The jungle, mountains, and delivery

We had a project back in the university to teach the design process to high school student who lives in a small village in Bandung. Very far up in the mountain, I and my friends called it the land on the cloud as we really go up in the cloud to reach the village. 

Photo by MChe Lee on Unsplash

There was a couple who opened this kind of 'open school'. As the nearest public school is still so far away from the village, they decided to make this school for high school students to help children in the village to finish their education. 

The couple was actually an alumnus from our school. I forgot the detail but from what I remember he dropped out of university and decided to move to this village far in the mountain with his wife and make their life here. But I remember the first time I learned about that story I was shocked, to be honest. Life in the village up in the mountain is not easy, you need to give up so much comfort of the city, that's what I thought. 

They raise goats and chickens, have a humble wooden house, have a warm community they share their life with.

Well, their life story is (not really the same) but in a way similar to my parents, they also started their life in the middle of a forest, making a bridge from the trees to be able to pass the river and so on to start a school to teach children who live around there. 

They raised goats, slaughtered their own chicken to eat, had a humble wooden house, shared their life with their community.

I lived there till I was 8 and all I remember is I had a fun childhood spent there, in nature, in the middle of nowhere (almost) (I remember we need to take a long ride to reach the city). But I couldn't imagine if I live there as an adult, because I'm too comfortable with city life, and I don't have many skills to be able to survive in the jungle (no kidding, the end of the backyard of our house was the start of a jungle).

Then, again four years ago I had another project in a village in Sukabumi and stayed there for a week for my research. I found another couple, who also gave up their city life, and moved to this village and started their slow life there. 

They have dogs, eat food from their garden, and share it with their community in the village.

I really couldn't understand back then, I was like

'having an unstable network is frustrating..'

'what about the delivery..'

'what if you want to go to the airport, or buy something, this is so far away'

and more useless complaints

fast forward now 

I just want to be lost in the mountains.

..with good wifi

and reached by delivery...

and have my own helicopter to go anywhere.

Uhm.

What.