Mummy talked to Daddy on the phone as well, of course, but she didn’t talk to him for as long as I did each time. Mummy said that was because it was very expensive for Daddy to phone from England, and so she let me speak for longer than her. Daddy asked me how Mummy was and I always told him not to worry because Um Cribo (Um Arin) was often with her and he made her smile. Daddy said that was good.
It was true that Mummy did seem happy again now. Everyday she smiled a lot more and she hardly ever had any headaches anymore. She was still very busy and every day had to go to lots of meetings or else teach in the different schools, and I didn’t see her too much during the day, but I saw her almost every night now. I didn’t really understand why she had so many meetings except it was something to do with the schools. I think she wanted to make or open more schools in different places, and many people wanted to help her by giving her or lending her money, or something like that anyway. I was still a little kid, really, and so all of that kind of stuff was boring and confusing for me.
I do remember there was one thing that did make Mummy a bit sad at this time, though, and that was when Um Cribo decided to stop working with Mummy. I remember Mummy was very, very sad and cried a lot. This made me sad too, but I didn’t cry. I remembered Daddy told me I had to be a brave girl without him and if I was brave and good, then he would be able to be happy and work even harder so Mummy and me could come to England quicker. So, I didn’t cry when Um Cribo left even though Mummy did, but I did cuddle her and try to make her happy again.
Mummy wasn’t sad for long as she still had many things to do and she had lots of other friends. We sometimes went to see her mummy, my grandma, and I called her Oma. Oma is the Indonesian word for grandma or nana, I guess. My Oma looks like Mummy because both of their faces are round. I asked her why once and she said she has a round face because she likes to smile a lot. I thought that was a good answer. I don’t have a grandpa because he died before I was born and not long after Mummy and Daddy were married, but I have seen pictures of him. He looks like he was a nice man and my daddy said if grandpa knew me he would play with me lots. Daddy said he was very close with grandpa and they spent lots of time together when Daddy first came to Indonesia. Actually, now I think of it, Daddy always looks very sad when he talks about grandpa.
When Daddy was in England we had Ramadan and then Idul Fitri. This was the first year for me to really join in and do everything properly. Ramadan is the Muslim fasting month when all Muslims are not allowed to eat or drink anything from very early in the morning until the evening. I was still little, of course, but I did fasting until lunchtime while Mummy and her friends did it all day. At the end of the fasting, at around 6pm, everyone ate lots of food and almost every day Mummy got a tummy ache in the evening.
I spoke to Daddy on the phone and asked him if he was doing fasting in England, and he said he was. He said it was easier in England because it was winter there. I asked him why that made it easier to do fasting, and he explained that people only did fasting during daylight hours – the time when it is light- and in England in winter it is only light for a few hours each day. Daddy said if it was summer time then it would be very difficult to do fasting in England because in the summer it can be light for fifteen or sixteen hours every day.
Mummy continued with her work in the schools and continued with her meetings and travelling to Malang and other places, and lots of people always came to our house, and lots of times the telephone was ringing all through the day and into the night. It was a very busy time and so Mummy decided to disconnect the phone and not to answer the door to people so much. Sometimes Mummy even used to hide in the bedroom and tell mbak to tell people knocking on the door that she was not at home. I asked Mummy why she did that, and she told me she was just too tired to talk to all the people who wanted to talk to her. I asked her how Daddy could call us if the phone was not connected, but she told me it was OK and she would call Daddy if there were any problems.
At about the same time as Idul Fitri that year, I met Um Ritchie for the first time. He was to become a very important man in my life, and in the life of my mummy and my daddy, but at that time he was just a new worker in Mummy’s school. He was about the same age as Um Cribo, I guess, but he was taller and skinnier. He was a quiet man when I first knew him
