First things first. I have in my hands physical proof that objects
from the outside world can, in fact, reach me. The address is my schools. I may
also be able to receive things at my house. Will report back after further
experimentation. Have also bought a pack of envelopes so can now send letters with exotic stamps. Yay!
It’s been July 4th for a whole 19 hours here
already and I actually did end my day with fireworks. Granted, I’ve seen them
every night since Ramadan began, but it still felt like I was smuggling a small
tradition onto the rooftop of my house, from which I watched the small pinpricks
of light dance in pretty patterns to the music of a young boy singing the evening
prayer in a clear, undulating voice.
And speaking of important days in political history, the
July 9th election (aka the first time in Indonesian history that power will be handed down from one elected official to another) is the hot topic of the moment.
Jokowi and Probowo’s faces have long since been staring determinedly off into the unforeseeable distance, as have the signs of a caricaturized voting card
holding up its right pinkie stained with purple ink (how they show they've voted). I’ve been able to talk with
my sister Syifa at great length about her opinions of the candidates as well as
my co-teacher and know the general leanings of the rest of my family.
Humility is a word I hear used here a lot. It is possibly
the one characteristic that people will comment on before physical appearance.
My host mother is always saying, “You should to be humble.” Syifa (who is also
my translator at many points in the conversation) said that this is one of the
main reasons she thought many people liked presidential candidate Jokowi:
because he appeared to be humble (it is her habit to speak in the plural when
talking about national issues like politics or religion.)
She is yet undecided as to who she likes more and says she
wants to do more research. My host parents are pro-Probowo so Syifa’s desire to
make an informed decision shows her independent nature. She seems to bring up a
lot more criticisms of Jokowi, namely that he is taking leave from his job as
governor of Jakarta to campaign and would be giving that job up before he finished
it if he won the presidency. She thinks this is irresponsible. However she does
think that he is more humble than Probowo, and that seems to matter to her the
most. My counterpart seems to think that Jokowi is the obvious progressive
candidate and she believes that for that reason he will (or perhaps that
translates to ‘should’) win.
Despite my sister’s logical approach to reaching a decision her
opinions seem to change daily based upon her spiritual and/or superstitious
feelings about the two candidates. Things such as a speaker having a heart
attack right before a scheduled speech from Jokowi being a sign from Allah that
he is not the best candidate. My co-teacher too said, “I believe that each of
the candidates have a destiny that only god knows” which I took to mean that
she believes whoever is chosen will have been God’s pick all along.
The Quran is, of course, my sister’s and everyone else’s
measuring stick in this and all matters. Her decision-making process seemed
much more involved than anyone I’ve ever met. To make her final decision in the
next four days, she says she will have to balance logic, reason and her heart.
This is an important formula from the heart of the Quran. There are four aspects
of a person's character in the Quran that she will judge the candidates by: honesty,
truthfulness (the ability to keep promises), intelligence, and willingness to
educate others. Not surprisingly, she brought up the Mahabharata tv show that
she and the rest of my family watch with religious fervor. When I first saw
them watching it I found it odd – perhaps out of my own religious ignorance –
that they would subscribe so thoroughly to depictions of a Hindu text, but
Syifa broke it down for me. They like it so much because it teaches the same
things about character as the Quran.
The fact that Arjuna (far right) is “soooooooooooooooooo
handsome *giggle*” doesn’t hurt either. And it’s a little higher
quality than the overly-dramatic soap operas (called “cinemas”) that they watch
all the time; maybe still as dramatic, but at least over issues like free will and dharma, and with lots of sea punk-worthy CGI.
Anyway, we shall soon see who Indonesia chooses to make the important decisions for the next five years.
Also, I will talk about Ramadan in a future post but for now, here's a little cultural exchange: http://www.buzzfeed.com/regajha/starve-wars
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