad, will sleep in the local churches in the host/foster families.they know in advance that they will sleep on the floor. they expected nothing from the host/foster families except the two squared metres space on their house and a very simple breakfast. for lunch and dinner, they will have it on the venue, in John Bosco Makati. the pilgrims will take care their own transportation fare, each day to John Bosco Makati and back to host families.

the Pilgrimage of Trust it self will be held for five days, from Wednesday February 3th until Sunday February 7th, 2010. on Wednesday will be the welcoming day. so the pilgrims will come directly to the local churches, we called them a Welcome Center. so the young people from each parishes will welcome the pilgrims and then sent them to their host families. then in the evening, the pilgrims should come to John Bosco Makati to take their dinner on 5.45 pm and followed by evening prayer on 7.00 pm. the evening prayer is open for everyone and all generations. then they have to go back to their host families around 8.30 pm

the next three days, Thursday until Saturday, from February 4th - 6th, 2010, there will be a morning activity in local churches. so the Welcome Centers shall prepare for the morning prayer around 7.30 am and followed by morning program. the morning program on Thursday morning will be a getting know each other with the bible sharing, on Friday morning there will be a visiting the places or people of hope in the neighborhood, and on Saturday morning there will be a sharing with the parishioners or the parish youth members. then around 10.00 am the pilgrims and the participants shall go to the John Bosco Makati to have their lunch, then followed by midday prayer, then followed by an afternoon program. during the evening it will be the same like the other days, dinner, evening prayer, and around 8.30 they have to go back to their host families.

on Sunday, there will be no more morning activity in local churches, but there will be a Closing Celebration on 9.30 am in John Bosco Makati. and afterwards, the departure of the pilgrims.

yes, these things that we have to share with the parishes, well more or less. it's depends on each person in their style.

and after the meeting, we have to write the brief report to a paper of each parish. to make it easier for someone to track down what already happens in every parishes. because sometimes, one person can have two meetings or more in a same time, that means someone else have to substitute this person. for my self, this Saturday, December 12th, 2009, i have three meetings in three different parishes in the same time. so someone else have to go there to held the meeting. weekend is our most busiest day in a week. because most of parishes will have their youth meeting in either Friday, Saturday, or Sundar. so definately our weekend is not our holiday ;p for additional information, this weekend we have total 53 meetings. haha!

so far i enjoyed every meeting that i had. just last night i had a meeting, it's not the parish that i've assigned to, but i really enjoyed the time with the youth there. we never meet each other before but they are so welcome and we had fun together. each of us really interested to get know each other and sometimes we laugh together. and in the end of the meeting, it's a common thing for them that they have a sharing time. so each of us have to share about what happens in our life lately. and it was sooooo beautiful. with that sharing time, it's like getting us more closer to each other because we put trust on them to share our life. even it's my first time to meet them and vice versa! love it!

so that's all what i want to share lately.

see you later!

Visiting Parishes #3

yesterday, i went again to visit some parishes. but this time, Brother Jean-Jacques from France accompanied me. he's just arrived from Bangladesh one week ago and he still need to learn how to go around Manila. and this will be his first time of visiting parishes.

so at the beginning, i want to visit two parishes in Tondo. after i alight in the nearest station, it's already 5.30 pm and we were looking for a jeepney to go to the parish. but it's like 4 - 5 jeepneys just passed us because they're already full of people. then we decided to take a tricycle but the driver don't want to take us because he said it's quite far away. crap!

so then Br. Jean-Jacques suggests that i should find another parish that more closer because it's quite dangerous to go to Tondo after the sun goes down. so i choose a parish that 2 stations away from where we were. so we went back to the LRT station on going to our first parish.

first parish of the day, quite near from the station. this will be a perfect welcome center. haha. so Br. Jean-Jacques want to join the daily mass and told me that i can visit another parish while waiting him. then i went to the parish office and it's still open. i talked to the lady in the office and she's very nice. i gave her the brochure and she gave me the youth coordinator's number. and afterward we talked a little bit about what i'm doing in Philippines and i told her that i want to visit another parish afterward. but then she said that it's better not to visit another parish because it's already dark and it's quite dangerous for foreigner to walk alone in Manila. wowh, that's the second time i heard that! just yesterday i heard it for the first time. then i think to my self, is it that dangerous?? but so far i'm fine. ahahahaha. but then i went to visit the second parish of the day.

second parish, and seems will be my last parish of the day. it's two stations away from the first parish but i took a jeepney because i have around 1 hour until i have to go back to the first parish to fetch with the brother. so, to take a jeepney that going to somewhere we don't know exactly, we have to gambling. just see on the sign in the side of jeepney that contains more or less the destination where we want to go. so i took this jeepney and checked my map every we passed any intersection. it should be just go straight to my destination. but suddenly in the middle of the ride, this jeepney is make a left turn. argh! so i have to alight immediately and take another jeepney. ok, second jeepney and i was hoping this jeepney will go straight away and not making any turn. and finally i alight in the spot where i have to continue my journey by walking.

