Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Whew, happy holidays.

On Tuesday, I taught my last class before the holidays! Yay! While I love my job, I am very ready for a vacation (I know, I know, I’ve already had vacations..). On Friday, ten of us are going to a nearby lake for the holidays. It’s higher in the mountains, so a bit chillier in order to somehow mimic the winter holiday feeling. Lake Toba is a twelve hour bus ride and a two hour car ride away, and I’m very excited. My whole house is going, plus Jesse, Carlos, and a few other friends. We’re staying at a hotel attached to a German bakery that includes breakfast, which I can only hope means pastries every morning.
On Sunday, we had a little holiday celebration of our own. We lit candles on coconuts, and Sarah and I cooked latkes, peroshkies, gingered carrots, green beans, and a blintz casserole. It was all delicious, and even better as leftovers. Tomorrow we’re going to a friend’s house for Christmas brunch and then spending the afternoon baking cookies with our Acehnese women friends. So, it’s the holidays full of food as usual.
Life here has been busy as usual. I still feel like I’m not completely settled in (mainly because our house is constantly under construction) but I’m definitely getting to know Aceh more. Carlos and I spent the day at the beach on Monday, which was completely deserted and beautiful. We ate freshly caught and barbecued fish in a wooden hut, read, and splashed around in the turquoise water. It was a pretty great day. On Tuesday, Sarah and I went to aerobics. I’d heard stories about this wonderful class, but this was the first time I’d actually experienced it. I’ve never seen so much spandex outside of an ‘80’s workout tape. It was pretty incredible and I plan on going weekly. I myself wore purple spandex tights (recycled from Halloween) and a tank top and felt overdressed. It was amazing to see the transformation from fully clothed and covered Acehnese women to sweaty barely clothed aerobics women. I learn something new here everyday.
Happy Holidays!

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Saturday, December 13, 2008

Just a little quieter- but only on the surface.

Since the last time I wrote I have:
-Gone to Sabong (a city on the island an hour from Banda Aceh) for some nice swimming and some yoga (really, I know...)
-Had a fantastic Thanksgiving at our house with Acehnese and foreign friends (four pies, two chickens, stuffing, corn, rolls...mmmm)
-Gone to Jakarta to meet up with Carlos, and have a great weekend exploring a city that is intimidating large. Ten million people live in that city!
-Come back to Banda Aceh to find the addition on our house almost completed, but potentially incapable of housing Jesse because of gender and community dynamics...
-Found out who the two new fellows for next year will be! Wow! Looking forward to meeting you Patrick Hung and Sarah Willis.
-Started teaching again, though only theoretically because the one-day national religious holiday becomes over a week long, culturally.
-Helped Carlos move to three different homes in slightly over a week.
-Gone back to that same island, but to the other side, for the extended holiday to experience beautiful snorkeling, a leaky roof, lots and lots of mosquitoes, and the most beautiful balcony view I’ve yet to see- from a hammock.

So now here I am, half an hour from a literature class I haven’t taught in three weeks because of extended religious and personal holidays, with only five out of my 17 students actually showing up (because they’ve decided the holidays are even longer, I suppose). So much has changed, as usual, in this short period of time. I’m exploring Banda Aceh all over again (not that I’d nearly figured it out yet) this time with Carlos. Things are quieter and calmer with a male friend around. We still get stares, but certainly less heckling and honking horns. During that first week with him here, I’d forgotten how difficult Banda could be for a woman alone. It wasn’t until a couple days ago that I walked around alone again, and was reminded of just how noisy and harsh it can sometimes be. Unfortunately, just because things seem quieter with Carlos (or Jesse, or any other man next to me), it only means that all those words become quiet whispers behind closed doors and windows. These whispers, though, always find their way back around, and I’m realizing that being open about a relationship here, doesn’t necessarily make it easier. This is a learning experience for everyone that we are definitely starting to figure out. As with everything, though, it takes time.
I will admit that timing is simultaneously good and bad. It happens that right around now there is quite a bit of vacation time. In two more weeks, it’ll be Christmas, and New Years, which means two more weeks of vacation. About two weeks after that is the semester break. All this means a lot of travel time potentially out of Banda Aceh. However, right now, is also a fairly critically time at home. Catherine moved out the week I left for Jakarta, but also right after they’d started construction on Jesse’s new home- a two-room addition to our home. The trouble with this is that it is quite untypical to have unmarried men and women living together- many foreign NGO workers have successfully done this, but by isolating themselves in foreigner dominated neighborhoods. Each Acehnese neighborhood has community head (the gajik) whose job it is to protect each person and to function as a mediator. It was our duty to report to this person as new members and, more importantly, this person should have approved the construction of Jesse’s “separate”- yet connected- home. While it has been quite some time since these things were somewhat neglected, reparations are in process. And, hopefully, everything will work out in the end- especially since next year we will definitely have another male fellow coming to join us.
As usual, things in Aceh are exciting, challenging, and ever changing. It is rainy season in Aceh. While this translates to wetter, cooler weather, the rain’s power to bring life is evident all around- in the plant life that is flourishing (we have a small vegetable garden that’s growing quickly) and in the baby animals all around. The seasons are changing, and life here adapts- for people included.

