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Lake Fear 2: The Swamp
It's March in South Florida. The beach towns are flush with young people looking for action and excitement. For one unlucky group of thrill-seeking spring breakers, their adventure leads to the black waters of the Florida Everglades - a place with mosquitoes the size of birds, snakes as long as school busses and tens of thousands of flesh-ripping alligators. But beyond the scope of the traditional predators famous for keeping the glades wild is another phenomenon - one with two legs and an insatiable thirst for killing.
Gary Salathe's Mission Is To Save The Louisiana Iris. He's Helped Rescue 62,000 And Counting.
In three hours, they plucked 2,000 plants from the muck and deposited them on a flatbed trailer. Salathe planned to store the trailer in his garage, watering the irises twice daily until they were replanted at Nicholls State.
Elard Phillips, a Limitless Vistas board member on his first LICI rescue, admitted the work was "a little challenging."
Did you know?Five Louisiana irises
According to the LSU AgCenter: There are only five iris species known as "The Louisianans." Only in south Louisiana do all five species occur together. They are:
These five species are closely related and will interbreed with each other, but with no other species. The crossing, or interbreeding, of these species, has resulted in the hybrid Louisiana iris cultivars we grow today. Their large, attractive flowers cover a wide range of colors, including many shades of blue, purple, red, yellow, pink, gold, brown, lavender, burgundy and white.
Prostitutes, From Life Experience To Civilization
The night sky looked so clean. Thousands of stars are scattered, like diamonds on a black carpet. Sandra felt like she was flying between(MS: 3)….
The narrative is wrapped up in "Composing Lessons", where Sandra reaches for memories of her life experiences to be able to write the essay. He "saw" Mama who was always away, Mama making out with men, Mama who was angry, but also Mama who took him to school, Mama who kissed him with all her heart, Mama who read him bedtime stories, Mama who loved him. This is the main plot of Marti & Sandra, which is concise, interesting, beautiful and lively.
Meanwhile, The Whores in the Boat(PP) is a 281 page romance, filled with conflict, sadness, feelings of humiliation which are intertwined with life values, accompanied by quite a number of characters, each with their own characters.
There is a mother's love for her child, even if she is a prostitute, and she does not leave her child at the brothel, instead providing him with the best education.
Like Savitri, the lute player, Lasmini, the flute player, and Sulastri who is in charge of pouring wine into ceramic cups and distributing it to everyone… Savitri and Lasmini are still playing their musical instruments, before ending slowly, like the wind that drives the clouds (PP: 18)
Unfortunately, the beautiful sound of the plucked kecapi and the blowing of the flute are not expressed through the choice of words and the arrangement of sentences, which could all be felt as beautiful tones. It's not about the ceramic cup filled with wine offered either. Actually, the author is capable of expressing them, but what happens is...
…. There is still Marissa, the prostitute who plays the violin, with a choice of songs that are always sad and giving to pieces, channeling all the sorrow that has settled... And clogged up the happiness of her life... (PP: 106)
Once again, there is no beautiful sound of violin. If only the sound of the kacapi, flute, and violin could be played through word choices and phrases, it would enhance the beauty of the boat and its contents.
The plot is built from within the boat with an adventurous spirit that wants to be free. However... Freedom in adventure makes them like refugees who are always frightened by the thought of massacre, and always shy away from humiliating civilization. (PP: 14)
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The world outside prostitution for Tumirah is civilization (PP: 14), and borrowing Marti's term, it is her world of good women (MS: 115).
Tumirah and all the inhabitants of the Love Boat consider themselves a marginalized, oppressed, humiliated group who are hostile to the civilization that humiliates them. However, on the other hand, if we are perceptive, sex workers also have value in their lives, and hold civilization in the depths of their hearts, living and yearning for it.
Like Marti who said that "I'm professional, I sell my body but not my heart (MS: 83), but on the other hand, Tumirah who was teaching Kamasutra said, "There's no need to actually separate them, in fact Even prostitutes are not encouraged to make love without heart, even if they soon separate again". (PP: 89)
Such Human paradox contains various meanings, which are born from deep interpretation and reflection. This book is rich in paradoxes, which means it is also rich in meaning and significance. However, due to limited space, I will only examine the issue of civilization.
This is the main issue in both books, which asks whether civilization includes good women, not prostitutes?
In fact, Tumirah and Marti really understand what it means to be a civilized woman, including a good woman.
Which is despised by civilized civilizationTumirah together withThe Prostitutes in the Boat have experienced various things that hurt, humiliate, kill, and often contrast their black world (PP: 108) with a civilization that always insults them (PP: 14). For Marti, those who are not prostitutes are good women.
Neither Tumirah nor Marti actually need to be hostile to civilization because civilization is actually close to their hearts.
Returning to what Tumirah said, it appears that the group of prostitutes do not fall into the category of civilized women, and also cannot be considered as good women, to borrow Marti's term.
Actually, Tumirah and Marti understand very well the meaning of being a cultured woman, including being a good woman. From these two books, there are three basic measures of a civilization, namely education based on the skills of reading and writing, the demand for arts, knowledge of the Kamasutra, and ethics.
Tumirah requires the prostitutes of the Love Boat to be able to read and write. The basic demands of a civilization. Apart from that, when building his boat, Tumirah said that he wanted his courtesans to learn art and have knowledge so that they could make their guests know civilization, and thereby appreciate life. (PP: 31-32)
This paragraph shows that Tumirah understands civilization very well, and even wants to make her guests civilized. Therefore, it is understandable that there is an arts group on the Love Boat, including a flute player, a violinist and kecapi player, as well as dancers. She also requires that the prostitutes must not only be able to read and write (PP: 38), to face civilization, but also learn Kamasutra as knowledge to face their work. Tumirah demonstrates that education is the door to entering civilization, by saving a red baby who was abandoned by its mother, and providing educational funding up to university through her breast milk. (PP: 255, 259).
