Indonesia

Krakatoa. Doesn’t it evoke a kind of sublime? Sumatra. Java. Bali. Borneo. When are we going?

I’m not sure how I’ve not been to Indonesia, since I have been to Malaysia and Singapore. It seems quite lazy of me, in fact! But rest assured, Indonesia is high—very high—on my list of places to go. Though its not an official Islamic state, Indonesia is still the nation is still the most populous mostly-Muslim country going. It’s a republic—Indonesia declared its independence in 1945. It used to be known as the Dutch East Indies. Like spices? There’s quite a spice-history in the place. Nutmeg, for instance. Native to the Banda Islands. The Europeans were definitely fans. And there’s some serious biodiversity going on there.

Indonesia… reminds you of “Indo-European,” “India,” and perhaps the “Indus Valley.” It comes from a combination of Latin and Greek—“Indus” is Latin for “India”. (Yes, yes, imaginative.) “Nesos” is the Greek for “island.” The name began to circulate in the 18th century, though the Dutch were not fans—this was, after all, the Dutch East Indies. Asserting empire is important. From the beginning of the twentieth century, though, more people began to use the name until it became the official name of the country.

We know, don’t we, that Indonesia has been inhabited for a hell of a long time—at least half a million years.

The Europeans began visiting in the 16th century. While the Dutch established the region as a colony, their control was a slight thing, and it ended with the Japanese occupation of the area. Only two days after Japan’s surrender, Sukarno declared independence. The Netherlands was unsuccessful in trying to put their stamp on things again.

Sukarno became an authoritarian leader, and lasted until he was outfoxed by General Suharto in 1968, resigning 30 years later in 1998. These days Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is in charge, though I feel like I still hear as much about Suharto ten years after the resignation as I do about the current president.

Another of those new things I’ve learned from this project: Indonesia is the home of the Toba supervolcano. Not familiar with supervolcanos? Well, the term only official entered volcanology in 2003. Their eruptions are greater than any mere volcano of recorded history, and their eruption can cause global devestation: for instance, a super volcanic eruption can cause an ice age. Wow. Oh, and the Lake Toba super eruption was responsible, apparently for the formation of sulphuric acid in the atmosphere. Who knew?

Now that I’ve read all that, I’m definitely going. Sometime. I want to study geology more, too.

In the mean time, I’ll leave you with a poem, while you’re digesting the supervolcanic info. This piece, “Saint Rosa, I,” is by Dorothea Rosa Herliany, and is taken from Language for a New Century.

Saint Rosa, I

for the husband of my past, I write no history.
the old books in the library of my heart
only record a few sad stories of defeat.
a group of soldiers lined up like children.
returning home to snail shells on coral reefs.
abandoning vague scraps of hope, among
broken sharks’ teeth.
for my lovers, I search for an anxious body
abandoned in a room filled with men
eager to set the world on fire. they offer
stacks on second-hand goods, wonderful
air-conditioning machines. I enjoy the heat,
it is brief, silent, while my thirst is endless.
my disappointment makes me man. I have stayed too long.
I want to climb up into the Himilayas and stay there.
watch my lust grow cold, then explode
and destroy the world.
but I am tired of dreaming
the house is narrow and covered with dirt.
if hope should ever arrive
it would be a useless lump of time.

—Dorothea Rosa Herliany
translated from the Indonesian by Harry Aveling
from Language for a New Century