Season 3 Episode 4
Level of Indonesian and English fluency: Intermediate to Advanced (speaking speed and words: Advanced)
Indonesian Version
Pada tahun 2009, saya sendirian keliling Amerika Latin selama 6 bulan, sebisa mungkin jalan darat naik bis umum. Naik bis antar kota di negara asing itu memang banyak suka dukanya. Sukanya karena jadi bisa mengenal sebuah negara dengan lebih baik lewat ketemu dengan orang-orang baru & ngelihat pemandangan spektakuler.
Dukanya? Nah untuk yang satu ini, untuuuung saya lahir & besar di Indonesia, yang bikin saya lebih terbiasa dengan sikon transportasi umum yang bapuk dibanding turis dari negara maju. Ada kecoak atau serangga lain lewat di jendela? Biasa. Bis ngetem melulu? Walau gondok tapi juga biasa. Ada yang bawa hewan peliharaan ke dalam bis? Nggak masalah, asal saya nggak dipipisin aja. Berebut kursi di bis? Yang sudah pernah naik Air Asia lebih dari sekali pasti sudah handal urusan beginian. Supir nyetir ugal-ugalan? Serasa balik di Jakarta, plus menavigasi badan supaya tidak jatuh pas nggak kebagian tempat duduk ada seninya tersendiri. Pedagang asongan di bis? Terus terang saya suka kagum dengan barang-barang yang dijual di dalam transportasi umum. Kalau koran, minuman, & makanan kecil mah standar ya.
Tapi banyak dagangan lain suka bikin garuk-garuk kepala. Kadang satu orang jualan berbagai jenis produk, mulai dari buku anak-anak sampai bibit tanaman. Yang paling pol waktu di Ekuador adalah pedagang yang menjual obat yang katanya bisa menyembuhkan segala penyakit yang berhubungan dengan performa seks pria. Sales pitch-nya garing tapi berapi-api & persuasif, “Bapak-bapak! Ada yang bermasalah di tempat tidur? Hmm bagus, tidak ada anak kecil di sini, jadi saya bisa teruskan! Ibu-ibu, jangan mengacuhkan omongan saya ini ya, mungkin sekarang belum ada masalah, tapi nanti bisa terjadi pada suami anda!” Lalu pedagang, seperti juga pedagang yang lain, bakal membagikan produk yang dijual ke semua penumpang. Jualan diteruskan sementara penumpang/calon konsumen mengamat-amati produknya, lalu dia akan keliling bis lagi untuk mengambil kembali barangnya yang tidak laku. Yang minat beli ya saat itu bayar.
Lalu, bagaimana dengan musik yang diputar supir? Kalau di Indonesia genre yang popular adalah dangdut koplo, sepanjang Amerika Latin (kecuali Uruguay), musik favorit supir & kenek bis antar kota adalah reggaeton & ballad cengeng, diputar dengan volume yang menggelegar. Dua-duanya bikin bete. Apa itu reggaeton? Ada yang bilang reggaeton itu hip hop Latin. Ada yang bilang kombinasi antara reggae & hip hop. Singkat kata, dangdut Latin.
Memasuki bulan kedua dari perjalanan enam bulan naik bus, (tanda kutip) “menikmati” suguhan musik bis dengan volume tinggi, dikasih dengar pidato undang undang ketenagakerjaan pun saya bakal rela. Sumpah.
Nah, bayangkan betapa girangnya saya waktu kenek bis di Kuba trayek Santiago menuju Camaguey yang berangkat jam 10 malam memasang dvd (bajakan tentunya!) yang isinya konser musik Top 40 era 70an: Bee Gees, Boney M, Barry White. Pak kenek memilih Bee Gees. Terima kasih, Tuhan!
Saat Robin Gibb mulai melantunkan To Love Somebody, saya pun langsung ikut nyanyi dengan pelan dan malu-malu ketika tiba-tiba supir nimbrung dengan kenceng, “You don’t know what it’s liiiiiiiiiiike…”
Dan dengan demikian, di jalanan nan gelap antah berantah entah di mana, seorang turis Indonesia dan supir bis Kuba kemudian nyanyi bareng mengiringi trio Gibb dari Australia. Malam itu saya tidur nyenyak di bis.
English Version ( 4:45 )
In 2009, Lia took a solo trip across Latin America for 6 months, where as much as possible she took the land route using a public bus. Taking a local intercity bus in a foreign land has its own ups and downs. The ups are mainly due to the experience of knowing a country a bit better through meeting new people and seeing spectacular views along the way.
