Lombok, the Island

Lombok is only one of Indonesia's 1,700 islands. It was the location of the Fulbright Pre-Departure Conference which we attended during our last week in Indonesia. In fact, we headed straight to the airport to fly home as soon as the conference ended!


While staying on Sengiggi Beach where the conference was held, we walked to nearby restaurants to eat. One day as we were walking down the street in front of the hotel, we saw a man peddling a bicycle which was equipped with children's horses that moved as he peddled and played music. The children ran out to ride, paid their money, hopped up on the horses and rode with delight! It was fun watching these kids - they couldn't have been happier than if they had been at Disney World!

happy happy!!

man-powered "carnival" ride

Ronnie's presentations at the conference were very well received. We said our final goodbyes to the other Fulbright scholars and headed to the airport with enough extra time to see a tiny bit of the island on the way. At one point, the driver pulled over so that I could snap a few photos at a bird singing contest on the side of the road. Bird singing contests are serious business in Indonesia and fortunately for me, this one was already well under way. My presence only seemed noticed by one young boy.

owners coax their birds to sing louder 

"Hey Mista!"

While I was snapping my photos, a group of children playing ball in the parking lot became very excited when they spotted the bule who was sitting in the car. Ronnie was able to say some things to them in Bahasa Indonesia and they were more than a little excited to try to talk to him ("Mista!")

goodbye, bules!!

We waved goodbye to the children and headed to Denpasar for our long flight home. We had 3 layovers with legs from Lombok to Bali, Bali to Tokyo, Tokyo to Seattle, then Seattle to Houston. Approximately 40 hours after lift off in Lombok, we were walking into our HOME SWEET HOME!!

Our time in Indonesia was definitely an adventure. We met some wonderful people during our stay there and Ronnie's work had a significant impact. Though neither of us regret going, I'll admit that, for me especially, it was not easy being so far from family and friends. The time and distance between us served as a reminder to never take anything we have for granted!

Thanks to all our friends for reading this blog and encouraging us during our time away. God bless you and God bless the USA!!!

Beach in Lombok

The day we arrived in Lombok, Ronnie and I walked down to the beach. He wanted to swim in the Bali Sea and I wanted to...you'll never guess...take photos!

colorful boats on Sengiggi Beach

We had been warned that the beach vendors would be very worrisome and make our time on the beach less than relaxing. It didn't take long to see how that works and you basically just need to learn to make eye contact and give a friendly but FIRM "no, thanks" and just keep walking. Naturally they are not going to accept the first "no" but after 4-5 times, they will finally take the "hint." One can purchase handmade jewelry, hand woven scarves and serapes, pearls or even a mani/pedi right there on the beach!

Here are some of my favorite photos from the day.

boats are available to take you to other islands

sunset on Sengiggi Beach

catamarans wait on Sengiggi Beach, Lombok

fishermen work to repair a boat

Ronnie going for a swim in the Bali Sea

Local Markets in Lombok

veggies for sale

Our last week in Indonesia was spent on the Island of Lombok. I'm posting some of my favorite photos from the local markets, which were (as always) a very sensory experience. The sights and smells are something that are almost overwhelming to a Westerner, but this is the way the average Indonesia eats. Many do not have refrigeration, so they purchase food and eat the perishables within a day or two. Eggs do not have to be refrigerated and most cannot afford to buy milk all that often. It's easy to buy produce every day or two and no doubt some of them grow their own.

busy Lombok market

Everywhere we visited in Indonesia was trash strewn and dirty. Lombok was no different. Wild dogs wander the markets and eat garbage that is lying in the streets. Flies cover raw meat as it is laid out on tables to be sold. Most of the market workers are women. I suppose their husbands are working in the fields while the women try to sell their produce in the markets. You will see a lot of raw fish, chicken and even beef in the open air markets, along with tofu, rice and vegetables. I would imagine these women are very tired by the end of the day.

fresh fish for sale

local fishermen's wives?

chicken for sale (flies come free)

colorful produce

market vendor with an attitude (few Muslim women smoke in public)

mother and son selling tahu (tofu)

market duty

an (albeit tiny) entire chicken on a stick

bucket o' fish

had your greens today?

another day, another rupiah

loved this pair!

tahu sale

little girl with bird eggs

Last Sunday in Bandung

I really intended to post photos I took on our last Sunday in Bandung before we left but unfortunately things got a little crazy those last couple of days. Some months back I had offered Ferry (driver) and Ibu Aisah (cleaning lady) to photograph their children/grandchildren. There's nothing like waiting till the last possible minute, so on Sunday after church, we met our friends Helen and Dan for lunch and goodbyes and then rushed to pick up Ibu Aisah and her cucus (grandchildren) and meet Ferry's wife and son at the zoo.

Of course it rained hard after lunch causing me to doubt whether or not our photo shoot would actually take place. But by the time we finally arrived the rain had stopped, leaving an overcast sky which produced exactly the light I needed. I was able to follow the kids around at a distance (thanks to my telephoto lens) and after purchasing some bubble pistols, they kind of forgot about the bule trailing them and started to loosen up a bit and enjoy the zoo.

