No filthy students despite long sleepovers<\/p>\n
By Gedsiri Suhartono<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Home is where one's heart is, goes the old
\nsaying. That sense of belonging, for hundreds of Jakarta
\nuniversity students who have been sleeping over at their
\nrespective campuses to keep up with the swift moving pace of
\nstudent movements, is primarily mirrored in their togetherness.
\nIn sharing their idealism, their home is away from home.<\/p>\n
\"Home means being close to and around friends. Other tools
\nequating the comfort of a home are secondary,\" said Dicky, a
\nthird semester student from Tarumanegara University, who for the
\npast two weeks has been sleeping at various university campuses.<\/p>\n
As the night moves slowly into the wee small hours, small
\nbonding groups, all enmeshed in discussion, were seen around the
\nAtma Jaya University campus. Others contemplated their chess
\nboards or tuned up their guitars. A circle of students giving
\nmassage to each other was a familiar sight. Every now and then,
\nthere were glimpses of those flirting with each other.<\/p>\n
\"What a waste to sleep when I can have fun just hangin' out!\"
\nsaid Freddy of the Institute of Social and Political Sciences,
\nwho is also a member of the students logistical team.<\/p>\n
No wonder, at 9 a.m., on Friday, many bodies were still seen
\nflopped out at various places on campus. Some had their faces
\ncovered with small towels, used to repel mosquitoes for the
\nnight. Others have their feet covered. Dissembled cardboard boxes
\nseemed to be the most popular sleeping pad, on the floor or on
\nbenches.<\/p>\n
\"Wherever feels comfortable, the last place you hang out is
\nmost likely where you would wake up the next morning,\" Hansen,
\n20, a student of the School of Economy, Atma Jaya University,
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Similar scenes could be seen in the parking lot. There were
\ncertain crowds that surrendered to a mosquito attack at first
\nstrike. They could be seen either packed or paired sleeping in
\ncars in the parking lot.<\/p>\n
Once the campus resumed its wakefulness, flocks of youngsters
\nwith thin towels the size of a hand towel around their necks and
\ntheir plastic bags of toiletries could be seen to head for a
\nquick early wash. Some would race each other to the washroom, and
\nthe losers got to wait. Although generally not too long of a wait
\nto endure, this loss was reason enough to bang on the door.<\/p>\n
Luckily, the washrooms are not so fancy that one felt
\ncomfortable being in there for a long time. \"I go in and do my
\nthing and head out. Ten minutes at the most. At home, I can spend
\nsome 30 minutes rinsing alone,\" Kiki of the Tarakanita
\nsecretarial college.<\/p>\n
Sleepovers are far from appearing filthy. The logistics team,
\nbesides providing meals and snacks, also accommodated student
\nactivists with simple toiletry needs. Soap, toothbrush and
\ntoothpaste, towel (during the demonstration, it was used to
\nprotect one's eyes against the teargas), mosquito repellent,
\nsanitary napkins, and basic homely, unprescribed drugs like
\naspirin and vitamins are given out free for personal use.<\/p>\n
Somehow, there are always the odd ones out. \"There are some
\nwho come here, expecting that we are a convenience store. They
\nask for some fancy item such as razor blades and shaving cream.
\nOr moisturizing lotion. Then I would say, 'Hey we are in a
\nwarlike situation, kiddo. You better come prepared,'\" says the
\nfair-skinned Mieke. A gentle breeze permeates the air with her
\ncologne. \"I come equipped to groom myself as I would at home.
\nThere are just more friends around for the whole 24 hours,\" she
\ncontinued.<\/p>\n
Even in such restricted conditions, hot commodities at the
\nlogistics center ran out fast. Such as cartoon-printed towels.
\nWhat came as a surprise was how male students vied with each
\nother to get their hands on a towel the size of a washcloth with
\nthe picture of KeroKeroKeroppi, a frog animation that is
\ngenerally popular among schoolgirls.<\/p>\n
\"I succeeded in having one part of the kerokerokeroppi towel.
\nI thought it was cool. Just fun to have it. But a friend ripped
\nmine in half, because he could not get hold of one,\" sighed
\nHansen.<\/p>\n
Considering the longer duration of some students' stay, the
\nlogistics team was also equipped with basic apparel like T-shirts
\nand shorts, and new, sealed underwear -- for men and women.<\/p>\n
\"I guess it would be difficult to come up with lingerie. We
\nwould have to provide quite a variety of sizes. Besides, the guys
\nwould have fun mortifying us,\" Mieke says sheepishly.<\/p>\n
Thus far, none has been seen to launder and air-dry these
\nitems on campus. Perhaps too petty a task, or too embarrassing to
\ndisplay such intimate apparel to the world at large.<\/p>\n
\"Are you kidding? We're here for greater purposes than to
\nhandle such nitty gritty. I just turn it inside out and wear it
\nagain. Thank goodness, I only had to bear that for three days,\"
\nsays Ferry of Atma Jaya University.<\/p>\n
Bringing one's apparel for use during the sleepover serves its
\npurpose. A reminder to visit their primary home and tell their
\nparents that they are still well, healthy and continuing the
\nstruggle.<\/p>\n
\"When the underwear runs out, it is time to get fresh items. I
\nplanned it this way otherwise I might not go home for a long
\nwhile, having too much fun,\" Hansen said.<\/p>\n
Toilets around some campuses -- in a time of a reasonable
\nnumber of users -- remain relatively clean. Decent enough, no
\ntoilet paper of course, to relieve the burden of nature's call.
\nAs long as the twin senses, odor and sight, which judge one's
\nperception of cleanliness okay the condition, other matters
\ngenerally fall into place.<\/p>\n
But it would be an entirely different matter when toilet
\nodors can be detected from miles away, and most likely one would
\nopt to put on hold that perpetual call of nature.<\/p>\n
\"Perhaps people were preoccupied with other thoughts and were
\nnot thinking straight. You could smell the toilets from
\nkilometers away,\" said Ferry, referring to last week's fiasco of
\nhaving thousands of people on the campus compound.<\/p>\n
\"I held it in for more than 10 hours. Otherwise, I would
\nprobably have ended up throwing up in the bathroom.\"<\/p>\n
Things have become progressively better since the pandemonium.
\nThe university's cleaning service deserves a thumbs-up.
\nFamiliarity and acquiring that sense of place, however, have
\ntheir limits. \"The toilets are not dirty or unpleasant. I just
\ncan't do it elsewhere but home. So I avoid high-fiber input,
\nuntil the day I plan to head home,\" said Ferry.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-filthy-students-despite-long-sleepovers-1447893297",
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