Dari Utara untuk Jakarta, Surat Rindu untuk Vina

Dear My Vina,

How are you there? It's been a long time I've not t written a letter to you. Today in Arkhangelsk didn't fall snow and I think winter will be over soon and spring is coming. I am so happy about it. Now I want to tell you about my life in Arkhangelsk. 

Do you remember when I was in Jakarta? I really hated to walk, because of traffics jam are everywhere, I hope now is better. But here I always walk to anywhere such as supermarket, university, traditional market even restaurant! I miss everything about us, but here I am, in the North Pole.

Vina, here I live in a dormitory which addressed in Prospek Novgorodski 34, building 4. I live with some neighbors from Swaziland, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and of course Russia. Do you know what I think every day when I wake up? 

I hope I can see you here, spending 5 months without you is like a thousand year we are apart. If I can tell the universe about my feeling, I hope it will understand that Asia and Europe will never break our hope. 

A couple of months ago I saw eclipse, did you see it? If you saw it, tell me what you were thinking about when you saw it. Even Jakarta and Arkhangelsk separate us, I know we still see same sky, moon, and breathing in the same oxygen. Even how hard they want to make us break up, I know they can not make us disappears each other.

Do yo know what is the meaning of Arkhangelsk? It means Michael refers to Saint Michael the Taxiarch. He is a saint that leads God's armies to against devils and now he protects Arkhangelsk Oblast, I wish he also protects you and I've told him to help me to tell Eros about protecting our love. Arkhangelsk was founded by Ivan the Terrible (Ива́н Васи́льевич) because of failing Livonian War to try to get access to the Baltic sea in 1558. 

In the middle ages, Arkhangelsk was the most important port in Russia even in Northern Countries but in 1722 Peter the great decide to close and move the port to the St. Petersburg nowdays. Vina, do you know Lomonosov? 

He is a scientist, writer and poet that the first established university in Russia Lomonosov Moscow State University and he was born in Arkhangelsk! This city has many magic things, one of them is белая береза (Belaya Beroza) the trees that you can see everywhere, it can spread love just like in the poem wrote by Серге́й Алекса́ндрович Есе́нин (Sergei Yesein) and It always reminds me about you. 

I've been to some museums, they have many collections about the history of Arkhangelsk and Russia. When I was in the winter holiday, I went to the church of the Russian Orthodox named Церковь Николая Чудотворца  (St. Nicholas' Church), which located near the river Dvina. 

I was surprised because it was the first time for me, it has wonderful design interior, like some pictures of saints, angels, Maria, and Jesus fill all the wall and awesome exterior, because the church was established in some centuries ago and still exist till now. Most of the time, I often go to the beach of Dvina, let me tell you, I've replaced its name by deleting D and now is only Vina.