The Philippines' Jeepney

so it's around 5 minutes walking and i arrived in this parish. there were a daily mass there. then i asked one mother who holding her baby where is the parish office, and she said it's already closed. but afterward she lead me to another lady that seems to be one of the worker of the office. so i talked with her and she leads me to another lady whom a secretary of the office. then i talked to this secretary, gave the brochure and she gave me the youth coordinator's contact number. great!

so it's 15 minutes away from the daily mass will finish. then i took a jeepney back to the first parish. i took it randomly, pay it, and the driver asked me something in Tagalog which i didn't understand. luckily there were one nice lady want to become my sudden translator. apparently the driver asked me where to go and i said Abad Santos. then the driver said something again and gave back my money. and the lady told me that, this jeepney is not going there. crap! ok i alight and find another jeepney. this time i'm more clever, before i took the jeepney, i asked the driver already, "Abad Santos?" and he said, "yes, Abad Santos!". fiuhhh.

after i alight in the nearest turn to the first parish and walk in rush. later i found out that the mass isn't finish yet and i found a few young people hanging around the church. great! so i approached two of them and make a conversation with them. apparently they didn't speak a good English and getting nose bleeding (the phrase that the Filipinos always express if they have to either talk or listen too much in English). and they lead me to the young boy whom one of the officer of the Parish Youth Ministry and the leader of the Worship Ministry. he's getting nose bleeding as well. ahahaha. then i saw Br. Jean-Jacques is came out from the church as the mass is already finish. he called me and introduce me to the priest who celebrate the mass. apparently the priest is the parish priest assistant and he can speak French! yes, he's already went to Taize and stay for five years in Paris. cool! afterward we approached a bunch of the young people who gathered around the church and talked with them about Taize and Pilgrimage of Trust. they seems very interesting.

and around 8 o'clock we have to say goodbye because we have to come home at least 9 pm to get our supper.

well, once again it was a wonderful closing of my visiting parishes day. met the priest who can speak French and already went to Taize? there's can't be better than that! ahahahaha.

Visiting Parishes #2

on tuesday, the beginning of December, i've decided to visit 5 parishes in one day. it's because i still have more than 10 parishes that i don't have a contact with. so around 3pm i left by an LRT. and i don't have contact with these 5 parishes at all so i have to visit them to see if i can meet the youth coordinator or the parish priest at a chance. i was hoping if i brought enough lucky with me ;p and i decided these 5 parishes because their location formed into a diagonal line between each other and it's a walking distance around 10-15 minutes between each other.

first parish, after alight in the nearest station, i have to walk around 5 minutes to found the parish. quite difficult because i have to walk through the small street. this parish i already visit on my first week along with Michio but that time the parish office already closed. but now i found out that the parish office is still open. Thank God! so i talked to the lady there and pity that she doesn't have the youth coordinator or the parish priest number. she suggests to come back on Sunday to meet either the youth coordinator or the parish priest. and she gave me the office number. i also gave her the brochure of Pilgrimage of Trust along with my number written on that brochure. but i don't know why she just put the brochure in her desk, seems like she abandoned that small paper. ok then i went out and hoping let Holy Spirit encourage her to really give that brochure to the youth coordinator or the parish priest.

second parish, i walked around 10 minutes. this parish i also already visited on my first week and get the youth coordinator contact number, but she never replied my text. so i found out that the parish office is still open and i asked about the youth coordinator. surprised that the lady told me that now there's a new youth coordinator because the previous one is already in Australia. crap! ahahahaha. unfortunately she doesn't know the new youth coordinator's number. she suggests me to wait around 45 minutes because there will be a daily mass that gave by the parish priest himself. the problem is, i don't have that 45 minutes because i still have 3 more parishes that i have to visit and my latest hour is 9pm (because the LRT will closed at 9pm). so i waited there around 15 minutes and found two of the youth members. so i talked to them about Taize and Pilgrimage of Trust, got the youth coordinator number and gave them the brochure. yes, i was hoping once again let the Holy Spirit guide them to give the brochure into the right hand ;p

third parish, 10 minutes walking. i already visited this parish as well on my first week, that time me and Michio meet the priest and we shared about Taize and Pilgrimage of Trust. but the end of our sharing, the priest told us that he's just a guest priest. crap! ahahahaha. and yes he told us that he will relay it to the parish priest. so now i hope i can meet the parish priest or the youth coordinator. the time is already 7pm and the parish office is already closed. argh, ok i have plan b. i walked around the parish to see if i can ask someone if they know about the youth coordinator or the parish priest. this method SOMETIMES is working, of course with enough luck. but unfortunately that time, i asked 2-3 people but they don't know anything. waiting desperately, i saw a big poster told that there will be a Parish Fiesta on Dec 10. cool! i noted down the date and let's see if i can attend the fiesta. then i went to the next parish.

fourth parish, 15 minutes walking and almost get lost. haha. 7.30 pm and the parish office is already closed. but there's many young people hanging around near the church. bless me! i approach three of them and asked about the youth coordinator. one of them answered with a better English than the other two. she said that the youth coordinator is not around and unfortunately three of them don't have the youth coordinator's number. but then i asked their number i gave the brochure to them. then i sat down and talked with them about the youth activity and they interested with what i'm doing here in Philippines. i always interested how's the church activity of the Filipinos youth. and it was a nice conversation to exchange ideas. and apparently she told me that she quite amazed because there are foreigners walking around Manila alone only with Map because in her opinion, it's quite dangerous to walk alone in Manila because sometimes there's criminal activity. and i'm quite surprised that time because in these three weeks i feel fine and not experienced any bad things. but at least what she told me made me more cautious. then i went to the fifth parish.

the fifth and the last parish of the day. it's quite far so i took Jeepney. 5 minutes riding jeepney and i alight. check the map and found out that i'm too far from the parish. ahahahaha. so i walked back around 5 minutes of walking. then i found the church and it's already dark. and unfortunately there's no one hanging around in the church. but i saw there's a light in the adoration chapel so i came in and found one lady who doesn't speak English very well. she suggests me to come again tomorrow on 9am when the parish office is open. then i still hanging around in front of the church for couple of minutes and hoping i can meet someone that i can asked for. there's many people walked passed by in the front of the church but there's no one who really hanging around in the church except the flowers vendors. starving and exhausting, i decided to went home. 10 minutes of walking to the nearest LRT station, it's around 8.15 pm. i hope i can arrive in the brothers's place before 9pm because usually they still keep the dinner until 9pm.

so i took the LRT and enjoy the ride with music plugged to my ears. then i see the door near me is full with a people so i move to the other door so i can get out easily. while i was walking to the other door, i saw one blonde man sat in the floor and in a second i recognized him. florian! AHAHAHAHAHA. and we were laughing very hard! it's soooo wonderful! apparently we are in the same car only separated around a quarter metres between. then i sat with him and we took pictures together. ahahaha cool. what a nice closing for my not-enough-luck day.