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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Indonesia Phenomenon

This title is only partly true. More accurately, there seems to be an American phenomenon concerning family. While in America, I’ve always enjoyed my independence, and touted myself as someone who needs “alone time.” And while I would never relinquish my moments of solitude, anywhere in the world, my appreciation and desire for a close family is never greater than when I am away. It seems to be a truly American phenomenon where each member of the family is off on their own for most hours of the day and night and weekly or monthly phone calls become more than sufficient contact. Very rarely have I met families who call each other daily (or several times daily). Instead, this has become some quaint quality in “traditional” families (and yet something quaint is never so desired as to be adopted by the majority). But abroad- while my experience is admittedly limited- everyone else seems to understand that family is really the most important of human relationships. I will not allow this observation to hang so close to the surface as to ignore that yes, there are bad families. If a wife wants to leave an abusive husband, she might be successful, or because family is everything here, she may lose it all- home, pride, respect, and children. But in a very traditional family, if one is lucky enough to still have parents and grandparents, there is always help to go to, and chances are all of those family members still live nearby if not on the same property. How lucky to be able to walk ten yards and be welcomed by your mother- and only ten more to find your grandmother. I’ve been told numerous times that to have a small family here would just be lonely. People scoff at the idea of permanently moving somewhere more than a days drive from their parents. All of this is so against an American perspective of the ideal family unit where family members spread the continent, if not the world. What is interesting, though, is that even though all the Americans I meet here are just as independent as I am, we all have this shared nostalgia for a past American culture we never actually saw. I love my new life here, if only Indonesia was next door to Reno. Sometimes this world seems much too small, but right now it seems awfully large.

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Monday, November 3, 2008

Since I’ve been in Aceh...

While I will not claim that my entire lifestyle has changed since moving to Banda Aceh, my perspective on living it is quite different. For the first time in a very long while, I have a permanent home for two consecutive years. Everything I buy is an investment into this space that I will be inhabiting and helping to improve, and making it into truly my space. I also realize that every subsequent year others will also live here, and at one point, I no longer will. But for the time being, I can buy plants, and put them in a garden, I can buy kitchen equipment knowing I’ll want it for years. I have a job and a contract for that job, and so automatically have a semi-permanent position – and purpose. Because I started teaching only days after I’d arrived, I was thrown into the lifestyle I will effectively maintain for quite some time. Consequently, even though I only today found a shop five minutes away from my house, I feel as though I’ve been here for months and months. It amazes me that I’ve only been here a few weeks.
Since moving to Aceh, I’ve gained ten years, which still makes me ten or twenty years younger than my literature students- my very favorite class. My youngest students are only 18 and 19 and also loads of fun. These students are just beginning their college career and eager to discuss anything they can possibly find the vocabulary for expressing- dating, religion, governmental corruption, and the latest fashion. I also teach new teachers, and while this class is an intensive and free course for teachers who want to eventually pursue their masters, these classes are notoriously poorly attended. In the past two weeks, though, my class size has doubled. I can only hope this is because they are entertained and learning, and not just because their schedules freed up. In any case, it’s nice to have new faces- even if they are several weeks, and continuously at least twenty minutes late.
More to come later...

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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Don't forget to shower!

A friend reminded me of this story I wanted to share, a bit of insight. In America we like to make small talk with things like "how are you?" "what's new?" In Indonesia, people also like to ask if you've bathed yet. It really is just in passing, but here most people do shower twice a day (you can get pretty hot and sticky). This question, though more just for chit chat, can sometimes be embarrassing if you answer honestly and, well, just don't feel like bathing yet again. Anyway, here in Aceh, we give our students our cell phone numbers for assignment questions, resulting in some pretty humorous text messages. The second day of school, I received, "Hello Miss Michelle, have you bathed yet?" I decided it would be more professional not to reply...