For Marti, she herself takes her child to school, and hopes that Sandra will be a good woman who is not like herself.
That morning, at the school gate, Sandra was "seeing" her mother dancing in the most beautiful dress and graceful steps. Previously, she "saw" a man kissing her mother.
"Sandra! Do you want to go to school or not?" The child woke up. Putting his cheek up for a kiss. "Study well, son, okay?" (MS: 11)
There is a mother's love for her child, even though she is a prostitute, and she does not leave her child at the brothel, instead giving him the best education. It is a way to enter the civilized world and leave the world of prostitution.
"Sandra…." Sandra answered with her eyes, ready to hear, "Promise Mama, you will be a good girl, Sandra?" "Like Mama?" "No, not like Mama. Don't be like Mama." (MS: 115)
Here lies Marti's subtle criticism towards the world he is forced to struggle in, just as Tumirah does in her conversation with the village carik as the guardian of Kuprat, who is going to marry Lilly.
"I am responsible for the fate of my children," said Tumirah. …. I cannot imagine a worse life for a woman than that of a prostitute." (PP: 79)
Tumirah does not want Lilly, her "daughter", to become a prostitute, just as Marti does not want Sandra to be like herself.
Experience in the Love Boat can evoke memories of life difficulties, heinous acts, rape, murder, which involve emotions, feelings of sorrow, hatred, trauma, and perhaps also revenge.
One more thing that this book says about a civilized world, namely that those who are civilized uphold morals and maintain ethics.
One morning, while stopping in one of the villages, a group of women came to the Love Boat, saying that "Your guests who boarded last night were our husbands. Tumirah couldn't get rid of the feeling of guilt". (PP: 66)
This shows that she is a moral prostitute, a civilized prostitute, who feels guilty if she accepts someone else's husband.
Life experience of a prostituteAccording to their story, they are oppressed people, living difficult lives as wives left behind by death or by husbands who have other lovers. Children living in brothels are those who are unwanted by their fathers, or whose fathers are unclear, or there are also orphaned children who live there because they accompany their mother who works as a prostitute.
As a result, there are those like Sawitri who become withdrawn. Some change; once cheerful, their eyes now dull. Some can no longer laugh, or always cry. Still others appear melancholic or have a somber expression.
The most unforgettable experience was when the brothel in the middle of the forest was burned down by a group of people wearing hoods, and only their eyes were visible. Chaos ensued, prostitutes were dragged to random places, raped, and if they resisted they would be tortured to such an extent that they would die horribly, or if they were still alive they would bleed or be bruised. Guests who defend themselves will be killed cruelly so that they run away. (PP: 23)
The living prostitutes will feel very humiliated, and their souls will die because of the rape. Conditions like this are what cause them to move from the brothel to a boat that can move more freely…. By moving around you can avoid boredom. But it smells very adventurous. (PP: 20)
Freedom in adventure makes them unstable, but that is not something desired because...The world is full of risk (ref: 20), or as Tumirah referred to it as the black world (ref: 108).
However, the hardship and sadness did not stop with the burning of the brothel. The sailing boat was attacked by pirates who covered their faces with black cloth from nose to mouth. There was panic. A roar of anger. Blood spilled. Hair loose. Knife raised. Back stuck. Mouth grinning. Eyes wide. Stomp your feet on the plank floor. Head hit the wooden wall. A hoarse voice groaned. An unknown language groaned. Various sounds of pain…. (PP: 99)
Marissa, a violin player whose unofficial father is Dutch, and Ayu who often recites poetry inherited from her mother's poetry-loving customers, have died. They were buried in the following village.
There is still poverty that brought Wiji, a poor girl from a poor village, to board the Love Boat. As Wiji looked at her parents while holding onto the boat's lips about to depart, Tumirah averted her gaze to avoid hurting herself. (PP: 156)
Sari, a prostitute who entertained many people with the dance she learned from Indian films, had to die because a bullet pierced her heart as their boat passed through a battle zone. (Note: PP: 192)
The experience in the Love Boat can evoke memories of the hardships of life, atrocity, rape, murder, involving emotions such as grief, hatred, trauma, and perhaps even revenge. The Love Boat serves as a repository of knowledge about those experiences, namely, storing memories of violence, humiliation, which evoke emotions of anger, fear, and possibly, revenge.
Now what about the transfer of knowledge about violence, cruelty, humiliation, which drains emotions?
From life experience to civilizationThe life experiences of Marti, Tumirah, and the prostitutes create a world of their own, a dark world of prostitution. Outside of that world is civilization. Based on their experience, prostitutes feel that civilization looks down on them, even though many of them possess civilization in their hearts and souls as well. If so, it can be assumed that there is a tendency to leave that dark world, follow what the heart and soul say, and enter civilization. Perhaps this can be done through transmission, passing on values, and transferring knowledge.
What is conveyed is the value of civilization from the side of prostitutes. Like Marti who does not want Sandra to become like her, a prostitute, or Tumirah who not only requires people to be able to read and write, but also funds abandoned red babies to obtain education up to college. All of this is an effort to be able to enter the world of civilization.
Now, how about the transfer of knowledge regarding violence, brutality, and humiliation that drain emotions? I see that Perahu Cinta has transformed physical violence into symbolic violence. Perahu Cinta sails forward sometimes casually, sometimes following strong currents, along with rain and wind toward civilization.
It is unfortunate that Perahu Cinta has sunk before reaching its destination. Meanwhile, Marti has passed away too soon, not being able to enjoy the transmission he had with Sandra, who works with the President's father.
Ninuk Kleden-Probonegoro, Retired PMB-LIPI Researcher (2015)
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