Visiting Parishes

i think i have to share about what i'm doing here in Manila.

yes i'm the one of the others seven volunteers of Taize Community that will help the preparation of the Pilgrimage of Trust in Manila that will be held on February 3th - 7th, 2010. there are one boy and one girl from Hong Kong, one boy from Japan, one boy from Germany, one girl from Korea, one girl from Vietnam, and me.

overall, our job is to visiting every parishes in Metro Manila to share about Taize Community and Pilgrimage of Trust, and invite them to join our pilgrimage. beside of that, we are also invite every parishes to welcome pilgrims that will come from outside Manila and the other countries into each host families in every parishes, and every parish that want to welcome pilgrims, we call them a Welcome Center.

because of there are so many parishes in Metro Manila, each one of us are assigned to around 4 - 5 vicariate, which is every vicariate have around 5 - 9 parishes. for me, i got 5 vicariate and i am the contact person of 34 parishes. yeah, not so much. ahahahahaha.

the interesting part is, we are equipped by one City Map of Metro Manila to help us to find every parishes. so i have to use this map to find every parishes that i've assigned to. and i'm very happy for this because it's like i've born to do this kind of job, getting lost in a city i never knew before to find some places only with map. cool!

so what should we do in every parishes? first of all, we can't text or phone them before we visit them. of course it's quite strange if someone stranger that u never meet before, suddenly text or phone you to arrange a meeting. so we have to visit the parish to meet either the youth coordinator or the parish priest at a chance. sometimes if i'm lucky, i can meet one of them and tell that i'm a volunteer of Taize Community and will held a international Pilgrimage of Trust and invite them to become a participant or to become a Welcome Center. if i'm half lucky, i can get their contact number from the parish office and text them to fix a personal meeting. if i'm not lucky at all, i can't meet them and the parish office is closed.

well, sometimes there's people that don't know about Taize at all so i have to explain them what is Taize Community in briefly.

after the youth coordinator or the parish priest already know me, Taize Community, and Pilgrimage of Trust, i have to ask the possibilities if i can join the youth members meeting or gathering to share again about Taize Community and Pilgrimage of Trust with the youth members. and this is the right time to show the 16 minutes Preparation of Manila Meeting videoto the youth members.

after i'm sure that most of the youth in one parish already know about Taize Community and Pilgrimage of Trust, and if they are interested to become a Welcome Center, then i have to invite them to make a concrete preparation team to organize the accommodation (looking for foster/host families), prepare the morning activity and the morning prayer (these will be held in every parishes where the pilgrims stay then around 10am they have to depart to the venue, Don Bosco Makati, to have their lunch, midday prayer, afternoon program, dinner, and evening prayer).

and my job didn't stop after they form a preparation team. i have to follow their progress and to help them in their preparation until the D-Day is come.

more or less, those are what i have to do in two months ahead. and by now, in my third weeks here, i didn't visit yet all my parishes. and i didn't have yet a single preparation team. but i already have around 5 - 6 parishes that willing to become a Welcome Center. so i still have a long way to go. ahahahaha.

ah, beside to share and follow the preparation of the Pilgrimage of Trust, if it's possible we also have to attend their Taize prayer, either if it's monthly or occasionally. if they don't have a Taize prayer in their parishes, we can invite them to arrange a prayer together and we will provide the flow. and hopefully the prayer will last until 2 - 3 years later.

in the prayer part, i think i'm quite used to because of my experiences in my parish in Jakarta. but the different thing is, i have to arrange a prayer in many parishes! ahahahaha cool!

i embedded the 16 minutes video if you want to watch.

Taizé - Prep Manila 2009 from Taizé Community on Vimeo.

click here for the original link.

related article:
On Line from the Preparation Team

Learning by Doing

so now is my third day in Manila.

until this time, i feel again what i felt over one year ago in Taize. it's about learning by doing.

yes, while i stayed in Taize, for the first day until my departure, the 'learning by doing' this thing is always happens.

and i feel it again in here, in Manila.

first of all because i come to a new place that has a different culture and habits. and also the community habits. it's like for the first time i really don't know what to do, where to go, how to do, with whom, and so on. but as time goes by, i learn how to do it by doing it self.

such as my first supper in Manila two days ago on the day when i arrived. i have to learn where the brothers take their supper, how to set the tables, and once aga in how to take the meals because i impressed that even we are in Asia, the meals also have an appetizer (salad), main course, and a desert. haha!

and the other thing is, every two of the volunteers have to prepare the morning, midday, and evening prayer. because i just arrived, i didn't get my schedule yet but i volunteered my self to help anyone on any schedule. so at the first time i really didn't know what to do and how to do. there are song papers, psalm papers, reading papers, prayer books, and so on. i really didn't know which papers is use for the morning, midday, or the evening prayer. so i just keep asked the other what to do.

overall, this three days it seems like i'm a junior one here. ahahaha. but it's okay. it's interesting to see that in our life, actually we will always experience the 'learning by doing' thing. the one of important thing is don't be afraid to do that and keep initiative to learn and do it. and also i always keep in mind that the others will not mind to help us, because if i was on their place, i will do the same for the 'junior' one.

so wish me luck for my learning by doing thing. i still have one more important thing that i have to learn it by doing; washing my clothes! and there is no laundry machine here so i have to wash it by hands. so wish me luck! ;p

Mabuhay Manila!

so here i am! in Manila!
now it's my second day in Manila, but the interesting part is the day before, when i came to Manila.

