The Javanese Village

 I rode a bicycle with Rita, a tour guide, from the noisy busyness of Yogyakarta to the quiet simplicity of a Javanese village.  Here are some pictures with comments . . .

These are krupuk, or crackers.  They are baked out in the sun, and except for the fish flavor, would be a big hit in the raw foods industry!  The dough is mixed by hand and processed into long strands by a peddle (like riding a bicycle) driven machine.  The four workers who make the krupak are from West Java, where jobs are scarce.  They work seven days each week, and receive a long holiday after Ramadan.

   
Women often open warungs--small stalls that serve food and snacks--to supplement the family income.  Here, Wariyanah serves me fried tempe.  She tried to interest me in the fried chicken head, but that was a big "no go."  Wariyanah belongs to a few arisung--social clubs where women gather to ngobrol (chit-chat).  At each arisung meeting, the women gathered contribute money to a jack pot which one women wins!  Sounds like a concept to me!

The cows eat the leaves from peanut plants, rice and water!

The men ready the fields for planting, and the women plant the rice.  Planting is a quiet meditative practice.  An iron bar with grooves indicates where each plant is to be placed.  When one row is planted, the bar is moved to the next row.

Male farmers make bricks during the dry season.  The bricks are used to build houses and other buildings.



This woman tempe maker was badly injured in a motorcycle accident.  Like most Indonesians, she does not have health insurance, and had to collect money over a period of time for two necessary operations.  The operations cost  over 3,000,000 Rupiah (about $400)--a huge amount for a villager.  Rita told me that Indonesians live day to day, and are already severely taxed.  She does not see much interest in issues like universal health care.

This is me with Dwi Wahyono and his seventy year old parents.  Dwi means "two" in Javanese, and Dwi is the second child.  Dwi drove a long haul bus until he became sick, and unable to work.  His friends chipped in and bought him eighteen goats which he uses to support himself.  His Father still rides a becak--a bicycle taxi.  Dwi says:  "Christian and Muslim are one.  What is most important is what is inside of us guiding us in a good way." 

Amen, Shalom, Salam, Aho, So may it be!