Finally, after walking for about ten minutes, we arrived at a house with a large yard with shady trees. There are various fruit trees in every corner of the yard, some of which still bear fruit even though they are still unripe. Mrs. Tutik invited us to enter her beautiful yard. A man and two boys were sitting on the terrace waiting for us to arrive. Mrs. Tutik immediately introduced them as her husband and children.
Mrs. Tutik and her husband took Ali and I into their house while Mrs. Tutik's children said goodbye to play at a friend's house. Ali and I sat on teak chairs in the living room with a close position only limited by a chair while Bu Tutik and her husband sat in front of us.
A few moments later, Mrs. Tutik entered the interior of her house while we were talking with Mrs. Tutik's husband, or rather Ali, who was chatting with Mrs. Tutik's husband because I only chimed in occasionally.
"Actually, this road is rarely used, but indeed it is the fastest way to get to this place," said Mrs. Tutik's husband after hearing that I slipped and almost fell while crossing the road earlier.
I winced! The corner of my eye looked at Ali's face which looks complicated for me to read. Ali and I don't know why Santi showed us that way, maybe so we can get to this place faster because we have to complete this data collection soon.
"There is another road but it's a long way around, at least twenty minutes along the road along the riverbank and later you arrive at RT 1. If the residents of RT 4 come here, they do go through that road instead of turning around," continued Pak Irman with a smile seeing my and Ali's reaction.
Mrs. Tutik came out of the door she entered earlier and brought a tray filled with glasses and plates. The smell of coffee immediately wafted through this simple living room. Mrs. Tutik immediately served coffee and boiled cassava on the table and invited us to enjoy them before we continued to collect data on the houses in this place.
Ali took a glass of coffee that was still steaming and then put it back down after taking a small sip then a piece of boiled cassava and chewed it slowly. Ali seemed to enjoy the cooked cassava pieces, which seemed delicious.
"This is delicious, Zie. Let's try it. It's not less to the pizza at the Blue Cafe," said Ali when he realized I was watching him.
I immediately averted my gaze, took the coffee cup in front of me and blew it before sipping the coffee, which tasted delicious because the air was starting to feel cold. Ali took another piece of boiled cassava and shoved it into my mouth. I dodged with a red face, Mrs. Tutik and her husband immediately laughed at our behavior.
"I can eat myself!" I took a small piece of boiled cassava and ate it. It tastes salty and savory because Mrs. Tutik adds salt when boiling it makes it taste so delicious, especially when combined with sweet coffee that is starting to warm up.
While enjoying our meal, we continued to talk while recording the condition of Mrs. Tutik's house and family. Mr. Irman and Mrs. Tutik answered clearly all the questions Ali asked them.
While Ali was asking them, I opened a group chat that had piled up. I opened the Village Community Health Development hamlet Sambi group and saw that there were already many chats there, most of them containing photos of today's activities.
(Ali, Zie... are you done yet?) asked Ria in the group.
(Still collecting data) I replied while attaching a photo of Ali who was doing an interview. (Less three more houses)
(Hurry up, the others are already relaxing)
I didn't reply to the chat in the group anymore because Ali had finished doing the interview and Mrs. Tutik took us to another house to continue the data collection. We entered one by one the remaining houses and asked the owner of the house who that day deliberately did not leave because he was waiting for our arrival. After Ali and I had finished collecting data in a short time, we immediately said goodbye.
"Yes, be careful, you just go this way, you don't have to make turns, you'll arrive near the entrance to Sambi hamlet." said Mrs. Tutik's husband.
"Thank you, sir, ma'am." we said almost in unison.
"You guys are a perfect match, it's definitely nice to have a place to practice in one location so you can go out while dating." said Mrs. Tutik's husband while patting Ali on the shoulder making the boy's face turn red.
I blushed, even more, my face felt hot and it must have been redder than Ali's.
***