Indonesia, Etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation (63 page)

VOC (Dutch East India Company), 15–18, 44, 159, 288, 348

volcanoes, active, 175–6

Waikabubak, 56–8, 65–8, 74, 77, 83, 88, 90, 93, 214–15

Waingapu, 68, 93

Wallace, Alfred, 103, 143–4, 148, 167, 308

waria
(transgenders), 50–1, 186

wayang
shadow-plays, 45, 361–5

wealth classifications, 127

Weda, 183–9, 191, 193, 195

Weda Bay Nickel Company, 184, 190, 192, 194–6, 198

West Java, 24, 227, 294, 333, 341, 356

West Kalimantan, 28, 227, 283, 286

ethnic conflict in, 298–300

West Papua, 25, 229

West Sumatra, 23–4, 35, 99, 166, 198, 227, 251

whales and dolphins, 118–22, 125

Wilhelmina, Queen, 20

Wini, 135–6

witchcraft, 310

women’s organizations, 34–5

Wono Kaka (headhunter), 56–7

Wood, Melanie, 285, 288, 291, 301–2

World Bank, 40, 44, 195, 199, 213n

World Economic Forum, 212

Wulla Poddu, 59, 61, 66

Yogyakarta, 355–8, 361–2, 375n

Yufrida, 255–9

Yusuf, Irwandi, 221, 255

Zheng He, Admiral, 287

Zunaidi, Pak, and his wife, 160–3, 166, 178

Also by Elizabeth Pisani

The Wisdom of Whores:
Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of Aids

First Edition

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Pisani, Elizabeth.

Indonesia etc. : exploring the improbable nation / Elizabeth Pisani. — First edition.

pages cm

Summary: “An entertaining and thought-provoking portrait of Indonesia: a rich, dynamic, and often maddening nation awash with contradictions. Jakarta tweets more than any other city on earth, but 80 million Indonesians live without electricity and many of its communities still share in ritual sacrifices. Declaring independence in 1945, Indonesia said it would ‘work out the details of the transfer of power etc. as soon as possible.’ With over 300 ethnic groups spread across 13,500 islands, the world’s fourth most populous nation has been working on that ‘etc.’ ever since. Bewitched by Indonesia for twenty-five years, Elizabeth Pisani recently traveled 26,000 miles around the archipelago in search of the links that bind this impossibly disparate nation. Fearless and funny, Pisani shares her deck space with pigs and cows, bunks down in a sulfurous volcano, and takes tea with a corpse. Along the way, she observes Big Men with child brides, debates corruption and cannibalism, and ponders ‘sticky’ traditions that cannot be erased”—Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-393-08858-8 (hardcover)

1. Indonesia—Description and travel. 2. Pisani, Elizabeth—Travel—Indonesia.

3. Indonesia—Social life and customs. 4. Indonesia—Social conditions. I. Title.

DS620.2.P57 2014

915.98—dc23

2014013536

ISBN 978-0-393-24428-1 (e-book)

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.