"I am feeling happy because I can finally go home, after a long time of not going home. Now, I can celebrate Eid in my hometown," Sari Novita, who will travel to Bangka, Bangka Belitung Province, from Tanjung Priok Port, North Jakarta, remarked here on Thursday, a day before traveling home.
She said she was feeling happy because she finally had the chance to experience the atmosphere of Eid. According to her, as someone who is not from Jakarta, Eid celebrations for the past two years have been rather subdued.
Novita recounted that during the past two years, she celebrated Eid in Jakarta in a quiet atmosphere and did not experience the moments of Eid that usually involve crowds of people.
"Eid did not feel like Eid here, it is different in villages where Eid is really felt. If I am here, I just sleep in my kosan (rented room)," she said with a smile.
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Novita said that she hopes that the opening of Eid homecoming in 2022 will bring the same happiness to other communities.
"And hopefully, this year's homecoming is all smooth and going well; there will be no challenging incidents," she added.
Novita said she will board the KM Elsaddai ship headed to Pangkal Balam at 3 a.m. local time on April 29, 2022.
Meanwhile, as ANTARA observed, Tanjung Priok Port was still not crowded with exodus travelers or ordinary passengers, because, on April 28, 2022, no departures of state-owned company Pelni’s ships were scheduled from the port.
"Yes, because there is no departure of ships," one of the security guards remarked.
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Translator: Ricky P, Kenzu T
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
