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Showing posts from June, 2017

Seminggu tanpa sabun dan sampo

Hari ini menandai tepat seminggu percobaan mandi tanpa sabun dan keramas tanpa sampo. Awalnya saya pikir ide ini biasa saja. Toh manusia sebelum kenal sampo dan sabun juga hanya mandi dengan air mengalir. Apalagi, sudah banyak juga ornag lain melakukan percobaan yang sama. Namun, ketika saya bercerita kepada teman kantor bahwa sudah hampir seminggu saya tidak menggunakan sabun, reaksi mereka sungguh mengagetkan. Menurut mereka, ini adalah percobaan yang aneh. Sebab itu, saya jadi ingin membagikan pengalaman ini. Kenapa awalnya saya terpikir untuk melakukan percobaan ini? Karena kulit saya sangat sensitif. Kulit wajah sih biasa saja. Tapi kulit tubuh sangat sensitif terhadap sabun mandi. Sabun biasa membuat kulit sangat kering, rasanya seperti retak-retak, dan kadang terasa panas karena iritasi. Sebab itu saya hanya dapat menggunakan sabun mandi merek tertentu yang betul-betul alami, atau sabun bayi. Itu pun terkadang masih terasa kering di ruangan ber-AC, belum lagi kalau mandi seb

a guide or a prostitute?

“Where does your guess come from?” a guy asked me. “My guess?” I was confused. “Yes, your guess. Where did he get you from? Where does he come from? He must own a lot of money.” He asked me back. “Where did he get me?” I was still confused. It was a long time ago, and I was unaware that being brown means you can only either be a prostitute or, in a polite way, a tour guide. It was the first experience for me, but certainly not the last. In Jakarta, Indonesia, a taxi driver openly asked how much money do I get from my ‘white guess’, how did I find him, what kind of services that I give to him, and whether he will pay my food/ travel, etc, outside my so-called rate. Another taxi driver asked if I am a prostitute because I was, according to him, wearing a too humble outfit, but stay in an expensive apartment. In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, tuk-tuk drivers usually stare at me with a very nasty look when my white husband talks to them to arrange the trip (he's been living in Cambodia