Mr. USA

We haven’t had much time to settle in since we’ve arrived. People from the school have been picking us up for lunches and dinners. It’s nice especially since we don’t really know where it’s safe to eat nor do we have enough rupiahs to really do anything. On the other hand, it would be nice to really unpack and just sit still for a while.

We went to the school for the first time today. Then it was supposed to be dinner and back home, but then there was word about the Jakarta Expo. Apparently it only happens once a year, and we were just in time to catch the tail end of it. We got there so late there wasn’t much time to do much of anything except eat dinner. We had gado gado, a traditional Indonesian dish made up of veggies, etc. in a peanut sauce. It was okay though spicier than I could handle. Dennis surprisingly liked it. I asked if it’s traditionally served cold, but I’m not sure my question was understood completely. I’ve always found it difficult to eat cold or lukewarm food—who knows how long they’ve been sitting out and if it’s really safe to eat. Even Dennis made a comment about the food temperature, and he liked to eat everything lukewarm in the States.

The best part (and really the only thing we had time to explore) was the traditional Indonesian items. There was a lot of batik, jewelry, woodwork, drums, etc. Of course Dennis wanted to buy a drum but settled for a couple of traditional batik shirts instead. I guess Fridays at the school is traditional wear—not exactly casual/jeans day, but it’s a break from the long-sleeve dress shirts and ties. I bought a traditional sarong. It was fun to watch people haggle the way they do in the Philippines.

On the way out of the Expo, we passed the concert grounds, rides and game booths. There was a pull up bar about 9 feet high with rupiahs taped to it. Guys were lined up taking turns hanging on the bar for as long as they could. Rp 15,000 (~$2) bought a container full of candies/chocolates and a turn at the pull up bar. Depending on how long you hang on, you could win Rp 50,000 (3 mins), Rp 100,000 (4 mins) or a 19-inch TV (5 mins). Of course Dennis thought he could hang on for 30 minutes—how hard could it be?

“Ah, Mister… where you come from? Virginia?”

Dennis points at the “Wisconsin” on his Badger shirt. “WISCONSIN!” he says proudly.

The girl with fake eye lashes and gray contacts is confused. “Wisconsin? I don’t know that…” She improvises, “Okay—Mr. USA, you think you can hang 3 minutes?”

Dennis gets cocky, “Yeah, I can—no problem!”

A crowd begins to gather. The girl hams it up, “Okay, okay—we have Mr. USA from Wis-con-sin. He will hang on the bar!”

She takes him to the front of the line. Dennis doesn’t wait for the chair; he can reach the bar on his tip toes. The crowd goes crazy, “Wahhhh!!!”

“Yes, Mr. USA hang on!”

One of the workers sees that Dennis is actually on his tip toes and starts pointing. The crowd roars with laughter.

“Mr. USA! You cannot have feet touch!” I think Dennis lost all of his clocked time.

Not even a minute hanging on the bar with his feet flexed, Dennis’ hands start to slip. The crowd cheers “Mr. USA!” but to no avail. Dennis lets go at one minute shaking his head and his bruised ego.

“Ah, Mr. USA! Thank you for participation!”