Geographic contrast & an interesting tree

Last week all the volunteers were in Bali for the annual conference. Two others & I took advantage of being on the island & went up to Ubud for the weekend before returning to South Sulawesi. This is a tourist destination about an hour's drive north of Denpasar - apparently some of the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" was filmed here.

















Then, on Tuesday I had to take the 2.5 hour flight to Singapore & back on the same day to renew my temporary work visa - Indonesia requires those on short-term visas to leave the country every 60 days to renew, & VSO hasn't been able to get our year-long visas approved yet. So, Cordelia and I wandered around downtown Singapore for the day.









The white lotus-like building on the left is the ArtScience Museum in Singapore.
















Wednesday it was a flight back to Makassar and a minibus to Jeneponto. Those 3 days certainly emphasized the glaring contrasts in lifestyle all within a relatively small geographic area.













And now, for all the tree people - this (below) is a cannonball tree in a park in Singapore. The flower-bearing branches grow out on the lower trunk. All stages of flower & fruit occur at the same time, year round.
Latin name: Couroupita guianensis
Family: Lecythidaceae

 

Flowers are fragrant, used by adherents to Hinduism for worship. The fruit grows to about 20 cm in diameter, but is not edible. The hard shell is used to make containers & utensils.

Not busy, then really busy

The perils of a blog - there’s either nothing going on, so no reason to write a new post, or too much going on, so no time to write up a coherent account. Since my last post, after I had just started work in Jeneponto, I’ve felt considerable frustration involved with not understanding either the language or work culture - this is a wholly typical experience for new volunteers - I think the VSO staff would be surprised if it didn’t happen at some point. Mine may have just occurred earlier, since it’s unclear that they actually need my expertise at the forestry office. A meeting was necessary with VSO, me and my work partner to set up some guidelines which may help to establish some concrete work goals, but it’s a wait & see situation which may very well change where or with whom I am working in the next 6 months. 

An additional frustration was not having a refrigerator, which meant I couldn’t keep food in my house without armies of ants invading, and I still hadn’t gotten my motorbike. Those problems are now solved, although the bike must go in for maintenance before I can start riding & gaining some level of comfort with the roads & traffic.

November 15 was Muslim New Year, and kicked off a four-day weekend, so Rita, one of my co-workers, invited me to go to Selayar Island for a visit - no problem with accommodation - her brother lives there. After a long bus ride, and an equally long ferry ride, we arrived after dark. On Friday & Saturday we attended a couple of “Save the Turtles” events which her brother’s diving club was sponsoring, went snorkeling, took a boat to see some mangroves & swim at a couple of deserted beaches. We got back around 3 pm on Sunday, giving me time to wash my clothes and pack for Bali - Monday I flew into Denpasar for the week-long work partners’ meetings & annual volunteer’s conference. Now, as of the 24th November, I’ve spent fewer nights sleeping in my house, than in other locations in Sulawesi & now Bali, since I first arrived at my work placement. That will change over the next two months. 

The volunteer’s conference has been absolutely invaluable - there are a total of 14 international volunteers in Indonesia right now, 6 from Kenya, 7 Canadian, & 1 American. I was in a batch of 4 new arrivals, so have now benefited from the shared experiences of the other 10, who have been here from 7 months to 3 years. Four of them are leaving for home in the next 2 months, but we were able to chat, find out from them what worked, what failed miserably, why some were leaving early & why two had decided to extend their periods of service. We also met 4 Indonesian volunteers who had completed contracts in Tadjikistan, Burma, Bangladesh & Guyana. And of course, some beer was consumed, some dancing occurred & a couple of competitive games of pool took place. Mike, the VSO Country Director, & I won one of these by a slim one-ball margin.

So, conference over, Noelle, Margaret & I left for a mini-vacation weekend to Ubud, a lovely touristy town about an hour’s drive north of Denpasar. Temples, rice paddies, lots of beautiful shops & a traditional market, so this might be the place to pick up some colourful sarongs or silver jewelry. After the weekend, a bit more travel is scheduled - a day trip to Singapore to renew my visa that allows me to work in Indonesia. Home to Jeneponto next Wednesday (sigh, back to the grind).

A day in pictures

The government forestry office (Dinas) in Jeneponto.

Today my work partner Pak Mahmud and I attended a meeting of a foresters group about a half hour's drive from Jeneponto. Our first stop was at an open air market for supplies, and to get quotes on a refrigerator and fan for me.

Shoe sellers at the open air market

The appliance store with good prices on fridges.

