from the land of her ancestors ...

... came a new friend for Kecil.

Kecil's new friend had barely settled in town when Kecil's Mama discovered them.

Being the only Indonesian family around since coming here, needless to say, Mama is ecstatic.

As for the little girls in question? They became fast friends.

There is some difference in age, with Kecil being younger by about a year. But it's not really obvious until you hear them talking.

As for looks, this Mama is very happy to say that they have such similar features they can get away being mistaken as sisters or cousins.

Which is pretty cool, since Kecil's new friend does come from the land of Kecil's Daddy's ancestors. Seriously. I guess that might explain the similarity, huh?

It is interesting to see the two gets along, especially since while this Mama has been remiss in the instructions of 'mother language' aka Indonesian, the reverse is true for Kecil's new friend, resulting in two little girls with innate preference to speak in different language.

We all like to hope that they would influence each other in a good way. Haha..

 In the meantime, I am sure there many other things little girls can learn from each other, no? 

Things like climbing the fence, uhmm... eating instant noodle, hehe..

As is the usual case with ... expatriate (this Mama prefers the word 'perantau' in Indonesian), there are still a lot of uncertainties in this new friendship. 

In our two short years here, Kecil had already 'lost' two close friends to this special working condition working adults often regards as exotic, the expatriate lifestyle.

Still, this Mama believes that in the midst of a world that is flawed, we always have the choice of making the best out of what we have, and so we make new friends, regardless of the duration, 

and we enjoy the time that we have with those friends,

and we remember.

Even if we should part soon, perhaps one day the paths will meet again

But our lives has already been richer for the experience,

And THAT, is the important thing.

So a toast for these two little girls,

For friendship and beautiful memories,

And a richer life no matter how tomorrow might be.