Bonding Over Machetes & Sulfur

Meet the 2012-2013 Fellows,

Photo by Adam Brock

whoaredefinitelynotdoinganythingthatthestatedepartmentwouldfrownuponinthispicture. For two weeks, eighteen of us (two are still coming at the end of the month) are bonding in Bandung, a city two hours outside of the capital. We spend most of our days blundering through language class and sessions on the education system in Indonesia. However, we've had some time outside of our luxurious hotel to go explore Bandung and the Sudanese (ethnic group of West Java) culture. 

Our first group outing was to a Sudanese restaurant called the Dago Teahouse. We piled into an angkot - a minivan of sorts used for cheap public transport - and headed uphill. Our fearless leader, Kang Kelley, had tipped us off to a cultural event that was going to be happening at the restaurant. He called it a 'real, not-for-tourists' event that may or may not include machetes and trances. Perfect.

In traditional Indonesian style, we sat cross-legged around a short table. We ordered two of every item on the menu (fish, tempe, tofu, sate, spicy veggies, and rice) and shared a family-style meal.

When our bellies were full (this would turn against us later), we headed to the main event. On the stage, before an sparsely scattered audience, were a group of men all dressed in black. Kang Kelley explained that these men came from a remote village in the middle of West Java. He called them "backwoods" and likened them to the Amish, saying that they like to keep to themselves and stay away from modern conveniences. What's more, they are very devote followers of Islam. This strong faith originally led them to hold these expositions of sorts to demonstrate the power of Allah and draw in other believers. The expositions, called Debus, are martial arts-like demonstrations of the strength and protection of Allah against bodily harm. From what I could see, the men use instruments and singing to put themselves into a trance. Then, when there are good and ready, they put their faith to the test by sawing at the their skin with machetes - without a scratch remaining when they're finished. Check it out - excuse my gag-reflexes as the camera dips when the machete comes out. Other feats of strength can be seen in the second video when a man rips into an unripened coconut with his bare teeth.

The rest of the night was less...painful to watch. The ringleader did a series of magic tricks including: making a ball disappear and reappear in the audience and pulling an enormous string out of his mouth.

Our next adventure was a day trip outside of the city to Kawah Putih, or The White Crater. We took a bus up through rice fields and villages up Mt. Patuha.

Eventually, we had to switch from our bus to a much more rudimentary truck that could climb the steep incline to the crater, as Jen will now kindly explain:

At the top, we were greeted with a spectacular view...and smell.The enormous crater mouth was filled with a brilliant bluish-green lake. While the volcano has been dormant since the 1600s, this lake still steamed from the heat beneath it. The lake and the bleached rocks surrounding it all get their color from the acid and sulfur in the water.

It was a popular weekend destination for the locals. We weaved our way around the lake, sometimes stopping for group shots with families. Apparently, breathing in the sulfur can be poisonous, so we didn't stick around too long.

The Fish and The Fox

We rounded out our day with a stop for lunch at another delicious Sudanese restaurant. This one, however, had the bonus feature of a strawberry patch attached to it. So, after dining, we picked a kilo of fresh berries.

In about a week, we'll all move to our sites and get settled into the business of English teaching and learning. Here's hoping that these shared experiences, though grotesque and poisonous as they were, will have formed the bonds we'll need to support each other over the next 10 months.