Back from Kupang yesterday after a great weekend with 16 other volunteers from Sumba, West Timor and Flores. The weekend was a long one, with two full days interchange of experiences, skills, and some internal VSO stuff as well.
One of the sessions was very educational, if a little disgusting and educated us about the widespread practice of chewing betel nut (areca). As usual Wikipedia has lots of info, so click HERE to read more. I won't go into details here except to say that this is a very widepsread habit (on Flores usually among older women) which leads to bright red discolouration of teeth and gums and also to high incidences of mouth and gum cancer (in many cases, the parcel in the mouth (usually containing pieces of fruit, nut, and lime wrapped in a leaf) also contains tobacco. Naturally, in the interests of science, I had to try this out for myself and all I can say is that I will be hoping not to have to repeat the experience anytime soon. However, the cultural significance of sirih pinang (as it is known in these parts) is so strong that it will probably be hard to avoid.
The weekend was also an opportunity to wish bon voyage to four volunteers whose placements will end in the next three months so I am unlikely to see some of them again. However, two of them (Stephen and Festus) are on Flores so we will have (another) farewell before they finally depart.
One of the volunteers going home is an English nurse called Jo, who has been a VSO volunteer in Indonesia for just over five years (yes, five - that's not a misprint!).
In one of the sessions entitled "A graceful shutdown", Jo shared some of the things that she will miss and not miss about Indonesia and talked about her "exit" strategy. Top of the list of things she won't miss was spitting, a practice widespread in Indonesia among men and women and usually preceded by violent hawking noises. In many cases, the spit is bright red form sirih pinang. Yuk. (Other items on her list were rice and public transport.) Jo is going back home to retire which she's a little nervous about - she left England as a volunteer immediately after retiring five years ago so has never lived "at home" as a retired person and quite understandably is a little nervous about how this will work out !
In one of the sessions entitled "A graceful shutdown", Jo shared some of the things that she will miss and not miss about Indonesia and talked about her "exit" strategy. Top of the list of things she won't miss was spitting, a practice widespread in Indonesia among men and women and usually preceded by violent hawking noises. In many cases, the spit is bright red form sirih pinang. Yuk. (Other items on her list were rice and public transport.) Jo is going back home to retire which she's a little nervous about - she left England as a volunteer immediately after retiring five years ago so has never lived "at home" as a retired person and quite understandably is a little nervous about how this will work out !
Good luck, Jo !
I am sure you are compiling a list of "champagne moments" which summarise the delights of life on Flores. I take it that spitting will not make the cut!
ReplyDeleteAnd there was me thinking youngest nephew's teeth really were not great and feeling pleased that he has already (at the tender age of 7) had an appointment with the orthodontist.....
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