Huge volcanic boulders, incredibly rocky ground, and of course, lots of trees.

The local foresters group. The meeting was either about the Social Forestry Network, an organization to which all ASEAN countries belong, or the current market value of mahogany, or both. I'm catching about one word in 5 or 6, and trying hard.

The meeting was followed by lunch at Pak Mahmud's inlaws' house.

And finally, these ladies are regular visitors to my house in the afternoon. They are both artists (I have a stack of drawings to stick to the wall when I get some scotch tape) and fashion critics (apparently my hiking boots are "boy's shoes" - fair enough).

First day in Jeneponto

Yesterday, I flew from Denpasar to Makassar with Iryanti (from the Jeneponto forestry office) and Indah (from an NGO that partners with VSO), who shepherded me like I was a toddler. Once in Makassar, we met up with Noelle (another VSO volunteer), 2 staff members from FIC (the NGO Linda & Noelle work for) & Pak Mahmud, my workplace partner. The flight left late, & we arrived close to two o’clock. Went to a restaurant downtown for fish, rice & soup, and then was informed that Mahmud’s vehicle needed to be taken in for servicing (or to have something fixed - don’t really know which). So Linda & Noelle hosted me for the afternoon. Noelle showed me her house, which is spacious, with a front courtyard, tucked into a street of similar houses. Tons of kids - several of whom came to ask Noelle when their next English lesson would be.  

Noelle & I walked to the FIC office to meet up with Indah and Didin, another staff member. After a tour of the office & some chat, we went to Didin’s house to wait for Mahmud - the car servicing was going to take 3 hours or longer. I met Didin’s parents, and we were given mixed veg for dinner. 

At about 7:30 pm, Mahmud, Iryanti & driver finally appeared & we were on the road to Jeneponto - can’t describe the trip - it was dark. Narrow roads, mostly paved, some roadwork, trucks, motos, etc. We arrived around 9:30 & I was shown my house - spacious, well furnished & very clean - but no fridge or stove, so that needs sorting out.  Having said all that, I’m probably going to need another place to live anyways - this one is within spitting distance of Pak Mahmud’s house and the office, & free wifi or not, it’s a bit too close for comfort. Also, Iryanti, his female office worker is my immediate neighbour - anxious to be very close friends, she wanted to hang around & chat last night to cement our new relationship. I’ll definitely need more personal space.

Good sleep, as I was provided with a fan.

I’ve decided that misunderstanding the language doesn’t have to be all bad. Got up early today, but ignored the first person arriving at my door, then washed, and relaxed a bit. Pak Mahmud then invited me down to his house for breakfast (yellow rice, cucumbers & tofu in sauce - pretty good) & then we went to the office. Met the head of the office, but forgot to call him Keureng (title of respect for a man of his “class”) & can’t remember his name either. But I don’t think I’ll have a close working relationship with him; as a forester, not to mention a foreigner, I’m a lower level employee. Also met the man responsible for some agricultural crops (coffee, coconut, etc) - I think he guides plantation establishment? Be interesting in a few months to find out if my preliminary guesses are right. No one speaks English here, barring a very few, and usually inappropriately-used words (much like my bahasa Indonesia).

Then, we were off to the police station to register my residency in Jeneponto, although I think we may have to go back because the head guy there was out of the office. We did speak to another man, so I’ll just wait & see if I end up there again. 

After that, we drove out of town on winding roads towards the hills in the distance, gaining some altitude. Houses line the roads shoulder-to-shoulder most of the way, so it’s difficult to say if we actually ended up in a different village. Farm fields stretch out behind the houses, a few trees (kapok, coconut & different fruit), tiered rice paddies on hillsides, and dirt-dry fields with sparse hay or grass. Goats, horses, water buffalos & a few cows graze. We stopped at the house of the head of the local agricultural group for a meeting which Pak Mahmud conducted, giving out information on an improved corn variety, “Pioneer”. I saw several large boxes with pictures of corn & Pioneer on them, so I assume that he had distributed the seed previously to the head. This morning they all met to learn why this variety might be better (improved yield, faster growth, resistant to diseases). Pak Mahmud seems to be a good speaker, they were listening with interest & agreeing with him, and I’m pretty sure he threw in a few jokes at my expense. Twelve men attended - P. Mahmud tells me that women don’t come to the meetings - he’s well aware they’re not treated equally & knows VSO promotes gender inclusion. But during the meeting, five women were sitting close by, listening and responding to P. Mahmud’s presentation. They know exactly what’s going on &, I think, are probably ‘more equal’ partners in the family farms than appearances suggest. 