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Coffee and Mango Scones

This morning Sarah and I woke up just before six to go on a short run through the neighborhood. The sun was still rising, the sky still cloudy from a night of rain. Only mothers and polite men are up this early, making for a peaceful run. I did my first attempt at baking here today and am now enjoying my scone from our own mango tree and that of a friend. The coffee I’m drinking Sarah roasted herself on a trip to Flores. Maybe the butter is imported, but otherwise, this is a pretty local breakfast. Perhaps more importantly, waking up to run and actually having the time and energy to bake, makes me feel like I’ve really settled in here. Yes, I still need to study a map and have yet to see the ocean (which I think is only 15 minutes away), but all these things will come with time. Sarah says there’s a three-week settling in period, so I still get another week and a half...

I always hoped I’d get to have loungey breakfasts with scone and coffee in hand, listening to music and looking out at the greenery. But I hadn’t imagined they’d be coconut trees and tropical plants, and the paper in my hand would be mostly for show-since I can’t quite read it just yet.

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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Creating Home

I've been in Banda Aceh one week today! After vacation I had one day in Yogya before I set off for Aceh. That one day was spent doing all sorts of shopping and errand running in preparation, but also just enjoying the city for one last day (until next time that is). While I do feel busy here, I'm not overwhelmed and am really enjoying getting to know the city, little by little. I live in a beautiful house with three other women: Kristy (a volunteer for the American group Volunteers in Asia, she's teaching at a high school run by the University here), Catherine (an Austrailian anthropologist doing research for her PhD), and Sarah (the other Shansi fellow already here for a year). We all, unsurprisingly, get along very well and last night spent the evening doing yoga together in our living room... The house itself has four bedrooms, one real bathroom, a kitchen, and even a screened sitting room facing our lush back yard. Pretty soon, we'll be setting up a garden. Our house is also five minutes from classes by foot which is amazingly convenient.
While everyone seemed to think Aceh would be an enormous shock, I feel I'm settling in really comfortably. I'm sure this is mostly because of my two cofellows, Sarah and Jesse, and their amazing advice and willingness to explain just about everything. I also recognize that I have yet to do much more than work and sit at home, so have much exploring and learning to do. Living with a researcher and teacher who have been here a year has been enormously helpful and interesting in providing varied perspectives. I get to hear all about the political climate and little cultural facets I'd definitely never hear about if my housemate's job wasn't to constantly observe, record, and critically analyze.
As usual, life is always exciting. My second or third day here was a tremendous event in Indonesian history. Hasan di Tiro (possibly misspelling..) returned to Aceh for the first time in decades. The exiled head of the separatist movement, his return is mostly a symbol of Aceh's newly found stabilization (whew). While I couldn't make it to his speech, we did take a walk the night before to find the streets packed with people planning to camp out, that's how excited the city was.
As for teaching, I started on Monday, and my work week ends on Saturday. I'm teaching three speaking classes -each meets twice a week- and one literature class (yay!). My students range from first year undergraduates to professors, so I really have the whole range which is super interesting and fun.
Of course, I could go on for pages about all the interesting nuances of life here, but I'll save that for later... oh, and pictures soon from vacation and from Aceh (my battery charger never arrived, but Sarah coincidentally has the same charger, yippee!!!) .

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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Ramadan Party time!

I apologize that I have so far neglected to talk about Ramadan here in Yogya, and, well, I'm going to leave it out just a bit longer. Today we're leaving for Nusapaneda, an island off of Bali, for a week of internet-free, nature-filled vacation. Ramadan is nearing an end, so everyone is off to visit family and friends and celebrate this Muslim holdiay while we'll be in Bali celebrating an important Hindu one instead. I'll be back on the 1st, and photos are coming!

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Saturday, September 20, 2008

One more week, it's a flip-flop.

I have only one more week left in Yogyakarta before I head out for a bit a travel and then for my move to Banda Aceh. My time here as been pretty amazing , and I've learned so much about language, life, and culture. As with anywhere, the location in which you learn colors the experience. This is particularly true here where Javanese culture and pride permeates most everything. Pretty soon I'll get to find out if all those little things I thought were Indonesian were really just a matter of island. Not only will I be reconfiguring my own stereotypes but matching up those of Indonesians here in Yogya as well. I've gotten to hear a wide variety of Aceh praise and criticism. Most good things I've heard have to do with the food which is supposed to be incredibly fresh, seafood based, and wildly spicy. The negative is really centered around religion. A lot of people here seem somewhat afraid to even visit there for fear of being subjected to Sharia law. I've been able to explain that when I'm there I won't have to wear a veil, but I don't know the situation for Javanese people. I believe if your identification card (which has a mandatory section for religion) says your are Muslim, then you must abide by these laws, even if you are a Muslim from another island. However, every person I've heard say something negative about Banda Aceh has never actually been there and every foreigner who has loves it. My current expectations are to build my spice tolerance, drink a lot of very good coffee, eat even more fish, enjoy the nearby beaches and countryside, and have to work to keep up with their faster paced Indonesian.

