Today my pastor, Matt, turned to me and said, "Saya mau makan. (I want to eat). I've been meaning to tell you that!"
I was speechless at first, but eventually answered with "Monggo!" (Go ahead). He responded with a thank you, "Terima kasih."
I attended a meeting a few weeks ago for newcomers to the Boulder Valley Christian Church, and I shared that I was in Peace Corps. Earlier that day, Matt had shared that he travelled to Indonesia a few years ago and became deathly ill. Someone gave him some nasty pills which, he claimed, would make Matt feel better. Matt recounted how the toilets are not more than a porcelain hole in the ground with 2 raised places for your feet on either side of the hole. His sickness led to him facing the hole, feet replaced by hands...anyways, he remembered a few phrases and wanted to share that with me!
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Believe it or not, Asia and Indonesia have come up so much in the last few months. It's hard to believe I didn't know a lick about it 3 years ago! Tonight, in fact, a Peace Corps friend Joe and I are meeting for dinner. He moved to Lakewood, and it'll be the 2nd mini-reunion with an RPCV from my cohort. (I met Lea and Tammy in Chicago in July).
Here's a few more fleeting traces of Indonesia as I've been going about my business in Boulder, CO.
1. Remember how Indonesian students show their teachers respect by taking their teacher's hand and bringing it to their cheek, forehead or lips? That's called salim.
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| The salim Miss Sarah party, where all 200 students salim-ed me at a final flag ceremony. |
2 weeks ago, my student Cristian extended his hand for a handshake and I waited for him to salim me! After an awkward pause, I attempted to explain that I got confused and was waiting for him to do that. This idea was met with confusion and the belief that I was nuts more than any cultural understanding. Oh well!
2. Every time a see a baby, I have a strong urge to ask the mother or father to hold him/her. Which was fine in Indonesia, but not fine here. So far, I've resisted from grabbing the baby. So far.
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| Intan's baby |
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| Indah's baby |
3. The middle school girls are very chatty at homework time. Once I let an "Ayo!" slip. They didn't catch it, but I'd just said "Come on, let's go!" in Indonesian.
4. I read with an English Language Learner (ELL) 4th grader a few weeks ago. It was mentally challenging to NOT explain the English to her by using Bahasa Indonesia. I'm so wired to teach through translations...
5. Sometimes I crave nasi goreng, Indonesian fried rice which probably single-handedly gifted me 5 pounds because I ate it so often! But I fry it up here in my American kitchen anyways!
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| Nasi goreng (left) |
6. The middle school girls saw my Indonesian Facebook profile picture, where I am wearing kebaya. They were pretty confused. "What ethnicity are you?" they asked me. They saw a caption of a photo where I wrote, "I miss my friends and family in Indonesia." I explained that I was referring to my host family, and that were I to be Indonesian, I'd be one white, white, white one! They asked about the headscarves they saw women wearing in my picture. I explained they are Muslim, so they cover their heads, arms and legs. They asked if that meant the covered women were married. I said nope, all women young and old can cover up. It's a choice. I was quite surprised they'd never heard of a hijab, nor did they know its meaning...
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| I was pendamping (an attendant) at my friend Indah's wedding. Nov 2012 |
