Anecdote of Floods

NP, who works in the Fulbright office, told an anecdote today about living through Jakarta floods.

She grew up on Ambon, one of the Spice Islands on the Banda Sea. Later she lived in mountainous Bandung, here on Java, where landslides, not floods, are the seasonal threat. Experiencing her first Jakarta flood, years ago, she was horrified. She couldn’t believe what was happening. Panicking, she grabbed her Bible & fled the house.

This was a stupid thing to do, she recalls now. For there she was, carting around a large book in a downpour—the most easily replaceable book in the world—while her house was flooding & she had nothing else with her. As it happened then, & in the years since, the flooding into the house itself was minor. The worst part is the water is dirty, so until the house is completely cleaned & dried, it smells bad.

Having grown up in the Spice Islands, NP has a developed taste for spices. She combats the flood waters today with special candles, scented & votive, & boiling pans of cinnamon, nutmeg & clove. This time of year, she keeps a packet of her important documents & items ready to grab, her Bible safely on a high shelf. She’s one of the only Christians in her neighborhood, so when the neighbor children see the candles in her windows, they come running over to her house all excited, crying, “Auntie, Auntie, is it Christmas?”

“Sure,” she shrugs. “It’s Christmas. Come on in.”