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Friday, September 12, 2008

Tongue Tied

Try this new one: Kaki kaka kakekku kaku-kaku = The knee of the brother of my grandfather is stiff.
plural: Kaki-kaki kaka-kaka kakek-kakekku kaku-kaku....

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Thursday, September 11, 2008

Who needs help?

This is a quick entry as I’m a bit in a rush. But, I finally got some answers to a long-standing question of mine. Here in Yogyakarta, most homes have servants- or house helpers (pambantus)- usually live-in. In my homestay there are two permanant people and two who seem to come in and out. Though the legal working age is 15, pambantus often are even younger. If they live there, they are on duty 24hours a day, even during Ramadan. I have been wondering what would make a child or teenager be a pambantu if even as a homeless kid they could receive some kind of free public education and housing. Today I had a long conversation with one of my language teachers who explained that to be a street kid could have an even worse reputation and a pretty terrible quality of life, presumably in the children’s shelters. Pambantus occasionally are permitted to go to school, but usually just work until married (this applies to woman only I think). When I asked how someone who works 24hrs a day could possibly find a spouse, she told me there are pambantu communities that put on a variety of activities including meetings about worker’s rights and equality. My teacher’s husband is a professor of gender and worker’s rights at one of the Universities here and was invited to lecture at one of these meetings. Her own one pambantu lives in a separate house with pretty self defined work hours. While we agreed that this system of hired help is much better (which means I can’t blame this bias totally on my western mindset!), I will admit that the pambantus at my homestay seem like part of the family, albeit a very hardworking part. But there’s no denying that whether or not they are part of the family this also means they’re not at school, and instead of reading or drawing or gossiping on the phone, they’re cleaning and working from early morning to late at night.

Here’s short grammar lesson too:

Tanda Tangan = signature
Me+ tanda tangan + i = menandatangani = to sign many things
Me + tanda tangan + kan = manandatangankan = to sign for someone

This is what makes my head want to explode...

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Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Smile like a Bule.

So I know that I smile a lot and that it’s pretty easy to make me laugh. Turns out, this is internationally true. Here in Indonesia, I was told that I am different from the foreigners because I smile a lot and all the foreigners look grumpy and upset, or at least not that happy. But today I realized that, just like all the other foreigners, when I am alone and walking around town, I look at the ground, avoid eye contact, and rarely smile. I ignore hellos in English altogether or respond in Indonesian, seeing even simple greetings as a subtle harassment because I am foreign, I am a bule (pronounced buleh). I do all these things because I do not want to attract attention-usually male- and because in other countries I’ve learned that simple eye contact can mean flirting. But thanks to my Indonesian friend, I realized that we’ve all created a negative cycle where the foreigners are scared to smile and then the locals just think we’re unfriendly and unhappy. I was advised to smile more and let myself be comfortable. I did mention that usually my fear is more acute at night when there are men around, and my fears of that were confirmed. He said that if harassed I should feel free to use force (my friend knows I played rugby). I shouldn’t really ever be out alone in the dark anyway and I’m not for the most part (it also gets dark here at about 6pm though so on occasion it’s unavoidable). Since this conversation I’ve been trying out this new tactic of being at least somewhat friendlier, and less worried. So far so good.
On a side note, I went to another Jatilan, and this time we got to sit on stage. It was amazing, and way scarier than the sidelines. I also got pulled into the dance – something that usually happens to men. I had a suspicion that by sitting right up front I’d be pulled in and then, well, there I was, terrified, not knowing what to do with a hundred eyes on me. The dancer had his scarf around me and mostly I just stood there looking scared, I have no idea how a woman is supposed to behave in that situation. Eventually I was released and ran back to my sit. My friend got a couple photos of me looking like a scared tourist; I’ll put those up soon.
I’ve been spending some time a bit outside the city in a farm area, which has been a relief. Though only fifteen minutes from my house, the air is cleaner, everything is quieter, and there are delicious tomatoes and peanuts to eat. I also got another driving lesson there away from traffic. Yesterday, though, I drove in the city for the first time, and while no one was injured, I did accidentally pop a wheelie...

