"White People"

Today I read on Facebook that for Native Americans white people were the original "illegal immigrants."  That's how we feel here.  For one thing, we are still UNDOCUMENTED, after days of either sitting in immigration offices or flying to Jakarta, of being finger-printed on all ten fingers, and of countless photos  being taken. (I lost count after the original 19 have been supplemented about three times with six more here, four there.  You get the picture.)
  There's another aspect to the whiteness.  We are what the Indonesians call "bule" (sp?).  We are foreign because we are white and everyone else is brown.  So they don't actually know where we are from, which is new for me, because I'm used to being tagged as American right away.  Here we could pass for Aussies or even Europeans.
  And another ironic aspect of the whiteness is the vast array of whitening creams seen in even ordinary small shops.  Everyone, or at least those who buy the creams, and nearly everyone we see on television, wants to be more white.  I have tried to tell them that in America everyone wants a tan to look more like them!  What a funny world we live in. 

Islam in Java (First Thoughts)

I will probably change my mind about this several times before the ten months are over, but now I think that Indonesian Muslims wear their Islam more lightly than say, those in the Middle East.  That is, they do not bother to learn extensively the Arabic language of the Qur'an, for example.  They do know what they recite in the prayers (salat) that many say faithfully.  Yet, they take their Islamic faith very seriously.  It permeates every aspect of life here, from the call to prayer that occurs not only at the beginning of the five periods (starting at 4 AM) but often too at the end, to the everyday aspects of life, like food and animals. 
  Having said that, I have to add that here in Java there is another still very vibrant dimension of religious experience, and that is the mystical aspect.  I learned about it the very first week in the neighborhood, when our new friend, Mira, told us about JFK who was given the "kris," the sword or dagger carried by the Sultans.  It had mystical power, she told us, and only someone of Kennedy's stature could hold or pick it up.  "We have many mystical things here in Java," she told us.  A more intellectual version of this case was put by an anthropologist we are getting to know:  "The back stage is mysticism," he said, "and the front stage is Islam."  I am pondering and absorbing all that this means, as I navigate between the scholarly accounts (often conflicting!) of all this. 

Finally in the house and online

After five grueling days of shopping with many, many helpers to interpret and drive us around, we are in the house.  Getting it furnished and usable for us spoiled Westerners has been a major undertaking.  Basically, I have needed to learn all over 1) how to eat (more rice, no bread), 2) how to bathe (see below), and 3) how to communicate (very little progress on that front).  As for the bathing, I gave the "team" a huge belly laugh when I asked how to get into this large tiled basin that sits on the floor of each bathroom.  It is used for dipping and showering, and Pak Parto had to demonstrate that for me.  Thus, the need for a more familiar type of shower added to this bath configuration.  Essentially, the whole bathroom is now a shower.
  But everyone is so helpful!  I have just asked either the neighbor family we met or someone from the university (through interpreters of course), and they are out that day or the next to fix and engineer things that seemed unworkable.  Today, for example, we are getting more lighting.  I know I am beginning to appear to myself more and more like a colonial, and that will be even more evident when we (hopefully) get a housekeeper next week.  That is necessary because a) we don't know how or where to shop; b) we don't really know how to cook (really) with the available ingredients.  The food is delicious and more on that later.  For now, it is sufficient that we are here.

Classes begin!

Just met students in the class that Bob will teach in English conversation.  They are so lively!  All answered as one when I said "Salam aleiku," ("peace be with you").  They love using their limited English.  I left to come by the "American Corners" run by the American-Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF) that brought me here.  It is nice to have a little American corner in a country that can be overwhelmingly different, geographically, linguistically, and in many other ways.  Whenever I get the thought, "I can't believe I'm in Indonesia," I look around at completely new sights and sounds and am immediately reminded, "Oh yes, I am."  But it's nice and interesting and even fun.
 The other night was karaoke night at the hotel where we are still staying until we get our house fixed up (including getting a sink in the bathroom, along with hot water for a shower).  It was hilarious trying to sing along with Muslim women in head scarfs who knew our American songs so much better than we did.  What a great time getting up sing, and then even dance.  They told me it was "Javanese custom," but to us it sure looked like disco!

