A Morning in Jakarta

The tour I was on only gave us one full day in Jakarta. The national guide actually considered it a light day and mentioned consideration for our jet lag, but it seemed plenty full to me. We started off with a ride in the tour bus to a local market. I already told you all about that.

I noticed that people tended to stare at us before, during, and after we passed. Yet I got the feeling we were hardly the first tour group to wander through. Little kids would run up and pose for pictures. Everyone seemed quite willing to talk with us.

Apparently most of the 13 million people living in Jakarta will go to markets like this for their daily needs. There are malls and department stores, but our guide had never been in one.

Far more common were people who sold things out of bicycles. We ran into a tailor who made what they considered a very good living by peddling – literally – through the streets with a tricycle with a manual sewing machine mounted on the front.

As he passed by, he would call out the offer to do mending. People would run out of their homes with articles of clothing they wanted fixed, and we would do it for them right then and there.

I do a bit of professional mending myself. My neighbor runs a personal assistant service from her home. One of the things she does is collect mending for people who are too busy to do it themselves. She brings it to me. I run it through my sewing machine, then hand it back. I have never once laid eyes on the people I do the mending for.

At the end of the market area we arrived at a mosque. When we visited a mosque in Mongolia, we had to borrow scarves to cover our heads. This time I packed a suitable scarf so I wouldn’t have to borrow, but we never went inside, so it wasn’t needed. Just as well. I hadn’t gotten my suitcase back from the airline yet, so didn’t have it with me.

Before I started visiting mosques, I thought they all looked like the Taj Mahal. I was kind of surprised by how modernistic this one was. Not just the entry way, but the washing station around in the back, too.

It seems they all have a knobby thing the way a church has a steeple or a cross, but you can’t expect the columns and such.

Until this trip, I had not realized how much washing is involved in the practice of Islam. Every time they pray, they must wash in a ritual fashion.

First wash the hands three times, then the mouth. Then nostrils, face, elbow, head, ears, and last feet. Each of these gets washed three times. If the prayerful touches someone who is not clean, then the whole thing must be done again. This is called Wudhu. Men and women have separate facilities for Wudhu.

Women must wear special covering called a mokana, which is put on right over whatever they are wearing. It’s quite ornate. I had seen a picture of women on a camping trip wearing what looked like elegant satin gowns for their parers. I had marveled that they would bring such things for camping. Now I know why.

This is done five times a day, plus before meals . The first call to prayer takes place before sunrise. Every day while we were in Java we woke to the singing over loudspeakers.

I’m well aware that you can’t expect noise ordinance laws in other parts of the world, but couldn’t they at least pick a singer who can carry a tune?

They do it again at noon, and again at 3 pm., then 6 pm., and then at 7 pm. Seems like the only time I really noticed was the one before sunrise. Luckily, it only takes five to seven minutes each time. That’s still enough time to decide you really aren’t going to go back to sleep even though your body still thinks the sun is wonky.

Naturally, doing the prayers at the mosque is considered more rewarding, however you can do it anywhere. There were even special rooms set aside in the airports for it.

The mosque sprang for two ambulances, and brought in a doctor who has an office behind the main building. There is also a school on the grounds. The people in the neighborhood can come to the clinic for free.

The school is only for religious training. They have kids come in during the morning for one session and afternoon for another.

The women’s society is a minute or two walk from he mosque. After our visit at the mosque, we were lead by a roving band of drummers down the same street we had come up for a visit with the local women’s group.

Normally you should take off your shoes at the door to their room. We were allowed to keep ours on. Good thing, since at that stage I still had trouble bending over. By the end of the trip I could easily have handled it. Amazing what a couple of solid weeks of constant moving around will do for you.

The society works with kindergarten age children, issues involving education, AIDS, neighborhood trash, and any other problem their members care to tackle. They also get together to play music regularly. They play for ceremonies, weddings, etc. This is part of their fundraising efforts.

AIDS is of particular concern for Muslim wives because they face the risk that their husbands will give it to them even while still being considered faithful to their marriages.

The members are all volunteers. They use money they raise for things like the uniforms they are wearing. They have a variety of beautiful gowns of different colors that they consider their uniforms.

The government works with the women’s society to deal with social ills. Although the society is independent of the government, they have government support and are asked by the government to tackle some issues.

They invited us to enjoy a snack of a banana pudding wrapped in banana leaves. Apparently you aren’t supposed to eat the banana leaves. Notice the glasses of water have a plastic cover over the top? You stick a straw in like a juice box. It’s a good idea, but I’d never seen it before.

We were given drums and joined them in a song. It was a simply tune, but not boring. I really enjoyed it.

After our visit we were loaded into three wheeled cars called bajai. These are just big enough to carry two passengers in the back. So we ended up with a caravan of bajai taking us across town to a restaurant for lunch.

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