My Indonesian Family

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The bus station in Bandung was really interesting and really crazy. There's a tower at the end of it where on the loudspeak someone in a sports announcer voice as if someone just scored a goal speaking Bahasa Indonesian will announce the busses pulling in "Buuuuuuudimaaaan!!! ooooh Pangandarannn!!!" As he would announce the different locations big groups of people would rush for the bus jumping on before it stops. I had no idea where to catch my bus, so I just stood there thinking about my next move when someone came up to me and said "Hello Mister, Pangandaran?" I followed him and he asked me to get into a minivan.

The minivan had 2 seats beside the driver, 2 in the middle and 4 in the very back for a total of 8. There was a large Muslim family of 12 people, including 3 children already in there. They were all smiles and "Hello Misters". They tried to convince me to get in showing me where I would be sitting. It was only a half seat beside this older chubby lady with a Muslim headscarf on. I declined thinking that a half of a seat for 6 hours with a family that doesn't know English would just be too weird so I went back to the bus terminal. "Buuuuuuudimaaaan!!! ooooh Pangandarannn!!!" I kept hearing that and seeing people rush for a bus but I couldn't tell which one was mine or not so I ran back and hitched a ride with the nice Muslim family afterall.

6 hours turned into 9 hours. My ass and my back were in pain because of the fact I never really got a seat. It was just half of a seat and the other half of me would have my leg down the side of the van and my arm out the window. He seemed to be taking all the potholed bumpy back roads rather than the highway, I think to avoid the tolls. It was great though, we passed by so many scenic villages. Places that probably have rarely if ever seen foreigners. Or maybe I'm wrong because everyone when they see me seems to say "Hello Mister!" and waves.
Our driver didn't want to pay the final toll to get into the city so he dropped me off 1km away. I was able to hitch a ride with another minivan full of College students. This had about 20+ people in there, with students all sitting and laying on eachothers laps. I was able to do the same with my big backpack and I wondered why they would even consider picking me up in the first place, this was way too packed!

I found a really nice hotel with a pool and included breakfast for 50 000 ($5.00). What a deal! The city I'm in now is called Pangandaran which is the island of Java's premier beach area. I took a walk down the volcanic black sand shores looking around thinking that this place has recovered quite well since the big earthquake and tsunami that devestated this area 1.5 years ago. Not the Boxing Day tsunami but a different one that killed 550 people. It's a very local beach with a few thousand Indonesian families enjoying their long weekend vacation time. I've seen about 6 or 7 foreigners around also. It's not a place where you would go to get a tan. Everyone is covered, all the men and all the women fully clothed. The atmosphere is festive and even fully clothed everyone is in the ocean and burrying eachother in the sand.

"Hello Mister! .......join us" locals would say as I passed by. I eneded up joining one table and we chatted for a while. One of the guys name was Yayan or Yan for short. I got to know him really well and we met up everyday drinking beer and cheap illegal home brewed rice wine called Arak. He showed me all the cool local spots to eat and drink and invited me to see his rock band to play the following night. I told him I was in need of a haircut, which he offered a ride to a place that I could get one.

He has been living here in Pangandaran all of his 35 years. He makes a living off tourists bascially by meeting them and then offering all kinds of services cheaper than what a travel agency would do it for, but above what it would cost to do it yourself. It's an honest way of living but at the same time I would catch him it little white lies when we would talk real prices versus his prices. It was all to petty to mention though. I guess for the most part tourists don't know any better or don't care to.

That night he took me to a small little atmospheric and cheap local restaraunt called Lady Blue. It was hidden down a maze of alleys ways in the large pasar (market). The walls and lighting were dark blue, creating a cool dark atmosphere. The tables are low so you sit on the floor, cross legged. There were a few people in there drinking beer singing to the current rock songs on the radio. One of the girls name was Mia. She was a cute girl from the village who didn't know a word of English. I introduced myself and she would say "Hallo Daveeed, Welcome!" with a big smile. I sat there having my drink as she would sometimes stare at me. I'd look back and she's start laughing and say "Daveed!
It was pretty funny because she wanted to talk to me but couldn't. In order to comunicate and break the ice I taught her different handshakes, and how to say Cheers in English and count to 10. Silly little things like giving her a hat to try on as I took a picture of her with her cell phone camera.

The following morning I met Yan who gave me a ride about 15km out of town to get a haircut. It was closed. Friday is a Muslim day where everybody gets the day off. Instead he brought me to his house in the village. Yan is a pretty modern guy. Has a motorbike, cell phone, knows English very well. He plays in a rock band etc etc. So it came to a surprise to me when I got to his bamboo hut. All the villagers came out and stared at me a bit before going on with their daily chores. His house had a couch and coffee table in it, and a picture of a Mosque on the wall. Outside their were several children playing and a few roosters making a bunch of noise. He made me a simple lunch of Mie Goreng (Fried Noodles) with Egg. It was very nice of him.

That night we went back to our regular hang out at Lady Blue and I was greeted with "Daveeed!!!! Welcome!" I sat down and had some dinner and some drinks. Several people slowly but surely got up and left. Soon I was alone with Mia for about 30 minutes. We can't speak to eachother but we were still able to be comfortable around eacother by singing along to music, playing drums by banging our hands on the table, drinking and laughing. When everyone came back someone said "Daveed, you like Mia?" I said "uhhh sure" not knowing where this was going. I couldn't be rude and say no, but of course I didn't want to say yes either. They loved my response, and then they started talking to eachother in their language and pointing at me. They kept saying Canada, Canada. I think they want me to bring her home and marry her haha. She just kept staring her pretty eyes at me and saying "Daveeed"! haha It was akward to say the least. But all in good fun I guess.

