LifeInContrast.com

There are so many little details about our daily life in Indonesia.  Many of these little details, you’re probably not aware of.  And there are too many to fit into one posting.  So I’ve decided to start a new category - LKF (Little Known Facts).

LKF #1 - We don’t flush our toilet paper, we collect it in a little bin next to the toilet.

Most toilets (Western or otherwise) in Bandung are unable to flush toilet paper.  Ours is no exception.  We collect it in a lined trashbin with a lid.  It sounds gross, but you can’t smell anything.

It’s probably for the best, because our toilet empties into the creek behind our house.  Not our choice - it’s just the way the house was built.  To make things even weirder, I swear I can hear people washing things in the same creek.  I don’t know how to feel about that.

To be honest, Thanksgiving came and went without much notice here.  I almost forgot it completely until my boss (from England) asked me if today was the day.

My dinner tonight was nasi rendang, a sort of beef curry dish from Sumatra that is my absolute favorite Indonesian meal.  I eat it a lot, so I can’t pretend it was anything special.  But it was tasty.

(click on the thumbnail for a legend/key, with a full breakdown of the meal)

Don’t feel bad for me - it was delicious.

So we finally took some time off work and went on a proper vacation last week, to Bali (which many people don’t realize is part of Indonesia).

First stop was Ubud, the cultural and artistic heartland of Bali. In Ubud we saw many mesmerizing paintings, impressive stone- and wood-carvings, metalwork, and jewelry. We watched a traditional Balinese dance performance called legong that was hypnotic for me. We took a long walk in rice paddies, and got trapped in a unbelievable deluge of a downpour that flooded a nearby bridge (picture below). We walked through a “Monkey Forest Sanctuary” with temples honoring the dead - very Indiana Jones (pictures below).

(click on thumbnails above to enlarge)

We also enjoyed some world-class dining. Bandung’s efforts at recreating Western cuisine can often be disappointing. Not so in Ubud, where we finally satisfied our cravings for dishes we’d been missing. We also had full breakfasts, including bacon, which is hard to get in Muslim Bandung (by contrast, Bali is predominantly Hindu).

Next, we spent several days in the Kuta/Legian/Seminyak area. Kuta Beach is the most popular, most famous, and most touristy area of Bali. A long easygoing beach stretches the length of these three cities. We swam many times, and I tried to surf. Oddly, we managed to take almost no pictures of this area. We just wanted to relax anyway. Many boardwalk-like streets, with hundreds of street stalls selling everything under the sun. The hawkers were extremely aggressive. If you showed any interest at all, suddenly they were all over you. And the guys hawking transportation just wouldn’t quit. Here’s a typical conversation:

Hawker: “Excuse me, you want transport?”
Us: “Oh… no thanks.”
Hawker: “Okay, yes?”
Us: “Uh, no. Thanks anyway.”
Hawker: “Yes, cheap price, yes?”
Us: “Thanks anyway!”
Hawker: “Maybe tomorrow?”
Us: “Well, maybe, I don’t know.”
Hawker: “Okay, you sign up now!”
Us: “No, argh…”

I understand their motivation, but it got tiring after a while. Things are just so different in Bandung, where you get genuine smiles because you are unusual-looking, not because you represent money. I found myself craving real interaction with an Indonesian.

Last stop was Dreamland Beach, a quieter place recommended by several of Denise’s students and mentioned briefly in our Lonely Planet guidebook. It was fun, but it wasn’t what we expected. There were big 6- or 7-foot waves crashing just 15 feet from the water’s edge. To go swimming, you had to run headlong towards the water and dive through the first wave you saw, otherwise you risked getting knocked off your feet if you strolled leisurely toward the water. Denise and I sat at beach cafes, drinking beer, and laughing our heads off as “newbies” got knocked on their butts and stood up shocked.

Even if you made it past the first waves to the actual ocean, you had to keep on your toes, and be alert for additional monster waves that came every 30 seconds or so, and could be 10 feet tall or higher. Denise somersaulted to the shore after one massive wave, and then repeated twice more immediately after. Time for a beer. But if you wanted to leave the water, the riptide made it hard to leave, until a big wave came and slammed you onto the beach and filled your shorts with sand. Seriously, that was the only way to leave the water. I found it all kind of thrilling (the waves, not the sand in the shorts), but I think it was a bit much for Denise.

(click thumbnails to enlarge)

Our “hotel” in Dreamland was more like a surfer’s dive. Shared bathroom among five rooms. Semi-hot room with old fan. Everything was sticky from the salty breeze. But hey, it was right on the beach (see the views from our porch, above), and super cheap. Unfortunately, it was so close to the beach that when the waves increased during the night, it became impossible to sleep. To be honest, the waves were so huge it was terrifyingly loud, sometimes making the bed vibrate, and encouraging thoughts of tsunamis and rogue waves. Finally the waves calmed down and we got some sleep.

In all, the trip to Bali was not what we expected, but what vacation ever is? Bali was great in its own way, and I can’t wait to go back.

The other night as we sat on our porch and watched the first serious thunderstorm since we’ve arrived, we both remarked that we couldn’t believe it was 5 months already. I told Denise “here we are!”

It was really relaxing to watch the hard rain fall from the dark clouds to the green landscape below, dripping off the banana leaves, making the birds fly for cover, and making the road in front of our house very muddy. The day slowly turned into night and the lightning lit up the sky. Thunder rolled across the hills. Our friend Russell came over later and chatted with us on the porch.

