This entry will backtrack a couple of weeks because once we
left Thailand, we were pretty much out of range of internet connections. That was not a bad thing, because it let us
experience island life in a fuller way, detached from our normal
communications. After 6 weeks of life in
busy Asian cities, we were ready for a close look at rural village life.
Our launching point to the islands took place from
Singapore. A company that specializes in
island visits, known as ethnotours, arranged
a couple days’ worth of orientation and language learning for us. We learned how to introduce ourselves in a
local language and tell a bit about ourselves, and use various different
greetings and other survival terms. After
being language teachers for the previous month, it gave us insight to have the
shoes on the other feet.
We stayed on two different islands, three nights at each
place. Home stays had been pre-arranged,
as well as some simple work projects.
Try to picture a small island with about 2-300 people, most of the
houses built over the water on wooden or concrete posts. It took less than 10
minutes to walk around the first island. Electricity came only by generators, for a few
hours at night. We ate what the
islanders ate, which consisted of a variety of rice and seafood dishes for
three meals each day, plus some other tasty dishes. It was surprising to see how many ways
shrimp, squid, and small fish could be prepared (and eaten with fingers). We slept on mats on the floor with the host
families and bathed with buckets and dippers with the only drainage being the
splits in the floorboards emptying into the ocean. On the second island the ladies on our team
all experienced bathing at the public wells!
Discreetly of course, and with lots of laughter.
It was so special to get to know the families who hosted us,
and their children. They were very welcoming to us as foreigners. Each island had had only had minimal visits
in the past from outsiders. We communicated mostly through Indonesian
translators, who were assigned to each of the houses where we stayed. We were free to ask them questions about
their ways of life, and vice versa. We
saw how funerals and weddings were handled communally. We visited a little primary school and taught
some impromptu English lessons. Our
Northwestern students were natural magnets to the children of the village, and
it was hard to find a time where their hands were not being held by little
kids. Simple hand games were a hit.
We agreed that the highlight was a “closing” ceremony at the
first island stay. An active arts and
dance troupe performed on an outdoor stage for us. But not only that, they invited us to
rehearse and take part in it ourselves!
The men joined one group, and the women joined another group. We were all dressed in traditional clothing,
and our girls made up beautifully. Our
women’s dance told a story about different aspects of village life – the ocean
and paddling canoes and other women’s activities.
Life in the villages
was both hard and good. We contended
with some discomforts like mosquitoes and spiders and cockroaches and not using
TP. We were perhaps stretched in new
ways, being wearied from previous weeks of travel. But
that was overshadowed by learning to know people and a way of life that was so
different from ours. It was like getting to be part of a living cultural
anthropology textbook. Spiritual insights were gained as well, and
some of our students expressed lessons God was teaching them about themselves
and about Him and prayer and dependence on Him.
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Our lovely ladies are in blue |
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| Our guys in green |
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