Pen Pals!

I hope you have been receiving some emails from students in Indonesia. Your index cards with small notes and email addresses have been a seriously hot commodity. Here are a few photos of your pen pals!

Traditional Bugis Wedding

Traditional Bugis Wedding


On the third day in Makassar, South Sulawesi, we were invited to a traditional Bugis Wedding. Bugis is one of the three indigenous groups of people in South Sulawesi. The amazing thing about this invitation is how dramatically different it was from a wedding invitation and preparation in the US. No save the date card and RSVP one month before, no assigned seating, no rented country club, no tuxedo or white wedding dress with a train. Instead, we arrive as unknown foreigners invited 1 day prior to the wedding. The traditional clothing was spectacular, the colors rich, the jewelry and adornment astonishing. The wedding was between Andi Anto Patak (groom) and Andriana Amir (bride). Andi Anto Patak is from a royal family in the Luwu Kingdom in Palopo, South Sulawesi. The wealth of the community is derived primarily from intensive agriculture. My local friends from Makassar said, “In March it is a flood of fruit…the most delicious fruit you have ever tasted.”

The wedding occurred over a number of days. The ceremony was about 100 people and the celebration was at least 500 people. There were a number of rituals that occurred before the ceremony itself. The evening before the ceremony the couple was separated and the woman sat on a stage to receive Daun Pacar leaves (similar to natural henna) on her palms. The attending relatives took turns administering the leaves to her palms and wishing her well. This ritual frequently occurs for the groom as well (but not in this case). Women are known to stay in their rooms for about a week… Yes, an entire week! The worry about leaving during the week before the wedding is concern about accidents…I’m not convinced this is the origin of this tradition but I will investigate further.

The ceremony itself was gorgeous. The clothing worn is known as Baju Bodo and has been worn in weddings in South Sulawesi for thousands of years. Even with the religious practices shifting to Islam (in about 1300 CE) the clothing has stayed the same. Parts of the ceremony have changed over time, however. The incidence of offerings to deities has changed to offerings to the couple and to Allah. There is still an exchange of rice (which is a symbol of wealth and protection) and gold (or in some cases cash). There was traditional drumming and gong music as the groom processed into the ceremony. The couple was kept separate until the final documentation occurred (the bride was hiding in her room). The documentation included an agreement with each other and an agreement with Allah. We sat down in the front and observed as the Imam and groom discussed the agreement and the groom signed off on all of them. We also watched as the father of the groom carefully counted the cash that was presented to the father of the bride. This is known in the anthropological world as “bridewealth.” The bride’s father wept as he held the Imam’s hand. It was quite touching.

Shortly after the money was counted and the documents signed we were shuttled into a small room where the bride was sitting on her bed hiding underneath a white cloth. We looked around to see only three other people. We were alarmed by the fact that these people were willing to let unknown foreigners into such an intimate setting! Does anyone have thoughts about this? I have plenty of ideas…but I would love to hear yours. Anyway, shortly after our entrance the groom arrived to exchange rings and to exchange forehead kisses. The food was served and the place cleared out fast (it was about 110 degrees).

Later I learned that the post-marital residence pattern is traditionally matrilocal (couple moves in with the wife’s family). Sometimes the couple chooses to build their own home (unilocal residence) as they get older. In the end however, the couple will house their parents. Because of the previous matrilocality the grandparents are much more likely to move in with a daughter than the son.

What a spectacular day this was…I can’t imagine spending it any other way!

Language, Prayer and Interesting Questions

Preface: Our goal for this trip to Indonesia and this part of the grant is to observe the use of our collaboratively developed curricula. The curriculum was developed over the last year with 16 Indonesian teachers and 4 US teachers (you know two of the others- Mr. Fricke and Ms. Iverson). Our curriculum is based on democracy, the freedom of religion and religious pluralism.

We have arrived in Balikpapan, Kalimantan (Borneo). Our first task was to get the lay of the land…is this possible to do in 24 hours? No way!

My favorite way to get oriented is by going to the local traditional market. This way I can see what local fruits and vegetables are available, what kinds of meats people eat and what greetings and questions people use to interact with me. “Mau Kemana?” was the first main question I heard on the streets of Balikpapan. The meaning of this directly translated is “Want to go where?” Now, imagine being asked this question on the streets of the US! Greetings are strange no matter where you go. We say “How are you?” in passing and never expect to stop and listen to the answer. For some reason, however, when learning another language the only thing you can do is take the meaning literally…for my Anthropology students…you can only hear the message and not the metamessage. The meaning of the metamessage comes much later. So, the answer to the question “Mau Kemana?” tells the asker a lot about the person responding. The reality here is that you are supposed to say “Jalan jalan, saja,” ,which means ‘just walking’ or ‘North,’ which really means ‘I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to engage with you.’ Now if you stop to really respond you will be met with delight and maybe an offer of some tea or coffee. If this is the case what is the metamessage actually? Well, I believe it is a genuine curiosity about foreigners by Indonesians.

This curiosity emerged in our first school visits. Our arrival in schools certainly did not end the interesting greetings. “Hello Mister” is another personal favorite that I heard every two minutes from the students. In the Indonesian language there is not the same differentiation between the words “he” and “she,” so therefore “Hello Mister” is perfectly appropriate for a 30 something woman…don’t you think?

Anyway, we were given tours of schools, asked to sit with administrators and were welcomed as guests in many classrooms. In every school (well in every place…even the gas station) you will find a place for Muslim Prayer. These prayer rooms are always oriented to Mecca and you will know which direction to pray when you see the word Kiblat with an arrow pointing in the correct direction. These places of prayer exist in every school no matter what kind it is (public, private or Islamic boarding academy). Now, this might be confusing to a resident of the United States where there is a constitutional separation between church and state, but it makes perfect sense to an Indonesian. This is also a great starting point for the discussion of religious pluralism and freedom of choice. I have learned recently that in each of these schools there are students of other religions (Christian, Buddhist and Hindu) and these students also have prayer space. However, their prayer time is designated by the Muslim call to prayer. The most challenging question that I get at every single school is “As a religion teacher, how can you teach students to pray in every single religion?” Does anyone have the answer? Well, I hope my World Religion students are able to articulate the difference between an academic study of religion and a devotional one. Now, the task at hand is to articulate this difference to an Indonesian High School student. I have not found the best answer for this question yet. Maybe my Indonesian language skills are at fault here. Anyway, some other interesting questions I have received: “What does snow feel like?” “What do teenagers do after school in your town?” “Why are the religious people in the US so old?” and my personal favorite: “How does an American without religion find the meaning of life?”

If any of you can answer these questions feel free to drop me a line and I will spread the news!