Bengkulu

picture of the map taken from here

I wasn’t born there. My Mom is not originally from there. My Dad came from somewhere a bit southern, so it’s not exactly there. But I claim it as my hometown. The city is called Bengkulu.

Bengkulu is the place where my parents first met. Bengkulu University, to be exact, is where they went for college back then. My Dad has been living in Bengkulu practically all of his life. But my Mom went to Bengkulu from Palembang to pursue her education. When they both met, it was the beginning of our lovely family.

My parents got married in 1988. But when they had me on March 1989, they weren’t in Bengkulu. It’s because my Mom was afraid of having the first child, so she wanted to be close with her parents, who happened to live in Palembang. That’s why I was born in Palembang. A lot of people have mistaken Palembang as my hometown. But no, Palembang is the city where my Mom grew up. While my hometown is still Bengkulu.

I spent my childhood entirely in that city. My first friends, my first school, my first swimming practice, my first Al-Qur’an group, my first… everything. I lived in Bengkulu from age 0 to 17, from kindergarten till I finished highschool.

Then I had to live for Jogja to pursue a higher education in International Relations Department, Faculty of Social and Political Science, Gadjah Mada University. But Bengkulu is still my hometown. When I first came to Jogja, I had to introduce myself to a lot of new people and also tell them where I’m coming from. I told them I’m from Bengkulu, and some of them tought Bengkulu is somewhere in Kalimantan or Sulawesi. Some even made fun of me, because I came from a city who isn’t famous of anything. It’s sooo not famous that people can’t acknowledge it or relate it to something (as oppose to: Palembang with Pempek, Aceh with Rencong, Medan with Bika Ambon, Jogja with Gudeg, etc.). They said I’m coming from nowhere. Some even said, “do they even have electricity there? Are you coming to Jogja to find civilization?”

They can say anything, and some might be true. I have to admit that Bengkulu is not that well-known. But it doesn’t make me coming from nowhere. Bengkulu is somewhere to me. It’s the city that I always miss everytime I’m away in Jogja. It’s keeping so many beautiful memories of my childhood. So, it will never be nowhere for me.

I always miss the beautiful beach and I will never get bored of having an afternoon visit everytime I’m there. But what I miss the most is family. My parents and little sister who is living there. Keeping the house warm. Not to mention, extended family and some old friends who have changed a lot as the time goes by, but never really forget the fact that we’re sharing the same stories and memories in the same city.

We call it our hometown. We call it Bengkulu.

18 Comments