Welcome to Our World...

Berhubung masih di bulan Syawal, mau cerita sedikit tentang pengalaman berpuasa dan lebaran di Amerika. Pertama kali pindah ke Amerika di tahun 2017, bulan Ramadan jatuh di bulan Mei beberapa minggu sebelum musim panas. Waktu itu masih kerja full-time sebagai customer service/kasir di Lowe’s (semacem retail store). Kerja di retail store di Amerika jadwalnya shift, tergantung luck, bisa pagi/siang/sore selama 8 jam 30 menit karena lunch ga dibayar dan tergantung jadwal ditempatin di station mana. FYI, summer di Amerika suhunya bisa sampai 38°C, jadi bisa dibayangin yaaa panasnya gimana. Rejekinya tiap hari selalu dapat jadwal di garden/outdoor, karena waktu itu masih termasuk musim semi dimana semua orang mulai gardening, alhasil puasa terasa semakin berat. Walaupun ga persis dibawah terik matahari karena di bagian garden ada kanopi besar tapi angin panas tetep semriwing rasanya. Berhubung di Amerika ada 4 musim, jadi durasi puasa ga pernah sama tiap tahunnya. Di tahun 2017, puasa kuran

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter I'm sure every Potterhead in the world wants to visit Hogwarts Castle in Universal Studios. As a big fan, I'm so lucky to say that I have finally achieved that dream. It is not a cheap adventure but it is very worth it.  We decided to come during Christmas time because as you may know, Christmas in Hogwarts is a magical time. After reading reviews about it, we decided to buy the "1 day park to park" tickets. We arrived very early to avoid the crowds. Our first stop was (of course) the King's Cross station. This station is also the only way to travel between the parks if you don't want to walk, and trust me, you don't. Because we arrived early, there were only a few people in the station so we could get on it without the long queue. Everything looks exactly like in the movie, and I love how everyone there dresses up so you really get the vibe. I dressed up as Luna Lovegood, by the way. It was pretty awesome.

We took a weekend off to visit Tennessee near Gatlinburg. We packed everything we needed for our weekend getaway and took Mason (our dog) along.  We decided to give Airbnb a try and rented a cabin called Wet Your Whistle in Seviervielle, TN.  The drive from Louisville, Kentucky to Sevierville, TN was around a four and a half hour drive.  To account for the breathtaking views this cabin offered, it was situated on a mountain overlooking the city and the terrain. It was beginning to darken upon our arrival and we still had to drive up the mountain to this cabin. Even Mason was so excited! We were relying on our GPS but it was dead in some areas. We started up the narrow, twisty road surrounded by thick trees and brush and almost no light. It twisted and turned and then became rather steep. Our GPS directed us to turn into the wrong cabin and when we realized this, there was no room to turn around. Our only option was to carefully reverse out 4 cylinder engine vehicle down