So far away from home. Different landscapes. Different smells. Different people. Even though I’m a long way from home, it doesn’t make me homesick to think about how different this new world of mine is. I feel intrigued, curious and inspired. There are countless differences, from subtle intricacies like their doors pushing inside instead of pulling outside to larger ones that I’ll describe later. To me it’s alien and strange but I am the foreigner in this land and things that I might see as peculiar are standards that have always been here in Indonesia.
The United States is a land of rules. Just because the rules are in place does not necessarily mean that people follow them. The Europeans like to remind me a lot that we have the largest population of incarcerated people out of any country in the world. But the rules remain. Here in Indo, there is one aspect of their lives that seems to have gone overlooked… The Rules of the Road, as they say, never showed up to this island archipelago.
It’s the least to say that I would never willingly drive a car here. I think in most of the places I’ve been to I would be terrified to drive a scooter. This doesn’t stop anyone from getting behind the wheel and swarming through the congested, polluted streets in a chaotic calamity. Stop lights are suggestions unless absolutely necessary. They drive on the left hand side of the road but only 60% of the time. The rest of the time they are weaving in an almost elegant pattern of opportunism. Up close there is constant beeping of little horns. Motorcycles and scooters are continually erupting short bursts of exhaust fumes through their loud aftermarket mufflers as they inch into tight packs when at a stop. There isn’t angry honking here. They honk (rapid fire) to tell the other guy that he’s about to ride up his tailpipe and don’t freak out and change course or the entire peloton will go down in a ball of flames.
Naturally some vehicles are faster than others and some drivers are in more of a rush. Easy solution here. Just enter into the oncoming traffic lane and pass the S.O.B. Traffic is actually oncoming you say? No problem, force them to retreat to the far side of their lane as you make a two way road a one way. Wait, it’s not just a scooter coming at you but a large truck? Trudge on, my friend. He has plenty of shoulder and a little bit of sidewalk before he starts taking out the local warungs selling bakso and nasi goreng (meatball soup and fried rice). I’m not exactly sure why Indonesians take so many risks and have so many close calls when on the road. I’m pretty sure they never actually go anywhere, anyway. They just drive and drive and drive with some beeping in between. That would explain why the road noise never ceases. No matter where I go. Never. It’s a good thing that most people here drive scooters and not the large SUV and truck I’m used to seeing back home. First off, their roads aren’t big enough to support a bunch of Tahoes and F-150s. And secondly, it would be a traffic nightmare. I’d estimate that 80% of the people zig and zag their way through tight spots on their scooters to arrive at their destination in a reasonable time. The rest of the shmucks that made the decision to buy a car get to sit in line and patiently wait their turn as they contemplate trading in their four wheels for a late model Vespa.
One last thing that I have to say about the road use here is that I never appreciated how easy it is to cross the damn street in Boise. There are clearly marked sections of pavement painted with nice, uniform white stripes that are repainted when they fade. There are nice little lights that tell you when to walk with a countdown timer to let you know how much time you have left. Some corners even talk to you and let you know when it’s time to go if you have your head glued into your phone… or if you’re blind or something. Same same, as they say here.
I remember the first time I had to cross a street in Java. It was my first morning in Jakarta and to get to the city square that was just a block from my hostel I had to cross just one street. Shit. There are no gaps. No lulls. No breaks. I talked to a local the previous night so luckily I had some beta on this procedure. If there is a break in 4-wheel traffic then you just have to trust it and take your first step. I was so nervous that I was walking a couple steps forward, stopping, readjusting, walking and reversing my way to the other side, completely screwing up the flow, getting beeped at as I went. In time I learned that you just go. These guys spend much of their time on the road ducking and weaving so they can handle some tall white guy with a long gate, as long as he keeps it steady. I’ve become better at this but it still gets the adrenaline pumping each time. There are idiotic drivers in the States. I’m sure there are some here too. The last thing I want my tombstone to read is “Here lies Scott Luvaas, taken out by a scooter taxi.”
Next on the list is the trash. Boise is a really clean place. The city provides a weekly trash pick up, curb side. We have recycling. There are public garbage cans on every downtown block. Convenience stores have trash cans outside, for your convenience. Plainly stated, Indonesia has a trash problem. As someone considering making environmental conservation a career path, this is very interesting though despairingly concerning for me. I acknowledge that it may be an unfair comparison to my home city and this developing island nation. There are cities in the States that also have lots of trash. But not like this. There is garbage everywhere you look. Cigarette packets and all the butts that came out of it lay in the gutters. Plastic bags full of someone’s street food leftovers sit at the base of trees and in foyer corners. Discarded plastic water bottles perched on many of the flat surfaces of buildings’ exteriors. Burning piles of rubbish on the sidewalks because there’s not another way of getting rid of it.
The silver lining that I’ve found is that the average person takes it upon themselves to clean the area around their shop or warung. They might be the person littering a block away but they usually take pride in where they work so they will sweep up the plastic around them and put it in a pile somewhere else. For me, this says that they do care. Maybe only slightly but I can tell there is a sense of awareness, although it seems bleak at times.
My thoughts on the matter is that Indonesia is going through a type of growing pain as they merge into the modern world. While talking with Inu back in Bandung at the Pinisi Backpacker Hostel I learned that 70-80 years ago, before the advent of commercialized plastics, Indonesia primarily had waste that was organic and therefor biodegradable. In other words, if they threw their trash on the ground nature would play it’s role and break it down. It might take a while depending on what it is but eventually it would breakdown. Plastic doesn’t do that. And it doesn’t seem like anything but a large scale move by their government to create change will do the trick.
There are a lot of things that I had thought I knew were going to be new and exciting for me that haven’t quite lived up to the hype that I built up in my head. Many are new and exciting, just not to the degree I imagined. Almost everything in this country is to some degree different. Some have been played up by guidebooks and forums I read maybe. Bathrooms were definitely on the list. So far, I’ve only used a non-western toilet a couple times. When I say non-western, I mean there is a hole in the ground. Aim required. That was definitely new. But other than that I’ve seen mostly western toilets. I can’t tell if it’s the hostels that I’m staying at trying to accommodate the travelers (thank you) or if it’s a shifting trend for natives and travelers alike. Either way, I’m happy.. I read about horror stories of holes in the ground for toilets and wash basins that are used over and over with no soap. I have seen these… but I avoid them like the plague.
I thought the Muslim influence would make a big impact on me as well. They do broadcast a prayer many times a day, as early as four in the morning (depending on your bed’s proximity to these loud speakers, this can suck). But I haven’t seen anyone halting what they are doing and dropping to the ground. Most men don’t wear anything that I can see to show their religion. The women are wearing the traditional hijab (head dress) and some the burqa (headwear + face mask) but so many do that it didn’t take me long to look past it. Other than the obvious, they’re just people… really nice people. So my first interaction with a largely Muslim culture has been really positive (‘Merica).
I’m excited to learn, eat, drink, explore and wonder my way through the rest of this beautiful country.
Onwards to Bali (aka Aussieland). The Rugby World Cup is Saturday, Australia vs. New Zealand. I heard the Aussies hate it if they get confused with Kiwis. I’m rooting for the All Blacks, should be fun. I’ll root for you Erik!
**Obviously this was written two weeks ago. I’m behind in posting but have gained a new zest for writing a capturing these exotic scenes with my camera. More to come my friends
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