Dear friends of Kita Belajar: Considering that most of the thoughts and ideas expressed in this blog are from the perspective of the Nourish team, as we interpret lives, cultures and experiences in Indonesia, we felt it only fair to give the Indonesian communities we work with the chance to write about us.
The following piece is written by Thibbur Prawirodirjan, a member of Pergerakan Mahasiswa Islam Indonesia (Indonesian Muslim Student Movement), with whom Kevin, Greg and Daniel have been working. The piece is translated by Greg.
Hey teman, lihat ! Itu Hary Potter !
Beberapa minggu yang lalu, kami mengajak Daniel, Kevin, dan Greg untuk berkunjung ke Kepuhan, Sedayu Bantul. Mungkin anak-anak disana belum pernah bertemu dengan bule sebelumnya, dan hanya melihat bule di televisi. Jadi ketika mereka melihat Daniel, mereka mengira Daniel adalah Hary Potter :D
Jadi, bagaimana dengan kami ?
Sebelum kedatangan Daniel, Kevin, dan Greg, di rayon (basecamp PMII) kami terjadi sedikit perdebatan. Tentang kehidupan para bule di rayon, apakah mereka siap hidup di hutan ? Di tempat sekotor ini ? (pikir kami). Dan setelah bertemu untuk kali pertama di kantor Kampung Halaman, pikiran kami semakin kacau. Takut, kalau sewaktu-waktu mereka enggak betah karena keadaan tempat dan makanan yang sedikit “mengenaskan”. Apa yang harus kami lakukan ketika mereka terkena diare, sedangkan tidak ada air di kamar mandi ?
Tapi Alhamdulillah – puji tuhan, mas Abu berkata kepada kami bahwa mereka tidak berharap mendapatkan keindahan atau kenyamanan seperti ketika sedang liburan. “Mereka lebih siap daripada apa yang kamu pikirkan”, kata mas Abu sambil tersenyum kepada kami. Dan mas Abu benar, bule-bule itu sangat senang bisa hidup di rayon. Kami juga tidak lagi merasa canggung ketika harus berbicara dan berdiskusi dengan mereka. Daniel, Kevin, dan Greek melewati hari-hari bersama kami di rayon dengan penuh canda dan tawa.
Kebanyakan dari kami berfikir bahwa teman bule kami mempunyai pola hidup yang sehat. Karena setiap hari, mereka selalu meminum air putih, tidak merokok, dan membuang sampah pada tempatnya. Namun kenyatannya terbalik ketika kami melihat kamar tempat Daniel dan Kevin beristirahat. It’s waw ! Dengan sedikit bercanda, aku (Thibbur) berkata pada Kevin, underwear in everywhere ! :D. Dan ketika hal ini kuceritakan keadaan kamar si bule kepada teman-teman kuliahku, Kevin berkata “Itu bukan barang-barangku ! Itu milik Daniel !”. Dan ia berkata bahwa dirinya adalah orang yang selalu menjaga kebersihan. Tapi aku tahu dia berbohong :)
Ya, itu salah satu dari sekian banyak candaan yang kami buat. Tapi kami tidak pernah mempermasalahkan itu, karena kami senang dengan teman-teman bule kami. Dan aku selalu bilang ke Daniel, Kevin, dan Greek bahwa aku berharap kalian dapat tinggal disini lebih lama lagi. Dan jika ada kesempatan, kami akan ke Amerika berboncengan dengan motor yang kami miliki :D.
(Aku tidak bisa membayangkan apa yang terjadi dengan bokong kami bila kami naik motor berboncengan ke Amerika…)
Hey friend, look! It’s Harry Potter!
A few weeks ago, we invited Daniel, Kevin and Greg to visit Kepuhan, Sedayu, Bantul. Maybe the children there hadn’t ever met a white person before that, and had only seen them on television. So when they saw Daniel, they assumed he was Harry Potter. :D
So, how about us?
Before the arrival of Daniel, Kevin and Greg at the Rayon (PMII’s base camp), we had a little debate. About the lifestyle of white people at the Rayon. Will they be ready to live in the jungle? In a place as dirty as this? (We thought). And after we met for the first time in the Kampung Halaman office, our minds were even more mixed up. Afraid, of whether they’d ever be able to stand the condition of our place and food, which is a bit “pathetic”. What should we do if they’re stricken with diarrhea, while there’s no water in the bathroom?
But, thanks be to God, praise the Lord, Mas Abu told us that they weren’t expecting to get the beauty or comfort of a vacation. “They are more ready than you think,” Mas Abu said while smiling at us. And Mas Abu was right, these white guys were so happy to live in the Rayon. We too didn’t feel awkward when talking or discussing things with them. Daniel, Kevin and Greg passed the days with us at the Rayon full of jokes and laughter.
Most of us think that our white friends have a healthy lifestyle. Because every day they’re always drinking water, not smoking, and throwing trash in its proper place. But in reality it’s the opposite—when we saw the room where Daniel and Kevin sleep. Whoa! Joking a little, I said to Kevin, “underwear in everywhere!” :D And when I chatted about the condition of their room with my friends at university, Kevin said “those aren’t my things! They’re Daniel’s!” And he said that he himself is a person who always keeps things clean. But I know he was lying. :)
Yeah, that’s just one of so many jokes that we had. But we never made an issue of it, because we were so happy with our foreign friends. And I always told Daniel, Kevin and Greg that I wished they could stay here longer. And if we have the chance, we’ll go to America riding on our motorbikes. :D
(I can’t imagine what would happen to our butts if we rode motorbikes to America…)