The down part? For this, Lia is grateful for being born and raised in Indonesia, where she had already been accustomed to the situation and conditions of poor public transportation if compared to a tourist coming from a developed country. Cockroaches and other insects crawling on the window? Already used to it. The bus stopping frequently to wait for sufficient numbers of passengers? Annoying but again, already used to it. People bringing their pets on the bus? No problem, as long as they don’t urinate on her. Fighting for seats on the bus? Anyone who has flown with Air Asia, a low cost carrier, more than once would already be an expert in this. Driver driving recklessly? It feels just like being in Jakarta, plus there is a certain art in the capability of navigating your body so that you don’t fall when you don’t manage to get a seat. Hawkers and vendors on the bus? In all honesty, Lia often admired all the things that are being sold in public transportation. If it’s just newspapers, drinks or snacks those are pretty standard stuff.
However, many other merchandise can make one scratch one’s head. Sometimes, one trader will try to sell many different products, from children’s books to plant seeds. The most over the top experience was in Ecuador, when a trader was trying to sell a medicine he claimed could cure all types of illnesses related to the male’s sex performance. The sales pitch was corny yet fiery and persuasive. He was asking the male passengers whether they had any sex problems, and felt free to ask this as there were no children present on the bus. He also informed the women that they should not ignore this as one day their husbands might experience this problem. Then as what all the hawkers always did, he distributed his products to all of the passengers. He kept on promoting the products while the passengers/potential buyers examined the products. Then he would go around the bus to pick up the unbought items. Interested buyers would pay on the spot.
What about the music played by the bus driver? In Indonesia, the most popular genre is dangdut koplo, Indonesian music which is influenced by Arabic and Hindi style music filled with the beat of a small drum. All across Latin America (except for Uruguay), the favourite music of intercity bus drivers and their assistants is reggaeton and sappy ballads, played to the maximum volume. Both of them are quite aggravating for Lia. What is reggaeton? Some say that reggaeton is Latin hip hop. Some say that it is a combination of reggae and hip hop. In short Latin dangdut.
Entering the second month of the six-month bus journey, after “enjoying” the presentation of bus music played to the maximum volume, Lia swore that she would welcome listening to even a speech on the labour laws.
Imagine how happy Lia was when the assistant driver on the bus in Cuba, en route from Santiago to Camaguey, leaving at 10 PM, played a DVD (pirated, of course) which contents were Top 40 music concerts of the 70s era: Bee Gees, Boney M, Barry White. The assistant chose Bee Gees. Thank the Lord!
When Robin Gibb started to sing To Love Somebody, Lia immediately sang as well, softly and shyly when suddenly the driver joined in loudly “You don’t know what it’s liiiiiiiiikkee..”
With that, on a dark road in the middle of nowhere, an Indonesian tourist and a Cuban bus driver joined forces singing together accompanying the Gibb Brothers from Australia. That night, Lia slept soundly in the bus.
This is a story from Rusmailia Lenggogeni who is originally from Jakarta, Indonesia. She currently resides in Jakarta and works as a writer and an advertising creative director. Her book, titled Bus Diaries: Jurnal Perjalanan Amerika Latin (or Bus Diaries: A Latin America Travel Journal) can be purchased through Gramedia: ebooks.gramedia.com/id/bus-diaries.
Vocabularies
Suka duka: ups and downs
Sikon: situation and condition (it’s an abbreviation of Situasi dan Kondisi)
Bapuk: poor
Kecoak: cockroach
Ngetem: stop to wait for sufficient number of passengers
Gondok: annoyed, irritated
Bete: upset, annoyed, irritated
Dipipisin: urinated
Pas: when, specific moment
Pedagang asongan: street vendor/hawker
Pol: the top or the highest rate
Garing: crispy, in this case this is a slang term that means corny
Atau ( / ): or
Cengeng: sappy
Suguhan: presentation, treat
Pidato: speech
Undang-undang: laws
Kenek: bus assistant
Girang: extremely happy
Bajakan: pirated
Melantunkan: sing
Nimbrung: joined in
Tanda kutip: quotation mark
Antah berantah: in the middle of nowhere
Mengiringi: accompany
Lelap: sleep soundly
Nah, ya, mah, nan : additional words that used to emphasize an expression. It’s a very local expression that can be learned faster when we live there or interact with the locals frequently, but no worries, the meaning won’t change and your Indonesian won’t be less appreciated if those words are not used.
Indonesian slang words have been evolving rapidly, the use of certain slang words may give indication to your age as the younger generation probably doesn’t use certain words anymore. To put it in perspective, we need to catch up with new slang words almost everytime we come home to Indonesia from the States annually.
Indonesian language used here is in the daily-conversation format, that has influences from the local culture and custom. Should you have questions on the more formal version, please consult with your guru Bahasa Indonesia.
Level of Indonesian and English fluency: Intermediate to Advanced (Speaking speed & some words: Advanced)