I often wonder why I'm so big and tall. My parents are average sized local people. So are my grandparents and great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents ... etc etc.

Last Monday I met two really petite ladies ... I mean they are REALLY truly freaking petite. Heck the two of them make one of me .... *blink*. Walking next to them makes me feel like Hagrid (the half-giant in the Harry Potter books for the uninitiated) towering above them and lumbering along like a dull dinosaur. I'm 1.67m (~5'6") ... I know I know, I'm not *THAT* tall compared to the "clothes hangers" that strut down the high fashion runway but in appearance I usually look taller and bigger than the average girl of my kind.

When I visited Indonesia many years ago, I remember looking back at curious faces staring unblinkingly at me and my siblings. No no, we weren't wearing an alien suit or anything like that (though we might as well have, the way they were staring at us). Nor do we have tentacles sprouting from our faces. They were wondering (lots of head scratching in amazement going around) why these 3 people (me and my siblings) look so much like them but so so different at the same time.

"Kok tinggi-tinggi banget anak-anak ini ya?" (translation: Why are these kids so tall??)

They look at my parents and couldn't believe we came out of them (well, my mom that is). Wherever we went people stared at us. I was beginning to feel like the Queen Mother the way the crowd parted silently when we walked through it. To make things worse, my siblings and I communicated in English all the time.

"Waduh, kulitnya kayak orang Indonesia tapi cakapnya lain banget!" (translation: Wow, they look like us but they speak such a different language!)

We were at the more rural parts of Indonesia where alot of people don't really speak English. To those locals, hearing some big, tall punks who looked local and yet speak a strange language was bewildering and amusing at the same time. Needless to say, we were the butt of many an Indonesian joke ... most of them we couldn't even understand. Har har har ... we laughed stupidly with them ....

Don't get me wrong, I love Indonesia. Beautiful countryside, wide open spaces. Gorgeous blue skies. Bright twinkling stars. Clouds swirling lazily on top of majestic mountains. I had a wonderful time there seeing for the first time, alot of things I've never seen before. It was memorable and sweet .... and the Indonesian people? Hospitable, kind, gentle, helpful, giving ... very beautiful people.

Anyway, I digress.

I asked my mom once why we are bigger than alot of people and she only shrugged and said "Maybe 'cos I added eggs in your milk when you were babies??". Hmm ... can't prove that theory.

I've always like my height and built (nobody dares bully me HAHAHA!) so I'm not complaining here. I started thinking more about it only after my date with Red and Ezayu. Gosh, those two are freaking petite! When I take group photos, you can be sure that I stand at the back (unless I want to be the only one in the photo ... hyuk hyuk). When asked to describe myself, I'd say I'm big-boned and tall. I'm heavy as a rhino too no matter how thin I "look". Losing weight to me has got nothing to do with kilos and pounds ('cos those don't matter). I know I'm thinner when my clothes fit better and I "look" trim and slender.

Blame it on the genes?? But whose? My parents? Nah, they are average sized people. Maybe aliens bonked our heads when we were conceived, thus transmitting their super-lanky uber-special genes? Too lucky, how can that happen to all 3 of us? I guess I could keep guessing .... but for what?

I'm thankful that Allah has made me the way I am. Everyone is special in their own unique way.

And well, good things DO come in big sizes too y'know *winks* ...

................... out!

Jewel mused @ 5:46 PM | | Permalink

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