Chicago, Family and Machiavelli.

When we arrived in Chicago, it was already late evening. The scene that greeted us was one that one cannot forget. The sky was bright reddish orange with the last rays of the sun b ehind the vast blue sky. The wind was blowing softly and you can hear the lap lapping of the water on the lake. As we trudged up the stairs to the very top of of the 3rd floor of John’s and Farah’s apartment, we were sure that the place was going to be special. We were not wrong ! As we dragged our feet to the front door, our heavy breathings turned to great gasps of surprise and relief, for the apartment was really welcoming to the eyes. It was spacious and the living room was pleasing to the eyes, with a couch to the left of the room and the windows - they open to reveal the lake Michigan as often described in my childhood’s geography text book. It is a huge lake as far as the eyes could see.

To Farid’s eyes as expected of an old man , it is indeed the sea ! There were ships and boats sailing gracefully on its waters and trully enough one would think they are sailing on sea. The lapping of the water as it dashes the shores and the waves sway hither and thither are like music to the ears. No wonder Frank Sinatra loved the city as revealed in his popular song "Chicago". All these we could see from the windows in front and from the back door of the kitchen.

Aisya’s room is what one expect of devoted parents who want their loved one to have everything and know all things. Toys are a plenty and properly placed for little hands to pick and play at her own time. There is a little pony that Aisya rides and it can brays, wags its tails and trots too. It is given by Grandma Joan and Aisya loves it tremendously. There are art works done by Aisya, and Malay and English nursery rhymes hanging conspicously.


The Malay rhyme ‘O Katak ! O Katak’ is one that caught our eyes and attention and one day in the evening, we heard one male voice reciting in somewhat broken and ill-pronounced Malay and somewhat out of tune voice. We couldn’t help laughing because the person was John, who tried his best to speak the words that are not familiar to foreign tongue and yet it was a great attempt indeed.. We could only conclude this must be his private self tutoring area for Malay speaking.

Good try John ! We salute you ! You just wait though what Aisya will comment of you when she grows up. Boy, better make sure you’re proficient by then !

Now, to come back to the apartment, all one can say is, it’s tastefully decorated. There are beautiful paintings hanging at the right places and the furniture are placed in such a way so that little one has lots of space to run and move with ease. There are no obstacles that can hinder the quick little feet and hands to move around. The kitchen is easy for me to move around and working was easy with everything within easy reach. We had rice and curry one night, to the delights of Maisarah who by then had craved for it after the previous fortnight of Malay food deprivations, and Joan cooked a sumptuous turkey dinner, which turkey she brought all the way from her home. We had our fills and due to too much eating Farid had to seat upright in order to sleep !

Most of our time, we spent with little Aisya. Her laughters, her giggles, her antics, her traumas, her screams of joys and frustrations are all music to our ears. She is one person that can melt any heart of stone. Even Grandpa Bear Jim is taken in by her sweet and beautiful smile. Maisarah was with Aisya every minute of the day. You should see both of them, playing hide and seek, singing, doing art work, and saying words only they both understand. They were inseperable ! It was heart wrenching when the day we had to part with John, Joan, Farah and Aisya !

Before that day came, Farid remained at home most of the time and rested , whilst Joan, Farah, Maisarah, Aisya and I visited the city’s Navy Pier. There we saw the beautiful crystals in the forms of doors, tapestries, etc. One wonders how one can be such a genius to do works that take hours of tedious labour ! On other days we were one day visiting Jim and shopping and at night Joan taught us a new card game ‘Machiavelli’. Maisarah was quick to catch on the game and I was frustrated to see how Joan manipulated her cards and ended to be the winner without my having any chance to even get into the game ! Farid as usual tried his best to oust Joan by his sneaky move and cajoling her to change the rule but Joan stood her ground. She knows Farid too well ! Ha ! Ha! You have met your match, my dear husband.

Well, all in all, we had a really good time in Chicago. John tried his utmost to make us comfortable in this windy, cold, rainy , hail storm, hot unpredictable kind- of -weather city. We experienced all the above in one week. Can you imagine that ?

So it was not suprising when Farid sighed loudly at the sight of KLIA that at last he is in his beloved country Malaysia with ‘sane weather and food’. We reached home on Sunday, happy but sad to leave the four people whom we love so much.

written by Ainul Mardziah
edited by Aida Halim