Blog du Wren

Celebrity Status in Indonesia

**Tap on the shoulder** "Photo?"

It would seem that people in Malaysia and Indonesia love to get their picture taken with me and Della. Not necessarily people who we've shared an interaction with or even made eye contact with. Sometimes it's parents herding their shy child to pose with the bule-bule or hip twenty-somethings wanting something for their Instagrams, but other times it is a group of giddy hijab-wearing ladies or families taking a stoic portrait-for-the-mantel. We try to match the tone and appear as fun as possible. Because it is fun! People wanting their photo with us for no reason? We feel like celebrities. The photo session is always followed up with handshakes all around and lots of shared smiles.

The phenomenon seems to happen more where there are less foreign tourists, places we might just be holing up for a day or two to wait for a ferry or catch up on some internetting. In Semarang, Indonesia, a lovely lady at a mall food court* asked for her photo with us because we were her first foreign customers! Naturally, I asked for our with her too! At , Borobodur's lesser known yet still spectacular cousin, it was such a flurry of after the that I had to duck away lest I melt in the blazing sun.

Rarely do we capture the moment, because we're both busy being in the photos. But occasionally, after I've slunk away, I get a chance to snap Della who is always game to keep and .

But now that we've hit Bali, it seems like a our fame has run its course. Among the sea of tourists, we're no longer a novelty. And I'm okay with that. The interactions, while sometimes tedious, always seemed to have a genuineness of real excitement and, afterwards, real gratitude. These traits encapsulate our impression of the people here—so nice, so helpful, and so proud of their country*. So until my fame hits back stateside, I at least got a taste of what being a celebrity is all about

Saturday January 4 2020

File under: travel, indonesia

comment?

<<Borobudur and Prambanan

Twas the Night Before Christmas 2019>>

Name:
URL: (optional)
Comment:
speak yer peace