Halal bil Halal at the University

O.K., where to begin with another amazing morning.  This may take several blogs!  We were invited to a combination opening convocation, end of Ramadan, "Halal bil Halal" at the university where we will be teaching. The Arabic phrase means, "I forgive you and I ask your forgiveness."  To my surprise (and slight discomfort), I and Bob were asked to be guests of honor in the very front, right next to the Rector of the University.  At first, he seemed quite formal and stiff, but as we sat together, along with his two adorable four and five -year-old boys and wife, we began opening up to each other, and despite the loudspeaker blaring a Muslim singer of "soft rock," we had a fascinating conversation.  We heard what the organization that founded this school was about:  social welfare, education, and health care.  he was proud to say that Muhammadiyah (the name of one of the two major Muslim organizations in Indonesia) has founded schools of higher learning all over Indonesia, as one of their primary focuses.  They also have about a hundred hospitals, and he commented that when this organization was founded, 1912, they got the idea from the Catholic missionaries who were here.  He stressed the idea that they were "non-partisan," serving everyone.  He agreed that diversity was important.  He learned on a tour of American universities what building a great university would entail, so took this school from about 800 students 12 years ago to the 20,000 it has today. 
 Our conversation also involved the nature of Islam in Indonesia, and he remarked at one point that "we are all Sufis."  yet, he drew a distinction between his Muslim organization and the other leading one here ("N.U.), in that this one is more modernist, interested in reform.  At one point, he said we follow Muhammad directly, thus Muhammadiyah; we are not "followers." This was to point out that the other organization, the more traditionalist one, is founded on the principle of a charismatic leader, called a "kyai," and hundreds of followers.
Following a beautiful recitation (i.e., singing) of a Koranic passage, the Rector spoke to the assembled faculty and staff and their families. After another speaker and what appeared to be a sermon by an imam, all rose and passed by the main party in greeting. It was a beautiful gesture of community and halal.
 We joined a group in the rector's tent for a fine Indonesian meal and fellowship. We met colleagues and those studying from Spain, Germany and Australia. What a wonderful experience of hospitality, friendliness, and a family atmosphere that made us feel truly welcomed and valued!  

To Jakarta and back to Malang

We spent the last week running around offices in Jakarta.  "Running" is euphemistic for sitting in offices waiting for officials to prepare and sign off on forms.  We are still not quite documented, although I have something called a "KITAS," which I think means I can do research here.  I still have to visit the provincial governor in Surabaya, perhaps a holdover from the colonial days of hierarchy and bureaucracy.  But it gives more people jobs!
 On the last night in Jakarta we visited "Plaza Indonesia" which consists of four huge floors of sheer glitz, Gucci, Armani, all the big name stores.  As a man we met in the airport (another person trying to be helpful to these confused Americans) put it, there is wealth concentrated at the top, and that makes it look like the average is higher than it is, when there is still much poverty.  Sound familiar?  He should know.  He works for the Ministry of Finance.
 One great benefit of these days of satisfying officialdom was getting to know two other Fulbrights who were going through the same process.  Besides bemoaning the tedious process, we shared our interests in being here.  One has worked for NPR and will do reports for the World, on PRI.  The other is making a trip to Bali, a place he has known since going there many times when he was a surfer kid.  Now he does research on Balinese rituals and theater performances.  Very sophisticated. 
  I am just glad to be here, and whatever "research" I do will be to get to know and understand this country and its people, and especially try to link Muslim and Christian a little more.  As Pak Parto, our all-around helper in Malang, put it so well:  "When we open our hearts, love will find a way."  Could we find a better vision for this adventure?  Obviously, thanks for reading, and I welcome your comments.

First day in the neighborhood