so my flight is landing on Clark - Pampanga City, there is one small airport which is unfortunately quite far from Manila itself, it's around 2 hours by bus. actually in Manila itself also have an airport which bigger, but i don't know maybe it's because my cheap ticket so Air Asia flown me to Clark. haha!

i arrived in Clark on 11am, then Sam who last year spent his 3 months in Taize picked me up and accompanying my to Manila by bus. around 2pm we arrive and we were waiting in Caloocan City to meet Br. Andre who will fetch me up because Sam will back again to Pampanga. afterward Br. Andre came with Florian! wohooo it's been last year since my last meeting with Florian! so they take me to the secretariat by LRT. and around 3pm i arrived in the Taize Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth Secretariat, in Makati City.

well on that time i'm totally exhausted and total sleepy because of the KL Traveling Day and only 5 hours sleeping in the airport's benches. but the problem is, i can't go to the house where the boys volunteers stayed because i don't have the key yet and the other 3 boys are leaving for work. so i just wait in the secretariat, try to get online with my cellphone and fall asleep many times.

until 6pm, Br. Andreas woke me up and ask me to join the evening prayer. ah, the prayer here is soooo simple. there is no musical instrument, only singing. and after the prayer we take lunch together with the brothers. and also in silence with classical music.

and after the supper, Br. John-Noel asked me to take a sleep on his bed. okay then i sleep but on 9pm Br. Ghislain woke me up and told me that Michio from Japan is already arrived.

so finally i come to the house. it's took around 10 minutes walking from the secretariat. the house actually some kind of a dormitory in the house. there is one room with 4 beds, already enough for 4 boys volunteer. and with one bathroom inside our room.

the funny thing is, the welcoming! on the top of my pillow, there isone paper that wroted "Mabuhay Kuya!". and when i opened my closet, i also found one paper that wroted "Welcome Timo!". ahahaha i almost forgot that "welcoming" is one of the most important thing in Taize-life style ;p

so that's my first day in Philippines and in Manila.
the story about it, just follow my stories afterward.

*HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my lovely sister who spend her time for a Master study in Tokyo, Japan - Elfani

One Year Ago : The Longest Work Hours

for English translations,

Lundi, 180808

wake up on 06.40. go to the Big Kitchen.
prepare the choco drink and tea for the small work group. then prepare choco drink and tea for the field people, 10 big pots + 2 extra big pots. then we have our breakfast. and when the bells starts ringing, we go to the church. oh, our Morning Team are 6 people.

after we take the Eucharist, we immediately run to the Big Kitchen, put the pots into each table which has been set up by Sandipan and Washington. then looking for volunteers to distribute the breakfast. before we start the big distribution, we let the Big & Small Washing Up to take their breakfast first. then we open the line and pay attention for every line which need more cups, choco stick, breads, tea, or choco drink. after the big distribution is finish, we wash up the tables, floors, and the distribution area. it's all finished on 10.30.

check and writing emails.

midday prayer. lunch. take a rest for a while.

15.00, go to the Big Kitchen, have a briefing with the Afternoon Team. then start to make a tea for the small work group. then take a half an hour break and have some tea and snack.

then start to prepare 10 big pots of tea for the field poeple. start the tea and snack distribution on 17.00 and finished on 17.45. the rest of that is same like in the morning; washing up tables, floors, and kitchen. finish on 18.10.

take a rest, take a shower.

supper. evening prayer.

when Br. Alois stand up, me and the other coordinators go to the Big Kitchen (again!) to prepare one big pot of cold tea for the tea after evening prayer. the coordinators itself serve the tea for those who want to take some tea during the evening. we finished on 22.00.

then i volunteered for the small washing up which really need some volunteers to wash the cups with Korean girls, Dipok, and Song.

go to Tilleul, play chess.

One Year Ago : Sunday's Tea

for English translations,

Dimanche, 170808

wake up on 06.45, go to the Big Kitchen. get a quick brief with Sandipan. then start the work. so there are 4 Coordinators of Breakfast & Tea Team; me, Lukas from Germany, Sandipan from India, and Washington from Brazil. me & Lukas are the new coordinators and Sandipan & Washington are the "old" coordinators and this week is their second week as the coordinators. so every coordinators who work in the Breakfast & Tea Team always work for two weeks and every week there are two new coordinators. so the old coordinator will be the mentor of the new coordinator. cool!

usually on weekdays, we have our team which included people who stay from one week. but special on Sunday's breakfast, there are no team because most of the team already go home. fortunately on today's breakfast there are two nice people who will help the preparation and the distribution.

for breakfast, first of all we have to prepare breakfast for small work group. we have to make the tea and choco drink with big pots and our special recipe ;p then take the big basket, fill with bowls, big jar, jam, butter, bread as many as the number which they asked.

then we have to prepare the breakfast distribution for field people. make the line with tables, then put bowls, bread, butter, jam, choco stick, and tea/choco drink pots into every table. after our line ready with their tables, we have to find enough volunteers to distribute the breakfast. after all set, we start the big distribution. we have to serve thousands people! during the distribution we have to keep an eye on which line that need more supply for their table. then close the line one by one.

after the big distribution over, we have to clean the big kitchen. spray it with water, rub it with soap water and brush, then squeeze it. finish on 10.00. immediately go to Eucharist.

after the Eucharist, have a nice conversation in the Tilleul's common room, and play chess.

13.00 lunch, then take a quick nap.

14.30 go to La Morada, have a meeting and briefing with our Sunday's Afternoon Tea Team. we have to prepare the tea distribution for the welcoming. this time we get a help from 15 volunteers from Germany. there are 9 spot of welcoming around Taize. coordinators' job "only" to supervise the distribution while we split the volunteers into every spot. the supervise job is include to make a new tea pot if some welcoming spot is running out their tea, and bring the heavy-tea pot to the welcoming spot. finish on 18.00 (fiuh!)

