Ready, set....Starve!
October 15, 2004
Ready, Set……Starve!!!!!
Having only been in Jakarta for two and a half months, I have not yet gotten ‘round to learning the ins and outs of the country’s reigning religion: Islam. I am still trying to figure out how to make my driver understand where I want to go and my maids stop allowing Sophia to eat candy from strangers in the park!
I do know, however, that today marks the first day of Ramadan. It is a time for inner reflection, devotion to God, and self-control. Muslims think of it as a kind of tune-up for their spiritual lives.
Just a word about the religion I have experienced…we have two lovely girls who work for us: Sri and Asih. Sri is 23, married, yet estranged from her husband, who, I think has returned to Hong Kong. She is fiery, has pretty decent command of English, controls the discipline of Sam and Sophia, flirts with the neighborhood vendor guys on her off time, and always seems to be menstruating. I say this because when a female is menstruating, she may not visit a mosque or participate in prayer or other religious occasions.
Asih, who is about 18 years old (!!) is a practicing Muslim, never seems to menstruate, prays five times a day, tucked away in her closet, fully covered in a white shroud, and is never seen flirting…she was off last night to the mosque to help usher in the season of Ramadan. According to the rules, the girls were up this morning at 2:00 am, cooking a meal. They then prayed (except for Sri, who is off the hook for one bloody week), and returned to slumber until 6:30. They have not eaten today, and as of 6:00 pm, they can take their evening meal. This will continue for four weeks. I understand that by the end, the entire country is in a state of limp listlessness, yet somehow they will find the energy to start gathering families together a few days before the final day and prepare for the mother of all celebrations on Idul Fitri, which marks the end of Ramadan.
Scrapes and bumps….
The other day, I was in traffic with Herri, our driver, on my way to JIS, the BIG and prestigious international school in town, and in the middle of a chaotic traffic circle, another car began to scrape along the side of the car. I yelled at Herri to stop the car and the other guy was able to back up a bit and disengage from my passenger door. We all pulled to the side of the road, I kept my head down and let Herri deal with the situation. Both men got out, sauntered over to the side of our car and began to negotiate. 15 minutes later, after some argument and rubbing of the bruised door, money was exchanged and we were on our way. I could not wait to find out what had happened. It was obviously the other guy’s fault and lo and behold, he did admit to that. He paid Herri a fair amount: Rp 10,000, which is a bit over…….ONE U.S. DOLLAR! Herri figured it was enough to cover the cost of touching up the scrape. Sure enough, when he picked me up later, I could hardly find the spot!!!!
Another anecdote about cars….. because parking spaces are so few, people just park wherever there is space, even if it means totally blocking people in legitimate spots. But the obvious solution is to leave your inconveniently parked vehicle in neutral, so that those who are stuck can simply push your car out of the way. Some may ask WHY we need a driver in this city…. There you have two good reasons…dealing with fender benders and getting out of parking lots!
Animals, animals, hey…..don’t kick my car!
Last weekend we headed up into the mountains to the South of Jakarta, to the Tamin Safari Park. We had heard it was worth visiting and it actually turned out to be a great day!! After inching along in mountain traffic (we later learned the heavy volume was due to people traveling home for one last hurrah before the start of Ramadan), we headed up the last tiny road to the entrance. Along the road, vendors were selling huge bunches of bright orange carrots. They looked delicious, so I had Jared buy some. Little did I know that they were supposed to be food for the safari animals!
We entered the park and right away saw a bunch of zebras. We were in a line of cars and busses, inching our way up a steep incline. The busses had a tough time, because every time a car would stop to feed or look at an animal, the bus would have to hang on the incline, impatiently honking his horn for cars to keep it moving. The animals are quite well-adjusted to the loud snorts of car horns, I must say. Since the animals get fed yummy carrots by all the human gawkers, they are quite willing to come up to the cars, stick their heads in your windows and salivate all over you. We even had one excited zebra kick our rear light out!
The really cool part was the “African” section. We had to close all windows for this. There were beautiful Bengal tigers, lions, bears – a real Oz! Sam and Sophia loved it. After the 45 minute safari, we entered the amusement part of the park. Kiddie rides were available, animal shows, Asian style, where the well-being of the animal is only secondary to entertainment value.
We decided to check out the Wild West Show for kicks and grins. It was hilarious! There was a scratchy audio tape in Indonesian which screamed out the loose plot line of the story, but the real action involved people riding across a plot of sand on horses and pretending to shoot at each other. There were good stunts of people falling off of balconies, off of water tanks, explosions of fire inside banks and saloons. Good stuff. But I think the most entertaining part of the show was…..the Rodgers family! We were the only white people there, and everyone around us was transfixed on our tableau. Sam and Sophia were perched on Jared’s lap and there must have been hundreds of photos taken of us during the show. If I had a rupiah for every shutter click…..
It is late on a Friday night and I am burning the midnight oil and Aircon here at school. Time to mosey on home, and take in some slumber in order to gear up for another day of fun and adventure in lovely Jakarta!
