Our biggest regret was not bringing enough stuff to give
away. It gets a bit awkward while 6 people are watching you make coffee, and
then you sit and drink your coffee (we often had to go inside to get away). If
you have enough to offer, they will only be too happy to accept, and it
obviously makes for a nice interaction. So that’s my advice: bring things,
especially food/drink items, to give them, while you are making yourself
something. I gave away all of my coffee packages, and wish I had brought more
to give away. A huge hit, that I would highly recommend, is bringing Mentos.
Widely available in Indonesia, they have the advantage of not being
individually wrapped (so no garbage on the ground afterwards). We brought 1
roll each per day (yes, we had 12 rolls of Mentos), and we easily gave them all
away to kids in the villages. Could have given away 5 times as many.
A note on cigarettes: there are 2 things you will
specifically be asked for. Kids ask for “gula”, which means sugar in Indonesia
(i.e., candy; see Mentos discussion above, no problem). Adults, with few
exceptions, ask for cigarettes. Sad but true. The one thing they really want
from the modern world, will kill them. We didn’t have any, so it was an easy
answer. But that now leaves you with an ethical choice. If you really want to
be a rock star to them, bring lots of cigarettes and give them out. You will be
Santa Claus. But it’s that “it will kill you” thing, that makes it interesting.
Again, your call.
Hot Tips:
·
Definitely bring lots of stuff to give away.
They have very few commercially available products, and will appreciate
anything you offer.
·
In our experience, Mentos (for kids) and sugary
coffee packages (those 3 in 1 things) were a big hit.
·
Bring photos of your family/home to show them.
They are very interested in all of that, and loved looking at photos we had on
our phones.
·
At the last place we stayed, we gave the lady in
charge all of our left-over food, which again, was a huge hit.
(click on "older posts" for more)
No comments:
Post a Comment