The Liquid of the Gods

This year I finally got around to joining the Indonesia Heritage Society, something I've been meaning to do since before we even moved here. They do a range of activities, including consulting with and giving tours of the National Museum, sponsoring a variety of lectures and study groups on some aspect of Indonesia, and organizing Explorer groups which explore places in and around Jakarta. I joined one of the Explorer groups, and now every other week a couple of the members organize a tour for the group to visit and experience something new about Indonesia.

Two weeks ago we went to the home of an Indian woman who has lived in Jakarta for 20 years. She owns a very good Indian restaurant nearby and loves to cook. She taught the group about different spices used in Indonesia and taught us 3 different Indonesian recipes (see a future post for more details).

Yesterday our tour was at the Equil Mineral Water bottleing plant. The factory is located at the base of Mt. Salak, about 1.5 hour drive from Jakarta. The drive there was typical of life on Java - constant traffic and end to end towns. But once we arrived at our destination we found peace, quiet and beauty - not something you'd typically find at a factory! The surrounding grounds of the bottling center were really lush and serene, in keeping with the equilibrium of their product. The factory was actually quite small. Most of the space was filled with cartons of water, while the space for bottling took up just 1/5 of the warehouse. It was immacutely clean and spacious, and the workers all wore gloves, masks and hairnets. The bottles and caps are sterilized and the room in which the water is bottled was a grade 3 clean room (or something like that) - meaning they had 2 separate disinfecting rooms leading to the bottling room, similar to a surgery room.

The main reception hall is of European design made of marble and filled with art. In front of the hall is a beautiful Koi fish pond filled with mineral water from the source (probably some of the most expensive and healthiest fish anywhere!). After the factory tour they gave us a presentation on mineral water and how Equil compares to other brands. I had not known beforehand that the term "mineral water" is a very select and protected description for water. In order for a brand to describe their water as "mineral water", they have to meet 4 criteria as set out by Codex, a joint standard as adopted by EU countries, WHO and FAO. The criteria for natural mineral water (as distinguished from any other drinking water) is that:
1) It comes from a natural spring source or a bored hole
2) It fulfills the Codex's criteria from the physical, chemical and microbiological points of view
3) It does not undergo any treatment except carbonation
4) It is bottled at the source

The water used in Equil mineral water is from an aquifer 80 meters underground that is fed from rain coming through Mt. Salak. The water is 150 years old and is not pumped to the surface, but comes up naturally. They don't treat the water in any way (except for carbonation for their sparkling water) and it is bottled at the source, so it meets the Codex criteria. During the presentation we also learned about the different mineral contents of popular mineral water brands. For example, Perrier used to be (I don't know how they corrected this if it's not allowed to be treated) very high in nitrates, which can cause cancer or Blue Baby Syndrome in babies and small children. Many of the mineral water brands are bottled in Europe. But when thinking about how heavily farmed Europe is and the wars that have been fought on that land (resulting in higher nitrate content and other pollutants), I wonder if drinking European mineral water would be so safe considering that it hasn't been treated. Equil marketers are finding it difficult to open up international markets for their brand because it is from Indonesia, which is considered in the world to be "dirtier". But really, perhaps Indonesian mineral water would actually be safer than any other brand!

I also don't think often about the taste of water, unless it's very noticeable. We do not drink tap water here as it's not safe enough, instead we buy the Aqua brand bottled water (owned by Danone). During the presentation they had us do a taste test between Equil and Aqua. I was very surprised at what a huge difference there was! Equil had a far smoother and slightly sweet taste to it, whereas Aqua had a less pleasing taste and even had a bit of an after taste. Now we're not going to change brands as it would just be too expensive to use only Equil water; however, I did end up buying 6 cartons of their sparkling water (I have had it before several times in restaurants so I already knew I liked it).

Another interesting thing about this company is the mystic beliefs of the owner. He used a shaman to help him find the water source and consulted a Feng Shui expert in designing the facilities. The water source is located next to the main building and has been decorated with a satue and stepping stones over the bubbling brook, as well as a Hindu type open air enclosure. The tour guide explained that many people have felt something especially "spiritual" or different when walking through the Hindu enclosure, or when drinking straight from the source. I have to say it did feel different to me - the air felt heavier and my heart sped up a little. So maybe there is a spirit protecting the water!

It was thoroughly enjoyable tour and I was impressed with the company and the facilities, and best of all their water tastes great! The owner plans to build villas nearby for natural living and an escape from our current hectic life styles - maybe we'll be here long enough to enjoy it.

Around the world with a conversation

I took some time the other day to scan my favorite blogs and explore new ones and I found a whole list of blogs written by expats living in Indonesia. Many of them wrote about the bombing that occured here in Jakarta in July, and when writing about it all of them expressed their deep sadness for the expats and Indonesians who were harmed in the tragic event, and their own bafflement at this horrendous act and their deep love of this country.

Their writings and conversations made me think back to the conversations I've had over the years with fellow Americans and people from many different countries and the profound sharing of our lives and our cultures that is involved. In particular I thought about my experience as a Peace Corps volunteer (PCV) in Mali, W. Africa from 1996-98 . This was a seminal experience of my life, an adventure that introduced me to my beloved husband, career and Africa. Every PCV embarks on their journey with a specific Peace Corps assigned job - for example I was tasked to be a "natural resources management extension agent" (yes, quite a mouthful!). Many PCVs also take on secondary projects because either they are interested in them or they are asked by their community to help in that way. My secondary project was to work with the village midwife, which is how I became interested in my current career of public health. The work PCVs do is the first of three goals of Peace Corps, which is to "help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women."

I've always considered this goal to be very important of course; however, it is really the second and third goals of Peace Corps which I believe to be the most significant. These two goals (to educate foreigners about America and to educate Americans about foreigners/foreign countries) address the idea of cross-cultural awareness and the sharing of experiences and values and beliefs among people from different countries. I believe most returned PCVs have found the most meaning and the most enduring benefit of Peace Corps to be this sharing and education that they have both received and given. As a matter of fact, many exchange programs, such as AFS, were established in order to heal the wounds of war and to prevent future wars from starting. After all, when you know and love a person from a foreign country, war and strife in their country becomes profoundly personal. If more Americans had know more Iraqis, would we have let Bush invade their country? Maybe not. If more Americans knew more Sudanese and Somalis, would we continue to do virtually nothing? Again, maybe not.

Sometimes I've been surprised by the effects that these cross-cultural exchanges can have, or how long they can last. I have relationships with foreigners that have lasted decades and I suspect will last forever. We share a love for global travel and new experiences, and have shared special moments in eachothers' lives which will never be lost. And it is amazing the effect a person can have on another's ideas about a whole country, either for good or for bad. And coming home from my adventures has been an educational experience as well. It has given me an opportunity to see my home country with new eyes, to enable me to be more open-minded about its flaws and to appreciate its beauties. I also learned more about my own family from these absences, and how their deep interest and insightful questions made me realize how much they care for me and how interested in the world they truly are.

Traveling the world is an amazing opportunity that I cherish on a regular basis. It reminds me just how harsh and how lovely people can be, and how different we are but moreso how similar we are no matter where we are from. It provides the most amazing opportunities, and I believe the best education a person can gain is through global travel. I feel blessed that my sons are experiencing life in a different country, and pray that they these benefits will last a life time.