The Ferry Incident

The ferry rides to the islands off Sulawesi were grueling. The islands weren't very far, but the boats ran extremely slow. We left Luwuk at 9 PM and arrived in Peleng Island just before dawn. I can’t sleep on anything that tips back-and-forth so I resigned myself to sitting at the front of the boat looking at the moon before me... extending from the moon, a shimmering carpet of light bounced delicately on the waves. And I listened to Chopin all the way there. I felt like I was in capsulated in the sphere of western civilization. The elegant sentimental notes from the mind of a frail young 19th-century Polish composer in Paris writing music for his beloved George Sand juxtaposed to the raw and inexpressible beauty of Sulawesi. Through the El Greco-like darkness we sailed on  through the night. Once we arrived we found no monkeys lived on the island. We then waited for the return ferry. Another night at the front of the boat... this time staring into darkness. As soon as we got back to land we drove five hours to Ampana, the Togian Island terminal. On a whim we left for the Togians... as we were told someone had introduced macaques to the island years ago. Another six hour ferry ride! I was exhausted that night. I hadn’t slept in three days! I went straight to bed. During my sleep that night, I got up to go to the bathroom.... actually, I got out of my bed and walked two steps over to Adnan's (our driver's) bed and started pissing on his leg. He thought there was a hole in the roof and rain was sprinkling on him... and then he saw me  and yelled in Indonesian "apu sih yang kamu lakukan?!" or  "what the hell are you doing?!"  I woke up to find myself pissing on his leg. I was so shocked and embarrassed I stopped pissing midstream, stumbled to the porch outside and calmly continued pissing on a chili pepper plant . Adnan must’ve thought those Americans are truly crazy. It was the first night we had roomed together. Adnan hurried to the bathroom to scrub off his leg. I was fast on my knees with soap and water scrubbing the floors and sheets clean. That morning a couple tourists came by the chili pepper bush and were admiring and talking about its beauty.