This weekend I am headed to Jakarta as the only competitor from all 3 of our Bandung schools, to participate in a Bahasa Indonesia spelling bee for teachers whose first language is English (i.e. Westerners).  The spelling bee in Jakarta pits me against representatives from our schools all across Indonesia, although it’s possible most of my competitors will be from Jakarta itself.

Not only do I have to spell Bahasa Indonesia words, but I have to spell them in Bahasa Indonesia.  So if I’m spelling a word with the letter “k” in it, I have to pronounce it “kah” instead of  “kay”.  My Indonesian co-workers have been quizzing me and helping me to understand the pronunciation.  Since Bahasa Indonesia words are pronounced consistently the same based on spelling, I’ve been able to figure out the spelling of most words, even if I have no idea what they mean.  Apparently I’m doing pretty well.

First prize includes a decent amount of cash, a case of beer, and other goodies from sponsors.  I expect to bring home the gold.  

It’s a little after 2am on Friday night, and every mosque in the city is still going at full volume. The mosques began their vigil at around 6pm and have been loudly broadcasting prayers ever since. I’m told they will continue non-stop through the night until the morning. It is an amazing symphony of thousands of human voices - I’ve never heard anything like it. In the streets are pickup trucks with people banging drums and singing, and others are blowing big horns on the sidewalks. Fireworks - big flashy rockets - have been exploding over our valley all day, but mercifully have stopped now.

Today is the last day of Ramadhan, and tomorrow marks the beginning of Idul Fitri (or Lebaran), the end of fasting. Wikipedia says that Lebaran “is a day of forgiveness, moral victory, peace of congregation, fellowship, brotherhood and unity. Muslims celebrate not only the end of fasting, but also thank God for the help and strength that they believe he gave them throughout the previous month to help them practice self-control.” Specifically, Indonesian Muslims “greet one another with ‘Mohon maaf lahir dan batin’ which means ‘Forgive my physical and emotional (wrongdoings)’, due to the fact that Eid ul-Fitr is not only for celebrations, but also the time for Muslims to cleanse their sins and strengthen their silaturrahim with relatives and friends.”

Soon, food will once again be readily available during the daylight hours, I won’t have to be careful about eating or drinking in public, pool halls and bars will re-open, and my students and co-workers will have more energy. Ramadhan has been an eye-opening experience, but I am looking forward to life returning to normal.

Yeah, that’s right.  I’ve got the Simpsons Movie on DVD already, complete with fancy packaging.  It’s a very good bootleg, completely watchable.  Watched it on my laptop last night, in fact.  And it cost me all of 80 cents.  Don’t hate.

 
(Photo: A massive KFC here in Bandung)

There are many Pizza Huts, McDonald’s, and KFCs in Bandung. In most cases the food is not exactly the same, but it’s still pretty good. The sauces are usually a little different, sometimes sweeter. The ingredients are generally the same, with tiny changes. Combo meals cost $2-3 each, and usually come with rice (or sometimes french fries). Every establishment has fried chicken, including McDonald’s, but none of them have bacon, due to Muslim sensitivities. I just had a “Big Double” at the new Wendy’s in Bandung, and found it to be “okay”. Of course they also had fried chicken. The restaurant interiors are remarkably similar to back home. I admit to eating fast food a bit too often, but not as often as back home. McDonald’s has 24-hour McDelivery - how weird is that?

Thursday the 13th marked the beginning of the holy month of Ramadhan (also known as “the fasting month”), when all Muslims must refrain from food, drink, and sex during the daylight hours.  In fact, nothing must pass their lips during the day, so that includes water and smoking.  Ramadhan is a time when Muslims are expected to show great restraint in emotion, and also tremendous spiritual discipline as they attempt to focus and become closer to God.  Here is a Wikipedia article on Ramadan.

Since the sun rises around 5:00am or so in Indonesia, that means that the morning call-to-prayer now comes around 3:30am, reminding the faithful to wake up and eat something before they start the fast.  I guess it’s more of a wake-up-and-eat than a call-to-prayer.  When the sun finally sets around 6pm, they break their fast, generally with a light meal and some tea to get their digestive systems moving again.  Indonesians often break their fast with friends, and with joy.  In the evenings (and often during the day), they visit the mosque to pray.

For Westerners, it is noticeably harder to get food during the daylight hours, as all of the myriad warungs (streetside food stalls) sit eerily empty during the day.  You can find some restaurants open, but even then you must take care to be respectful, not eating outside or brazenly in front of those who are fasting.  The streets have much less traffic, and the calls-to-prayer seem to happen much more often, almost constantly.

Last night I was talking with my Sumatran friend Dedyan in his brother’s Padang restaurant in our neighborhood.  He explained to me that this month (about 29 days) is about control.  Control of desires, control of hunger, control of emotions and thoughts.   This month is “all about God,” as he put it.  Truly a holy month.

My motivation to post lately has been pretty low, but I assure you we’re still alive.  :)  Oddly, we didn’t feel a thing from the 8.2 earthquake that happened on Sumatra earlier this week, or any of the 40 massive aftershocks that are still terrorizing residents there.

It’s late on Saturday night, and we’ve spent most of the last 2 days battling fevers, stomach cramps, and diarrhea from hell.  And Denise also vomited several times.  Today was basically a wash - napping, reading, drinking fluids.  The fevers and vomiting are gone, but the stomach cramps and diarrhea are still there.  Crappy way to spend a Saturday.  And I must have sat on the toilet like 8 or 9 times yesterday.  It sucks.  Hopefully it will clear up soon.