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Friday, August 29, 2008

Stardom, part II

I forgot to mention that I had my movie debut last Thursday. A group of college students were making a movie and brochure to promote tourism at a beach not too far from Yogya, and I got to be the star tourist. They picked me up at my homestay and we drove nearly an hour on motorbikes to the beach. Once there, they described to me the purpose and reasons for the project.
This beach was destroyed in the earthquake and tsunami two years ago and has failed to recover its main income source. The local government is still rebuilding and has already moved homes and businesses further back as well as repaved roads and walkways, but the tourists just aren’t coming. The students spent all summer here studying tourism and trying to find ways to help the village. I tried to ask if they had studied the negative side affects of rampant tourism, particularly on beaches (I was thinking now of my housemate Tomo who’s studying the negative affects of ecotourism in Bali), but that was something the program had failed to mention in the slightest. But, who am I to question the biggest income source of a region, or for that matter, this country.
We spent a couple hours at the beach, mostly eating. I got to splash around in the water, and get my feet wet and sandy. The ocean here is actually far too dangerous for swimming, but, as a tourist, I really enjoyed it. The area is surrounded by jutting mountains and green cliffs, sporting tall trees and the occasional abandoned hotel. Sometime in the next month, I’d like to spend some time there napping and basking in the calm that the ocean always seems to provide. All three of the students had varying opinions on the beach- one of them loved it and has spent much time watching the sun set and rise, another hates the beach claiming it to be just too hot (I couldn’t help wondering how he’d possibly survived 20 years in Indonesia), the third liked it well enough, but none of them had ever been swimming, I’m not even sure if they’d swam in a pool. But I suppose that’s what happens when you grow up next to an ocean whose warm waves are deadly.
On the path leading to the ocean there was an expanse of sand that Latif-one of the students- explained could be found no where else. This particular spot is used once a year, at the end of Ramidan, as a massive prayer site. He says sometimes 200 people are there praying together.
As for the food, on the beach we bought a fruit salad called rujak. It is comprised of papaya, cucumber, unripe mango, pineapple, some type of root, and a fruit that is cousins with the guava. Over all of this was a sauce called samballote made of tamarind and some other things that I’m not quite clear on. It created this mixture of spicy, sweet, sour, bitter, and peppery that was at times delicious and at times undesirable. After this we headed to another beach that I never really saw because we went expressly for a fish restaurant. We had barbeque fish and deep fried shrimp, all of which was delicious. Apparently that beach, though known to be the most dangerous, is a fish market so the fish we ate had been caught that morning. If you’re there when the markets are still open, you can choose your own fish and take it to the restaurant of your choice to be cooked up to your preference. And all for just a couple of dollars.

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And we’re all doing Hash in the Mountains.

Last Saturday, Maya and I joined a running group called the Yogyakarta Hash Harriers. Hash, as I’ve come to understand, was first started in the U.K. and is now internationally infamous; wherever there are expats you’ll find some Hashers. Pretty much, it’s a group of people who find trails to run and after the run circle up to chug beverages and sing songs- not too far off from Rugby it would seem. While this particular group used to be comprised of 80% foreigners, 20% locals, it is now reversed-Maya and I and were two of the three foreigners. This weekend we went up to Merapi and ran around 7 km at a leisurely pace. We ran through farms and forest, and even crossed over streams on rocks and bamboo bridges (bridge is really quite generous here). Every weekend there are three courses, and Hash becomes a family event. All the mothers and their kids walk the short course, some of the men do the medium, course, and the older experienced hashers run the long course, which meant Maya and I ran with all the men who debated every turn in the course in Javanese. All in all, it was beautiful and entertaining. I ran by tropical flowers, banana plantations, rice patties, soybean plants, peppers, corn, and a bunch of stuff that I asked the name of but have no idea what it actually was.
After the run, we circled up and chugged iced tea in the middle of the circle (there was some beer as well, but mostly just tea and soda). People were made to drink if they had committed such crimes as being newcomers, visitors, not wearing a hashing shirt (we qualified for all of these) crossing your arms in front of you, not wearing a shirt at all, wearing green or blue shoes, and having a birthday. This weekend there is a normal hash run on Saturday and a super long run on Sunday (20k), I want to make it to one of these but I’m not sure which one.
Sunday, I went to my third Jahtilan. I think I’m starting to recognize dancers. This time, there were only men, but quite a few. It started at noon and ended around 6pm, I arrived around four. Interesting things to note at this Jahtilan: a dancer at one point was brought in on what looked like a slatted coffin. Towards the end fluorescent light tubes were brought out and mostly smashed about, though one dancer insisted on eating a couple. This time, I went with a friend who knew one of the shamans and explained a little more like how the incense lit were a special kind to attract the devil. I’d really like to do some reading on this, but I’m told most of the literature on Jahtilan is written in Javanese and what little else there written is in Indonesian. Hopefully, I’ll keep going and understand a little more everything. Luckily, there’s another next week. As far as I can tell, Jahtilan is unique to Java, though styles vary all over the island. I’m going to try to see as many as I can in this last month here.
Sunday night, I went to my first wayang (puppet) show. This was a traditional version based on the Rumainya. It was held at a community center and had a full gamelan orchestra accompanying the puppeteer. Because this was a traditional wayang performance, it started around ten pm and went on until early in the morning (sometimes as late as five am!). We stayed for about an hour as it’s really rather slow in the beginning- I think in a bit over an hour, three puppet came on and moved their wrists maybe five times. Like most events here, this was all in Javanese. Maybe someday there will be a Wayang on a weekend night and I’ll pack up my coffee and ambition and stay all night.

