My first day in Cianjur was extremely eventful- within an hour of my arrival I was whisked away on the back of a motorbike to see the town and visit an extremely authentic tea plantation. My guide for the day was a 20 year old, English-studying, Britney Spears-loving, spunky little Indonesia guy named Jamal. After zooming around for hours, to the point where we were in the middle of nowhere, it suddenly started pouring and we were caught in a giant rainstorm. Eventually we realized that the clouds had no agenda of clearing up, so we headed to his sister's house to seek refuge. Giving up on it ever stopping, we bundled up and headed to his village to break the fast in his "traditional" house with his family. Apparently this was the only time a foreigner had ever joined them for this so they were quite excited and although they couldn't speak English I had a really nice time. After Jamal paraded me around his village- literally, children were flocking to us from everywhere shouting bule, bule! (white person) and following behind wherever we walked- we finally braved the storm and headed back to Yudi's house.
On the ride home Jamal asked me, "Leeza, are you happy?" At first I thought to myself, as I think most Americans would, 'Happy with what?... happy with the weather, with my travels, with riding on this bike, with my university, with my research, with my job, with my friends?'... but then I realized it was truly a simple question. At that very moment- riding on the back of a motorbike with kid I just met, freezing and soaking wet, zig zagging through the jungle of Indonesia, doding trucks and frogs- I was extremely and honestly happy,
so I simply replied, "Yes."
What is this, "Eat, Pray, Love?"
ReplyDeleteJust giving you a hard time, because it seems like everyone over there is way too nice and slacking in that department.
Have a safe flight home.