As you can see, the children are beautiful. Sekar (Ibu Aisah's oldest granddaughter) was shy and kept looking back at me over her shoulder. Baby Sis Plika didn't seem to be bothered by my presence one way or the other. Ferry's little boy (22 months old) was leery at first but forgot about me as soon as he learned how to shoot bubbles. All in all, I was very pleased with the way the photos turned out and since my time was short, Ferry was kind enough to transfer all of them to DVD for both families to do with as they wished. Hope you enjoy them!

Sekar (Ibu Aisah's oldest cucu)

Lil' Sis

Plika (Ibu Aisah's youngest cucu)

Ibu Aisah, Plika, Sekar and paternal grandmother

Sekar

 

 

 

 

loved the bubbles!

"Caca Tua"

nickname Caca Tua  (as in cockatoo)

Ferry and family

A Visit to Sasak Village

First the wonderful news - we made it home safely last night! A long and tiring trip, but no problems and it feels soooo good to be home! I still have photos from the last couple of days in Lombok, so I will share them over the next few days as I finish out the blog.

welcome to Sasak Village

While Ronnie was climbing Mt Rinjani, I was holding down the fort at Kebun Villas but unfortunately it rained most of our stay in Lombok. However, the day before we left the sun came out and I was able to take off with 2 employees of the villa. Since I was the only tourist, they were happy to customize the time for me. The tour was supposed to last 8 hours and include 2 different beaches and a visit to a traditional Sasak village. With rain threatening, I opted to blow off the beaches and head straight to the village. However, the driver did allow me to stop at some local markets and let me snap a few shots there as well (I'll post separately).

lumbung stores rice and other food

child exits bath house

A few kilometers north of Kuta is Sasak Village. A guide met me and gave me the typical run through. Though tourists are clearly a source of additional income, the people still live pretty much the same way as their ancestors have in this same village for the past 250 years. The Sade people pretty much just marry their cousins, as it costs too much to take a wife outside the village. Inside you can get a wife for a few goats whereas to marry outside the village would "cost" a few water buffalo. Way too expensive for most villagers, so most everyone tends to marry inside the village.

rice farmer breaks for lunch and corn husk smoke

The men in the village are rice farmers and work the surrounding fields for 12 hours a day, stopping at noon to eat, rest and smoke cigarettes which they make out of tobacco they grow which is rolled in corn husks. The old ladies in the village sleep and help with the babies when they're not chewing betle nut. The younger women were doing chores, taking care of children and weaving or making jewelry. These crafts supplement their income and help them survive.

sales are slow on this day

There is only enough room for 115 families to live inside the village. The rest must live outside (but near) the village. There are 3 types of structures within the village. The lumbung (top) stores rice and other food items. It is off the groud and designed in such a way to keep varmints out. Weddings and funerals and other ceremonies are held inside a larger structure called a beruga. It is built on 6 pillars (Muslim). Lastly, the bale tani are the living quarters which are passed from generation to generation. Even though it was dark inside, the flash on my camera shows one side of the 2nd level kitchen.

regular family meals are cooked here

hand fertilizing in the rice field

sun drying rice

Like most Asians, religion is a big part of their lives and the Sades practice Wektu Telu, a mix of Islam and Hinduism with some Buddhism and local belief thrown in. There is a mosque within the village. Amazingly, there are 1,000 mosques on the island of Lombok!

makings for a betle nut high

I noticed the woman on right sitting inside a dark doorway and then realized she was not alone. The guide explained to me the women were chewing betle nut. I have since read that betel nut is a psychoactive drug used regularly by 10% of the world's population (Southeast Asia, South Pacific Islands, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc). It's used for stress reduction, feelings of well being and heightened awareness. As you might imagine, there are all kinds of well documented health risks associated with it, but my guide said they use it because it is "good for the teeth" and the young woman who went with me also added that it prevents body odor. Hmm.

betle buddy

red juice stains the teeth

The people do not have any refrigeration and their diet consists mainly of rice and fruits and vegetables that they grow. They go to the market once a week using public transportation (angkots).

mother works, child sleeps, grandmother makes string from cotton nut (hand below)

These houses are 250 years old. They "clean" the floor by rubbing them with fresh cow dung. My guide used the term "cow s---", not realizing it was a slang term. It was hard to keep a straight face as I listened to him discuss this benefits of this special "cleaning product." Yes, he did mention it smells bad "for about the first 15 or 30 minutes." I'm still not sure out how cow "s---" could clean anything. :)

wrapping betle leaves

shy but she loves her jewelry

Even if my walk through Sasak Village was the product of a money making endeavor, I still felt I got to see a glimpse of how the people actually live (minus the commercial aspect of it). I was also a little more comfortable knowing that the villagers are used to having strangers walk through their village with a camera. If it bothered them, it didn't seem like it.

middle age woman chews as she weaves

older woman spinning cotton on a small wooden wheel

grandmother rocking "cradle" with rope