My hosts picked me up from the hotel and took me to a warung. I ate nasi bandeng. Bandeng are apparently a kind of small fish, and the fish were wrapped in a banana leaf with the rice. They called it "nasi kucing" because, given its fishiness, a cat would like to eat it (as they said).
I was already feeling hot before I went into the warung, and then once I got inside my glasses fogged up from entering a deeper layer of heat and humidity. And then, to go along with my nasi kucing, my hosts strongly encouraged me to have a ginger and sugar drink that was served hot. Unsurprisingly, it tasted good, and deeply of ginger. And by the time I finished, I was feeling as hot as I've been on any five or ten mile run in Utah!
It was a fun evening with them. They asked me about my life, and as I was telling where I've lived, I mentioned that N and I lived in Virginia while I was pursuing my S3 (PhD). They wondered if they should stop calling me Mas B and Pak B and start calling me Doktor B. I told them I don't prefer anyone to call me Doktor B. At one point, one of my hosts joked that maybe he would call me Mas Doktor B. With that, we (mostly they) started stringing honorifics together so that, hypothetically and absurdly, they might call me Mas Docktor B Sarjana 3, S3 Dosen. They seemed to be enjoying making these jokes, and it reminded me of a joke I've often liked: the idea that someone who goes by Dr. [John Smith], PhD, would undoubtedly be a member of the Department of Redundancy Department.
2 comments:
the department of redundancy department sounds like something that would be in dear committee members.
I think approval for such a title change might need to through the circumlocution office
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