The Gilbert Camp No. 2

Semarang, November 30, 2012. Thirteen years ago I came back to my hometown Semarang, Indonesia to stay for 6 months. Living at the farm house was quite peaceful. I love the cooler temperature on the hills. Located about 35 miles southwest of Semarang, it is an easy drive which takes about 40 minutes from the airport. A married couple who lived behind the farm house used our land for their own sole benefits, and in exchange they live in our house for free.... this doesn't make sense to many people, especially in the western culture.. because they get to use the land for free, and they also get to live in our house for free, with free utilities as well. On top of that, they also receive a monthly pay. So where is the exchange ? Here, on the island of Java and possibly on most of Indonesian islands, people would prefer living together as a large family under one roof than living in a larger space but without their family. The javanese has a motto "Better starved than being separated from family". If they receive a compensation, however, they would live away from their family. For a job they do. Amusingly enough, the couple's family live only 300 yards away from our house, the house that they "guard", for a fee. For so many years, there is nothing in the house that needs to be guarded. My family had made the arrangement for the couple to live there so that there won't be a "stranger" living there unwelcome.

They found me odd when, in 2001, I lived there without my family, but only with a driver. An unmarried woman, and a driver. My parents (mostly my mother) came to spend some weekends with me. I had friends coming to visit often. Unlike many friends of mine, I did all the housework myself just like I do in the States. The driver did some handyman's job to fill his time when I didn't have any errands. This small household did't last long. A month later I "adopted" a sister, Audrey, 21, a French major at the State University of Semarang where I graduated from. She took one of the guest rooms. Giving her free room and board, and sometimes free transportation to school, I received the benefit of practicing my French when she was around. The University and I had set up an exchange, I was allowed to participate in any French class in exchange for teaching English. After six months, I was ready to return to the States, and Audrey too, had a different plan. She was moving to East Java to join her sister. The house was later rented out for 3 years before we began to use it again as a weekend house. We enjoy the simplicity in that community. We grow cassavas, peanuts, bok choy, and according to its season, harvest jack fruits, rambutans, and petai beans (the famous stinky beans). The couple who live free at our farm house didn't really take care of the house, however, we refer to them as the caretakers. The place is a mess, as though the caretakers deliberately ruined it. Our family every so often tried to sell it, but then we love the fruit trees so much, and we ended up pricing it high just to be curious. Great if it sells, fine if it doesn't. In the meantime, the drought was taking place. The well doesn't produce water anymore for a few years, and the community must carry water with jugs on their motorcycle from the mountain springs. So, In 2011 we dug an artesian well on our property to provide clean water for the house and for the community as well. It has been used mostly as a community well. Three of "our sons" (Irwan, Rofi, and Ahmad) are now spending so much time together there, learning how to renovate a bathroom and fixing leaky roof from the contractor that we hired. They also enjoy getting involved in the community and helping small children with little projects after school and in the weekends. Our farm house is now referred to as The Gilbert Camp #2. I would love to see a mini library there for the grand children of the caretakers. There are 5 of them who always show up whenever I come to the house. They are Tri M (15), Watik (14), Agus (13), Tika (10), and Rohid (9).... four girls and a boy.