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Hip-Hop, what?

Sunday, August 17 was Independence Day here in the Republic of Indonesia. To celebrate, I headed to Malioboro, one of the main roads in town and also one of the main tourist areas. It’s right near the Palace and so there was a lot going on. Yamaha sponsored a festival where there were several stages and fair booths. There were also a few marching band performances consisting of super coordinated six year olds playing drums and twirling flags. Emma and I wandered around for awhile, enjoying the sight of touristy Indonesians coming together in a way that parallels America’s fourth of July. Neighborhoods had their own celebrations with food and games not so far off from our BBQs. Sunday night we went out to a concert with a pretty famous band from Jakarta. Like most concerts here, there were probably eight or so bands performing, each with very short sets. My favorite was a group called The Risky Summer Bee and the Honey Thief (a lot of bands here have English names). They had some really talented musicians with a blues, jazz, and punk vibe. The headlining band was okay. They didn’t seem to be anything too special, but they did succeed in doing something I hadn’t yet seen here. They got the entire crowd up and dancing, it was great! I’ve been to several concerts here and usually everyone just sits on the ground, occasionally nodding heads along to the beat. But this time, people were jumping around; there was even some crowd surfing.
But Monday night was really different. We headed out to a venue called the Padepokan who was hosting some sort of a Java cultural event. We had seen a flier for a hip-hop concert and headed out. When we got there, we realized we were in for something spectacularly different. Giant human and creature puppets were all over the place-hanging from trees, on top of buildings, and lining the sidewalk. A gamelan orchestra was preparing to play when we arrived. They played in the lower class style which is considerably faster than what I’d heard before which was the upper class style for the Sultan. Jahtilan (trance dance) dancers came on and performed a choreographed and fast paced Jahtilan dance that was not only men and women, but also included children. No one was actually in a trance here, but just demonstrating a Jahtilan style. Next, another style of Jahtilan incorporating masks was performed. This time an older man was really entranced and ended up eating a glass and a vase. After the Jahtilan, the crowd ran to a middle stage where there was a life-size puppet show. Unfortunately, it was all in Javanese, but the puppets were still entertaining. Next, we all moved to a third stage where there was a comedy act (also in Javanese). After that, everyone shuffled to the last stage where there was another music performance this time with electric violin, cello (plucked, no bow), keyboards, percussion, and vocalists. Finally, after all this, the Jogja Hip Hop Foundation came on. Almost immediately, all the families left leaving only the hip-hop fans. The first group rapped about the importance of traditional puppets as life moral lessons for the Javanese. The next groups, though, were much cruder- or so I gathered from their style. Again, it was all in Javanese, so I only understood what was told to me by our Javanese friend. Probably the most surprising, though, was when a dangdung singer came on stage and joined in. Dangdung is an Indonesian pop style that’s pretty racy. She was very scantily clad and danced in a way I never ever thought I would see here. Luckily, she only sang one song and then climbed back off stage. I think a small portion of the audience was as scandalized and surprised as we were; the rest of the crowd went wild. The hip-hop otherwise was pretty great. It was really interesting to see such a mix of the traditional and modern. Several of the hip-hop artists were dressed in batik shirts and using traditional headscarves as mock do-rags. Interestingly enough, the day before I’d seen those head wraps sold on the street and thought they were do-rags marketed towards tourists, only to be corrected by Emma... Just like the puppets, Jahtilan, and Gamelan, the Javanese hip-hop was included and recognized as part of Javanese culture, something to be proud of and to celebrate with on the birthday of the nation.

