Winter in Spring

This picture was taken today.



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Which idiot is not convinced of global warming?

Indonesian Culture Nite at Cornell

Sitting with Dian, Saiful and their family. They are from Acheh

Flash didn't work.Can you spot Rizal? Dia main guitar

Tarian piring from West Sumatra (tarian Rawa)

More of piring dance

Someone asked if I had enough sleep (after reading about my various travels here)...I said ya right..not enough (just as I would back home, anyway).

But wait!

After Denver, there's this evening's show: the Indonesian culture night and we had performers from NYC coming in with the Indonesian consulate.Some Cornell students also performed wonderfully.

We were served Indonesian cuisine (prepared by some friends I know including Dian and Yuni) Rizal played in the band.Could he sing! As Aiman would say of listening to Indonesian music/songs... " rasa macam on the road.." (feeling la maknanya tu).

Some pics.

Conference in Denver, Colorado

Lawyers and judges at the conference

With some of the 112 Fulbright scholars at the conference in Denver (from France, Poland, Brazil, Tunisia, Malaysia and yang satu lagi tu tak ingat from where.All from different fields and disciplines)

At our typical lunch time on the 38th floor (we can see the whole of Denver from here)

Me and Fran (I bought his book Getting to Know Denver, siap suruh dia sign)

At the Writers Square

Part of the Rocky Mountains (Iron Flat ke hapa namanya, this in Boulder, Co)

Gelap.With 2 of 5 Fulbrighters at my dinner theatre table

The famous Broadway show Ragtime was re-staged (by a diff. group) at Boulder.

Over 100 Fulbright scholars from 57 countries were chosen to participate in the 2007 Fulbright Visiting Scholar Conference on 'The Rule of Law:A View from the American West' in Denver, Colorado from April 11- 14,2007.I got lucky to be chosen.A fellow Msian based in Texas was there too and we shared the same room on the 22nd Floor, The Grand Hyatt Denver.Best sangat! But tiring cos' our days were packed with lectures, tours, homestay and finally dinner theatre at Boulder, some 45 mins away. CIES and the IIERMRC really took care of us and I think we'd learnt so much from the 3 days and also from one another.

Since the conference was specifically on law/s (from water law to land law to tribal law, corporate wrongdoing,etc) we were exposed to all sorts of court system and the speakers were judges and lawyers and Law Professors as well as a rep from an NGO. On first night lagi an American journalist raised the issue of American occupation in Iraq! Also someone from Ukraine asked what if no one cared about laws and constitution (cos people would still be struggling with basic needs of their day to day lives) Wough..it got really heated up.It was America alright.Back home, journalist mana nak tanya soalan2 celupar macam tu? You may want to check out this online radio http://www.airamerica.com/

Then I joined a well-known writer and photographer of the history of Denver, Francis Pierson on a city tour with many others of the group (there were two groups but I chose to join Fran cos' he had written a book on Denver and I was certain I'd get a lot more info from him as a guide).Yup, I was right.We learned much from the walking tour around the city (some chosen spots)

Homestay: Zu and Mohammed of Egypt and I got paired with a very nice couple, newly married.Christina reverted to Islam in 2002 and her husband is from India (a software engineer) They took us out to an Italian restaurant (makan lagi!) and we went to pray maghrib at a mosque off Welton St not far from our hotel.We met more muslims there.They have many mosques here.Denver is so huge despite being in the middle of nowhere (asal padang pasir, surrounded by Rocky Mountains). I love Denver and Zu and I went shopping at Cherry Creek masa semayang Jumaat (we all cabut lecture..penat dok dengar pasai law..but managed to catch the last part of corporate wrongdoing by this lawyer.Best jugak)

Then we went to the Federal Court and were addressed by a few judges who explained the legal system in the US esp Colorado.There was a mock court as well.Fun gila as 12 of the batch sat as jurors.There were a judge and a few lawyers amidst us (lawyer dari Germany kata German legal system lain sikit)

Lepas tu kita dibawa ke Boulder, some 45 mins away (so kita naik coaches) to watch a play ragtime (dinner theatre).I sat with Hannah from Manchester (UK), 2 Spaniards, one chap from Serbia and another from Kyrgyz) Setengah negara ni I pun tak pernah dengar.The actors yang jadi waiters kita sebelum depa acted.Syok oh.Dapat closeup.Great talents!

