I came to Jakarta with an address that my mother got 25 years ago when she met my father so I decided to start my search there, I googled the address and found it was about 30 minutes away from the hostel I stayed at. I wrote in the Jakarta-group on couchsurfing and asked if someone could help me find the address and to help me translate between bahasa indonesia and english. I got a lot of replies from people willing to help me and already the next day I had three girls coming to pick me up and help me find the place.
Nedya, Risha and Melisa! Again, thanks a lot for the help!!
We drove for a while and had to stop and ask people for the way, at the last stop they told us we were on the right street and that the address we were looking for were only a couple of meters ahead. I had to ask once again if it was really the right place cause I couldn't believe it! My stomach started to hurt a bit cause I got nervous, all of the sudden I almost didn't wanted to go there cause I didn't know what to say or do!
We walked in through the gate and saw some people outside the house, probably wondering what we were all doing there! Melisa asked if this was the place where Irwan Djohan (my fathers name) was living and were told that it was the right address but that he was living in Bali. They looked a bit confused about why we were asking this questions and no wonder! Melisa explained that I was Irwans daughter from Sweden and I could see the change of expression in the womans face from confused to surprised! She told me her name was Yuki and that she was my aunt and gave me a biiiig hug, of course I started to cry, all the tension and stress released. I also met another aunt, Yoanita, along with her son and my big brother Diggy, I couldn't stop crying while hugging them all...
Me and Diggy:
Aunt Yuki
Aunt Yoanita and her son
Yuki called my father in Bali and I spoke with him on the phone for the first time in my life, it all felt very surreal but I was so happy!
The girls had to go back and I stayed to get to know my newfound family a bit better! We were waiting for my grandmother to come back to the house so I could meet her aswell and meanwhile me and Diggy went to meet some of his friends:
Kids in the neighbourhood
Diggys friend Anton
Grandmother Hapsah
Grandmother Hapsah, aunty Yuki and her two sons Aldo and Hafiz
Everyone together, happy happy memory :)!
When I came back to my hostel in the evening I went online on skype to talk with my mother and my sister to tell them the news, we were all crying and laughing at the same time ;)!
