October 16, 2006

Iban life






From Kuching I caught a boat several hours up river to Sibu and then from Sibu caught another boat on the mighty Rajang towards Kapit. I was sitting outside on the front of the boat looking at the passing longhouses when I met Brian, an Iban man, who invited me to come stay at his longhouse. 10 minutes later we were in a small boat with two of his seven kids, Amat and Janefer, heading to his home.



Daniel



Traditionally the Iban people live in longhouses, which are (not surprisingly) very long houses divided into several rooms where many families live together. Iban people are quite famously known now for their past headhunting practices. Times have changed and the Iban people are becoming more modern with even TV's and electricity in some.


Amat


We walked up from the river to the house and many people started peering out of windows and coming out on the porch to get a look at the unexpected visitor. I followed Daniel into his family room and we sat around on the floor drinking juice and talking as best we could. More and more neighbors kept showing up and soon the room was nearly full. They wanted to know all about me: Where you from? Why you alone? You no friends? Why no hair? I showed them a family photograph and they said my Dad looks like a famous American actor that could turn himself into an animal in some movie. (I have no idea about that, if anyone does, email me!) I was told that the last foreign visitor to their longhouse was 3 or 4 years earlier, which explained the excitement of all the neighbors upon my arrival.

Mother and Amat



Soon enough I was told that it was bath time. In front of the entire crowd of curious onlookers, Sahidah (or Mother), pulled a sarong over my head. I have never before undressed (although thankfully covered by a sarong) in front of so many people. Sarongs on, we headed for the river. The kids and I swam around; I was trying to keep my sarong from falling off while simultaneously twirling, throwing and splashing. Not an easy task until you get the hang of it. Daniel's son, seven year old Amat, took a particular liking to me and followed me around holding my hand every where I went . After the river bath I had to go meet the "head master", Matthew, and gain approval for my visit. Approval was quickly granted and then it was on to a meal and rice wine. Then I was retrieved from Matthew's home back to Brian's where we had (my second) dinner, which was fully prepared by 14 year old Janefer (who does all the food preparation and clothes washing for the entire family).

Amat cooking


That first evening was a very enjoyable introduction to the friendly Iban people. I graded Janefer's English homework, played with Amat, looked at family photographs, and finally tucked in underneath the mosquito net and fell asleep in the candle light.

I ended up staying three nights in the longhouse and was truly treated as one of the family. During my stay, Amat was my constant playmate. He has been learning English so he knows many English words (colors, animals, numbers, the alphabet) but can't formulate sentences yet. We would be swimming in the river (which is something that we did several times each day)and Amat would frantically point behind me and yell, "Crocodile!", or "Snake!". I would start dramatically screaming and he would fall over laughing in the water. (My fear wasn't entirely an act-- only a few weeks ago a boy was killed by a crocodile in the river near Kuching.)


The men showing off their Iban tribal tattoos



Every day the Iban people go out to hunt and gather food for the day. They used weaved baskets to comb the water for fish and prawns. Their diet almost entirely consists of plants, vegetables, and fruit that grows in the jungle, fish from the river and animals that are hunted by blow pipe. Rice is the main staple in every meal and my Iban family claims that Iban rice is the best in the world. Iban food is absolutely delicious! Ripe mangos, papayas, bananas, eggplants, edible fern ("bako", my new favorite food), mushrooms, durian (southeast Asia's famous smelly fruit), and small, red and spicy chilies.

The second night it was raining and all the children gathered together in a room surrounding me. Hmmm... how to entertain a large group of kids who don't know English? Luckily I have plenty of practice in that department and and in no time we were singing and playing. We sang the Alphabet song, I taught them itsy bitsy spider and then they taught me an Iban song. After singing we sat in a circle and we played duck duck goose. The kids loved it and many of the parents started gathering around the doorway and window to watch. I tried to get a picture of them playing duck duck goose but as soon as my camera came out the game was clearly over. They all wanted their picture taken and then to see it directly after.

Iban kiddies after a disrupted game of duck duck goose



The next morning was Sunday. We ate breakfast and then (quite surprising) it was time for Mass in the long covered porch. Traditionally the Iban were animist but now they observe both traditional and Christian ceremonies. This was by far the weirdest Mass I have ever attended. The nearly 100 members of the longhouse sat lining the walls of both sides of the porch. Kids talked and played, sometimes running loudly across the floor. They played with the 20 sen coin they were given for donation, sticking it to their foreheads, spinning it on the floor and rolling it around. Mothers did nothing to stop them but no one seemed to mind. Men smoked and looked entirely uninterested. You couldn't hear anything being said or read but no one seemed bothered by that fact. An hour later the donation basket was passed around and it was over.

Staying with the Iban family was the most interesting and fun experience I've had in Malaysia. The Iban people are so friendly and welcoming and they seemed to really enjoy teaching me about Iban culture and also learning about my culture. After spending so much time with Amat, I was touched when Daniel and Mother asked me if I would be Amat's godmother. So I am now the new godmother to the cutest seven year old Iban kid in Malaysia!


Amat being goofy