I booked my flight back to Ithaca awal cos' tersilap baca prog! (I took my shuttle to the airport at 3.30 am.The whole thing habis noon.Gasaklah.I was very tired anyway...penat lecture tour 2 weeks tu belum habis)

But I made many great friends (and minds).Some friends had gone through a lot -- losing their loved ones so early..ada yang anaknya meninggal umur 17, 28 and the guy who sat next to me during ragtime...berlinang air mata cakap anak dia umur 45 hari baru meninggal.He was here.By the time he flew home, they had buried him.Kesian)

I hope no more travels lah.P-E-N-A-T and I need to finish up my writing.I have an appointment to meet my fav. scholar on Thursday: Prof Jonathan Culler.He's based at Cornell.Yang sorang fav. lagi masih bercuti in Thailand (Ben Anderson) Maybe tak sempat jumpa. :(

Taking time off a busy lecture schedule

Francis' pic of my garden in Malaysia

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

Reading my poetry to a group of students

Where we had lunch (Afghan cuisine at Nawab's)

Tengah feeling baca poems

Reverend John being interviewed (he's role playing, folks!)

Of early English settlers....

cantik juga bunga ni.... (trans: this flower is beautiful...)

I have so many pics at Williamsburg , Virginia partly becos' my brother Francis is a keen photographer.So I am putting some of the pics here.We didn't take any at the Duke of Gloucester (DOG) Street but it is also in Colonial Williamsburg, a tourist spot where tourists come to experience the early English settlers' living (macam Melaka lah or Jorvik in York).People play role ni.The Reverend I was with in a pic enclosed here was an actor.If you talk to him, he'd say he signed the Declaration of Independence.Fahamkan dia cuma berlakon. :)

DOG Street in Colonial Williamsburg

We found a spot to eat our lunch

on DOG Street in Colonial Williamsburg

some people are ashamed to be associated with

anything colonial

but here, it is an attraction

a pride of a state

people come to experience what it was like

to be early English settlers

what it was like to be amidst the firsts to sign the Declaration of Independence

Independence of what?

for whom?

Is it still?

I have to re-learn my American history

to join in the celebration

this trip will be one of many

to educate me

but back to our DOG Street lunch

sitting with Anthony, Jason, Francis and a few others

we were of a rich mix

Anthony is 100% Filipino but looks very mixed

dressed in his military uniform, asking curious questions on religion, performance and skits

Jason was easy going, an eye witness to the start of a public quarrel of two visitors

an elderly man and a mother of an excited kiddy

who tripped and annoyed an elderly man, set to have his quiet munchie

barking began on dog street

we were witnesses to a theatrical performance

as we are all to any other fightings and killings

in different parts of the world stage

It's fun to watch

just as it was watching war reports on TV

But my brother Francis spoke to the mother

asking are you alright, m'am

cos' he knew what it was like to be attacked for protecting his kids

flying back to Asia on a long-haul journey

where he was denied meal for asserting his paternal instint

but the high drama would not be complete

without this African American guy cruising in between the shouting and screaming

of two angry adults, trying to pacify the woman, protecting his brother, the elderly man

the woman's husband started to pick on the African-American guy and I guess this is the scene

in which you'd bring in the race sin...

when it could have been just a kindly gesture

The drama got heated

We decided to move on, to find peace

for ourselves

and write reports for others to imagine the kind of

adventure we had been in.

So tune in to this TV.

****more on colonial williamsburg at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/arts/06will.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

===> also check this
http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/visit/tourTheTown/flash.cfm

Talk at Ohio Uni at Athens

With Karla at Ohio Uni. (Athens) campus

Ellis Hall in the background where I gave a talk on Msian Muslim women writers

Nancy drove me to Ohio Uni in Athens (http://www.ohiou.edu/athens/). Only 45 mins from Parkersburg.

Cantik juga campus dia although like Cornell, it's a university town. Met a few Muslim students from Msia, Indonesia and Saudi at my talk on Msian Muslim women writers.

Finally met Karla who wants to celebrate Msia's 50th year in August. She loves Msia so much that she travels there twice a year. She took us to exotic Salaam where we heard Jewish music (performers were from New York City).Sometimes they have belly dancing show here. :)

I love the buildings here. Very da cantik.

check this link ===> http://www.ohiou.edu/seas/

West Virginia

Winter in spring at Parkersburg, West Virginia

Nancy and I at a lounge of a hotel at Parkersburg

Finally, met Nancy after all these years! I was doing an average of 2-3 talks a day (see their website at http://www.wvup.edu/). Nak pengsan rasanya. But I enjoyed meeting Americans of all walks of life and people of different age groups.The trip from Williamsburg was 12 hours on the Amtrak train from Virginia.Nak pengsan rasanya but my companion was a lady from Hyderabad (who's been living here for 30 years) so she shared her food (cappati) with me.Atas train, takda apa nak makan and it was too early to prepare anything from Francis' home w/pun Francis bekalkan I buah2an dan biskut (macam mak!).Nasi habis dikudap bebudak 13 orang tu (they were such a joy!)

