NTM

enjoying yams and spicy RAW shark

One aspect of this new culture that we are experiencing is culinary richness. In fact, more than just diving and sightseeing, locals also tout this area as a “gastro-tourism” destination. Part of this is due to the liberty people enjoy in their food laws. Compared to the majority of Indonesians who adhere to tight dietary restrictions, everything here is game. And I mean everything.

In the past months we’ve eaten more parts or more species of animal than in all our life! There is a saying: An event is not a party if dog isn’t on the table. And to give a really good time, a host will put out for bat, cat, or even rat. For us, the adventure of eating is heightened by the element of surprise. On a buffet table laden with saucy dishes, it is nearly impossible to distinguish which of God’s great creatures lies waiting in which. It usually happens that as we spoon our last bite, someone will walk by and ask, “Oh, so you like bat?”

delicious spread of fish and starch

Beside these lessons in taxonomy, we have also been learning some fascinating fish anatomy. We’ve been served parts of fish that I honestly didn’t know fish had. “This is his what?!” The other day our friend came in from 3 days of tuna fishing. From the hull of his little boat he unloaded his catch at the local fish market. The meat he sold; the rest he brought home. So for breakfast that day he brought us a share of his bounty. I called the dish flaming hot tuna guts. But then, to my own surprise, I polished off the leftovers for lunch.

Merry Christmas

This picture has been the talk of our house for two days straight. What is it you say? It’s Sinter Klas and his helpers, the Sinter Pit (or something like that). Up until now we hadn’t told G about Santa Claus. Fortunately, the has been young enough that we haven’t had to discuss it. We were planning to teach him the truth of Christmas before all the tradition. But that’s not how it happened.

This year he saw Sinter Klas on television so we were forced to talk about it some. Then our landlords arranged for our house to be visited by one so we knew more was coming. But in this area Santa helpers are not friendly little elves you might imagine. Instead, they are some kind of creature who’s job is to terrify kids so they don’t act bad (the way Santa’s job is to make them act good, I guess). When this specific Sinter Klas and crew arrived, the Pits burst into the house looking for little kids. They found one! When they saw G and realized he was a “whitey” they were even happier. They got right up into his face, yelling, and asking if he was nakal (naughty). At that he started screaming and screaming. So we took him back upstairs where he hid out until they moved on.

Since then he’s replayed every detail over and over again with us—“remember how the Pit came in and one said “Hi” but then one was yelling at me, and then I was scared, so I came upstairs and then they  were eating? Did they wash their make-up off?” 

Anyway, it goes without saying that things are different here. As we are finding, sometimes those things are not the ones you would expect. For G, the song “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” will just never have the same feel.