love in the time of cholera

finally...habis jugak membaca buku ni. what took me so long? well, it'a classic...so, the style of writing is old-style, long sentences, bla,bla,bla. and because english isn't really my spoken language, i had to re-read afew time to actually understand it.

the book is about a melacholic love affair between 2 teenagers during the early 19th century somewhere in south america. (pardon for the lack of details). there is no usual make-outs, holding hands, touching, dating or watsoever modern couples do nowadays. instead they keep the romance alive by perfumed love letters, serenading with violin, exchanging glimpses of each other from afar and passing notes through strangers. 3 main roles: Fermina Daza, Florentino Ariza and Juvenal Urbino. 

what interest me is the story is soooooo intertwined with each other characters that you didnt notice the flashback of each other's life stories. the book has only like about 3,4 chapters. yet the history and point of views of each person is very detailed and seemed important. even the other characters were carefully written that i think makes them really matters in the story. 

and to think it all happens during the un-romantic cholera epidemic. no, they didnt catch cholera, but the fear of it tore the love of Fermina and Florentino apart. although Fermina wedded the famous, respected Dr Urbino and lasted till their golden age, Florentino kept his love strong. known for his casanova ways (with both male and female) it was clear that while his body was for lust, his heart was for Fermina. in the end, true love thrived the long years. 

here are some quotes:

"To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else's heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one of her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell."

"Together they had overcome the daily incomprehension, the instantaneous hatred, the reciprocal nastiness, and fabulous flashes of glory in the conjugal conspiracy. It was time when they both loved each other best, without hurry or excess, when both were most conscious of and grateful for their incredible victories over adversity. Life would still present them with other moral trials, of course, but that no longer mattered: they were on the other shore."

a romantic novel, not the kind u usually find nowadays. no wonder it's an award winning book. bravo!

not bad at all!

this week is my erm...3rd week @ new school. conclusion setakat ini:

1) mereka sgt kurang membuang masa bermeeting every week. esok baru nk meeting after the first one bf session opened.

2) seniors are friendly..maybe sbb akummg muka tembok menyapa menyengih all the time, tka smpi ati agaknya tak lyn aku.

3) students are waaaaaay mo behaved than those brats in old school.

4) save minyak n masa...nearer to home. 20 minutes dh smpi, sumtime less if i speed.

5) sklh agak daif sbb stinn in cionstruction phase. berhabuk! tp sbb sekeliling byk pokok kurang panas.

sure, i miss my old friends. tp aku bersyukur pada Tuhan sbb membebaskan aku dpd terus dizalimi oleh mereka yg tak bertanggungjawab. ada hikmah di sebalik semua kesakitan hati!

(tetiba teringat kat suma friends yg sedang dan pernah melalui saat2 sukar...semoga Allah permudahkan jalan keluar untuk kami semua. Amin)

Encik ada masalah?

aku tak tau apa masalah org tua ni. ko tu kan GPK, TN HJ lagi. jaga bebaik title tu bleh x? tp mmg Tuhan nk tunjuk, kan....yg mulut ko tu pembawa masalah. kucar kacir satu sekolah dek kerana mulut ko.

apa sebenanya masalah ko ni?? aku dah berambus dah la dr sklh ko tu. bkn aku x tau 'invisible hand' ko dlm buat keputusan pindah memindahkan org. jgn ingat aku bodoh eh. dah tu apa hal ko nak ungkit2 psl aku kena observe dgn PPD tu? tu first day sekolah la, ni dah minggu ketiga sklh baru nk menyalak?? eh, cik puan dr PPD tu pun tak komen apa2 tau. klu pompuan tu pndi sgt, kenapa dia tak isi borang observe? kenapa dia tak sign buku rekod aku? dah la dtg dgn x pki nametag...ada hati nk obcerve cikgu. eh, org PPD tu mostly adalah guru bermasalah yg malas nk ngajar pastu cabut gi pejabat utk tjk power kat cikgu lain.