19.00 supper.

20.00 go to La Morada have a meeting and briefing with the new Breakfast Team for a week.

20.30 evening prayer.

One Year Ago : Busy Day!

for English translation,

Samedi, 160808

wake up, morning prayer, breakfast.

Cadole, move the wooden box into the warehouse opposite the Roman Church with Save.

write emails.

midday prayer, lunch.

take a quick nap, before work in El Abiodh Economat. finish my work at 15.45, then immediately go to Africans Workshop which held on 15.15. it's ok if i'm late since i never attend Africans Workshop before. then take some photos with them.

17.00 Asian Meeting with Br. Alois in the Br. Roger's room. wowh! haha. Br. Alois is extraordinary humble. his eyes, the way he talks, his body language is expressed that he is a very humble man. at the end, i took a picture with him. yeah!

18.30 immediately go to Japanese Workshop which held on 17.30. but it's okay since this is a rare moment when around 30 young people from Japan came to Taize. apparently the workshop is already finish but there's many people still there to learn how to make origami, write their name in Hiragana, and some girls have a try to wear Kimono.

then i realized that i have to attend a meeting on 18.00 in the Big Kitchen for my work tomorrow; Breakfast & Tea Team. so i late for half an hour ;p but it's ok. for tomorrow i have to wake up on 06.30 (gosh!) because on 06.45 we have to gather in the Big Kitchen.

supper, then take a shower.

evening prayer. and there's a prayer to pray three years of Br. Roger's death. it's so simple, there's a Friendship icon and sunflower at the altar.

One Year Ago : First Welcoming

for the English translations,

Dimanche, 100808

wake up on 09.00, self service breakfast at Tilleul.

eucharist at the church on 10.00

meeting with Br. Matthew at Point 10 on 11.30am. briefing for those who work as a First Welcoming. quite complicated and there's a lot of things that we have to explain to the people who came to Taize. but it's ok, there's a manual.

13.00pm lunch. there's no brother again who accompanied us but the boys keep eating in the first 10 minutes in silence.

14.30pm getting ready for the First Welcoming in Point 10 for English speakers. 15.30 the welcoming begins. then i arranged a group of some people who came, there's from Romania, UK, Poland, and Srilanka. when i want to start explain to them, suddenly one of the responsible asks me to move to the another group because there are 12 people who came direct from Papua, Indonesia. wowh! so i welcomed them and start to explain everything they should know about staying a week in Taize. quite shocking because i already prepared my self to talk in English and suddenly i have to explain in my mother tongue. well, after one month staying abroad, there are several word in Indonesian which i forgot ;p then after the Indonesian group is explained well, i welcomed some of English speakers but quite few. there are from Czech, Holland, UK, and Philippines. my shift finish at 18.00.

then going to the Infirmary to cured my shinbone which hit the benches while i was welcoming because i was to excited ;p it was my first time to go to the Infirmary. i queued and finally some sister who speaks in French welcomed me very nicely. but unfortunately i can't understand everything she said so i just, "oui oui..." ;p
then she gave me some salve on my shinbone and compressed it with ice which i have to hold the ice for the rest of the night ;p and apparently for those who stay longer, they don't have to queue in the front door. there are "special" door for us. great to know this fact in the end of my visit ;p

then i came late for the supper at the community and still holding the ice ;p

evening prayer.

One Year Ago : Rubbish Rap

for English translations,

090808, Samedi

wake up, breakfast at Cadole, morning prayer.

and start to work immediately after the prayer. today is my last day to work in rubbish collection team. i begin to realize that i think this is one of the best job in Taize. because this kind of work is really need a good teamwork. of course after you work together in a week, you began to more getting know each other. the best part is when we gathered in the compactor after we splitted into teams to collecting the rubbish around Taize. in the compactor we gathered again to do our final work; put the kind of rubbish into the right compactor. and usually singing some Taize songs while we take and throw away the rubbish bag into the compactor. yeah we began to resistent to the smell ;p and since yesterday we have our theme song; "Rubbish Rap" ;p

midday prayer, lunch.

14.00, get ready for Asia Workshop. once again we presented our "Wayang Kulit" and "Wayang Orang".

18.00, write some emails after the workshop finish.

take a shower.

evening prayer. for today there's a "Life Commitment of the Brother", Br. Wotjek from Poland. apparently he's who the responsible one in the Cadole. the ceremony is so simple. before the silence, Br. Alois asks Br. Wotjek some questions. the Br. Alois gave and put a ring into Br. Wotjek's finger. then Br. Wotjek shake hand with all the brothers accompanied by our singing. after that, Br. Alois put his right hand on the top of Br. Wotjek and pray for him. and then the prayer continued like usual.

ah, today the work list for next week already shown on Tilleul's board. on Sunday i'll become one of the First Welcome team all day. and for weekdays, in the morning Cadole again ;p and El Abiodh Economat in the afternoon.

One Year Ago : The Tents Sprayer

for English translations,

010808, Vendredi

wake up 06.45, jogging, take a shower.

morning prayer, breakfast.

then it's raining in the morning. and the great thing is, for today i don't have to clean the graffiti because we already did it clear enough (except if there's some people who made a "new" graffiti) and because it's raining. so me and Helion fill our free time with play chess.

before midday prayer, i spend my time to write some emails on La Morada.

midday prayer, lunch. and it's still raining.

Cadole time and the sky began to clear. today's work, i get a job to spray the tents with some waterproof products to protect the tents from rain. and my partner was Save. i think it's a nice job in Cadole because i don't have spend too much energy on it, well except the heavy liquids box. the interesting part is when we have to mix the liquids with an exact formula that Andrew told us.

finish on 17.00, back to Tilleul to have some quick rest.

