Culture

Lampungnese has distinguished characteristics that make them unique from other tribes in Indonesia. These characteristics are known as Pi’il, Nyeruit, and Sebambangan. Pi’il, the most obvious characteristic among all, is the condition when these people show their self-esteem and pride in front of others which is dealing with their wealth and position. For instance, Lampungnese will pretend as if they were rich although they are actually live in poverty. They wear their best clothes anywhere they go, put on all jewelleries which are sometimes imitation ones, and even rent a car just to be seen prestigious. They also tend to blow up their high position in the society whenever they have a chance. For Lampungnese, it is important to make people believe that they are rich because it serves as their effort to gain people’s trust, especially for women. The richer and beautiful the women are, the better their social standing since they are able to attract rich men to marry them. Nyeruit represents their eating tradition. In Nyeruit, Lampungnese will prepare special dishes, such as sambal terasi or chilli sauce, boiled vegetable, fried fish, and rice. By using hands, those ingredients will be mixed together in one plate, and it is eaten together with the rice. Nyeruit is usually held in one special occasion such as in a family or social gathering. They will sit on a floor or on a chair, pull their knees up to their chest, and speak even laugh aloud while eating. These eating habits may be considered impolite in the perspective of other cultures such as Javanese culture. The most interesting part of Lampungenese culture is Sebambangan which is also known as elopement. It happens for two reasons. First, it happens when the love between a man and woman gets no approval from the woman’s family due to particular reasons such as his educational background, and lack of wealth. Second, it happens when a man loves the girl very much, but the girl does not. In this case, this man