It was like going back in time … I went back to the Serawai tribe I previously visited. If you are interested in comparing how we all looked then vs. now you can take a look here. I spent New Year’s Eve and Day with this family in 2020. Putra (son) was my translator then. He is now in college studying oceanography. His sister Riska translated for me this time. Rinin (the youngest daughter) is in private school. She came home to see me. The Mom and Dad work all the time. They have a store and a farm. The smaller girl in the photos is Riska’s friend Pina. She took pictures and videos and translated.

Now, I am family. Riska’s Mom said when Riska gets married I must come back for the wedding. I told her if she invited me I would. Might not have to worry about this one–Riska said she does not want to get married. But she will. Girls MUST get married. They really do not have a choice. Riska’s Mom said I have a small face, but I am really big–words of wisdom.

My job here is to listen to people tell their stories. This what it looks like when I am working.

The best part of my job is the amazing people and nonhuman animals (sheep!!) I meet. Going back to Riska’s Mom’s words of wisdom–I look like Andre the Giant in the photo with the little tiny woman standing next to me. She stared at me like I was about to disappear at any moment. I wondered what she was thinking when I showed up on her front porch in the middle of the night. I am the first white person people have seen in person, so they stare. I went back the next day to look at her family’s garden. The family is very proud of their garden as you can see in the photos.

The green shirt I am wearing was given to me in January 2020 by the woman wearing the burgundy hijab (head covering). She was super excited to see me wearing it. We took a photo when I was here then and she has it on her wall–I could not believe it. I enjoyed seeing everyone again!

My favorite traditional market is close to where I stayed. I love martabak! It is like a thicker crepe filled with chocolate, nuts, or rice (it looks purple). I like chocolate with nuts. You can look at the photos of the process she goes through to make martabak or you can watch the video. I met the woman making the martabak the last time I was here. I took her photo in January 2020. She remembered me. The pictures are in order showing the process. NOTE: Look closely at his shirt! There is a Wrangler plant in Greensboro. Can you believe it!!!

These are videos of the market. The first video shows the process of making martabak. There are 2 videos made by Pina. If you do not want to watch the videos OK–BUT you really need to watch the short one. Pina made it on her phone and added music. She is really proud of it and she should be she did a really good job!!

Dru if you are reading this. I thought about you. Rinin colored her Dad’s hair with a toothbrush–who knew!! I realized I see few people here with white hair–no matter their age. Having gray hair is a no-no here. They keep it died. If you go back to the photos for this post and look at the men, you will see most of them do not have gray hair!!! The man holding the plant has gray hair. I think he is beautiful.

Credit Card Saga

If you are following my blog, you will know my credit card was electronically stolen. BTW–thank you to those of you who offered to send me money!!! I ordered a new one–overnighted to the house. Mike met Tim. Tim sent it to Jakarta, Indonesia via FedEx. It is now in Indonesia!! Yay!!! However, it is stuck in Cengkareng waiting to be checked by customs. So I turned the card off until it shows so no one can use it. More later on that I hope. In the meantime, before someone stole the card I made a $16,000 payment. OK–I know that is a lot, but it is for a grant. Not my money. Anyway, the CC company lost the payment! Yep! I called them today and they cannot find the payment. The payment was lost when they switched over the old card balance to the new card. Can you believe that!?!?!? So now I still do not have a card AND they lost the payment.