17.30 go to point N7 in the church. today i become one of the speakers of "How to Share a Life with Moslem Believers" workshop again. there's more people came to this week's workshop than last week. and the discussion also more interesting. apparently there one Moslem guy from Belgium also attend the workshop and he shared about his experiences. the interesting part is, his visit to Taize for this week is already his third times! it's so beautiful how Taize unite people from every religion ;p

after the workshop, we have an interesting after-workshop discussion between me, Alain, and Korneel the Moslem guy. and because our discussion is getting interesting, me and Alain are late for the supper at the community. so three of us plus one preacher from USA took our supper in the big kitchen. of course, we still continued our discussion while we took our supper ;p

evening prayer.

One Year Ago : Lucky Seat

for English translation,

290708, Mardi

wake up earlier, have a jogging with Pablo.

morning prayer, breakfast, washing up.

go to Point 5, removing graffiti until 11.00.

hang out on Tilleul's common room until midday prayer.

midday prayer, lunch, play chess for a while.

work at Cadole on 15.00. today's work is cleaning the rubbish bins around Taize with Song, Save, and Jongki.

17.00 take a shower and sleep for a while.

19.00 supper. hang out on Tilleul's common room until evening prayer.

20.30 evening prayer.

21.30, go to the community. today's special because all the boys who stay longer has been invited to the community to have a meeting with Br. Alois. Br. Leandro said that this meeting is the first meeting between the permanents and the prior after 40 years ;p

unfortunately i'm too excited to sing the song in the church so i came late to the meeting, with Karel. when we entered, Br. Benoit welcomed both of us. Karel picked the chair near the entrance and so do i. but Br. Benoit asked me to come with him. okay i think those chairs is for those who come late. then i saw Br. Leandro asked Pablo to come with him as well. then me and Pablo were taken to the middle of the room. exactly in the middle of the room, there were three empty chairs. there are microphone on top of the chair in the middle. hm i think this chair is for Br. Alois. and apparently, me and Pablo was told to sit next to the chair with the microphone, i'm on the left chair and Pablo on the right chair. have a seat with quite shock and still can't believe what happens, in a minutes Br. Alois come and take a seat between me and Pablo! struck with amazement, i greet him nicely. then there's one brother told me to move one chair to the left because he will be Br. Alois' translator.

what a day, what a seat!

;p

One Year Ago : The Graffiti Cleaner

for English translation,

280708, Lundi

wake up, morning prayer, breakfast, and ready for my first job in Taize!

go to Point 5, meet Zuzana the Queen of Point 5. the graffiti cleaner for this week is me and Helion from France. she gave us our equipment; a bottle of alcohol, sandpaper, and gloves. then she gave us a little brief about our job for today. it's quite simple, to clean graffiti all around Taize, either on the wall, benches, even inside toilet.

after we took some of unused newspaper in La Morada, we ready for the battle! after one hour for walking around and scratching and cleaning, it's true that the most graffiti area is toilet :( especially boys toilet, on the door or on the wall. yeah i know the excitement of your "nature calls" in the toilet while you write some poetic sentences on the wall or on the door. but doing this job made me realize that we have to put some respect on every facilities to keep it clean, well in this case is not ruin it with "timo was here" writing. ;p

but i'm really proud of this kind of job because two of us is a kind of hero in Taize. of course, if we saw some writings ANYWHERE, we will CLEAN it. and we are the only two of us in Taize. imagine, with only two people, we can make this hill more clean than it was ;p the best part is when we enter the toilet that closed for a while by Point 5 Toilet Cleaner Team, we can enter it with a privilege by yelling "EXCUSE ME, GRAFFITI CLEANER!" with a bottle of alcohol, sandpaper, newspaper, and gloves in our hands ;p

11.00 our work is done for today. play chess with Helion at Tilleul's common room. i lost.

midday prayer, lunch.

hang out in the common room, playing guitar and singing along, to spend time until my afternoon work.

14.45 go to Cadole. today our job is to collecting rubbish until the next village. the Cadole workers for today split into three teams. my team went to Bray, Anka from Germany, Jongki from South Korea, Jadoga from Poland, and Irene from French. it's amazing, five people with five different nationalities ;p

after the work has done, back to Tilleul. take a shower and a quick sleep until supper.

after supper, play chess for a while with Pablo. and today isn't my day for play chess, i lost again.

evening prayer.

























graffiti picture taken from here.

One Year Ago : 3000 Bowls

for English translation,

270708, Dimanche

wake up on 09.00, breakfast.

Eucharist on 10.00.

play chess until lunch.

apparently, i invited to have lunch in the house of three ladies from Vietnam. so the story behind these three ladies is that, when Br. Roger visited Vietnam 30 years ago, he brought these three ladies to Taize and ask them to stay there. so here are they, staying in Taize and working for the community. lunch menu on that house is Vietnamnese sticky rice and fried chicken! whoaaa it's been so long for me to not eat fried chicken! ;p

then say goodbye to Lia, an Indonesian lady who married with German guy and stay in Switzerland.

for have a lot of free time and craving for work, i help Francis, Dipok, Pepe, and Pedro in the Big Kitchen, to distribute tea into welcoming spots. and after that, washing up around 3000 bowls! that's my first time work in the Big Kitchen and i'm so exhausted! ;p

play chess for awhile, against Pablo, i won!

supper at the community.

have a meeting with Suzana, the Queen of Point Five, to have a briefing about cleaning grafiti job.

evening prayer.

chess again, against Song, lose :(



bowls picture taken from here.

One Year Ago : The Workshop

for English translations,

260708, Samedi

wake up, morning prayer, breakfast.

work schedule for next week already show up. and i get a "Graffiti Cleaner" job in the morning and Cadole in the afternoon.

bible introduction on 10.00, my last group sharing in this week.

middat prayer 12.00. lunch at Tilleul.

have a little meeting with Br. Francesco, he asked me to share about Indonesia for the "How to Share a Life with Moslem Believers" Workshop. he told me that it's very important to share about Indonesia's situation because Indonesia is a country with the largest population of Moslem believers.

