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.