Ayu is a waria in Sorong, full of character, and especially renowned for her hairdresser skills. When I once again stepped into her salon, she offered me cake and asked a neighbouring girl to bring me some more cool ice tea.
As I had expected, a few minutes later a customer came in. The young guy took off his cap, illustrated with a cannabis leaf β very much a style of Papua- , and sat himself on a chair in front of a mirror. The cannabis theme on Papua creates interesting connections, it kind of refers to the Jamaican rasta and reggae culture, but then again it here marks the arising pride of the darker skin colour. So far I have met no real rasta-man.
Satria has worked on Papua for seven years already, mainly as a driver. If he drives a full day he can make about rp EUR β one passenger rp, two passengers rp.
Which means he has about passengers a day. To make the ends meet he has to have at least 70 passengers a day.
If he skips a day or two he has to work harder later on. When Satria came off a boat in Sorong seven years ago he had 30 rp in his pocket. He started from nothing. And in a way he still has nothing. When he joined me on a drive to the red light district in Sorong a day later, he stopped at women standing on the pavement and asked them come on his bus.
