It's like an entrance exam

Thankfully the Indonesian government has recently rejected a lawmaker's proposal to subject girls to virginity tests before they can enter public high schools.  Unfortunately that lawmaker is from my former residence in Jambi and was very serious in proposing this policy as a viable response to the perceived increase in premarital sex.  When I was in Jambi working on women's reproductive health issues, youth pregnancy was a serious issue we dealt with and a major article came out last spring about the shockingly high rate of premarital sex in Jambi, so I understand the concern.  Still, this proposal is appalling and would be a gross violation of women's rights.  How were they planning to address high school boys?

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesia-rejects-proposal-to-subject-girls-to-virginity-tests/398505

Fitting in here

When I made the decision to work in Jakarta I knew that it would be a very different experience from Jambi, but the change in lifestyle is nevertheless striking to me since it is within the same country.  Granted, Jakarta itself does have extreme disparities between the haves and the have-nots.  Walking around Jakarta’s fancy shopping malls though, I feel ironically as one of the have-nots among the Louis Vuitton-laden Asian shoppers but when I step outside and get on my Kopaja 640 going home, I am immediately transformed into the only white person crazy enough to ride the public buses and offered the only seat in its crammed interior.

In the meantime while I adjust to this new reality, I have begun testing out the waters of Jakarta’s social scene and am ever surprised to see how tightly connected the expat community is here.  Even with the few American friends I have so far, they all seem to have friends in common with me or another one of my friends.  I have also learned that this connecting is generally done at happy hours around the city, and that the Foreign Correspondents Club, among some bars, provide regular FREE happy hours.  Now that is something that can let me connect to the professional expat scene on my volunteer budget.   

Belonging to a different realm of Jakarta, my friends from the office are fairly professional and straight-edged kind of Indonesians in spite of the available alternatives that come from Western influences mentioned above.  When they choose to socialize it falls in the normal shopping or movie going trips to Jakarta's abundant shopping malls.  While this can be fun in small doses, I doubt how fulfilling it will be in repetition.  Plus, an American friend already got pick pocketed in his first week at one!

Well here’s to a very different year to come.

A Return to Traditions

Jakarta has resumed its usual hustle and bustle with the end of Idul Fitri and the mass return of office workers and reopening of government offices and business.  I got back from Jambi last Wednesday with a distinct thankfulness for now living in a city and all that life can offer.  On one hand revisiting Jambi was a wonderful experience, full of missed friends and fond remembrances of that nondescript town.  But having experienced life in Jakarta for just a week already, I was overwhelmed with how incredible the difference of living conditions (and costs!), people, vibrancy and possibilities really is between the capital and Sumatra.  I am more appreciative now of where I lived the last year and the unique opportunity I had in experiencing such authentic Indonesian life.  Now I feel a bit like the village girl moving to the big city with my constant awe and excitement about the opportunities this new experience offers.

The week and a half back in Sumatra was not only for reconnecting with old friends, coworkers, and neighbors, but in response to Povi's invitation to celebrate the Muslim holiday with her family in Kerinci.  I knew this would be a unique opportunity to observe this Indonesian version of Christmas and Thanksgiving rolled into one, and at the most traditional village level of society.  So I uncomplainingly suffered through the 12 hour bus ride through the mountains over washed out roads and was pleasantly greeted by Povi’s entire extended family who had come from all over Sumatra (and many from just around the village) to celebrate together at her grandmother’s house.

The next five days became a fairly easy, even languid, routine of cooking, napping, eating, paying visits to friends and family in the village or receiving guests, and most commonly just chatting with all the family reposed on the living room floor, kitchen floor or front yard.  On September 10^th I joined the family to the local mosque for the prayers marking the end of Ramadan.  It was quite a sight to see everyone dressed up in their finest traditional clothes and colorfully clad worshippers were in such abundance that prayer mats spilled out of the mosque and some even had to pray in the street.  I myself donned a makeshift scarf jilbab and trying to remain inconspicuous followed along in the prayers as best I could, somewhat reminiscent of when I accompanied Sumi to her neighborhood’s mosque last year. 

In addition to the general holiday atmosphere, Povi’s family was wholly occupied with the preparations for her aunt’s wedding that was held immediately after Idul Fitri.  This required numerous trips to the local market where I followed the women with shopping lists and helped carry huge bags of tomatoes, garlic, potatoes, and chilies.  On the subsequent mornings I woke to find all of the women from the entire neighborhood cooking vast pots of curry and rendang under improvised canvass tents in the front yard.

On top of this relentless social activity, that I could only half understand because it was conducted in the local dialect, I once again found myself the main object of attention and curiosity.  Most of the family and neighbors had never met a foreigner before and Povi assured me it was the first time a Westerner had ever been invited to the village for Idul Fitri.  It was thus my frequent duty to explain myself and to respond to the constant and unabashed stares with a friendly smile- even when I has half naked and wrapped in a sarong getting a traditional massage.

So it was fun and full of new experiences but I was a bit eager to get back to Jakarta, too much idle time really makes me uncomfortable I guess...

 The hillside country of Kerinci around the family's village.

Povi's aunt's wedding ceremony located in the village mosque where the Idul Fitri prayers were also conducted.

Povi's aunt and her husband whose family had to travel to his bride's village for the wedding following the unique maternalistic traditions of this region of Sumatra.

Me and Povi waiting for my bus back to Jambi.

Back!

So I realize I will have to change the title of this blog now that I have relocated to Jakarta after a three month hiatus in the US.  But that will have to wait as I just have time to give a quick update and then will be heading back up to Jambi to celebrate Idul Fitri (the end of Ramadan) with my friends and old coworkers there for a week and a half.

My first week back in Indonesia has been incredibly exciting and allayed any concerns I had about moving to the big city and settling in to a new office and neighborhood.  My flight from the US was, in fact, probably the most exhausting part of this entire process, particularly due to the 8 hour layover in Singapore where I not so reluctantly succumbed to sleeping on the floor with the other Indonesians.  Once in Jakarta I stayed with friends for the first few days as I began work at the Tifa Foundation’s and searched for a kos (Indonesian kind of boarding house) to live in.  Luckily I have found one now, just a 10 minute walk from my office and complete with AC, my own bathroom with a shower and real Western toilet (!), an upright bed as opposed to the mattress on a floor I used in Jambi, and an extremely sweet pembantu (housemaid) who insists on making my tea and cleaning my room.

Fortunately, I have been equally satisfied by my new office where my young and extremely friendly and inclusive coworkers exceed my PKBI friends with their professional attitude and hard work.  Additionally, the human rights and democracy/governance focus of the work here is exactly what I am interested in and I have already connected with the program managers to get apprised of the current programs.  Another pleasant surprise has been the arrival of another American (the entire staff is Indonesian) who is working as a consultant on a Legal Empowerment of the Poor Initiative that I will get to help with.

So, all resettled in Indonesia with what looks to be a fulfilling job, a comfortable and smartly located residence, and a handful of friends around the city, I feel that I have gotten off to a good start and am excited to start exploring the city.  While I have already become more acquainted with the traffic jams and horrible air pollution than I ever wanted to be, I am hoping this will die down a bit after Lebaran- or at least I will be able to combat it with a map and my “fluent” Indonesian.