The first meal I ate during Peace Corps PST (Pre-Service Training)
If I could sum up my Peace Corps service in three words, it would be:
“Nasi tambah lagi”
nasi-rice
tambah-add
lagi-again/more
This expression literally means ‘add more rice’---but it's more like “have another scoop!” I heard this everyday for nearly two years and got my fill. Now, the tables have turned and it's my go.
In Indonesia (and really throughout Asia), rice is nearly as critical to life as water; in most of the Asian languages I’ve studied so far (Korean, Japanese, Indonesian, Mandarin), the word for rice in each of the languages can be used to replace the word for meal. When times are hard/were hard, people would switch crops to eat barley or corn. Today, nearly no meal is complete without rice….and a HUGE bowl of it to boot!
Nearly every time I ate anything with my friends, colleagues, host families, friends, host families, co-workers, or Indonesians who would invite me to join them at their party for a meal, I would get a big smile + be told “nasi tambah lagi,” (meaning “stuff your face, boy!”) and would (usually) take another scoop. If we were at a restaurant, we’d fight over the bill (I was as good at that as I am at beer pong…meaning I lost nearly every time), and they’d kindly pay.
Now, I’d like to return the favor to you!
The Scoop is free and will provide key travel information for getting around countries where GuideMie can provide accurate and timely information to help current or future travelers. I (and other authors) will also throw in a few travel stories and things going on in their locales! After the posts, I’ll leave a comments section for the crickets, my dad if he can figure out how to comment YOU THE READER! If you like the content, drop me a line. If you think it sucks, well, it will get better over time 😎
I hate admin stuff, but I’ve gotta lay down some ground rules so we’re all on the same page:
- Correct me if I’m wrong.
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The worst thing I can do is provide bad and inaccurate information, meaning factually wrong and biased. If any of that comes across in my writing, please call BS and do me + all of the readers a favour and call me out.
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So dig in, get your fill, and enjoy!
Happy trails,
Dave
Cultural Note
In my experience, when eating with Indonesians, they will politely ask you to take more rice--even if it is the last of it! They want their guests and friends to be REALLY full, especially if they are leaving for a trip or going out.