Maj Franky jumped on his 110cc scooter & took me around town. It was fun. I used to have my own motorcycle (thank goodness), but for the first 20 minutes- I was just praying I didn’t mess it up… stall in the middle of the street, get myself tagged by traffic, or heaven forbid SCRATCH it!
We visited the new soccer stadium, which President Megawati gets credit for having built, where there were scooter races going on at night on a straightway. We rumbled by the TNI combat engineering base, and later up to Malang.
A blind man could feel the stares. Hard to say if it was the size of the motorcycle (a rare sight indeed), or the American sitting on it (an even rarer sight). The deep, rumbly sound of a Harley motor cuts through the din of Honda scooters instantly. It’s funny that my first ride on a Harley happens in East Java, Indonesia- of all places (=
It was an understated testament to the depth of friendship extended to me by Maj Franky, that he flipped me the keys & let me take it out. I was imagining how many American dads would NEVER let their own sons touch their Harley Davidson…
Malang was a ½ drive up the road at night. We circled around the city a bit, stopped for coffee & some potent, bitter local drink which I’ll never order again; walked around the night markets, and had great conversation about his family life, and meeting his wife.
He enlisted and met his wife in Ambon as a 22 year old Sergeant, stationed as an engineer there. Ida’s dad was a LtCol in the Army, Muslim, and absolutely opposed to them dating. (= As if that wasn’t intimidating enough, his family wasn’t too keen on the idea either… preferring the old adage: stay within your race & religion. Ida was 18 & in college at the time, and after a year of staying together against their parents’ wishes, Ida’s father sent her back to Cirebon to put a little distance between them. 3 months of letters, phone calls & trips back and forth later, they were married. They’ve been together 23 years now, still happy, and both sets of in-laws have come around.
I asked if either of the grandparents have problems with the kids following the religions of different parents. No,,, everyone respects the beliefs of the others, and it’s accepted now. Great family story there. (I hope Nina’s family is paying attention. Ha ha)
We rumbled back to the house by midnight.
We visited the new soccer stadium, which President Megawati gets credit for having built, where there were scooter races going on at night on a straightway. We rumbled by the TNI combat engineering base, and later up to Malang.
A blind man could feel the stares. Hard to say if it was the size of the motorcycle (a rare sight indeed), or the American sitting on it (an even rarer sight). The deep, rumbly sound of a Harley motor cuts through the din of Honda scooters instantly. It’s funny that my first ride on a Harley happens in East Java, Indonesia- of all places (=
It was an understated testament to the depth of friendship extended to me by Maj Franky, that he flipped me the keys & let me take it out. I was imagining how many American dads would NEVER let their own sons touch their Harley Davidson…
Malang was a ½ drive up the road at night. We circled around the city a bit, stopped for coffee & some potent, bitter local drink which I’ll never order again; walked around the night markets, and had great conversation about his family life, and meeting his wife.
He enlisted and met his wife in Ambon as a 22 year old Sergeant, stationed as an engineer there. Ida’s dad was a LtCol in the Army, Muslim, and absolutely opposed to them dating. (= As if that wasn’t intimidating enough, his family wasn’t too keen on the idea either… preferring the old adage: stay within your race & religion. Ida was 18 & in college at the time, and after a year of staying together against their parents’ wishes, Ida’s father sent her back to Cirebon to put a little distance between them. 3 months of letters, phone calls & trips back and forth later, they were married. They’ve been together 23 years now, still happy, and both sets of in-laws have come around.
I asked if either of the grandparents have problems with the kids following the religions of different parents. No,,, everyone respects the beliefs of the others, and it’s accepted now. Great family story there. (I hope Nina’s family is paying attention. Ha ha)
We rumbled back to the house by midnight.
posted by jonathan adventures at 7:18 AM
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