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Saturday, August 16, 2008

Change in the Homestay

I've come to realize that my home stay is a business all its own, a hub for foreigners coming from one adventure and quickly moving on to the next. When I moved in there were three of us. Last week, Zara, the Australian, moved out to begin her two year post in Jakarta doing translation work. The day she left an American my age, Heather, moved in for two weeks of language study before heading out to another part of Indonesia where she'll be for one year. The day after another woman, Christie, also an American with the same program as Heather (Volunteers in Asia-VIA) moved in. She'll also be in Aceh, teaching in a high school next door to the University where I'll be teaching. Immediately following Christie, Ernie moved in. Ernie is originally Malaysian, but has been living in Australia for some time now. He's a psychologist and does cross-cultural leadership trainings in various parts of the world. He was here for just one week and left for East Timor this afternoon. Ernie was full of good stories and taught me some about Malaysian history. His family originally comes from Southern India but moved to Malaysia during British rule. Turns out, Ernie knows another Jewish-Muslim pair. Danielle, Jackie, and I aren't the only Jewslims after all. He was as surprised as I was.
Tomo and I seem to be sticking around the longest. We'll both be here till at least the end of September, Tomo may actually be here a month or so longer. Our home stay family has one little boy. It must be really strange for him to live in such a transient home with so many languages and different types of people. He's taken to saying my name while dancing around, so I say his name just the same way and we both end up looking quite silly.
I wonder who will move in next week.

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Borobodur

On Tuesday, I went on a surprise field trip to the Buddhist temple Borobodur. I think really it was just a surprise for me anyway as Odette- another student who also lives in Aceh- seemed to know we were both going. The two of us went with a teacher from the language school who acted as our wonderful guide. It was fantastic! Borobodur is the second oldest Buddhist temple in the world (second to the temple in Thailand) and is in the city of Magelang, about an hour outside of Yogya. The drive was beautiful, we drove by rivers, passed the Menara Mountains, and went through spacious fields and landscapes. The temple itself is quite an attraction. The path leading up to it, is sadly reminiscent of a theme park, with overpriced food and souvenirs and people adamantly hawking merchandise. There was a sign in book at the entrance which displayed the wide variety of visitors; just from that day there were people from the Netherlands, U.K., Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Canada (Odette), and America...

Borobodur was built sometime in the 7th century, but by the 8th century the nearby volcano, Merapi, erupted and covered Borobodur in a molten tomb. It wasn't until the 18th century, I think, that a farmer discovered it while trying to till the land. The dutch came in and excavated Borobodur, somehow uncovering and restoring this gigantic marvel. It has since been restored three times. While some of the reliefs are missing, and many of the Buddhas have been decapitated by looters, the stories are still present and the atmosphere is still intensely spiritual. There are several levels to the temple representing the levels of Karma. On the first level there are reliefs depicting the happy version of life where people are treated with equality and kindness juxtaposed with a life of gossip and negative interactions resulting in people with animal-like features. The second level has various Buddha stories and the third level mostly has giant bell-like Buddha housings. Legend says if you can touch the thumb of a Buddha you get to make a wish- most of those thumbs have already been destroyed though, the rest were covered in other tourists.
These pictures are thanks to Odette who luckily had her camera ready. Thanks, Odette!

I should mention that, while we all marveled at the splendor of Borobodur, we were stuck by how little respect it was paid by tourists and guards alike, all of whom sat on statues and carvings and threw trash all around. Odette, who has been to the oldest and most magnificent Buddhist temple in the world, was of the opinion that we should be required to be barefoot. as is the case at the other temple. It reminded me a bit of Yosemite, incredible beauty, somewhat tainted by marketing to the masses.

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Tuesday, August 5, 2008

The Lime Light. And Jamu juice.

Pointing, heckling, adamant staring, frightened or laughing children- all these reactions comprise my new model life. Anywhere we-the foreigners or buleh- go we get all the attention, positive and negative. Yesterday, someone took our picture. We're just strange, that's all there is to it. Emma and I took a walk around and wondered what it'll be like to be back home, average and normal again.

But it's not just our strange colors and sizes, people here are aware of what's going on, or at least the transportation workers certainly are. It takes little more than a flick of the wrist, or even a couple fingers down at your side to pull over a taxi and even the buses. These small and wonderfully cheap public transportation buses pull over wherever you are to pick you up. There are generally two people working at a time- the driver and the money collector/passenger spotter. This guy will get the bus to stop in addition to stopping traffic for you to climb in, if necessary. Pretty amazing, you can also get off wherever you feel like along the route. That's some incredible public transportation.