What I loved about being at Parkersburg was the enthusiasm of Americans here to learn of the 'other' (ie Islam, Muslim women). I enjoyed their curious questions e.g does the infidel's blood value less than the muslim's. I think we parted as brothers and sisters (I hope) as we shared each other's stereotypings and perceptions of the 'other'. In Malaysia, we often think the Americans are ALL anti scarved women and how we too 'fear' them as some Americans fear seeing scarved/veiled Muslim women. It was a learning experience for me as I got to know Americans, close-up.

Greg's sociology class was great.There were about 50 over students in the class, asking curious and intelligent questions.

I spoke to 3 groups here.Loved them all although a bit tiring (remember my 12 hours train ride?)

Read my poems here.Ramai juga nak beli but stock belum sampai. :)

Williamsburg, Virginia with Francis

Spring at Williamsburg,Virginia

Dinner with Francis' Ramayana's cast

My brother, Francis in the Chapel at my talk

The talk

With Prof Sonn and Prof Ismail Abdalla

Muslim students at W&M

The College of William and Mary is a prestigious public school ("with a reputation of being a private school").It's second oldest in the USA after Harvard and had produced 4 US Presidents. I am grateful to Allah for the opportunity to speak to a group of intelligent students and distinguished staffs.Check their website http://www.wm.edu/

My brother Francis Tanglao-Aguas was my host.I gave a reading of my book to a group of Theatre students and later a talk on Islam and Literature/Arts/Culture including my work on Shakespeare at the chapel (in which many great speakers had spoken).I am humbled by the experience and the openness of W&M inviting diverse speakers to their campus.

We had Indian cuisine at Nawab's (the fish curry was so yummy) and the most memorable episode was lunch at the Cheese Board on DOG street (Duke of Gloucester).Good food and company (Francis' intelligent kids were there.Anthony I think will go far in his career later in his life.So bright and sensitive).How we laughed over the high drama at CB.We had the right composition for a street riot! (Anthony was in military uniform, Francis in songkok, me in tudung and the players were of diffferent age and ethnic group.I will write a poem on this)

We then cooked dinner at Francis's place for his Ramayana cast (13 students came).

Germantown with Suzanne and Asit

Bro Musa's zikir group, Philly



After lunch with Suzanne and Asit, Germantown

I stayed a nite with Suzanne (Dr Kalbach) and Dr Asit at Germantown, Philly.Suzanne took me to Philly Museum and showed me Philly's waterfront (Delaware River) and much of the city.

In the evening I cooked Chinese fried rice and Dr Lawrence (Dickie) came to dinner.He used to teach Spanish Lit and we had a poetry reading session (I read mine, he did one Spanish piece).They were all very humourous and George was right, very warm and hospitable couple.

My flight to Williamsburg was very early (and on a Sunday!) but both Suzanne and Asit woke up very early to drop me off at the airport.

I almost missed my flight though, cos' the queue was so long. Belit punya belit, I managed to jump the queue by checking in at the Corporate Section.One hamba Allah baik budi took pity on me.

I love Philly.I love everything about it: people, landscape, culture, art, mosques, historic architecture, nice homes, kedai2 halal. Syukur alhamdullilah for the opportunity.

The most unforgettable experience: moving with the sufi groups esp Bro Musa's zikir group.

If you see me wondering in the deserts of Africa in the next year or two, you'd know why. :)

Philadelphia

English Dept Building at UPENN

Cooking at the Fellowship Centre with Baji and Malika

Malika in Spring

Prof. Jim English and Abdal Hayy talking Literature at UPENN

Daniel Abdal Hayy Moore reading a maulud poem

The trip to Philadelphia was good despite me getting up so early to catch the limo to Syracuse from Ithaca.I met very kind people on the train to NYC and again NYC to Philadelphia.

Abdal Hayy picked me up from the train station and Malika was all nice and sweet.I felt immediately at home.Did the interview and caught up with more readings. Went to UPENN to collect my book from Prof English (very kind and cultured English Prof).

The last few days had been busy with listening to tazkirah given by Baji and cooking for the jumaah with Malika, Baji and her niece.I met more people at the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship Centre.Some pics.