On the way back, we stopped at a roadside warung for chicken soup & sticky rice. I find the portions here large, particularly since the heat kills appetite, but I ate an acceptable amount & explained “Saya makan sedikit, biasannya.” (I eat little, usually.)

After that, still only about noon, we stopped at an empty house to see if it might be suitable for my accommodations. Four bedroom house with 2 sitting rooms, kitchen & small bathroom - significantly more space than I need. Also, a large courtyard, half paved, half weeds (I immediately start imagining beautiful garden possibilities), area to park my motorcycle - it had everything! The asking price - almost twice as much as VSO allows for. So I tried to get the point across - no, I don’t need such a big house, and don’t want such an expensive one (“saya mau lebih kecil, lebih murah”), & apparently the owners dropped the price to 7 million rupiah a year (right on budget). Hmmm. Luckily, Noelle, Indah & Margaret (the other volunteer in the area) are coming up on Sunday to check on me, so I can get some translation for this house deal - I want to be sure that I'm not signing a lease I don't want.

Now, I’m relaxing at my temporary home while Friday prayers are going on. Don’t know if they expect me to do any more “work” today, I’m sure someone will knock on the door if they want me. Lying on the couch reading, several kids were peeking through the windows looking at the stranger. I was thinking about jumping out & yelling “booo”, or “aaarrgghh”, but thought better of it. Probably not the way to build bridges.

Stay tuned, pictures to follow in next blog.

Will that be nasi or mie?

I cannot be described as adventurous when it comes to food, so I’ve been carefully sampling what’s on offer in Bali & quite happy to occasionally revert to fish & chips or a hamburger at the restaurants in Sanur, one of the beach areas outside Denpasar that caters to tourists. Most days, ‘though, we order food for lunch to eat at the VSO office, from the previously mentioned warung, Warung Qumpul. So the choices are nasi (rice), mie (noodles) or soup with chicken, seafood, tofu or vegetables or any combination of these. Eggs are popular, either fried or boiled in sauce that makes them greenish-brown in colour. Each meal comes with spicy sauce on the side, to add as much or as little as you like. Why do people in tropical countries gravitate toward spicy food? Do we all need to sweat more here? Anyways, carbs are in good supply, despite the general lack of bread in local restaurants. Fresh bread and pastries are available at bakeries, but caution is advised, since many of these are sweetened beyond typical North American taste. Rice crackers and roasted peanuts are great snacks, and of course there is fruit in abundance - mangos, papayas, pineapples, bananas, oranges, as well as snakeskin fruit, mangosteen, star fruit, etc, etc. Apples - not as tasty here - I think they’re imported from New Zealand, and maybe they don’t hold up as well in the climate.

One of my fellow volunteers, Leslie, is far more fearless and willing to try anything. I had to take a picture of his Sunday breakfast purchased at a stall by the beach. Ordering fish soup in bahasa Indonesia, I think he said, “Yes, please, extra teeth!” Reportedly very good, but I think I’ll pass.

Left: Leslie having breakfast

                                                                Right: Leslie's breakfast

                           

As coffee is grown here, you could expect it to be very good and it is, except - it generally comes not coarsely ground, but ground to a fine powder. So you can get coffee hot, fresh & strong, but it’s not advisable to drain your cup completely - it’s a bit sludgy at the bottom. Also, when ordering coffee or tea, iced or hot, you have to specify without sugar, or it’ll come very sweet.

A handy alternative to going out to eat - takeout from one of the travelling food carts (on street at left). The vendors advertise by the simple expedient of banging either a wooden or metal stick, indicating both their current location & their menu - tok, tok means nasi coming your way; clang, clang - step outside and buy mie. Or, you can pick up corn on the cob roasted over coals, watermelon slices or sate (spicy grilled meat on skewers) from sedentary chefs on many sidestreets and in the nearby park.

This week, we were asked to put together recipes from Canada, to be prepared and shared at the office lunch on Wednesday. Hmmm - Canadian food, eh? The first thought - grilled salmon - well, that was done by the last batch of Canuck volunteers (thanks, guys), so our choice is shepherd’s pie (thanks, Britain &/or France) and pancakes with - yeah, you guessed it - maple syrup brought from Canada by Cordelia, another new volunteer. I would have felt guilty inflicting poutine on the local staff and we don’t have the facilities to prepare a full turkey dinner.

