Another Untraditional Christmas

Almost New Years and I am just getting around to my Christmas update.  Living in Indonesia, an untraditional Christmas can be expected.  I longed to be back in the US as I listened to stories about snow, good food, and skyped with reunited family members.  But the holiday was quiet in Jakarta, families usually use any holiday to get out of the city so it was eerily quiet when I took a taxi to the train station.  We flew past the green lights of an intersection that normally would require at least a 10 minute wait.  I also took advantage of the government-regulated four day weekend and visited a Muslim coworker’s family in Bandung.  Honestly, the train ride itself competed with the fun of the visit.  Either it was one of the most beautiful train ride views I have ever seen, or I am easily impressed by nature after living in Jakarta.  For three hours of winding between forested hills, tiered rice paddies and over ravines, it was the perfect amount of time to relax and pull out a novel.

Once in Bandung, my friend Ari met me at the train station and we headed downtown for some factory outlet shopping that this city is famous for.  I thought it was amusing to compare this to the “factory outlet” shopping we have in the US, that terminology is more accurate here as the factories are located in Asia.  Jakartans and even Malaysians take advantage of the direct AirAsia flights from KL to Bandung and I was told prices go up on weekends.  I was going to call it my Christmas shopping but no purchases were made so Ari directed me to some Sundanese (the main ethnic group of West Java) dishes I should try.  We had a tofu and peanut sauce dish called baso tahu, nasi timbel which is a style of fried chicken and tofu with rice and sambal, and finished with ice cream with durian and chocolate- heaven in a plastic cup, eaten on a stool on the side of the road!

Afterwards we headed to her family’s home where her 3-year-old boy, parents, brother, sister and sister’s family were all hanging out.  While they were certainly not celebrating Christmas it was fun to just be with a family for the holiday.  Indonesians are such welcoming people that I was immediately just one of the family there and was given someone else’s bedroom for the night.  We watched tv and chatted, someone boiled water for me to take a bath and then it was bedtime so everyone else could get up for the 4am prayers.  The day after Christmas we went to the big Sunday market and went out for lunch.  After getting everyone’s stuff packed it was then time for the drive back to Jakarta.  I can’t comment on the view by car as I was of course passed out the entire drive; nothing new there.