WORDS competition in Jakarta Post!

6 months of work published in The Jakarta Post! Check it out here.



Thank you to everyone that supported this successful endeavor!

Maggots, Orangutangs, Blood Suckers, and Rapids

I have a lot of stories to tell, but there's one day in particular that deserves to be highlighted.

I just got back from Medan, Sumatera yesterday night. 9 of us met up there for Danielle's bday. We went to a town close by for a couple days called Bukit Lawang to do some hiking. Twas a beautiful place with enough power for yummy dinner time and plenty of darkness to see the stars and breath in clean air.

Friday morning I started off the day with an egg, tomato, & cheese sandwich. Half way through a tomato dropped on my plate and as I was about to take a chomp out of it, I noticed a couple of white-worm-maggot-like thingamajigs in my tomato. Often times there may be hair or stones in my Indo food, but not usually worms. So I removed all tomatos and kept eating :P

The maggots were only part of the introduction to my adventures that day as we trekked across some rivers and up mountains to see all sorts of critters. One of the most popular in the jungle was an orangutang named Mina. They described Mina as the only really mean orangutang who likes to steal bags looking for food and who is known for biting locals. Lucky for us Mina swung down from the trees and planted herself right in our path with her baby clinging to her side. She stole our bag full of water and was quite upset to not find food. I was the last in the line taking pictures and video until she got a bit too close for comfort. With not much space to escape, Mina grabbed my arm and I tried to pull back but she's a strong lil sucker. The main guide - Coless started throwing rocks at her to try to distract her. Apparently she was out to bite me until she was hit by a rock and started running towards Coless. The other guides had me cued me to run and thankfully I got away with just a couple scratches and bruises. We had three guides with us that day and each one of them saved me from multiple catastrophes. So moving on to the next heroes of the day were Rinto and Arnol - removing blood suckers from me every now and then, and saving me from many steep falls.

One time the guides made me fall, but they did eventually catch me. hahah. This time we were on 4 tubes attached to make a raft for 7 people in order to get back to the our base by water. At some point the raft got wrapped around a huge rock and we were stuck there with river rapids crashing our left sides into the rocks and water. So with what I thought was clever thinking, I leaned over to the right to get us back on track. but really I just tossed myself and my friend over board. I grabbed my friend Angie with my feet being swept off the rocks below me and we bounced around a bit until we were saved yet again and pushed back on the tubes. wooooweee!

It was a wild ride for sure, but in the end you just gotta roll with the punches. I coulda got mad for maggots in my food, almost being bitten by an orangutang, or guides missing a big rock dead ahead. ... but they also saved me a hell of a lot of times, and it was still a lot of fun! It was a trek not laid out in stone in any sense of that phrase. I loved it and am down to do it again! Ma, you wana come? :D

Even if I did get bitten, that'd be some sweet oleh2 (souvenir) and I guess I'm supposed to be honored because Mina doesn't usually go after tourists. But I have Indonesian blooood! and skin color of the locals. :p

But alls good now. I'm still alive despite maggots in my stomach, blood suckage, and other encounters with the beautiful beasts of the wilderness. I highly recommend it... especially in good company. Thank you all for a trip... fall, and laugh that will be hard to forget.

Damai.

"Asli Complicated"

Sorry for being so out of touch... especially after saying I would be better about it : S I have been uber busy with WORDS, new extracurriculars at school, traveling, and... WORDS. Reading many of these creative works across 5 Indo islands has gotten me to get my brain in creative mode too a bit. So here's a lil somethin2 I wrote for my kids the day we shared works for the first round of the competition...

"Asli Complicated"


I am American
I am Indonesian
I am hyphenated
Asli complicated

In multiple cultures my pride lies
Not only in Indonesia and the U.S.
In Brazil, Mexico, and China I have ties
Each place contributes to a culture called “Jess”

See there’s no one country that I belong
Frustrating as that may be, I get along
My Bahasa Indonesian may not be lancar
But here I know a comforting smile is never far

Indonesia is where my roots are
So when I salsa or play Capoeira
My moves stem from Indonesia

Indonesia is where there’s family
My daily nasi and houses of memory
Memories from before I was born
My heritage before my identity was torn

There are still blanks in my family tree
I don’t know all of my history
Records unwritten or lost without a key
But I don’t need it to define me

I know my family was here for Merdeka!
Bandung is the hometown of my dua kaka
I was raised with Indonesian rules
and since then I’ve gained new tools

New tools for new perspectives
Everyday with improved lenses
Never forgetting my roots, my base
Because of the past, I have a bright future to face

Terima kasih.

Glossary
asli - genuinely
lancar - fluent
nasi - rice
Merdeka! - Freedom! (Independence Day)
dua kaka - two sisters
Terima kasih - Thank you