Notes from the neighborhood

In-country training & orientation continues. Thursday I actually had a brief conversation in bahasa Indonesia. I discovered that Asih, the assistant programme manager, has a three-year-old daughter and an eight-year-old son! So, although it’s daunting to realize that on November 2nd, I’ll need to use the language to work, I might be able to squeak by, particularly since my sponsor in Jeneponto does speak English.

Our accommodations in Bali are relatively modest (photo at left). We (the four new volunteers) each have our own room with a fridge, bed, TV & small washroom at a kost* just around the corner from the VSO office. Side note: CUSO International is closely affiliated with VSO (Volunteer Services Overseas) which was first formed in the U.K. Training and administration in Indonesia is handled by VSO because CUSO doesn’t maintain an office here, while admin for VSO volunteers in some South or Central American countries may be handled by the local CUSO offices there. VSO is established in, and recruits international volunteers from several countries: Kenya, Australia, India, the Netherlands, Indonesia, among others; while CUSO recruits some volunteers from the U.S. as well as Canada. Currently the VSO Indonesia office takes care of several volunteers from Kenya, one from the Netherlands, and about seven from Canada. VSO is also working to develop more extensive national volunteering programmes, drawing on expertise available in-country to develop capacity in poorer rural areas.

Around 5 o’clock weekdays, I’m woken by a choir of barking dogs, bird calls & motorcycles revving up. People start the day early & wind down gradually in the mid-day heat. This is the hottest time of year in Indonesia; apparently the rainy season is late this year, usually expected in early October, and lasting until February or March.

The neighborhood around our kost seems to be in the middle of a building boom - several large houses can be seen in various stages of construction. There are many stray dogs in the streets, but they are easily scared off. It seemed at first that the scrawny cats have all had half of their tails clipped, but apparently that’s just they way they are here; not quite Manx cats, not luxuriously tailed. Another example of small island diversity, I guess. 

The immediate neighborhood has a number of warung*, the closest is Warung Qumpul, where we can have dinner & go online using their free wifi. Another internet cafe, laundry & Circle K convenience store are all within short walking distance. I’ll enjoy the conveniences while in the city; my placement will be in a rural village with very limited shopping.

Houses in our neighborhood.

*kost = guesthouse

*warung = cafe, canteen

Week One

It’s been a busy week since arriving in Denpasar, Bali late Monday evening. After catching up on some sleep Tuesday, two volunteers who have been in country for a year took us, the four new vols, for a peek around Sanur - one of the touristy suburbs of Denpasar - including a walk along the beachfront and dinner. On Wednesday our orientation training began, Thursday we had our first language lesson, more orientation, and Friday was taken up almost entirely by bahasa* Indonesia. While feeling the continuous mild stress of a new environment, the VSO staff and Pam & Salim, the experienced volunteers, keep the tone relaxed and low-key, allowing us generous time to adapt at our own pace.

Traffic really does flow - unlike Canada there are limited stops and starts, rare sudden turns - even though the streets are packed with cars, buses, and trucks, while scooters and motorcycles outnumber these by ten to one. And believe me, I’ve been observing the traffic very carefully, since next week we get out there on our motorcycles for road training. The first thought is ‘No bloody way am I driving here’, but I’ve been told (and now agree) that it is quite possible, even easy. The only thing I have to do is NOT drive like we all do in Canada. Here’s the conclusion: It’s not a matter of you, in your own vehicle, driving to where you want to go. The trick seems to be to integrate yourself into the river of traffic, flow along with it until a branch heads off in a direction that you wish to follow, and allow it to carry you to your destination. Tidak apa apa*, right? Well, we’ll see - I’ve got the theory.

Same thing with language, apparently. Indonesia, as an archipelago of over 17,000 islands with hundreds, perhaps thousands of indigenous languages, adopted bahasa Indonesia as the lingua franca for their national language. One of the easier ones to pick up (fingers crossed), with no tenses, and incorporating words from Dutch, Arabic, and Hindi, among several others. Our teacher, explaining some of the basic grammar rules, tells us that it’s quite acceptable to switch phrases around in a sentence. Speaking bahasa Indonesia is another example of following the river - language should flow from your thoughts rather than restricting the expression of an idea. Instead of taking a few extra milliseconds to worry about exact phrase order, more than one sequence is perfectly OK. So, you could say “What is your name?” or “Your name what is it?” depending on how your brain feels at the moment. The construction of the sentence is not allowed to slow communication more than necessary. I quite like the idea of it, although I’m not too sure that I, personally, can do without the additional milliseconds of thinking about what I’m going to say.

*bahasa = language (therefore, bahasa Indonesia = Indonesian language)

*tidak apa apa = no problem (lit. no what what)