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monday morning, alex and i woke up ready to plant trees, as the plan had been established. we were quite excited, as trees were something we could come back and still see sometime in the future, with a "oh, we were the first guests on portibi, we planted these..." smile. plus we'd feel like we were accomplishing something. first, we made sure we did before and after photos.
we met up with alek and he took us further up the hill to the tree-planting team, a trio. first we met the guy who was hoing, digging holes, using the cangku. we followed alek over to him, and they exchanged words in indonesian. after a minute or so, their conversation started getting a little more intense, but nothing major. when they were done talking, we asked alek what was said.
"he doesn't believe me"
"about what?" we asked.
"he doesn't believe me that you girls want to plant trees. he is confused."
confused? ah, that must be why he's laughing. yeah, he's also laughing.
to be honest, i'm sure he was laughing at the fact that we were wearing pants to our knees and tank tops with nothing covering our heads. these men cover their entire bodies when working in the sun, including wearing towels around their heads, covering everything except their eyes.
he was hesitant at our request to help, but kept on digging holes for us.
we were told we wouldn't have to dig the holes, it would be taken care of. then we walked around to some holes that had already been dug, and one had a tree sitting in it, having yet to be planted. alek showed how they particularly plant, but it was nothing too difficult. alex and i stood up, and asked "so, we walk back down to the farm, bring the tree, and plant?"
"no," he replied. "they bring you the tree."
alex and i looked at each other.
"so we just put the tree in the hole and cover it with dirt?"
"yes," he told us.
we get demoted a little more every day.
of course we get the idiot proof job. no tools or sharp objects on which to kill ourselves or slice off appendages.
guess we'll just have to roll around in the dirt while we wait for trees to make it look like we did something.
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eventually we sweet-talked them into letting us dig the holes too. by sweet talking them, what i mean is that we just said "i want to use the hoe" in indonesian, and they are so taken aback that they just kind of stop functioning while they try to process our request. they handed us cangkus.
alex and i then dug holes and planted probably ten trees. it was only about an hour and a half into working that we moved closer to a clearing where all of the guys were. alek called me over and handed me a piece of long, white, dense vegitation. i had no idea what it was. he had a piece in his hand and bit down, so i played simon says like i've been doing all week and bit down too.
oh my god, i thought, more crack.
"don't eat," he said, "just drink."
it was sugar cane. alex soon came over and he gave her some as well. we chewed on it and sucked every little bit of juice inside dry with wide eyes before they gave us more.
alex and i quietly gnawed away at the sugar cane like our lives depended on it, biting off pieces as if they would float away if we waited. we ripped them off with our teeth, chewing them, and spitting them back out in front of the workers about as lady-like as van dam.
alek and the other workers were all talking in indonesian. alex and i could pick up on a few words, such as inggris, gila, tanam, pohon, and american through a heavy accent.
we immediately knew they were saying we were crazy for wanting to plant trees.
"what else are they saying?" we asked alek.
we don't mind that they call us crazy. we know that's what they think. alek told us that they just can't understand why we're doing what we are. we are here to learn and work. the first day, when alex was in the garden (and i was profusely vomming), work wasn't a big deal because it was light. but when we asked to use the golok and plant trees, these are referred to as "man's work" and women wouldn't be caught dead doing it.
god, if i were an indonesian woman, i wouldn't want to do this shit either. it's hot as hell out, i'm really freakin sweaty, and alex and i both look like we just finished mud-wrestling each other.
actually, my northern liberal roots won't let me say that and fully mean it. i know better. sooo. just kidding everyone.
but no. seriously.
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on top of the fact that we're women doing this work, we're white. they know the type of background we come from, and they just can't fathom our desire to work on a farm with them and learn their language. this explains why we can't do a job without someone being right next to us. whoever is with us is always talking loudly enough for the next person to hear, they're always laughing, and alex and i can always pick up enough to know that we're the topic of conversation. our presense may be getting in the way of their daily jobs, but it, by far, has not yet gotten old.
the men soon departed, getting back to work. after we finishing sucking every last little bit of sugar out of the stalks we were given, alex and i grabbed two more trees and began looking for a spot that had been cleared for us, but we deemed unsuccessful.
we met up with another worker who saw us aimlessly wandering and took us back to the farm, but we wanted to plant the trees. when we finally established that the issue wasn't planting, but where to plant, he took us to a clearing. we began digging, and he took our cameras, happily shooting photographs and giving us the thumbs up.
i love them.
within a few minutes, alek found us. we finished planting another sugarcane tree when alek said, "ok, now, you go rest."
rest? it was barely eleven am.
alex and i started laughing. we'd been demoted again, and are being sent inside.
alek gave us two more trees to plant in the area where we had cleared out grass the other day. "you plant these. i remember you with them. you remember they are here for when you come back."
this, everyone, would be my tree. i just hope alex isn't so tired of us by the end of the week that he uproots them. damn americans.
so alex and i planted the last two trees, the ones now established as our trees, and came inside for lunch.
guess we managed to get at least a little dirty.
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my afternoon consisted of refurbishing furniture. if planting trees had been a sight to see, you would think they had been dropped on a new planet with this one.
jocean had mentioned that there were cabinets that needed to be stripped down and redone. since i spent the greater part of my spring semester last year getting to know the woodshop quite well and infusing my lungs with the fresh smell of white pine while making frames for my show, i was excited. woodworking would be fun.
so would power tools!!!
i love love powertools. give me the sander. give me the drill. give me the saw. gimmie gimmie...
appearently indonesian women don't feel the same way.
alek brought me a sander and i picked out a cabinet. he told me to try to make it look vintage if i could.
done.
within minutes, three more of jocean's workers were literally sitting on the ground, just watching. i thought i was doing it wrong, but how the shit do you screw that up? go with the grain. i'm pretty sure that's the only rule.
i asked alek, "are they laughing at me?"
again, he said, no. "they just have never seen this. this, too, is man's job. they like to see you work the way they work."
well then. i'll take that sander. manga for myself.
i can handle this.
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after the day's storm rolled around, and alex was uploading pictures, i headed back up to the library. i've been there almost every evening now, as it's a quiet, peaceful place for me to wind down before dinner and watch the sunset.
up until today, for the last two weeks, i had been counting down the days vigorously. i want to see home again, the way i've never wanted to before, because i don't do "home." you all know that, i've never done home. it's nothing new that i can't and don't sit, and that i've always wanted to wander aimlessly for an unruly amount of time.
but it seems that i've curbed that appetite, and i'm anxiously awaiting what's next: hopefully grad school for writing (surprise, i know) and living in virginia, helping my sister plan her amazing wedding, my mom sell the finishing touches on the house i grew up in, and whatever else i stumble on.
yes, i'll miss mornings like this, and i'm sure my heart will ache to get travel again in due time. this week, though full and exciting because i'm on a farm in indonesia, doing work with locals and learning so much, seemed empty because i had no day-to-day itinerary like i've had this entire trip.
i had been trying to get through the days while still eating up everything they had to offer me. but when trying to book our new flight tickets back to singapore, i realized i have so much less than i thought left. i'm getting sad, and i don't want to leave. i'm torn between what's been everything i've wanted for so long, to travel; the small impact i've had on these few indonesians and the huge impact they've had on me; and the place and people i yearn for right now.
this is my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. and it's slipping away to the end.
but, as they say it, home is where the heart is.
and right now, my heart is back in the us.
..
Y rae. racho. d.