15.00 come to Tent P to find Frerence, the moderator. he gave me a short brief and then the workshop began. apparently i'm not alone, there's also Dipok that will share about his life in Bangladesh and Credo will share about his life in Aljazair (whoa by the time i type their name, suddenly i miss them! ;p). then each one of us began to share about our experience for share a life with Moslem believers. for me, i share about my experience in my high school that the majority of student in my school is Moslem believers. and i have no problem with that.

after the workshop, back to Tilleul to play a chess until supper time.

evening prayer on 20.30.

then have a conversation with one old man from Indonesia who live in Germany, apparently he attended the workshop that's why he know me.

then play Uno in the Tilleul's common room until 01.00 (yeah, it's saturday night fever! ;p)

One Year Ago : It's a Week!

for English translations,

wake up on 08.45, then straight to self-service breakfast.

join the Eucharist on 10.00. the mass is quite unique, of course with "Taize-style". the priest is quite rare seen on the altar. the focus is the altar and the decoration itself.

lunch on 13.00 then it's my turn to do the washing up.

then me and a few Asians went to Cluny (Save, Tang Mo, Xiao, George, Akalard, Phoenix). pay 2,30 Euros return bus ticket. apparently this is an "illegal trip" because it suppose that we don't have a permission to go from Taize. of course because when we arrived in Taize in the first time, we hand out our important documents, including passport, to one of the brother for safety procedure. so if we go out of Taize, then there's no identity with us. and i realize all of those things in the return back home, thanks to George. and suddenly i feel paranoid that i've made something illegal ;p

supper at Community on 19.00 and the Sunday's menu is Taize' Pizza! ;p

Evening prayer on 20.30.

afterward, have a little meeting with Br. Jean-Patrick about my work on my second week; sit and listen in a bible introduction (again!) with the brother with the Book of Revelation topic.

have a little conversation with Alena, she told me that she extend her staying until next Wednesday.

playing Uno until midnight (well it's begin to be my daily routine in the night before sleep, thanks to the "Midnight Uno Team": Simon, David, Ruben, Frederick ;p)

One Year Ago : Samedi

for English translations,

wake up, morning prayer 08.15.

breakfast at Tilleul. today it's my turn to do the WASHING UP! with Credo and Roland.

meeting at 10.00. the last bible introduction for today. i exchange souvenirs with Alena. i give her a wallet with "batik" pattern and she give me a Czech coin.

midday prayer 12.20 and lunch at Tilleul.

after that, me, Karel, and Song prepare and start to make a decoration for our Indonesia Corner for the Asia Workshop that will begin on 15.15. we make a decoration as we have our Independence Day; there's a lot of red and white Indonesian flag. then we perform our "Wayang Kulit" drama show. i'm dressing with a traditional cloth from Java, Song dressed as a Semar, a character from Java's folk story, and Karel dressed with traditional cloth from Batak.

after the workshop, have a little conversation with Alena. then Sarah came by and taught me and Karel a Polish folk song.

supper at the community on 19.00.

evening prayer on 20.30. because this is Saturday, we received a little candle when we enter the church. after the last song of the prayer, we light the candle from the brothers in the middle until people who sit in the end of the church. sooo beautiful! and apparently the candle only last for only 5 minutes. yeah it's a hi-tech security candle ;p

22.30, i go back to Tilleul to take my diary with me and go back to the church again. then i write on my diary while listening to the songs. apparently, they keep on singing until midnight. i don't know, maybe they accompanied the people who want to keep stay in the church. well, or to accompanied the people who writing on their diary ;p

One Year Ago : Vendredi

for English translations,

wake up in the morning, this is third time i wake up exactly on 08.15 and the bells are alredy ringing. wash my face and then make a little run to the church.

so, morning prayer. ah, every morning prayer, we received a holy bread. but i don't know, this bread is quite red (in Indonesia, it's white). rumors said that the red one is without glucose.

breakfast at Tilleul.

and for today, there's a new roomates on my room, Carlos from Guatemala!

meeting at Point 10, continued by discussion in small group. Annelies didn't come again, so i have to be the group leader again :( it seems that our group is a very serious group than the other groups, which i realize for today. if i see the other groups, they always put some games or singing in the middle or the end of their discussion. but for our groups, we always serious to discuss about the topic, sometimes we extend our time discussions. and amazingly, every people in our group always speak up, even if they hardly to speak English.

midday prayer on 12.20 and lunch at Tilleul.

meeting on 15.15.

after that, i take a walk around Source St. Etienne. this place it's like a garden, wood, and there's a lake in the middle of it. a very perfect place to make a distance from the crowd, to stay in silence. it's a very nice place!

17.00 prepare for tomorrow's Asia workshop.

19.00 supper at the Community.

