Getting Into Culture

It's been about a month now and I am getting a lot of exposure to the culture here. I love the people, the food, and the culture. They have invited me to so many festivals, I feel like I'm part of the family. So far, I have attended weddings (the first ceremony AND the second ceremony), a teeth-filing and hair cutting celebration, and circumcision (which they do when the boys are around 6-8 years old).

Most of these ceremonies are primarily based on their traditions with a little Islamic culture thrown in for good measure. I thought it was interesting at one of the wedding ceremonies, the girl washed the feet of the husband......hmmmmm! Maybe this could a key to sharing some truth? Not sure yet. The people here take pride in their tradition. They say "tradition first, religion second". The culture here is very steeped in community. I have realized how individualistic our Western culture after being with these people. They have no problem asking personal questions, coming into your house if your door is open, and wanting you to come in for a visit and have some tea (even if they don't know you----well, maybe this is because I'm a white person).

Ok, now I would like to take this moment to pause and talk to those avid hikers out there. I know you are proud of your big hiking boots and fancy "rough-it" hiking pants. However, I would like to see those of you who pride themselves with climbing those rough terrains and steep slopes do it in a wrap skirt and flip-flops. Oh yes, the picture below of me in the skirt is what I had to wear to a circumcision. To get there, we had to hiked up and down this rocky/dirt trail while also forging across a nice little river. If you can do that, please take a picture b/c I would LOVE to see you guys in a wrap skirt :)

The only other thing that I've been busy with is my language learning and health clinics in the village. Language is good though difficult since I'm having to teach myself mostly. I have a local who knows English pretty well that said she would meet with me 2 hours a week to help with language. She is a cultural tour guide and has already shown me around pointing out various things including wild coco and vanilla. The health clinic last week went great. We talked to mothers about the importance of breast-feeding. Here, many feed the baby chewed rice for the first 3 days then go to milk. The women were open and ready to learn a new way to help their babies (this island has the highest infant mortality rate in all of Indo).

Ok, that's all I have for now. Here are some pictures:

these poor little guys were getting circumcised (it took several men to hold down the boy on the right)

This is me walking from the circumcision ceremony. Here, I am wearing a traditional sarrong with local colors carrying the rice on my head like they do. the whole way, we kept hearing "hey look! a white person being Bayan!"

a waterfall we hiked

to the other day

This is a typical village in my area. The buildings to the right are called "barugas". This is where they meet and rest during the heat of the day. This is also where I spend most of my time practicing language.

This is the view about 10 feet from my house.

Me doing a little jig

in front of the waterfall near my place