The Supermarket Affair

It was about half past six in the morning when one of the teachers in Ma. Matholi’ul Anwar by the name of Mr. Hilmi came around knocking and calling out in the doorstep of our homestay. We almost forgot that the day before, we actually arranged a plan to go to the market with him. It was fortunate that we woke up a little early today so we went with Mr. Hilmi right away and walk east towards the supermarket.

We bought what we need for the day as we can’t stock up on raw and fresh goods as much as we want to due to some reasons i.e. the country’s temperature, irregular cooking schedule as sometimes we are invited to eat over someone’s house. I noticed that the way they weigh the goods you buy here is still the traditional way. I have never seen like it back in my country. I was really surprised and amused with this mathematical application. The preweighed objects on one side of the weighing balance should be equal to the weight of the goods or product you are buying, you can tell they have the same weight if the weighing equipment is balance. However the preweighed object weighs will be the weight of the goods you buy. It’s a wonderful experience to get to talk to the locals with the help of Mr. Hilmi in translating and us saying some Bahasa words every now and then.

Sunset Watching in the “Diamond along the Equator Line”

Since Indonesia lies along the equatorial zone, both the sunset and sunrise look stunning here especially for people who aren’t used to seeing the view like the one above. I personally was not able to get over the beauty of the sunset until it was totally devoured by the darkness. We had a great time walking around Mr. Hilmi’s house which heads west as oppose to the direction of the supermarket we went to earlier of the same day. Mr. Hilmi talked to us about the primary livelihood of the local dwellers. Fishing and farming are the two main source of income here which has something to do with its geographic features and climate. Although it was rumored that Indonesia has undiscovered riches like diamonds hence its nickname Diamond along the Equatorial Line, mining is not really a thing here in their country in comparison to other countries who are making mining a primary source of the country’s finances.

After the talk, we went to Mr. Hilmi’s house and had our dinner. We met his family and his 10-month old baby whose name is Aura. She’s a very sweet little girl as is her mother and father. We had a great time today meeting new people and knowing Indonesia deeper and deeper.