No filthy students despite long sleepovers

No filthy students despite long sleepovers

By Gedsiri Suhartono

JAKARTA (JP): Home is where one's heart is, goes the old
saying. That sense of belonging, for hundreds of Jakarta
university students who have been sleeping over at their
respective campuses to keep up with the swift moving pace of
student movements, is primarily mirrored in their togetherness.
In sharing their idealism, their home is away from home.

"Home means being close to and around friends. Other tools
equating the comfort of a home are secondary," said Dicky, a
third semester student from Tarumanegara University, who for the
past two weeks has been sleeping at various university campuses.

As the night moves slowly into the wee small hours, small
bonding groups, all enmeshed in discussion, were seen around the
Atma Jaya University campus. Others contemplated their chess
boards or tuned up their guitars. A circle of students giving
massage to each other was a familiar sight. Every now and then,
there were glimpses of those flirting with each other.

"What a waste to sleep when I can have fun just hangin' out!"
said Freddy of the Institute of Social and Political Sciences,
who is also a member of the students logistical team.

No wonder, at 9 a.m., on Friday, many bodies were still seen
flopped out at various places on campus. Some had their faces
covered with small towels, used to repel mosquitoes for the
night. Others have their feet covered. Dissembled cardboard boxes
seemed to be the most popular sleeping pad, on the floor or on
benches.

"Wherever feels comfortable, the last place you hang out is
most likely where you would wake up the next morning," Hansen,
20, a student of the School of Economy, Atma Jaya University,
said.

Similar scenes could be seen in the parking lot. There were
certain crowds that surrendered to a mosquito attack at first
strike. They could be seen either packed or paired sleeping in
cars in the parking lot.

Once the campus resumed its wakefulness, flocks of youngsters
with thin towels the size of a hand towel around their necks and
their plastic bags of toiletries could be seen to head for a
quick early wash. Some would race each other to the washroom, and
the losers got to wait. Although generally not too long of a wait
to endure, this loss was reason enough to bang on the door.

Luckily, the washrooms are not so fancy that one felt
comfortable being in there for a long time. "I go in and do my
thing and head out. Ten minutes at the most. At home, I can spend
some 30 minutes rinsing alone," Kiki of the Tarakanita
secretarial college.

Sleepovers are far from appearing filthy. The logistics team,
besides providing meals and snacks, also accommodated student
activists with simple toiletry needs. Soap, toothbrush and
toothpaste, towel (during the demonstration, it was used to
protect one's eyes against the teargas), mosquito repellent,
sanitary napkins, and basic homely, unprescribed drugs like
aspirin and vitamins are given out free for personal use.

Somehow, there are always the odd ones out. "There are some
who come here, expecting that we are a convenience store. They
ask for some fancy item such as razor blades and shaving cream.
Or moisturizing lotion. Then I would say, 'Hey we are in a
warlike situation, kiddo. You better come prepared,'" says the
fair-skinned Mieke. A gentle breeze permeates the air with her
cologne. "I come equipped to groom myself as I would at home.
There are just more friends around for the whole 24 hours," she
continued.

Even in such restricted conditions, hot commodities at the
logistics center ran out fast. Such as cartoon-printed towels.
What came as a surprise was how male students vied with each
other to get their hands on a towel the size of a washcloth with
the picture of KeroKeroKeroppi, a frog animation that is
generally popular among schoolgirls.

"I succeeded in having one part of the kerokerokeroppi towel.
I thought it was cool. Just fun to have it. But a friend ripped
mine in half, because he could not get hold of one," sighed
Hansen.

Considering the longer duration of some students' stay, the
logistics team was also equipped with basic apparel like T-shirts
and shorts, and new, sealed underwear -- for men and women.

"I guess it would be difficult to come up with lingerie. We
would have to provide quite a variety of sizes. Besides, the guys
would have fun mortifying us," Mieke says sheepishly.

Thus far, none has been seen to launder and air-dry these
items on campus. Perhaps too petty a task, or too embarrassing to
display such intimate apparel to the world at large.

"Are you kidding? We're here for greater purposes than to
handle such nitty gritty. I just turn it inside out and wear it
again. Thank goodness, I only had to bear that for three days,"
says Ferry of Atma Jaya University.

Bringing one's apparel for use during the sleepover serves its
purpose. A reminder to visit their primary home and tell their
parents that they are still well, healthy and continuing the
struggle.

"When the underwear runs out, it is time to get fresh items. I
planned it this way otherwise I might not go home for a long
while, having too much fun," Hansen said.

Toilets around some campuses -- in a time of a reasonable
number of users -- remain relatively clean. Decent enough, no
toilet paper of course, to relieve the burden of nature's call.
As long as the twin senses, odor and sight, which judge one's
perception of cleanliness okay the condition, other matters
generally fall into place.

But it would be an entirely different matter when toilet
odors can be detected from miles away, and most likely one would
opt to put on hold that perpetual call of nature.

"Perhaps people were preoccupied with other thoughts and were
not thinking straight. You could smell the toilets from
kilometers away," said Ferry, referring to last week's fiasco of
having thousands of people on the campus compound.

"I held it in for more than 10 hours. Otherwise, I would
probably have ended up throwing up in the bathroom."

Things have become progressively better since the pandemonium.
The university's cleaning service deserves a thumbs-up.
Familiarity and acquiring that sense of place, however, have
their limits. "The toilets are not dirty or unpleasant. I just
can't do it elsewhere but home. So I avoid high-fiber input,
until the day I plan to head home," said Ferry.