Looking Forward
29 June
Door to door, it took me 40 hours to get from Sydney to St. Paul. I had to fly back to Indonesia first. Not because it was sane, but to pick up the other half of my original ticket.
Near the local midnight I met Evan in the airy aisles of the Jakarta airport, the humid air a gentle déjà vu...back in Indonesia. I was glad for this last glimpse of it. Evan was standing between a public telephone decorated with carved demons & a shop selling nothing but dried shark fin.
We hadn’t seen each other in 5 weeks. During his last month in Indonesia he’d acted in a play, interviewed a dozen people, wrote a chapter & traveled far & wide. He’d also lost 20 pounds to Inside-Out Fever. But he’d recovered by now & looked good: sleepy but exhilarated. It's been a great month for both of us. We were so happy to see each other again.
On the plane ride home we made two lists, one of things we were most looking forward to upon returning home. The other of things we would miss about Indonesia. Here are the lists:
• The organic flow of crowds & traffic.
• Rambutan, mangosteen & snakeskin fruit.
• The ease of rapport with & support from other artists, even famous, busy & powerful artists. Community is easy to find.
• Similarly, the ease of visiting or interviewing anyone we sought.
• The view from my balcony.
• The singular focus of our time.
• The street-level sense of ‘chaos’ (in contrast to the more dominant aesthetic of ‘control’ in Europe & the US).
• The sheer degree of public calm & politeness.
• The lack of street crime or sense of possible violence.
• Physical ease of men with each other (manly men will hold hands, sit with their arms draped over each others’ shoulders, touch each other easily with no connotations of sexuality whatsoever).
• In the arts, culture, & television...these freedoms are young enough that their markets are not glutted. While the quality is often poorer than what we can find at home, the field is very open. There’s a great deal of new freedom, energy, openness & room to explore & expand. There’s corruption & censorship, but no Old Boys’ network running the shows.
• The energy of a new democracy in its formation: lots of active discussion at all levels of who we are, what do we believe in, & how will we direct our laws & labors. It's a very exciting time & place to be.
• The opportunity to live in a land steeped in religion (& then to leave it).
• Affordability of food, house-cleaning, massage & child care.
A sense of cheerful pragmatism & inspiration. As Putu Wijaya said, “Make use of what’s there.”
Door to door, it took me 40 hours to get from Sydney to St. Paul. I had to fly back to Indonesia first. Not because it was sane, but to pick up the other half of my original ticket.
Near the local midnight I met Evan in the airy aisles of the Jakarta airport, the humid air a gentle déjà vu...back in Indonesia. I was glad for this last glimpse of it. Evan was standing between a public telephone decorated with carved demons & a shop selling nothing but dried shark fin.
We hadn’t seen each other in 5 weeks. During his last month in Indonesia he’d acted in a play, interviewed a dozen people, wrote a chapter & traveled far & wide. He’d also lost 20 pounds to Inside-Out Fever. But he’d recovered by now & looked good: sleepy but exhilarated. It's been a great month for both of us. We were so happy to see each other again.
On the plane ride home we made two lists, one of things we were most looking forward to upon returning home. The other of things we would miss about Indonesia. Here are the lists:
Most Looking Forward To Upon Returning:
• Friends & Family
• Our dog
• Irony
• Sarcasm
• Public displays of affection
• Secularism
• Silence
• Safe & tasty drinking water
• Traffic lights.
• Unpolluted air
• Public candor
• Organized ecological conservation
• Alpine mountains
• Running outside
• Tank tops & shorts
• WINTER
• Friends & Family
• Our dog
• Irony
• Sarcasm
• Public displays of affection
• Secularism
• Silence
• Safe & tasty drinking water
• Traffic lights.
• Unpolluted air
• Public candor
• Organized ecological conservation
• Alpine mountains
• Running outside
• Tank tops & shorts
• WINTER
What We’ll Miss about Living in Jakarta:
• The organic flow of crowds & traffic.
• Rambutan, mangosteen & snakeskin fruit.
• The ease of rapport with & support from other artists, even famous, busy & powerful artists. Community is easy to find.
• Similarly, the ease of visiting or interviewing anyone we sought.
• The view from my balcony.
• The singular focus of our time.
• The street-level sense of ‘chaos’ (in contrast to the more dominant aesthetic of ‘control’ in Europe & the US).
• The sheer degree of public calm & politeness.
• The lack of street crime or sense of possible violence.
• Physical ease of men with each other (manly men will hold hands, sit with their arms draped over each others’ shoulders, touch each other easily with no connotations of sexuality whatsoever).
• In the arts, culture, & television...these freedoms are young enough that their markets are not glutted. While the quality is often poorer than what we can find at home, the field is very open. There’s a great deal of new freedom, energy, openness & room to explore & expand. There’s corruption & censorship, but no Old Boys’ network running the shows.
• The energy of a new democracy in its formation: lots of active discussion at all levels of who we are, what do we believe in, & how will we direct our laws & labors. It's a very exciting time & place to be.
• The opportunity to live in a land steeped in religion (& then to leave it).
• Affordability of food, house-cleaning, massage & child care.
A sense of cheerful pragmatism & inspiration. As Putu Wijaya said, “Make use of what’s there.”
posted by Anne E. Campisi at 1:30 PM
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