Meanwhile, people continue to photograph me. Sometimes they have the courtesy to ask me for a photo or to request a photo with me, but often they just run up within a couple yards of me and just start snapping away. It doesn't really bother me, but its strange. Daniel says it is because I am white. I am getting a whole different perspective on my race as people stare, photograph me, ask to be photographed with me, tell their children to come up to me and talk and all sorts of strange behavior. As I mentioned before, I have already been interviewed on tv and today fellow with a microphone at the mall advertising something made a valiant attempt to engage me in discussion, no doubt interested in the prospect of having a white at his booth. Last night at the bakery in a small town, the whole family came out when I walked in the door and I could hardy pick my treats as everyone was watching me and encouraging the child to interact with me. The kid didn't really think I was anything special and didn't see what the fuss was about. I still haven't seen another white person in at least a week maybe 2, although we saw in the guestbook that another American had been to the catacombs today. I am such a novelty and people project all kinds of things onto me from what they see on tv, from wealth, to power to intelligence. Skin whitening cream is quite popular here and its advertised on tv all the time. I can see how it is easy to fall into a trap of travelling these countries and letting your ego get out of check with people wanting to be seen with you all day. However, it has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with their preconceived notions, biases and historic race relations. If you really believe skin color doesn't matter, then it doesn't matter for you either and these people are impressed by what they project onto you, not what is there. Sad really, and hopefully someday I will stick out more for the exotic(for this part of the world) nature of how I look, not just because of light skin.
After that we drove up higher in elevation. I would guess we went up 5000 feet or so. We got some great views of the highest mountain in west java. It has a 10,000 foot vertical so it is quite impressive. The weather was similar to summer in Maine at this elevation and thus was quite refreshing from the tropical heat down lower. Here we stopped at a series of pools and waterfalls, each stocked with giant goldfish. We stayed here for awhile and I attempted to catch the fish but they were far too cagey. I would imagine I am not the first tourist to attempt to snag one, although I was not looking for dinner. There was also a mosque and a few monkeys in cages up here. As is typical for Indonesia, the treatment of animals is not very good. They are generally kept in very small cages and don't seem to to be treated that well. Sad, but on the other hand, one could say that the people are kept in small cages and not treated that well either.
Other cultural pieces lately... Most women in the cities cover their heads, but not in the country side, where a minority do. I read somewhere that the influence of Islam is stronger in the cities. The country recently passed a obscenity law which mandates long jail sentences for any sort of pornography or "revealing" attire by women in public. Most women are in long pants, sleeves and hoods which should avoid running afoul of that statue. However, women on tv wear miniskirts and quite revealing outfits, similar to what you would see in western countries. Yesterday while driving around there were a couple of women bathing in the muddy river in the middle of the afternoon and there was a dude walking down the street in the buff. And for being so pious, the country sure likes to gossip about the latest sex scandal and Kusnomo has a penchant for telling dirty jokes. We also saw a parade which had shut down a street and had all kinds of costumes and floats and a band playing. Apparently this was a circumcision parade. I believe there is a particular time of year for this. Kusnomo explained that circumcision is very important in Indonesia for both males and females(!) and they hold these kinds of celebrations. This made Jess and I feel fairly ill at ease, but this is the sort of thing you let pass. Its not your country and its not your culture. We also attended a meeting with a farmers group in a small village. This was very interesting. It was a group for irrigated rice farmers who also grow mango trees in their rice fields. This is pretty common as a number of fields have trees growing on them. We sat on the floor in a circle as is traditional and had the meeting. I am unaccustomed to sitting cross-legged on the floor for hours at a time so it was quite uncomfortable but the experience was worth it. It was also difficult for me to sit there while many of the farmers were furiously smoking in the small space, but such is the way of life here. As with most meetings, the attendees were jovial and good natured. I am not sure what was accomplished but the decision-making process seems to be consensus based and rarely is there variation among the farmers in opinion. Tomorrow I take a train to Jakarta, then to Bogor before flying out to Yogyakarta on tuesday. I probably won't have internet there so it could be a week before I post again and it will almost certainly be that long until I have internet fast and reliable enough to upload pictures.
" Most women in the cities cover their heads, but not in the country side, where a minority do. I read somewhere that the influence of Islam is stronger in the cities "
ReplyDeletenot true, if u go to one of those big malls in the cities,like jakarta,bandung,Jogjakarta,semarang or even bogor, or where ever, ull see that indonesia is not really a " muslim country". or even if u go to some private campuses, like the jakarta art institute(IKJ), gunadarma,trisakti and many others, ulll see most of the people arent really "religious" or conservative,
or even in some state campuses but in more "easier" faculties, like Sastra faculties or Art/culture, in state campuses like UI,Unpad,UNJ etc..
in 2001,i was in bandung for a year in UPI(education university of indonesia), and i notice an interesting thing; in science faculties like math,biology,chem etc the girls were more conservative(head scarf, long loose dresses) and in social studies faculties and art/culture faculties the girls were more open or even u could say "sexy"
I spend about 90% of my time in Bogor and its certainly more religious than rural Indramayu. I frequently go through the malls in Bogor and even in the mall the influence of Islam is much stronger. I agree that Indonesia has an extraordinary diversity of religions but it is still 85% muslim. France is commonly accepted as a predominantly and historically Catholic country but its only 60% Catholic. Indonesia is a secular state, but still a Muslim country by almost any other definition.
ReplyDeleteLike anywhere, you can find all types of people here, with just as wide a diversity as in the west. However, no matter where I am, I wouldn't take an art school as an example of the "mainstream" culture. I would agree with your assessment that the sciences tend to be more conservative. I think that is true just about anywhere; certainly in the United States as well.