Wayang

You guys/gals must watch this movie Lives of Others (German movie which won so many awards termasuk best Foreign Movie at the Academy Awards recently). Wikipedia spoils it all by revealing what it is all about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lives_of_Others

Sebastian Koch is truly convincing (kalau dia jadi 007, mesti kita suka).And so is Ulrich Muhe.The movie has English subtitles.Lucu juga pi US baca subtitles in English.But what I think is missing is the brutality of the East/West Germany divide.You don't feel it so much in this movie.Film ni tak violent (which I like). I think that had the movie been made in Hollywood, one or both of the two guys would have died tragically along with the gal lover/actress who's loved by all (men).When she prostituted herself for art (her passion), she told her boiferen who was fighting for justice/freedom of speech, etc..apa beza her and him.He also prostituted himself for his 'passion' (his struggle to free the people/country).I love that speech.But they killed her in the movie.Jantan freedom fighter tu terus hidup and became successful as a writer.Sexist sikit lah.

Anyway,Adi left today.Yohko and I went to watch this movie and then went to have dinner at a Thai restaurant downtown.Ikan Tilapia is so popular here (nama kekal).It was a nice evening.Yohko and I spoke of books, books and more books. Semalam, jiran sebelah and I went to Moosewood.Best juga. Tapi they closed early.We took the bus to Collegetown then walked up to our apts.Nak pengsan naik bukit.I nak panggil taxi je but diaorang nak naik bus juga sebab free with our university card.Manu and I yang sesak nafas.Asians don't like to walk! Christina (Germany) and Ingrid (Holland) berbatu depan kita.

I miss my car.

Malaysian voice abroad (a poem)

It is so often people from the so-called "Third World" countries are defined by the so-called affluent "West". This is my turn, writing from the USA (in winter 2007):

Cold Reception

It was a day when I thought I was
smarter than God
February was my safe month
wintry wind would miss me
It should end with Christmas

Northwest was 30 mins behind time
Narita was polite about it all, we jumped queue
in a rush to Detroit

Luck was not me
Or luck was indeed me
Plane missed and would I please
Come back tomorrow morning

and hence,began a wintry trauma
Stuck in Detroit amidst the purity of snow
in a warm hotel with free WiFi
Thanks to wired technology, I was immediately home with online
family

I’d catch my flight tomorrow afternoon, I told them confidently
Tomorrow noon never came
Blizzards proved to be testing me
Dancing, flaunting, ravaging
Go look for other hotels, we don’t cover anything to do with fail of Nature
I stood in the icy air
Waiting
Hoping
The shuttle bus would come frequently
To find Hyatt at Dearborn you first had to misunderstand the Detroit accent
try looking for the courtesy form up and down the escalator
back and forth the McNamara tunnels

But after a while you’d find out what they meant
Courtesy PHONE
The white one at the corner
A-ha

Hyatt was nice but impersonal
WiFi no longer free
It didn’t work immediately because they never knew Malaysians
sometimes have long names
I was Nor first name and Faridah surname
But Steve on the other end in Texas was so sweet
Gave me a temporary access when all else failed at (a.m.) 3
Asking me if it’s true what they said about Malaysian gals
Men grow taller when they smile at them

Innocently I thought of the Petronas twin towers and said I guess so.

Detroit Detroit Detroit
You are not my New York
I waited 3 days on you
This is not a friendly city
You have a nice make-up
But inside, I see steel.

Detroit
Feb 16, 2007
(the day I got stuck in Detroit for 3 days due to bad weather.I was on my way to Ithaca, New York)

Winter is NOT over in Ithaca

I spoke too soon.And I have decided to be positive about this...if you can't beat it, embrace it!

Today Adi and I got crazy.We decided to be in the snow.Some pics.

Melting snow

I think I'm gonna miss this place once the snow has fully melted... :)

I walked to the university today.What a bliss!

Some pics for the record.

Sunday with me

I decided to invite some friends to lunch today (Sunday). These are the people who helped me 'adjust' when I first arrived in Ithaca. I cooked like 4 dishes (opor ayam, omelette, stir-fry veges and salmon bakar bersambal belacan...I can't find the pic which showed all these 'exotic' dishes...I had to create the salmon belacan thingy.Quite good. Nanti balik KL nak cuba buat. :))

Notice how fast I've put on weight (tambah yang sedia ada) Eugene bawak ice cream lagi....

Yang ambik gambar ni Lutfi (selalu tak menjadi but this one, OK) Khairul (from Spore) came early but had to leave early too cos' he's working today.Adi went out to see a movie. So she's not in this pic.