I never did go on that bike ride - I got sorta sick for the first time, nothing so bad, but enough that I didn't want to be biking. However, Sunday night, we drank Jamu. We took a twenty minute drive to find an 88 year old woman who makes this coveted beverage. Every night at 9 o'clock she sets up in front of a garage: she sits on a bench and in front of her are large bowls of brownish and gray pastes, a bowl of eggs in a variety of colors, a large mixing bowl, a bowl of limes, and two bowls of water with drinking bowls in them. You tell her son what your problems or desires are and he translates into Javanese for her. She then, usually silently, assembles the remedy. A handful here and there, maybe some raw egg, some leaf steeped water, mashes it together, drains it, and there you are. Immediately after drinking it, she hands you a chaser of coconut milk and juice, and there are candies on the table. I got studying/memory Jamu, another person got health Jamu, someone else got Women's Jamu and confidence Jamu. My teachers the next day were impressed and surprised that we'd done this, and one recommended other types of Jamu. All in all, a very interesting experiencing, that I'm hoping to do again soon.

sorry this post is so late in going up, I wrote it awhile ago but was sidetracked in posting!

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Saturday, August 2, 2008

Week One, check.

One week ago I arrived in Yogya with no language skills and few expectations. Today, well, I can say hello (though still fumbling through which greeting is for which time of day...), recite the numbers, some colors, and an assortment of foods. I can also tell people where I'm from, ask where they're from, and find out first names and telephone numbers. I'm getting there, slowly. Mostly, I'm excited for it to be a month from now and hopefully be able to have basic conversations.
Among the exciting things I've done this week include eating several types of fish, squid, chicken even, tons of different hot sauces, and trying fruit, squash, and melon juices. I also got my favorite pants patched for 50 cents and joined a gym in a fancy hotel (okay, not very exciting, but they do show bad American and Indonesian movies in front of the treadmills). I've learned that in Indonesia, you can have basically anything made and customized. For a going away present, Maya (Shansi fellow in Yogya) had a stamp made with Guy's (the co-fellow who just finished in Yogya and is returning to the US) name is Javanese script with the Shansi logo as well.
We never did make it to the beach, but last night went to a restaurant that has live jazz on Friday nights. The group was pretty great with a bass, clarinet, keyboard, and really amazing singer. This particular restaurant serves a mix of world and Indonesian food, local juices but also a Balinese beer and wine- definitely catering to travelers. There's supposed to be a jazz festival next door tonight and tomorrow and a film festival not too far off. There was an art festival right before I got here. Yogya is quite the lively city. Oh, we also biked by a movie being filmed the other day though we never found out who was making it or what it was about.
Tomorrow we're going on a four hour bicycle trip. Hopefully, I'll get some good photos to add to the meager collection.

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Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Yogyakarta!

I arrived in Yogyakarta (Yogya-pronounced jok-cha) Saturday evening and was welcomed warmly by five other Shansi fellows. Indonesia is shaping up to be everything I had hoped for - spicy and incredibly delicious food, cheap, well, everything, tropical plants, and warm weather. I have yet to see any monkeys, but I'm hoping Aceh will have more of those. I'm feeling pretty lucky to have all these other Obies around to help translate both menus and cultural differences, that's probably why I'm not feeling too much of culture shock. The homestay is great, and actually much more accurate to its name than the others I've been in. The family is very nice, but I see them little, and am simply living there. I have my own very nice room, and am served breakfast and dinner (both great). There are two other language students staying there - one from Japan and one from Australia. Like most of the language students here the Australian is studying for a brief time before starting work with an NGO- she's focusing on socio-economic research. The Japanese student is studying Indonesian before heading to Bali to write her PhD thesis on eco-tourism.

The most exciting thing I've done so far was last night. We headed up to a village on the nearby volcano to see Jahtilan. This is an Indonesian trance dance performed to get rid of nasty ghosts. The dancers are trained and then hired for events. This one lasted about four hours, but I'm told it was incredibly tame and short for how these things usually are. It was quite interesting though and I'm going to try to post some footage, though hopefully I'll have some better ones soon. Jesse captured some sweet footage of one of the dancers being taken down by a Shaman. The Shamans basically stand guard around the dancers to help them when the ghosts take over.

Other than that, though, things are pretty relaxed. I have school from 10-1 and then am free the rest of the day. Tomorrow is a holiday and I'm hoping to go to a beach not too far away.
I hope you are all doing well! Enjoy the pics!

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Saturday, July 26, 2008

Foggy Taipei

Hello from Taipei. I'm still about five hours away from Indonesia and nine from actually setting foot in Yogya, my first destination. While leaving the US was definitely harder than it's ever been, I'm excited to get there. I've already had some food that I couldn't identify and am eager to be in this new setting. Hopefully I'll have some good stories (and pictures) to put up here really soon. But for now, just a quick little hello from a not so quick layover.

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