Everyday People

Sometimes when I feel I’ve just about blogged myself (and my readers) out, I look around and try to think about what our friends and family might find interesting here. 

Today I decided to tell you about the people who have become a regular part of our lives since coming to Bandung and who we feel we are beginning to get to know. I’ll introduce you to each one and tell you a little about them. We are thankful for each of them, as they have all been a part of our experience here and have helped us in too many ways to count.

Dadang trying to sell me his friend's guitar

Dadang is Indonesian, Muslim and our third driver. He travels an hour each way to drive for us 6 days a week. We pretty much don't go anywhere unless he takes us, due to our location and how difficult it is to get a cab in the evenings. Our first driver Pak Edi was not told he would have to work on Sundays, so he quit after 3 days. Our second driver, Pak Hendra had no clue where he was. He must not have been from Bandung, as he didn't know this city - at all. He lasted only 2 days. Dadang was a choice of desperation for Trac, the company we rent our car and driver from. His work experience involved singing in a band. And like the majority of Indonesians, he drives a scooter. He speaks a little bit of English (emphasis on little). But he's a very nice guy. So far he's only hit one motor scooter (no one was hurt, thank goodness) and he doesn't kill the car nearly as often as he did at first. Another plus? He knows the city!

Today as we were driving around, he told me the names of his 8 siblings - Dadang, Dudung, Nanang, Daong, Aues, Alles, Emat, Isep and Cucu. Can you imagine the confusion that must have been in that household? He later quizzed me to see how many I could name. He is 33, says he cannot afford to get married and only has 2 pairs of slacks. I get the distinct impression that he is very poor. From what I can tell, his extended family lives in close proximity (if not in the same house) as do many families here.

Ephi, Dwi & Ronnie

Evie (pronounced Ephi) is our landlady. She and her husband are Chinese Indonesian. Both she and her daughter Celia speak excellent English and their help has been invaluable to us. In fact, she was a big part of the reason we chose this place. She takes me to the market with her and even brought me a souvenir from her recent trip to Bali. Though she is very kind to us, I don't like the way she treats the Indonesian workers here, including Ibu Aisah, our cleaning lady. I am beginning to see the racial issues that exist here between Indonesians and Chinese Indonesians. Indonesians as a whole really dislike the Chinese.

no, I've not been able to figure out this black tatoo on his head

Pak Dwi is Ronnie's associate at ITB. He received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in Computer Science in 2004. Ronnie had never met him personally until November of last year. He is an Assistant Dean in the College of Engineering at ITB. He and Ronnie work closely together and have a mutual respect for one another. His wife Lena also holds a Ph.D. and is a geologist in some research center here in Bandung. They have 3 children.

Ibu Aisah

Ibu Aisah has been a huge blessing to us. For whatever reasons, Bandung is just a dirty place to live. Since the weather is nice and the houses don't have AC, windows stay open so dirt and critters enter freely. Dadang and Ibu Aisah together have kept me from jumping off the nearest cliff! We found her through my friend Marcia who has employed her sister for many years. Both Ibu Aisah and her sister work as pembantus (helpers) and are very happy to have these jobs. Marcia brought her over to meet us and they agreed on the work and terms (all in Bahasa). We agreed to pay her the "going rate" for pembantus in Indonesia. Turns out that is about $7US a day plus transportation! She rides an angkot (public hop on/hop off rather dilapidated vans) and ojek to get to our place. It takes her at least an hour each way. We were advised to pay her only at the end of each month because when they are paid weekly, there usually isn't anything left at the end of the month to pay bills. As her first payday got closer, I worried that she would be disappointed with her salary. I failed to mention that her husband and son, both drivers, have been out of work for some time. So at the end of the first month when we paid her, she became very emotional. She quickly told us that the tears were because "Ibu Aisah happy!" She cried, I cried and we hugged each other. We have repeated this same exact scene on each subsequent payday. Even though her English is extremely limited, it still beats my Bahasa, and Google translate is a great help. Ibu Aisah is a very sweet lady, a hard worker and a real blessing to me.

Yoto - our favorite young helper

I have probably mentioned that there are always young Indonesian boys who work here at the apartment complex. They mop, clean, deliver water and propane and even do some hard physical labor such as hauling dirt and cement around for construction projects. They also routinely check for rats in our attic. They have left their homes often 8-10 hours away to live and work here. I have no idea how much they make, but whatever it is, it's not nearly enough. It is enough, however, to keep them in cigarettes and cell phones. These boys are usually 14 or 15 but do not go to school because their families cannot afford it.

This is Mr. Beli, Ronnie's swim coach. He is a Chinese Indonesia and also a Christian. Ronnie had tried to contact 3 of 4 different coaches without success. After several weeks of searching, Ronnie met someone who told him about Mr. Beli. Turns out, he has good credentials and is a great coach! He tells Ronnie that he "is a very good swimmer for an old person." HA People here think nothing of asking perfect strangers their age.

Mr. Beli with Ronnie at swim lesson

These are our English teachers, Grace and Yessy. Grace is a Christian and Yessy is Muslim; both are young, single and very sweet girls. Grace works for Bandung Talent Source; I am still unsure who Yessy works for but Grace seems to be training her to teach English. They come to our apartment twice a week for our language lessons. Grace actually spent part of her childhood in the US and her English is perfect.

Grace, Yessy & Jan

Hopefully you have enjoyed "meeting" some of our new friends here. :)