The 32 years of Phonographic memory ...... The stranger who knows me well.

Town of Weleri
November, 2011

Weleri is a very small town about 50 kilometers ( approx. 30 miles) west of Semarang. With my brother in-law Jati, my husband Mitch, our driver Ageng drove us through the back road, through the teak forrest, bamboo groves, and coffee plantation... nice treat.

When we arrived in Weleri and after asking around looking for my distant relative, we finally found the small and crowded community. The road was so narrow. Unsure if we could turn back around, we decided to "borrow" somebody's front yard to park our car. A very young woman (perhaps in her early 20's) stepped out of her house and greeted us with a friendly hello. I asked her the whereabouts of the Subali family, and to my very pleasant surprise, she recognized me. I asked her apologetically how she knew me and she reminded me of a visit by me and my English teacher Prudence Ferraro from Ohio, USA in 1980.

"But that was over 30 years ago..... how old were you then?", I asked. She said she was only 10 years old. That means this young woman is over 40 years of age...... A bit confused, I asked her again: "How do you recognize that it is me?". She said: "Your voice has not changed". Still amazed at how this woman is able to store that phonographic memory of my voice for so long, I began to like this person and fell in admiration. From this moment on, I showered her with questions after questions. Ninik is her name. She has the same name as my distant cousin. She asked me a lot of questions and reminded me of a few things about that visit then, even my postcard that I sent from the United States in the early 80's. She asked me about Miss Prudence who had come along with me that day when I met young Ninik.

Prudence ..... my best friend, my English teacher in college who had come from the United States to volunteer and teach in our college, IKIP Semarang (now called UNNES, The State University of Semarang). She had lived with me then for one semester. She, who had made me famous because she was a "celebrity" in the town of Semarang then. Young, fair skin, long red hair with eyebrow like those of Brookshield's, and above all ... her kind and gentle nature. Prudence.... my long lost friend. I had tried to find her since the day I landed in San Francisco in 1982 and to this day ...... I miss her dearly.

Ninik didn't invite me in her house but I was able to see through the door behind her. Her house has a dirt floor..... just like it was, except now the wall is made of bricks and cement. Her house was made of woven bamboo then. But that floor ..... still the same as 30 years ago.... I asked her if she is married. She said 'No' with that embarrassed look on her face, a typical respond to unmarried women in the village who are already above certain age. I knew better not to ask that question. But I am so deeply interested in learning more about Ninik now.