2 weeks in a madurese village...

after my buddy mudz left to go back to new york i returned to patria's village in northern madura to spend some more time.. indonesia is a muslim country and madura is probably its most religious island.. it is prob 99% islamic and the religion is seen in all aspects of everyday life.. there is no such thing as premarital sex, alcohol, gambling, or eating pork.. many misconceptions i used to have about islam and arabic culture in general have been completely shattered and proved false as these are some of the most accepting, generous, and least judgmental people i have ever met.. i will write about that later..

in the village i became very close with my family and hope to return to the village to help umi, who is normally alone.. umi is patrias mother and she is in her 70s.. everyday she work extremely hard maintaining her cows and farming.. often working through severe pain but somehow keeping a positive demeanor.. patria has 36 brothers and sisters and 4 mothers, it is not uncommon in madura for a man to have up to four wives provided that he can support them all.. i learned so much about madurese culture and the local language which everyone spoke exclusively only using indonesian when communicating with me.. daily routine included picking beans, drawing water from the well, and cooking.. my little sister faroha is 10 yrs old and has the most amazing personality.. she kept taking my camera and making videos so i will put together some clips later..