In the afternoon, between 3.30 and 6, I try to spend some time wandering around in my neighborhood. Sometimes I walk around with some friends, as people here find it a bit weird if you're walking around by yourself ;) "You're all alone?", they'll say in a slightly shocked voice. If my room-mate is out doing something, they'll say "so you're home all alone?!" It's not like its unsafe or anything, to go somewhere by yourself, they just prefer always having someone with them or around them, and they can't see why I would want to be anywhere by myself ;)
Anyways, when the temperature starts cooling down a bit, and when people get off work, then they start streaming out of their houses and hanging out on their porches, on street corners or in little restaurants along the road. It's a prefect time to get to know the people in the community and build relationships. Some people speak a little English, but most don't speak any at all, which makes it challenging and awkward at times. But everyone is friendly and smiley, and often ask "mau ke mana?" where are you going, or "dari mana?" where have you been, to which we can easily answer "jalan-jalan", just walking around, or we can be a bit more adventurous and actually try to answer what were doing in more detail ;) Yesterday was encouraging as I got to know a young mom with a two year old kid a bit better, and was invited to come visit her at her house some time :)
Some pics from walking around yesterday
Bananas
Jack-fruit
Kids playing outside one of my neighbors house
No comments:
Post a Comment