Ivy is sitting next to me with Ain and her husband Adnan.

Kalau kat rumah ni,Sunday means TESCO or Cold Storage beli groceries.Bibi will cook but we will not eat. :) Kita makan kat luar or Nik's mom's.

Lepas tu tidur.

I can do that now.

TIDUR.

Memasak ni penat, tau? Berdiri berjam2 tepi dapur.

I'll do my reading after my little nap.

Wal*Martritis

Adi my flatmate is from Tel Aviv (begitu kehendak Tuhan).We are both shopaholics and sebab kampongnya Ithaca ni(tak macam Hamilton atau Adelaide), bas pun dari pukul 5 pm dah tak pergi ke Walmart.Jadi kami buat keputusan ambik taxi pergi ke Walmart pukul 8 pm (Walmart tutup pukul 11 pm tiap2 hari).Harga taxi USD8 and we split cost.Adi and I macam zaman gemilang Andalusia..Yahudi dan Muslim boleh akrab.

Kat Walmart, kami bahagia.It was May who said I'd be infected by Walmartritis kalau kat US.Memang every time I am in the USA, kalau nak cari barang murah, pi ukur Walmart.Satu macam addiction.Satu macam penyakit.But Adi and I felt at home walaupun takda la high fashioned clothes to buy (kita pun tak beli kat Walmart benda2 gini.Kena jaga std la juga, kan?)

I bought a new printer sebab byk benda nak print at home.Kat office takda printer and nak minta guna Prof Stan's, malu. Dia dah baik kasi kongsi bilik.

Semalam ada brown bag by a Historian from Ball State Uni.Dia pakar sejarah maritime SEAsia.Kat sini depa tak percaya dokumen penjelajah2 Arab dan lebih menggunakan accounts by the Chinese jadi byk perkara2 yang kita anggap the truth ditolak mentah2 oleh mereka ini e.g Cheng Ho (yang sekarang dieja Zheng He) bukan Islam.Kata Prof Ball ni, ini semua digunakan utk tujuan tertentu. Beliau sedang mengkaji kepentingan Brunei sebagai bandar pelabuhan sewaktu dgn zaman gemilang Melaka.

Jika para sejarahwan kita pun buat kajian kita sendiri tanpa bergantung akan findings dari Barat (mereka ni go back to findings from shipwrecks, fakta2 dari batu nesan, hasil2 archaelogy, etc utk mengiyakan sebarang claims tentang sejarah.Kita tidak harus biarkan sejarah kita dibentuk/diubah dari jauh)

Francis in songkok

Francis' latest production Ramayana La'ar looks a bit like Puteri Gunung Ledang. They have gamelan too.It was staged in Virginia (William and Mary).

For those who remember Francis of our Asia-Pacific Indigenous Plays Festival, here is his latest.Siap bersongkok.Dia teringin sangat nak ke Mekah. I kata visa haji hanya untuk orang Islam. Umrah tak tau la pulak.Anyone knows if this is possible?

Arkansas

Di Arkansas, saya tinggal dengan seorang Syrian-American Professor.Byk ilmu dia perturunkan kpd saya tentang penulis2 Muslim di Amerika.

Di Universiti Arkansas di Fayettevillle, saya bergambar dgn Senator Fulbright yang mempelopori Fulbright Grant ini.Beliau President pertama Universiti Arkansas (di sini juga Bill dan Hilary Clinton mengajar Law sebelum masuk politik)

Arkansas wilayah Selatan (ingat civil war Utara-Selatan mereka?) lebih mesra jika dibandingkan dgn daerah2 di Utara.Di sini agama Kristian masih kuat.Another universiti town.I did much work in the lib selama 3 hari di sini.

Spring dah mula di sini.

Bila balik ke Syracuse dan Ithaca, salji masih lebat.Bag saya tertinggal pulak dalam limo dari airport Syracuse balik ke Ithaca.Semua org kena gerodam dan 'dikerah' tolong saya kesan bag saya! (saya panik sebab dalam bag tu ada Visa saya, kerja kajian 3 hari di Arkansas, buku puisi Rumi yang baru dan sedang seronok saya baca, etc)

Akhirnya jumpa.Pihak Limo hantar ke rumah bag saya.Syukur!

Kahin Centre

Pejabat saya di sini, sharing dengan seorang Prof baik budi (sebab bilik tingkat 3 takda signal utk Wi-Fi saya)

Dari tingkap, kadang2 nampak tupai dah keluar cari makan (bila cuaca dah mula panas)