This is another installment of Cedar’s Digest, a series of poetic stories about the experiences my husband, Ren Ruslan Feldman, and I are having living for six months in Central Borneo. We are volunteer teachers in a small, innovative Indonesian school. The school is child-centered with a focus on hands-on learning and character development. Classes are taught in English and Indonesian.
Saturday
Augus, the driver picks us up at 10
for a shopping trip to Palangkaraya
air conditioned hour drive
to the city of 250, 000
he drops us at “the mall”
while he gets the van lubricated
big four-story building
open in the center
with escalators to each level
overlooking the open center
built in 2006, it has a
pharmacy
K-mart kind of clothing store
“Naughty Girl” store full of girl kitch
jewelry and “Hello Kitty” stuff
barber where Ren gets a great haircut
for US$1.25 while charming the young women
speaking Indonesian
a surprise to them–
white-haired foreigner speaking fluent Indonesian!
at 72, Ren is already older than the life expectancy of 66
“If my wife (isteri) approves, it’s good (bagus).
I agree with whatever she says.”
hysterical laughing the young women respond:
“we would like to have a partner like that.”
office store
bakery
Texas Chicken
clothing stores
ranging typically from cheap to fancy
traditional to modern
expensive fancy massage chairs
to rent or buy
Ren hangs out in one of these
chatting with the salesgirl
while I go up the escalator
to the movie theater and
a gaudy, loud electronic game floor–
a small child accompanied by Dad
happily rides by on an electronic walking elephant
lunch
in a new restaurant
“Green Leaf”
a little more upscale
ahhhh, they have cappuccino
and a salmon steak with veggies and fries
$8….I treat Ren to lunch
Now…groceries
to my dismay, 60% of the shelves
in the store are filled with total junk food
very painful to see
we get peanut butter and jelly
dish soap, hand soap
cling wrap and sponges
hand towels
UHT milk
cookies (not very good)
red rice (a better alternative to white rice)
crackers
cans of baby corn and mushrooms
noodles and spaghetti sauce
processed cheese
the only thing available
and believe it or not, we eat it
to satisfy the cheese craving
half of Sendy’s grocery is like
an old 5 and 10 cent store
with an assortment of mostly really cheap stuff
for our cottage I made a few small purchases
designed for beauty, familiarity and comfort:
a candle, a little flower vase
placemats and cloth napkins
a grater, and a peeler
some better silverware and knives
a screwdriver, a tea pot, pot holder
a couple of mugs and serving dishes
Pak Augus
takes us to a batik store
where we find some lovely clothing items
and some material to sew a top sheet–
something the Indonesians don’t use!
we make antoher stop to buy
more time on our handphone
used for texting
we head home
grateful for the a.c. in the van
Back home
time for a nap
we are sweetly
awakened by two of our students
sisters Thea and Haidee
Russian mom/German dad
they speak Indonesian, English, Russian, German, Spanish
and have also lived in the US and in Mexico
they have a new little enterprise
making and selling fudge and French bread
we buy some
and they stay to chat for an hour
we are delighted to share in their
excitement about school and life
late afternoon
an excellent time for
one of my precious twice weekly
vodka “lemon drops”
the one litre of vodka we were allowed
to bring into this Muslim country
sits in the refrigerator marked off
in ten sections to last the ten weeks
until our spring break trip to Cambodia
ahhhhhh….yes!
Surya, our maid, gets fresh produce, fruit,
meat and fish for us a couple times a week
Utami makes whole wheat bread each week
and delivers us a loaf
fresh squeezed lime juice
is our almost daily condiment
Surya has made one of her best meals
leaving it out on the counter as usual
vinegared cucumber and carrot salad
and chicken, corn, and mushroom dish
to go over red rice
another ahhhhh… as we light the candle
say grace and eat our meal
Saturday
Augus, the driver picks us up at 10
for a shopping trip to Palangkaraya
air conditioned hour drive
to the city of 250, 000
he drops us at “the mall”
while he gets the van lubricated
big four-story building
open in the center
with escalators to each level
overlooking the open center
built in 2006, it has a
pharmacy
K-mart kind of clothing store
“Naughty Girl” store full of girl kitch
jewelry and “Hello Kitty” stuff
barber where Ren gets a great haircut
for US$1.25 while charming the young women
speaking Indonesian
a surprise to them–
white-haired foreigner speaking fluent Indonesian!
at 72, Ren is already older than the life expectancy of 66
“If my wife (isteri) approves, it’s good (bagus).
I agree with whatever she says.”
hysterical laughing the young women respond:
“we would like to have a partner like that.”
office store
bakery
Texas Chicken
clothing stores
ranging typically from cheap to fancy
traditional to modern
expensive fancy massage chairs
to rent or buy
Ren hangs out in one of these
chatting with the salesgirl
while I go up the escalator
to the movie theater and
a gaudy, loud electronic game floor–
a small child accompanied by Dad
happily rides by on an electronic walking elephant
lunch
in a new restaurant
“Green Leaf”
a little more upscale
ahhhh, they have cappuccino
and a salmon steak with veggies and fries
$8….I treat Ren to lunch
Now…groceries
to my dismay, 60% of the shelves
in the store are filled with total junk food
very painful to see
we get peanut butter and jelly
dish soap, hand soap
cling wrap and sponges
hand towels
UHT milk
cookies (not very good)
red rice (a better alternative to white rice)
crackers
cans of baby corn and mushrooms
noodles and spaghetti sauce
processed cheese
the only thing available
and believe it or not, we eat it
to satisfy the cheese craving
half of Sendy’s grocery is like
an old 5 and 10 cent store
with an assortment of mostly really cheap stuff
for our cottage I made a few small purchases
designed for beauty, familiarity and comfort:
a candle, a little flower vase
placemats and cloth napkins
a grater, and a peeler
some better silverware and knives
a screwdriver, a tea pot, pot holder
a couple of mugs and serving dishes
Pak Augus
takes us to a batik store
where we find some lovely clothing items
and some material to sew a top sheet–
something the Indonesians don’t use!
we make antoher stop to buy
more time on our handphone
used for texting
we head home
grateful for the a.c. in the van
Back home
time for a nap
we are sweetly
awakened by two of our students
sisters Thea and Haidee
Russian mom/German dad
they speak Indonesian, English, Russian, German, Spanish
and have also lived in the US and in Mexico
they have a new little enterprise
making and selling fudge and French bread
we buy some
and they stay to chat for an hour
we are delighted to share in their
excitement about school and life
late afternoon
an excellent time for
one of my precious twice weekly
vodka “lemon drops”
the one litre of vodka we were allowed
to bring into this Muslim country
sits in the refrigerator marked off
in ten sections to last the ten weeks
until our spring break trip to Cambodia
ahhhhhh….yes!
Surya, our maid, gets fresh produce, fruit,
meat and fish for us a couple times a week
Utami makes whole wheat bread each week
and delivers us a loaf
fresh squeezed lime juice
is our almost daily condiment
Surya has made one of her best meals
leaving it out on the counter as usual
vinegared cucumber and carrot salad
and chicken, corn, and mushroom dish
to go over red rice
another ahhhhh… as we light the candle
say grace and eat our meal
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