Ready, Set……Starve!!!!!
Having only been in Jakarta for two and a half months, I have not yet gotten ‘round to learning the ins and outs of the country’s reigning religion: Islam. I am still trying to figure out how to make my driver understand where I want to go and my maids stop allowing Sophia to eat candy from strangers in the park!
I do know, however, that today marks the first day of Ramadan. It is a time for inner reflection, devotion to God, and self-control. Muslims think of it as a kind of tune-up for their spiritual lives.
Just a word about the religion I have experienced…we have two lovely girls who work for us: Sri and Asih. Sri is 23, married, yet estranged from her husband, who, I think has returned to Hong Kong. She is fiery, has pretty decent command of English, controls the discipline of Sam and Sophia, flirts with the neighborhood vendor guys on her off time, and always seems to be menstruating. I say this because when a female is menstruating, she may not visit a mosque or participate in prayer or other religious occasions.
Asih, who is about 18 years old (!!) is a practicing Muslim, never seems to menstruate, prays five times a day, tucked away in her closet, fully covered in a white shroud, and is never seen flirting…she was off last night to the mosque to help usher in the season of Ramadan. According to the rules, the girls were up this morning at 2:00 am, cooking a meal. They then prayed (except for Sri, who is off the hook for one bloody week), and returned to slumber until 6:30. They have not eaten today, and as of 6:00 pm, they can take their evening meal. This will continue for four weeks. I understand that by the end, the entire country is in a state of limp listlessness, yet somehow they will find the energy to start gathering families together a few days before the final day and prepare for the mother of all celebrations on Idul Fitri, which marks the end of Ramadan.
Scrapes and bumps….
The other day, I was in traffic with Herri, our driver, on my way to JIS, the BIG and prestigious international school in town, and in the middle of a chaotic traffic circle, another car began to scrape along the side of the car. I yelled at Herri to stop the car and the other guy was able to back up a bit and disengage from my passenger door. We all pulled to the side of the road, I kept my head down and let Herri deal with the situation. Both men got out, sauntered over to the side of our car and began to negotiate. 15 minutes later, after some argument and rubbing of the bruised door, money was exchanged and we were on our way. I could not wait to find out what had happened. It was obviously the other guy’s fault and lo and behold, he did admit to that. He paid Herri a fair amount: Rp 10,000, which is a bit over…….ONE U.S. DOLLAR! Herri figured it was enough to cover the cost of touching up the scrape. Sure enough, when he picked me up later, I could hardly find the spot!!!!
Another anecdote about cars….. because parking spaces are so few, people just park wherever there is space, even if it means totally blocking people in legitimate spots. But the obvious solution is to leave your inconveniently parked vehicle in neutral, so that those who are stuck can simply push your car out of the way. Some may ask WHY we need a driver in this city…. There you have two good reasons…dealing with fender benders and getting out of parking lots!
Animals, animals, hey…..don’t kick my car!
Last weekend we headed up into the mountains to the South of Jakarta, to the Tamin Safari Park. We had heard it was worth visiting and it actually turned out to be a great day!! After inching along in mountain traffic (we later learned the heavy volume was due to people traveling home for one last hurrah before the start of Ramadan), we headed up the last tiny road to the entrance. Along the road, vendors were selling huge bunches of bright orange carrots. They looked delicious, so I had Jared buy some. Little did I know that they were supposed to be food for the safari animals!
We entered the park and right away saw a bunch of zebras. We were in a line of cars and busses, inching our way up a steep incline. The busses had a tough time, because every time a car would stop to feed or look at an animal, the bus would have to hang on the incline, impatiently honking his horn for cars to keep it moving. The animals are quite well-adjusted to the loud snorts of car horns, I must say. Since the animals get fed yummy carrots by all the human gawkers, they are quite willing to come up to the cars, stick their heads in your windows and salivate all over you. We even had one excited zebra kick our rear light out!
The really cool part was the “African” section. We had to close all windows for this. There were beautiful Bengal tigers, lions, bears – a real Oz! Sam and Sophia loved it. After the 45 minute safari, we entered the amusement part of the park. Kiddie rides were available, animal shows, Asian style, where the well-being of the animal is only secondary to entertainment value.
We decided to check out the Wild West Show for kicks and grins. It was hilarious! There was a scratchy audio tape in Indonesian which screamed out the loose plot line of the story, but the real action involved people riding across a plot of sand on horses and pretending to shoot at each other. There were good stunts of people falling off of balconies, off of water tanks, explosions of fire inside banks and saloons. Good stuff. But I think the most entertaining part of the show was…..the Rodgers family! We were the only white people there, and everyone around us was transfixed on our tableau. Sam and Sophia were perched on Jared’s lap and there must have been hundreds of photos taken of us during the show. If I had a rupiah for every shutter click…..
It is late on a Friday night and I am burning the midnight oil and Aircon here at school. Time to mosey on home, and take in some slumber in order to gear up for another day of fun and adventure in lovely Jakarta!
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