A day at the beach and some musings

The activity I finally settled on for this weekend (after getting invited to no less than 5 different things) was heading to the beach with Daya and her family and I am so glad I went. It was nice to get away from the Pesantren for an entire day and refresh. Getting to and from was a bit difficult as the road to Wakka is ridiculously bad (the car bottomed out at least 10 times), but it was a fairly enjoyable journey there as Daya’s brother, and her uncle (or was it grandfather?) all speak English and I was practicing my Indo. And of course the scenery is beautiful to me. While we were there I was a huge celebrity/novelty. So many people wanted to take pictures with me, and everyone was staring at me. While that’s fun for a while it gets to be a bit of drag and really tiring because everyone wants to see and talk to you and I want to be nice to everyone, but I’m not the most extroverted person. It’s also impossible to go off and wander (like I am apt to do) as I end up getting followed/mobbed/gawked at. We didn’t do a whole lot while there, swam, or walked really as it was up to my chest at the deepest, after lunch, but mostly just chilled out. The water was warm and pretty dirty, but as hot as the weather was it was refreshing. Oh yeah I also had to wear a T-shirt while swimming, well I didn’t have too, but Daya had asked me to. Apparently her family is more conservative in that regard (which could explain why I have never, and probably never will, seen 2 inches above her ankles or wrists). Perhaps the highlight however was the ikan bakar (grilled fish). Wow was it good! Fish of every kind all grilled up over a fire and as fresh could be. Daya’s Aunts and mom (about 15 of her family ended up there) made some sauces, but the fish was perfect just plain: moist, flavorful, clean and perfect! The ride back over, or maybe more accurately through the many many potholes was long and hot, but a really good day; with plenty of photos on Facebook. Now two of my favorite experiences (and probably not coincidently my best 2 meals) have come with, or a result of, Daya.

Also wanted to add one observation I’ve made here lately:
Because Indonesians avoid confrontation and are concerned with what people think (because they are so communalistic, not because they’re vain!) I feel I always need to be polite and a bit on edge. Part of that is due to my lack of comprehension since most people here speak at least a mix of Bugis and Indo if not all Bugi which leads to some awkward silences where we don’t even know what to talk about. I should clarify here because Indonesians LOVE asking questions about people; it’s almost a form of small talk. What I’m trying to get at is that it’s a little more difficult to really get to know people because what I would consider somewhat personal questions you would ask someone you know pretty well, is actually small talk here. Meaning breaking the ice is kind of difficult, or more exactly, that I have not figured out how to do it yet. But also, I’m an outsider/celebrity so they’re not going to open up to me like they may with close friends and family. This is something that is difficult to get around because I am so different from the people I am interacting with (just about anything you can think of). All of this proves kind of frustrating at times, and is more of an issue than any where I’ve ever been. But that may not be surprising as I have never been in an Eastern area. or Islamic. or Tribal. or significantly remote. Yeah, this is a new setting. But then again, I guess this is what I signed up for, and it’s still pretty early.

As an add-on to my room being inundated with various creatures, this from the 22nd: as I’m writing this my room is being filled (I wish that was an exaggeration) with bugs: crickets, flying ants, beetles, moths, a grasshopper, little flies, and who knows what else! The power was off so the only light for a long ways was my room (thanks to the generator). Learned my lesson not to have my light on unless I need it, and definitely not the outside light!
And another note on the state of my room, the wiring is…interesting. Let me give some examples: by wiring I mean wires running along the top of my ceiling, my ac is plugged into a switch-operated-outlet that works regardless of if the switch is on or off, I have a light over my back-porch that only turns on when a certain light (on the same switch) is on, and my favorite, the light in my living room area does pretty much whatever it wants: it sometimes turns on when the power returns even though the switch is off, and most of the time I have to switch it off in just the right way for it to actually turn off, most of the time it actually turns on though.