20.30 evening prayer. because this is Friday, they lay down the Taize' cross in the middle of the church and put candles on top of it. after the prayer, all of the brothers gathered around the cross and pray. after the brothers leave the church, then it's turn for the people who want to take a prayer around the cross.

afterward, playing Uno until midnight. it's addicting! ;p

One Year Ago : Lunch at the Community

for English translations,

wake up, morning prayer on 08.15.

breakfast at Tilleul.

then Br. Jean-Patrick told me that i had been invited to have lunch in the Community. wowh!

meeting at Point 10 on 10.00. Annelies from Holland came to me and told me that she and the other two boys from Holland can't make it to the meeting for today. so she asked my help to become a group leader to lead the discussion.

midday prayer on 12.20.

lunch at the Community. i'm quite late but it's ok. the food is much better than Tilleul! ahahaha. and there's a red wine as well ;p

meeting at Point 10 on 15.15. one of the brothers taught us about the meaning of one of icon in Taize.

then have a conversation in La Morada with Br. Francesco from Indonesia and the other Indonesian people that came to Taize that week; there's a sisters that came from Frankfurt and Perth, and there's two brothers that came from Belgia.

supper at the community 19.00. have a conversation with Br. Jasper from Holland which became a brother just last Saturday.

evening prayer.

playing Uno at Tilleul's common room until midnite ;p

One Year Ago : Wednesday

for English translations,


wake up, then morning prayer at 08.15.
breakfast at Tilleul.
meeting at Point 10 on 10.00
walking around at the camping ground, taking some photos.
make a visit at Exposition.
Midday prayer 12.20.
luncht at Tilleul.
meeting in a small group on 15.15
after the discussion ends, have a little conversation with Alena from Czech Republic.
Asian workshop practice at Point 14 on 17.00-19.00.
Supper at Community on 19.00
have a conversation with Br. Adam at La Morada.
Evening prayer on 20.30.
have a little conversation with one-year permanent boy from Haiti.
playing Uno (my first time!) at Tilleul's common room until 23.30.
*thanks to Simon from Kenya who taught me how to play Uno.

One Year Ago : The Third Day

for English translations,

wake up at 07.45, brush my teeth, prepare for the cold weather costume, and go to the church.

Morning prayer 08.15.

breakfast at Tilleul immediately after the prayer. together with all Tilleul boys and one of the brothers. bread, jam, choco stick, and coffe-milk.
meeting on 10 at Point 10. together with some of the people who stay for one week. speech from one of the brothers, he gave us several topics to discuss in the small group.

Midday prayer 12.20.

lunch at Tilleul immediately after prayer, in silence for 15 minutes with classical music. there's appetizer with salad and bread, then there's a main course, then a dessert with a fruit and yoghurt.

14.45, gathered in Roman Church opposite of Tilleul for walk together with the big group of morning's meeting to pray in the Roman Church at Bray village. around one hour walking with a beautiful scenery! make some friends with one boy from Pakistan, one boy from Bangladesh, and several girls from Ukraine ;p
Asian workshop practice at 18.00-19.00. make a decision of what performance that we will perform on the workshop with Karel and Song. and take a shower afterward.
supper at the Community with some of the brothers, 19.00. get in touch with Br. John-Mark from England.

Evening prayer 20.30.

Asian meeting 21.30 with Br. John-Noel.

then with Song, we make a first visit to Oyak ;p watching a lot of Europeans young people gathered to sing and dance. it's crowded!

One Year Ago : Accueil, Taize!

for English translations,

arrived at Taize last night, 20.30. exactly on Evening Prayer begins. directly join the prayer, quite stunning while singing the songs.
after the prayer, got the quick briefing with Br. Jean-Patrick, and accompanied by Br. Benoit to my room in Tilleul house. then i go to sleep.

today (Monday), wake up at 10am and have a meeting with Br. Jean-Patrick, have a briefing about the life for a week. tomorrow i have to join the meeting at 10am in Point 10. today is a rest day for me.

then i walk around for a while, trying to follow the map that Br. Jean-Patrick gave me, and took some photos. then join the Midday Prayer at 12.20. then have a lunch in Tilleul and a little chat afterwards. then i go to sleep until the supper time, 19.00.

every supper, it seems that ever boys who stay longer have a supper together with some brothers in the Community. then have a meeting with Br. Adam (Indonesia) for preparing the Asian Workshop for next Saturday.

then join the Evening Prayer at 20.30.

One Year Ago : Gare de Lyon

for English translations,

Gare de Lyon, Paris

my plane landed at Charles de Gaulle, Paris on 13.00 Paris time. passport check and claim baggage, 14.00 i get out and start to looking for Air France Bus that will take me to Gare de Lyon. the bus is at Gate 2, Terminal 2. bus' final destination is to Montparnasse, and Gare de Lyon is the first stop. bought the ticket from the driver, 15 Euro. around 1 hour of driving. along the road, i saw some kind of yellow plants in the field (wheat or something like that?)

arrived at Gare de Lyon on 15.00, i directly asked the officer where i can buy the TGV ticket to Macon-Loche. 53,70 Euro and depart on 17.50 thich mean i have to wait here around 3 hours! okay. bought a telephonique carte, 7 Euro, and called Taize to give them some news about me. and my guess is true, i'll arrive at Macon Loche around 19.25 and there's no bus anymore to Taize. so they said i'll be picked up.

ok. i walked around this big station, taking some photos. and i took a pee and! i have to paid! for my pee! so true what people said, take a pee on Europe is expensive! i have to pay 0.50 Euro and it's equal to Rp. 7.000 only to take a pee! darn...

the weather is quite cold here, with some winds.

yeah! see you at Taize!

One Year Ago : Transit Note

for English translations,

Dubai International Airpot,
rumors said that this is one of the most sophisticated airport in the world.
and here i am, sitting in the boarding room, waiting for the plane that take me to Charles de Gaulle, Paris on 08.20 Dubai time.
after 7 hours of exhausting flight from Jakarta - Dubai with a difficult time to sleep.
ah, before i transit in Dubai, exactly from Jakarta our plane stopped at Changi Airport, Singapore for refueling and all the passenger has to alight. my favorite bottle had gone to the trash bin by the security screening officer. darn!

ah, before we alight in Singapore, flight from Cengkareng, Jakarta had been delayed for 1 hour, and i don't know what the reason is. our flight finally take off on 11.20 while it should be take off on 10.20. one hour and a half flight to Singapore and 7 hours flight to Dubai.

so far, i've been through two of the most sophisticated airport in the world, Changi Airport and Dubai International Airport.

and i feel sleepy!

see you in Paris.