《美食祈禱和戀愛》Chapter 83 (194):尤弟來到巴厘島

He and Ann consulted all kinds of lawyers, but nobody knew how to advise them. Before 9/11 there would have been no problems—Yudhi, now married, could just go to the immigra-tion office, update his visa situation and begin the process of gaining citizenship. But now? Who knew? "The laws haven't been tested yet," said the immigration lawyers. "The laws will be tested on you." So Yudhi and his wife had a meeting with a nice immigration official and shared their story. The couple were told that Yudhi was to come back later that same after-noon, for "a second interview." They should have been wary then; Yudhi was strictly instruc-ted to return without his wife, without a lawyer, and carrying nothing in his pockets. Hoping for the best, he did return alone and empty-handed to the second interview—and that's when they arrested him.

他和安妮向各式各樣的律師求教，卻沒有人知道如何給他們建議。九一一之前沒有任何問題——已婚的尤弟只要去移民管理局提供自己的簽證狀況，即可開始申請公民。可是現在？誰知道？"這些法規尚未經過試驗，"移民律師說："現在即將在你身上測試。"於是尤弟和他太太去見了一名客氣的移民官員，敘說他們的故事。這名官員告訴這對夫妻，尤弟當天傍晚必須回來接受"第二次面談"。他們當時應當提高警覺；尤弟被嚴格指示必須單獨前來，不能由妻子或律師陪同，口袋裏不能帶任何東西。尤弟往好處想，確實空手單獨回來接受第二次面談——結果這些政府人員當場逮捕他。

They took him to a detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he stayed for weeks amongst a vast crowd of immigrants, all of whom had recently been arrested under the Homeland Security Act, many of whom had been living and working in America for years, most of whom didn't speak English. Some had been unable to contact their families upon their arrests. They were invisible in the detention center; nobody knew they existed anymore. It took a near-hysterical Ann days to find out where her husband had been taken. What Yudhi remembers most about the detention center was the dozen coal-black, thin and terrified Ni-gerian men who had been found on a freight ship inside a steel shipping crate; they had been hiding in that container at the bottom of that ship for almost a month before they were dis-covered, trying to get to America—or anywhere. They had no idea now where they were. Their eyes were so wide, Yudhi said, it looked like they were still being blinded with spotlights.

他們把他送往新澤西伊麗莎白鎮的拘留所待了數星期。拘留所內有一大羣移民，都是近來在國土安全條款下被捕的，許多人在美國工作、居住多年，多數都不諳英語。有些人被捕時無法與家人聯絡。他們在拘留所是隱形人；沒有人再去留意他們的存在。近乎歇斯底里的安妮，花費數天的時間才得知丈夫的下落。尤弟對於拘留所裏十幾位黑炭般黝黑、消瘦、受驚害怕的尼日利亞人記憶猶新；他們在貨船上的貨櫃箱裏被人發現，他們在船底的貨櫃裏幾乎躲藏了一個月後才被發現，他們企圖來美國——或任何地方。他們根本不清楚如今身在何處。尤弟說，他們的眼睛張得老大，好似仍被探照燈照得頭暈目眩。

After a period of detention, the U.S. government sent my Christian friend Yudhi—now an Islamic terrorist suspect, apparently—back to Indonesia. This was last year. I don't know if he's ever going to be allowed anywhere near America again. He and his wife are still trying to figure out what to do with their lives now; their dreams hadn't called for living out their lives in Indonesia.

拘留期過後，美國政府將我的基督教徒朋友尤弟——如今顯然是伊斯蘭恐怖分子嫌疑犯——遣送回印尼。這是去年的事。我不知道他是否允許再靠近美國。他和他的妻子如今仍在設法處置他們的生活；他們的夢想並不能讓自己生活在印尼。

Unable to cope with Jakarta's slums after having lived in the first world, Yudhi came to Bali to see if he could make a living here, though he's having trouble being accepted into this soci-ety because he isn't Balinese—he's from Java. And the Balinese don't like the Javanese one bit, thinking of them all as thieves and beggars. So Yudhi encounters more prejudice here—in his own nation of Indonesia—than he ever did back in New York. He doesn't know what to do next. Maybe his wife, Ann, will come and join him here. Then again—maybe not. What's here for her? Their young marriage, conducted now entirely by e-mail, is on the rocks. He's so out of place here, so disoriented. He's more of an American than he is anything else; Yudhi and I use the same slang, we talk about our favorite restaurants in New York and we like all the same movies. He comes over to my house in the evenings and I get him beers and he plays me the most amazing songs on his guitar. I wish he were famous. If there was any fairness, he would be so famous by now.

在文明世界住過之後，尤弟無法接受爪哇的貧民窟，於是來巴厘島看看能否在此地謀生，儘管來自爪哇的他因爲不是巴厘島人的關係，其實不易被這個社會接納。巴厘島人一點也不喜歡爪哇人，認爲他們全是盜賊和乞丐。因此尤弟在自己的祖國印尼，比在紐約時遭遇更多歧視。他不知道接下來如何是好。或許他的妻子安妮會過來和他會合，也或許不會。她在這兒能做什麼呢？他們如今只仰賴電子郵件溝通，婚姻岌岌可危。他在此地如此迷茫，如此疏離。他身爲美國人的部分超過其他人；尤弟和我使用相同的俚語，我們談論我們在紐約最愛的飯館，我們喜愛相同的電影。他在傍晚時分到我的屋子找我，我請他喝啤酒，他彈奏美妙的吉他曲子。我希望他成名。假如世界公平的話，他現在應當成名。

He says, "Dude—why is life all crazy like this?" Eat, Pray, Love

他說："老兄——人生何以如此瘋狂？"