Lucy and Rawan

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014b - Indonesia - Lombok Side Story

04/01/08 - 04/07/08

Lucy and Rawan



Our first full day in Kuta-Lombok I was recovering the first night out in a while. I got out of bed around noon and thought I would walk to the market and see what the town consisted of.

Not much. The small one lane road outside our hotel was lined with small stalls selling the exact same sarongs and t-shirts, beyond them was the vibrant teal ocean. I was pointed in the direction of the market and began to walk in the hot mid day sun. Walking past the bamboo thatch houses I saw women tending children and drying fish on sticks, men sleeping on raised bamboo beds in the shade, and chickens and cows grazing in front lawns. The store was about 1K from the hotel and didn't have anything noteworthy, as a matter of fact i seemed to be the only special thing around. Everyone either shouted 'Hello' or 'what's your name' which are the one english words they know. I decided to walk back along the beach, believing that the sweat dripping off my head was cleansing me from the inside out. A small girl about 8 yrs old was approaching and asked if i wanted a pineapple.

I don't fully understand why people offer you something you obviously have no need for, i declined. She said maybe later and walked past. A short bit later she caught up with me again and started asking my name and where I am from. Her name was Lucy and yes she attended school. I tried to make some small talk but she was very insistent that I needed something and that I should come to her families shop...'it's very close'. I conceded saying if she had a cold sprite I would get one.

The shop was run by her Aunt, Rawan, a beautiful native from Lombok about 27, and her husband. I realized before we arrived that I only had large bills and knew they wouldn't be able to make change from my sprite. Not wanting to be pressured into purchasing something else I said I had no money on me, but they offered that I could pay the next day. Rawan spoke very good english and invited me to come inside the shop and enjoy my drink in the shade. Hanging from the ceiling was a small cloth bassinet with her 10 day old little girl inside. I cooed and awed over this tiny creation and told her my best friend in San Diego was about to have a baby and how sad I was not to be there. I asked if she knew the gender before hand, but she said she never went to the doctor because it was too expensive. She had given birth in the small room adjacent to where I was sitting, her mom and family the only ones helping with the birth. This was their home and shop, the rest of the family lived in a small village 12 km from Kuta and her mother made the sarongs, table covers and blanks that hung on the wall.

We chatted for over an hour, she and Lucy taught me some indonesian words and invited me to visit her village an see how they make the cloth sarongs. I knew I needed to get back and see Nico but promised to come back the next day to pay for my sprite and perhaps purchase something else. She was so wonderful and sweet - a good soul and very refreshing after being treated like a walking money tree since we arrived in Indonesia.

The next day we went surfing all day and I wasn't able to stop by. I felt a bit guilty but knew I wouldn't leave my debt unresolved. The next day the shop was closed and I worried that I wouldn't be able to see her before I left. I walked back to the shop the day of our departure and apologized for the delay. She said the shop was closed because they had to go to hospital, a complication with something from the birth. The total cost: $25 US which is about half what she makes a month. You could see how tired she was. Her brother arrived with a large stack of t-shirts so I went through and picked out one for Nico. I haggled the price down but they didn't have change (this is very typical here) so we looked together at which sarong I should buy. I felt good about my purchase knowing that they money went to support local workers, and that I had some small connection with the family who provided it.

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