Some observations and experiences in Jakarta

I went to visit the main mosque in Jakarta – it’s the biggest mosque in Southeast Asia. It's gigantic. Standing in front of it, as I’m listening to the afternoon prayer, this little kid comes up to me to beg for money showing me his broken flip-flop. And I say, Where can I buy you new shoes? Because I'm not giving money. It’s hard to know when it’s a ruse by an adult, sending a child for sympathy to get them money, and I don’t want to encourage begging. I doubt he’s gonna get a new flip-flop out of it, in any case. Then more kids and adults started approaching when they saw me stopped there. So I decided in lieu of giving money (and not having any new flip-flops to offer), to clown a bit for them and do a silly magic trick. Suddenly I had 20 people around me! We shared a fun moment together. They were thoroughly entertained by this strange blonde “bule” woman, clowning around with them. Hopefully, I gave them something money can't buy.

The other day I was on the street and a bunch of kids (teenagers and young adults) were grouped together across the street, all dressed in orange and black and had an Indonesian flag, and, as I gathered, they were on their way to a football game. They saw me taking pictures and started jumping up and down, waving and posing. Then when they drove by in their van (some sitting on the roof), they said "jump in", "come along" or some such (I don’t speak Indonesian, so I’m not sure, but I got the gist) -- so I did! It was very funny. So I rode along for a bit and we had fun and laughed. Then after a bit, I said I have to get off, stop the car!!! Luckily, I found my way back to my street. And picked up some good tofu from a street vendor on the way! Gotta get some when you can get some. Saya tidak makan daging!

Some days later on the way to a show, we drove by all these buses with youngsters, also dressed in orange and black, with whole mobs sitting on top of the buses, as they were driving along on the way to the football game. Crazy!

At another time, I was downtown at the big national monument in the center of Jakarta, the Monas, and I was surprised there were no tourists there, well, no foreign tourists -- there were loads of Indonesian tourists (I guess they were tourists from outside Jakarta). Several came up to me and asked to take photo with me – I became a tourist attraction! This keeps happening. To people in central Jakarta, it’s not that strange to see a foreigner (and a blonde one, to boot), but certainly to folks from other provinces, as well as to the kids out in the slums, it’s more of a rare sight. Something they just see on television – and here’s a real, live one!

The kids stare at me like I’m a space alien. And then they giggle and say “good morning!” Even if it’s afternoon. Because that’s all they learned. Good morning, good morning, good morning!

The kids love to be "scared" and chased. It's funny. More so, it seems, than other kids I've come across. I play this "game" with the kids in the neighborhood where I'm staying with Dan. Because I see them staring at me, so I make a funny face, and pretend to be a monster. Aaaah, they run off. Then they approach again. So I do it again. And it becomes a game. One little boy who came by on his bike, saw me make a scary face, and got a bit scared for real: Mommy, mommy, he yells, pedaling away. But then he comes back. Eventually, he becomes the one most engaged in the game, coming closer and closer, I pretend to not notice, and then I do my monster move, aaaaah! And they run off laughing and giggling. And it starts all over again.


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