The next morning Yan brought me to a beautiful jungle waterfall that flowed from a cave. It was cool and refreshing in the hot muggy day. We stayed there for a while then headed to see a BMX bike show and a rock band that was playing. The BMX show was sponsored by a cigarette company. Indonesia is a nation of chain smokers. And it seems everything is plastered with cigarette advertizing portraying an image of cool. Light skinned westernized looking Indonesians pictured in rock bands and sports teams all enjoying a smooth refreshing cigarette. Luckily it doesn't smell so bad since they have cloves in them. Indonesia being one of the largest suppliers of cloves in the world still needs to import them because they smoke so much sweet smelling cloves.

I spent that night with Yan and the gang at The Lady Blue Cafe. They seemed to know me by now and told me to just pay later. Yan knowing both languages must've told them that I was also taking care of his bill and several other dishes and drinks throughout the night. The next day when I came to pay for 2 beer I was shocked to see the bill of about $18.00. Due to the fact that I've been living comfortably for $15.00 per day including all my hotel, meals, tours, transport etc. it felt astonomical to me. I was pretty upset but tried not to show it. I tried to explain that Yan would pay it but they knew he didn't have that kind of money, and they knew he wouldn't be back for a long time. It wasn't their fault so instead of losing face and sticking them with the bill I paid it. $20 is nothing to me in reality, but so much to them. They were very grateful and visibly relieved. Later that night Tia Monica (Lady blue herself) and Arek gave me a note written like this.
"You David BBQ (FISHES!) Tomorrow 13:00 please" I took it as come to lady Blue for a BBQ tomorrow. Great idea I thought and said I would definatly be there. Even without Yan as a transilator.

Due to the fact it's Easter weekend I'm had a hard time booking a train or bus out of Pangandaran to the next city Yogyakarta. So I was stuck here an extra day. I wouldn't of otherwise been able to make it to the BBQ. I showed up at 1pm. "Daveeed!! You like BBQ? OK?" ......"Daveed, you happy?" You can see they're all really trying to learn English and I brought a translation book along with me. They were packing up all their gear on 2 motorbikes. I was a bit confused because I thought we were eating at Lady Blue. Now I think we're headed to the beach.....cool! I have to admit getting stuck with the bill I was a bit nervous that it would happen again, but my gut instinct told me these were good people.

This is when all this turned out to be one of the greatest experiences of my life. Nobody knew English, I don't know Indonesian. So comunication was interesting to say the least but we were all comfortable with eachother. We knew what was on eachothers minds. There was rarely an akward moment. Instead of heading to the beach they headed through the jungle along a serious of dirt roads into the incredibly scenic mountians. I couldn't ask where we were going because they didn't know what I was talking about. I thought maybe a park?

Finally we eneded up at a really nice middle class home in the middle of nowhere. "As-Salamu Alaykum" Tia Monica said as I entered, which is a Muslim saying for "May peace be with you". I went inside the family home and I was greeted by several children and Grandma. I sat on the couch and played with the children taking photographs and videos amazed of how hospitable everyone was. They quickly got to work preparing my meal on the floor of the kitchen. They set a fire in the back yard and started to BBQ us some fish. I was quickly picking up simple words in Indonesian and they were also picking up some English. They layed out some bamboo reed mats of the floor and brought out a feast. The food was delicious and incredibly spicey. I watched everyone else eat first before I tried so I wouldn't do it wrong. I'm not the best of eating with my hands! Once in a while they would feed me with their hands, which would've struck me as odd, but I knew it was an Indonesian custom to show affection. It had it's ups and downs especially when they would feed me fish eyes. "Daveed, Thank you!" they kept saying. I'm not sure why. I would say "no no thank you!" which just really confused them.

It was one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had travelling. I've had family dinners in other countries before, and they were all great experiences, but it was always with friends who lived in that country and they knew English. Or I've also done it on a tour. But never like this. Just regular everyday people inviting me into their homes like that. Comunicating and expressing ourselves without saying too many words was incredible. You could really feel the warmth. It like we all had a common language and didn't have problems letting eachother know what was on our minds. And they did all this for a stranger. I'm sure I would've missed out big time if I would've left that evening without paying the bill. It's funny how things work out like that. I called them my Indonesian family which they really enjoyed.

To the hundreds of people who read my blogs, friends and stangers please......if you make it to Indonesia which I highly recomend. And if you can get away from the tourist trap of Bali. Please ask around where Lady Blue Cafe is, please stop by have a drink and say David from Canada says hi. =)

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Photos

Preparing Dinner
In the family kitchen. If you click on the photo to enlarge you can see the open flame stove in the back.

Mia and Tia Monica
Playing with dinner

The dinner table
On the floor in the living room!

The family home
In a middle class jungle neighborhood 20km up a dirt road in the mountains.

Mia and I
At first I think they wanted me to bring her home, but after a couple days I convinced them all that she can be my Indonesian sister instead!

Yan
He was actually a good guy for the most part

Arek and Tia
With the fish pose! Setting up the BBQ in the backyard for the fish

Pragandaran Beach
Not the nicest beach in the world, but still a cool area to relax

Comments

[Aim]

Woooo!!
Wow that's an incredible experience i can say... hahaha Indonesian seems to be a very nice people. Some said English is a global language but apart from English is body language i guess ^^ Hope u make it safe to ur next ride... Take care... Aim