The Charm of Purwokerto

Living in a small town has its ups and downs. Purwokerto is not exactly a small town relative to the area that it’s surrounded, but still tiny compared to Surabaya and Yogya. Living here is not always easy because there isn’t much to do, there are no cinemas, no modern shopping malls, and no hip & cool cafes. But after living here for 3 months, I think I’ve come up with a decent list of its charms.

Advertisements used to say that Indonesia is the Emerald of the Equator (Jamrud Khatulistiwa), yet the so-called green spaces are disappearing by the minute in the bigger cities. I get to experience the true jewel here, rice fields everywhere I laid eyes, especially when we drive towards the outskirts of town. The most fascinating thing I saw has been the tidily lined ducks crossing the street or simply following their master along rice field borders.

And with rice fields, come one of its most despicable pest, keong sawah (snails). Luckily, the people here know how to handle them in the most profitable way, turning them into a delicacy. Why a delicacy? Because they have become rare, again, in the big cities, including Sidoarjo (my home town) due to pollutions. I’ve been told that people would come from Yogyakarta, Jakarta and nearby cities to buy the cooked snails as oleh-oleh (souvenir). The family I live with told me that the place they normally go to is located south of alun-alun, in Karang Anjing village. This unique snack becomes really popular during the fasting month and eating keong during this holy month has become a tradition. The most convenient way to eat it is using a toothpick, but if you have none handy, you can just suck it out of its shell. But beware, since the cooking is spicy, you’ll have red hot lips by the end of it.

And with rice fields, come one of its most despicable pest, keong sawah (snails). Luckily, the people here know how to handle them in the most profitable way, turning them into a delicacy. Why a delicacy? Because they have become rare, again, in the big cities, including Sidoarjo (my home town) due to pollutions. I’ve been told that people would come from Yogyakarta, Jakarta and nearby cities to buy the cooked snails as oleh-oleh (souvenir). The family I live with told me that the place they normally go to is located south of alun-alun, in Karang Anjing village. This unique snack becomes really popular during the fasting month and eating keong during this holy month has become a tradition. The most convenient way to eat it is using a toothpick, but if you have none handy, you can just suck it out of its shell. But beware, since the cooking is spicy, you’ll have red hot lips by the end of it.

Another charm of Purwokerto still has to do with its scenery. At first glance, people assume there’s nothing in Purwokerto. Some of them don’t even know where Purwokerto is (I was one of them) and some don’t know there’s a town called Purwokerto. But I think this place is blessed with lots of sightseeing destinations, Baturraden and Curug Cipendok Waterfall to name a few, that can be reached in one hour or less. Yet, there’s one more thing that people seem to take for granted, given that it’s become their everyday view. Im talking about Mount Slamet, the biggest mountain in Central Java, that stretches from Purwokerto to Pemalang. You can imagine how huge it is. I’m so grateful to have it as my everyday view. I just need to look north and the mountain will be right there. Sometimes scarved in fluffy clouds, leaving only the top visible. And sometimes you can see it so clearly, making it look bigger than you can imagine. Looking at it would sometimes make my heart pound so quickly, amazed by nature’s greatness.

I would end on a personal note. There’s an important lesson that I learned while living here, which is tolerance, since we live with another family under the same roof. It was hard at first because I felt like an alien in my own house. Then, I forced myself to open my mind and place myself in their shoes. I began to understand the situation and try my best to maintain a harmonious relationship. There are so many things we take for granted, being grateful everyday is the least we could do.