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.