 in front of a huuuge tombstone |
 fronts are carved like a buffalo-heads |
 Pieter & me at the art-shop |
 fresh ginger & betelnuts on the market |
 this man wears true "sumbanese lipstick" |
 real men in sumba wear big knifes too |
 dried fish from Lombok |
 on the pig-market.. |
 pigs got to stand lots of stress here |
 esp during transport |
 granny & child |
 local instruments played on the market |
| Newa Sumba Resort in Waikelo, north-west Sumba |
 luckily i met these anthropologists here |
 A) my bungalow, built 3-level-sumba-style |
 susan, the manager & the rest of the staff |
 B) where i had my own betel-nut-session |
 no, not a substitute for my rabbit..heh |
 where is sumba? |
| A) traditional HOUSES in sumba exist of 3 levels: below the animals, like pigs, in the middle humans and in the roof live the ancestors. that`s why the roofs are that high. sumbanese believe in an afterlife where they proceed to the "marapu" to influence the world of the living. marapu includes spirits, gods and ancestors and it has a meaning similar to a religion. |
| B) the BETELNUT is sort of a peace-keeper in sumba. people chew on it all the time for some pep to get through the day. chemically it is a soft drug..like a mild buzz. but the cultural meaning is very important and complex. betelnuts are chewed during discussions and you are either offered one when visiting a village or similar or you bring some- this means you come in peace. in any case you should not reject it, but at least take it. a male entering a village rejecting the betelnut declared war not long ago..and the sumbanese were headhunters just 70 years past..! on the foto: this is the fresh betelnut, cut. the middle part is meant to chew on. for the effect you add a third of one of these green stalk and some of the lime-powder which is in the plastic bag. i bought this carving, made from buffalo-horn to keep it. the lime causes the red saliva which make people look like they have just eaten someone. meaning: the stalk represents the male, the nut the female ovaries and the lime is a symbol for sperm. it is believed to be returning the blood of childbirth back to earth when the red saliva is spit out. i found it veeery bitter, just as you`d bite into tree-bark! |
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