I ate a bug!

T here has been advertising for an Indonesian exhibit for a few weeks now. A friend and I realized that the exhibit opened today, and decided to head that direction instead of the big city. When we showed up at the doors, we were informed it would not open until 5 o'clock. We began to wonder if it would even be ready to show today at all.

We returned at close to 6 o'clock and were thrilled from the moment we walked through the door. We were immediately stopped and asked for a copy of our business cards. I pulled one of mine out and while handing it to the woman asked why she needed one. She informed me that the exhibit was not open to the public on this first day, but only to businesses.

Glad I had those business cards on hand!

We were given passes to wear with our names printed (and spelled correctly!) and had to scan them to even enter the facility. (If they only knew I was just a simple tourist off the street...!) For over an hour we walked around and looked at various booths displaying things from Indonesia: foods (banana chips and jasmine tea), household decorations (Q'ran stands, floor mats, furniture and wall hangings), spa accessories (chocolate scrub!, massage oils) and clothing galore!

I hadn't planned on buying anything until... (doesn't ever woman say that?!) I saw the most beautiful shoes I have ever laid my eyes on. Seriously. Hand carved mahogany sandals! The man running the booth had to search and search to find a size big enough for my American feet. (Ok, seriously, I don't have big feet for my height at all! Size 8. But compared to Asian feet...) But finally--oh joy. I am now the proud, happy owner of the most beautiful pair of shoes in the world. (And yes, they are comfortable!)

I also bought a wooden purse and a pretty blouse. THEN the fun BEGAN!

There was a fashion and cultural show! The music blared louder than anything I've ever heard, and each song alternated between cultural dancing and a fashion show. The models made me laugh, but their clothing was pretty enough to nearly make me cry. The dancing was phenomenal and it just made me want to go to Indonesia! Afterwards, the woman next to me asked if she could have my number and call me sometime so that we could have "sweet coffee." (See the Sojourner grinning? I made a friend!)

Next was the Indonesian food buffet. I filled up my plate with various different things, determined to experiment with each one. (Can I interject and say--they had a sculpture made out of BUTTER. I'm not sure what I think about that. Yes, I do. It was gross). Near the end of the buffet line, there was a plate filled with these BRIGHT GREEN things. My friend and I stared at them, and she said, "I'm NOT eating that!" This woman came up to me and encouraged me to eat them--traditional Indonesian desserts. (She said the name, but all I heard was "aisoihfummummm.")

So the outside of it is bright green (like a kid went crazy with the food dye), and rubbery. Not a good start, right? I bite into it and the inside is brown and crunchy. I immediately think I'm eating a bug wrapped in green rubber. Then it hits my taste buds and I realize what it is. Worse than a bug wrapped in green rubber. C-O-C-O-N-U-T. (My mother is squealing in laughter right now). I seriously cannot eat coconut, it causes my gag reflex to go into overdrive. So my friend is watching my face to see how I handle the green rubber, and all she sees is my eyes well up with tears as I struggle through swallowing. I then explain that if she likes coconut, it's not bad at all. Well, if you like coconut wrapped in green rubber.

As we were leaving, I attempted to say thank you in Indonesian (I'm sure it's not called Indonesian, but some more complicated word, but anyway), "Treme Kassi..." and this woman beamed at us, and handed us a free gift (cloth) bag. Okay, the most precious bag ever! I have a new bag to carry my study materials in! Inside it was a wrapped gift (a head scarf with a map of the islands of Indonesia), a pen, an Indonesian cd, and an entire notebook filled with all kinds of tourist promotional material.

So I'm happy as a clam. A clam from Indonesia.