so there i was. podunk little train station. middle of nowhere. security guard asleep at his post and not much else going on. i sat on a bench by the tracks and watched some beggars go by hunting for any useful garbage that might have been thrown out of the train. the people i was supposed to meet there were taking a bus from about 8 hours away. and they had smsed me to say they would be at least an hour more. so i wandered to the front of the train station where i found 2 weathered becak drivers sitting in the shade.
they invited me to join them on their bench, so i did. then the questions began. but these were not all normal everyday questions that a white girl gets asked by an indonesian. of course we started out with the basic, “where did you come from?” and “why are you here?” generalities. but then they asked me what my gaji (salary) is in a month. this is kind of a common question in this culture, so i answered honestly. as usual, they marveled about how rich i am. but then the oldest of the group asked me something i’ve never been asked before, “but how much would you be making if you were in america?” so i thought about it and gave him that number as well. they quickly did the math. five times as much. i've never even sat down and calculated that! so they started contemplating amongst themselves about what the heck i’m doing here when i could be making so much more money in my home country. they discussed it at length. then after a moment of contemplative silence, one of them finally declared, “well, she’s here for the experience then, not the salary.” i’m not even sure that most americans would understand that… the fact that these men, who feed their families on just a couple dollars a day, got it all on their own brought such a big smile to my face…
after that discussion, they asked me if i speak any sunda (the language of west java). i told them no, since i live in central java (where javanese is spoken). so they asked me if i speak javanese, which then led to a discussion about how many languages and tribes there are in indonesia and how it’s still one united country in spite of that. then they asked me how many tribes there are in america. again, a new question for me! tribes? hmmm… i thought about it (sometimes the answers to these questions are based on my language ability and exactly how much i am capable of explaining) and ended up saying that all americans are one tribe but that we come from all around the world. so then they asked how many languages our one tribe has. geez guys, make it hard for me… i said that we only have one language, english, but that in places where many french people live, they will speak french with each other. and places where many mexicans live, they will speak mexican with each other, (yes, i really did say mexican. but i caught myself and changed it to spanish. haha.) and so on. THEN they asked if everybody in america speaks the same english (or “american” as they put it, which made me feel better about saying mexican). then there i was, sitting in front of a train station in the middle of nowhere, with about 5 guys by now sitting around me, hanging on to my every word, as i tried to explain the difference between “hello” and “hey ya’ll”. i’m not sure if they got it. but i tried.
some other favorite questions i got from them are: do many people in america work in rice fields? (no, we don’t have rice fields in america) so then what do you eat? (meat and potatoes) what jobs do americans have? are there many muslims in america? do you have to get put on a special list before you’re allowed to have kids? (umm... WHAT?! maybe people SHOULD...) is mexico still under america? (i have no clue what they meant by this… do they think mexico can just up and move north??)
i realize this is quite long already, but there are 2 other things worth mentioning… west java is sunda territory. and the sundanese are considered one of the largest unreached people groups. there are millions of them. and they are 99% muslim. so after they asked me if there are many muslims in america, i asked them what percent of their town is muslim. it’s right on the border between west and central java, so i was curious. the answer i got was, “90% are muslim, but only 50% live like it.” i have NEVER heard someone admit to that before about ANY religion. so much of indonesian/muslim culture is about looking good, saving face, and avoiding shame. to have a muslim man tell me that only about half the people in his town truly honor their religion is a big deal…
the last thing to mention is that after an hour of talking to them, i got an sms from sharon, the lady i was to meet. she asked me if i could meet her at the bus terminal. so i asked my new friends where that was. they told me that it was quite far, and then one of them offered to drive me there in his becak for $2. all the other guys began exclaiming… when i asked why, they told me it was because he gave me the indonesian price (the lowest price) the first time, not the tourist price. see? – it’s all about knowing the right people.
the next episode will come to you complete with pictures. :)
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