On the second day at the island, Halley and I were walking along the beach when a group of locals began calling to us. Since the majority of the locals do not speak English and we do not speak Indonesian, hand gestures were often used to communicate. The locals motioned us over and after some greetings, my first response was "No Rupiah"( Rupiah is the Indonesian currency). The locals laughed and informed us that they were not trying to sell anything but wanted us to eat lunch with their family. The family was very large with around thirty people in and around the tent.
We agreed and followed them to their eating area. The eating "tent" was a structure with no walls, a blue tarp roof, and a clear tarp floor. Inside the tent was a table on one side with large plastic containers holding food, and on the other side was a log covered by a tarp to sit on.
Lunch was yellow rice with cooked fish and a very spicy pepper sauce. We were given wicker basket plates lined with a piece of paper and were motioned to serve ourselves.
We realized that no one in the tent was wearing shoes and there was a pile of sandals outside so we took our shoes off and entered assuming that was customary. After serving ourselves, we sat on the log in the tent and were motioned to eat even though no one else had a plate. We insisted that they eat with us but in their culture the guests eat first. It was quite an experience to eat while a group of people watched and took pictures, but the delicious food was well worth it.