Hello, lovelies!
It's that time of the year when I roll out my take on the past 365 days. 2021was not an easy year for me. As you noticed, I barely blog this year. Well, it's because there were not much to tell. After going through from one lockdown to another, I was living the year on auto pilot mode.
Here are the recap of 2021 in a monthly basis:
January: Got an offer to work on another writing project on earthquake aid relief. Finally received the payment on the work I did in Sumba island last December. My colleague was admitted to hospital due to HNP, so I had to take in her work load.
February: Worked on the earthquake aid relief stories, while also taking in my colleague's work load. Things were already looking glum, and it's just the second month of the year.
March: A friend got a chance to house-sit her friend's apartment for a few months. I went to visit my friend on the weekends and get access to the apartment's swimming pool. Managed to go to the tax office and submit tax reports for the 2019 and 2020 (I couldn't submit last year because all tax offices were closed due to the pandemic and I didn't understand the format for freelancers, I just had to come to the office and ask for assistance). This was probably the month when I felt most at ease in 2021.
April: M was ill for one week ahead of Ramadhan, but fortunately, she recovered just in the right time to face the fasting month. However, D's glucose level dropped on the second day of Ramadhan and we had to rush him to ER. He got better after a few hours of treatment. One of the SG-based clients ended the contract.
May: Two of my clients extended the work contract, with the SG-based client only extending until end on August (not a good sign, though) and the ID-based client for one year (Alhamdulillah!)
June: Had a quick jaunt to Bandung to attend a meeting. The number of cases began to surge. I received news of friends getting sick, and two of my uni friends died due to COVID-19 this month.
July: This was the month when I heard ambulance sirens at least three times a day. I received my first dose of COVID-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca, became feverish for around 36 hours but got better afterwards. Tokyo Olympics, which was supposed to be held in 2020, was officially opened on July 23, and the sport event had been God sent. For around 20 days of Tokyo Olympics, I forgot what pandemic is like.
August: Couldn't really remember anything special from this month, apart from taking an online class on Al Quran study. We went from one lockdown to another in this month. Things passed by in a blur.
September: Took another online class on Al Quran recite study. M&D finally got fully vaccinated, they got Pfizer. My business partner was deceived by a scammer, and unfortunately she borrowed money from me to give to the scammer, so I also lost money.
October: Completed my COVID-19 vaccination, no side effect in this second dose. My manager of the SG-based client informed me about the salary cut that reached 70%, although the report was only 30% simplified. I asked for a few days to think things over. Then, one of my Indonesian clients informed me about contract suspension. This left me with no option but to continue with the job that had salary cut, but I asked that I got a day off every Monday. Checked out the recently-opened IKEA store in Cakung, East Jakarta.
November: Had a meet-up with a friend who has been working in Paris since 2017. Took two simultaneous translation works, one was from a mining company, while the other one an NGO. I also had a chance to take a free one-week mini course on business development in technology (sales in tech), quite interesting I must say.
December: Had a mini reunion with my uni friends in Ciputat. Took an online mini course on data analysis. Drafted a list on things to do for 2022 and beyond. Lo and behold, news of Omicron variant already circulated.
It was a good thing that I jotted down my daily activities on my handmade calendar. Otherwise, I would feel that 2021 just passed me by. Well, nothing brought ultimate joy this year, but at least I am still here and have gained some new experiences.
I pray that in the year to come, Allah grant all of us health, wealth and stronger hearts. Can I get an amen?