yg ko tu plak tn hj, ada awak check lesson plan saya????? complete la, setan!!! dia observe aku masa aku relief org yg bersalin la. tu pun last minute baru dpt. nk lesson apa? nasib baik aku buat ujian diagnostik tau, ada jgk kerja yg budak2 tu buat. kut aku duduk mcm patung berhala dlm kelas tu kang lagi haru. dah tu kenapa ko mention2 nama aku dlm meeting?? ada hutang ke?? sedar la sikit kau tu ada sawan. kang tetiba kena sawan dpn students malu besar kang kau. haram jadah punya org tua. bangsat betul! pndi2 ckp mengajar dgn lesson plan dlm kepala. aku dah blah dekat 2 minggu tetiba kuar lak statement tu. mcm la ko selama ni ngajar guna lesson plan. mana buku rekod mengajar kau??? x buat kan? masuk kelas menceceh mcm lecturer buat lawak bodoh je, ko ingat bdk2 suka sgt dgn kau? eh, sedar la skit ko tu bukan org suka sgt pun.

so tn haji sawan, this one i wont let go. jgn ingat ko dah gi haji Tuhan  tu kau punya sorg eh. ko ingat ko sorg je yg ada tuhan? aku takkan doakan yg baik2 utk ko smpi kiamat la, jantan.

small things

betul la kata orang. dlm kita dok nak mencari bahagia..kekadang benda2 kecik je yg membuatkan kita tersenyum. aku terjumpa gambar lama zaman kat UKM dulu2...syahdu sekejap weh. zaman ni semua org mmg rapat, sgt la rapat smpi ada yg berjodoh...salah sorgnya tu aku la. masa ni, takde gap antara kitaorg...takde jurang ekonomi, takde kerjaya pilitik, takde perbezaan latarbelakang kuarga....yg ada cuma PERSAHABATAN. rindu la zaman muda2 remaja nih...

gear up, babe!

Td GB jumpa aku personally. dgn bunga2 perbualan yg mencurigakan aku sensed sumthing was not right. half an hour b4, a colleague told me that ada guru Sains yg akan ditukarkan kerana dh lebih kuota. my first greet to Gb was "mcm ada berita tak baik je, cikgu". and hell was i right. aku ditukarkan ke sekolah lain. after a bit of civilised discussion i asked for a nearer school to home.

was i mad? a bit. did i cry? nope. panic? nope. heartbroken? a bit. disbelief? nada. relief? strangely yes. aku marah sebab aku postpone perpindahan pertengahan tahun aku utk UPSR last year...untuk apa? utk ditukarkan pada awal tahun. aku tak tau kenapa aku tak nangis. panik ke kaget ke pun tak. first person aku bgtau mestilah hubby, then hubby kpd BFF aku which happens to be my other BF(BFF yg juga dipindahkan a few days b4), BFF aku and member sebelah meja.

terkejut pun tak sbb mcm dah dpt few petanda. tergamam initially la. about 10 seconds aku terdiam smbl pandang kat kucing. kucing tu pun pandang je muka aku. dan honestly aku agak lega sbb Allah dgr rintihan aku last year...ttg students, ttg kwn2 sekerja, ttg office politics, ttg semuanya yg indah dan gundah pada sekolah ni.

cuma aku terkilan sbb keluar mcm kena halau. apa pun reason, perasaan tu ttp ada. mcm org dah tak suka kita, dah tak perlukan kita. sbb bukan ko yg nak pindah, at least bukan ke tpt yg ko nak. i feel numb the whole day. i slept, melantak, buat mcm2 but it still doesnt take a way the pain. br je tadi dpt baju rasmi sklh utk dipakai tahun ni. sedih rasanya tak sempat pakai utk acara sklh. maybe masa last day aku kat sini aku nak pakai la. maybe aku tak nak dtg langsung hari terakhir tu. drama queen betul la.

here i am watching "the pursuit of happyness". in the afternoon of new year. is it inspiring? is it depressing? i dunno. rite now a bit heartbreaking and i am in tears. who wouldn't be? a black man demoted of his salesman job, wife leaving, kicked out of home, living in a motel, started back as an intern, very limited fund of money, kicked out of the motel, living in a subway toilet and support a son. you know how they say it, when it rains it pours. i dont know how the story ends, but like any inspirational story it will end well.

makes me think hard. if i am in deep shit, there will be people in deeper shit. how do they manage?? what do i do in my pursuit of happiness? what is the happiness i am looking for? money? wealth? recognition? got me really, really thinking.

we can never be too careful. nor too satisfy. i have 364 days left in 2011 to make things happen. i will not listen to others anymore. i plan my own life. if i fall, no one will pick me up. i'll stand up by myself. if i hurt, no one will see my tears. because i am tired. sure, i will play by the rules, but heck... will not play it like a fool.

i hope for a better future. 2010 was okay, and i pray for easy-on-the-heart 2011 if not better.
told you this will smith's story is depressing.