So we spent the last two nights in a village called Candiejo. It is close to the Borobudour temple, so people open up their homes to tourists. The village is relatively prosperous considering its proximity to the temple.
Liz and I were homestay buddies, and we had the nicest house in the village. I think I made a new best friend, she and I are just alike.
Since it is an academic trip, we met with the village government to talk about how resources are distributed to everyone in the village (and if people who do not house travelers also benefit) as well as with local artists who teach cultural dances and musical instruments.
Our group learned to play a musical instrument called the gamelon. Apparently all of those years at piano and band paid off because I was pretty good at it. We also learned some traditional dance. We got to put on costumes and do a performance for the community.
I was worried that this village wasn't representative of the true village experience since it was a "tourist village," but we took a hike up one of the mountains and a 10 km bike ride, and it seemed that all of the villages were relatively prosperous. That being said, using a whole in the floor as a restroom and scooping water over ourselves to take a shower kind of got old after a while and we were all glad to be back on campus.
Some tension is brewing between people on the trip...just a lot of opposite personalities. It will be interesting to see how all of it pans out.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Good morning! It is 6:30 am here! We have gone to bed between 8:30 and 9 both nights that we have been here because we have been so exhausted...still getting over the jet lag.
So Saturday we arrived at our wisma (hotel) and it is pretty standard: 2 full size beds, TV, fridge, bathroom.
Temperature wise it's about 85.
Saturday was a pretty low key day. First, we went to the mall to exchange our dollars for rupiah and get cell phones to communicate with each other. The mall was similar to ours except the bottom floor was all cell phone stores and it was connected to a Carafour (like wal mart). There was a Fantasy Kingdom (like Chuckie Cheese) too!
A woman in the middle of the mall tried to sell me skin whitening cream! I thought it was lotion so I didn't pay much attention, but then one of the girls that I was with informed me of what it was. It is interesting how people here see fair skin as beautiful and we try to be darker.
After that, we had a really fancy dinner with the dean of the university we will be studying at as well as several other important faculty. It was in a beautiful garden courtyard (probably the most beautiful place I have ever been). They had a local band playing the gamelon (sort of looks like a xylophone) and some flutes. There was also a special performance of traditional dance. I tried to take pictures, but only a few came out and none of them captured the awesomeness of the experience.
As far as the food goes, they are giving us the special celebrity treatment. I am not sure if they think that all Americans are fat and eat all the time or they are overly hospitable, but by dinner time, none of us are actually hungry. Sunday we had a buffet breakfast with toast, porridge, and pastries, but also chicken, rice, and other foods we wouldn't normally eat at breakfast. Then two hours later we had small appetizers prepared. Then two hours after that was lunch! Everything is really good though...very spicy :) My favorite food so far is mashed potatoes rolled into a ball, breaded, and fried..it starts with a "P" but I can't remember what it is called. We have cooking class later in the week and I might see if I can learn how to make that.
Yesterday morning we went to a hamlet (like a township) election in the area where one of Pak Bill's former students lives. Their ballots have a picture of each candidate and to vote you just poke a hole through the face of the one you want to vote for. Then after you vote, you put purple ink on your finger so that they know you have already voted. The ink lasts for 1 month. Then, a designated person counts the votes with witnesses for all four candidates and the community police watching. Once elected, the hamlet official sees to the interests of the residents in areas such as community safety, zoning, and other ways.
We learned that the community policing is different from the standard policing. Mohtar (one of the men who is helping with the class) explained that if someone broke into your house, you wouldn't call the standard police because they would probably expect a bribe to help you or else come into the house and steal more of your things. The community police are all volunteers that live within the community and are more loyal. However, whether or not the community policing is successful depends on the income level of the community. Higher income = more resources= more successful.
After that, we ate at pizza hut (right). I think they wanted to give us a taste of what "American" food was like in Indonesia. It was nicer than any pizza hut that I have ever been to in the US. BOUGIE
Next, we went to the main market on Malioboro street. This is where most of the tourist shopping is. It was really packed. We are coming back in a few weeks to actually shop, this was just to see.
We got a tour of the university at which we will be studying. We learned that their enrollment is about 54,000 just like OSU. The campus was beautiful and all very modern. It is the second oldest and also the second best in Indonesia.
We also went swimming yesterday at a local pool. It was an olympic size pool with really high diving boards. Pak Bill assured us that it would be ok to wear normal swim suits....not so much. All of the women swam in shorts and a t-shirt and a couple swam in hijabs and full long sleeves and pants (talk about drag)! People looked at us for a while, but nothing too major. Next time I will cover better. There was one funny moment where Meaghan was on the high dive (I think she is the only girl to ever do it because everyone cheered for her) in her bikini as the Muslim call to prayer is sounding in the background :)
We learned here that everyone has some kind of religion. You have to list it on your ID. If you say that you are not religious, then they count you based on the make up of your neighborhood. So far, I think we have met more Christians than Muslims. Most people in Java are "people of the book" meaning Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, and there are a handful of Jewish people. On Bali, though, it is 98% Hindu.
So Saturday we arrived at our wisma (hotel) and it is pretty standard: 2 full size beds, TV, fridge, bathroom.
Temperature wise it's about 85.
Saturday was a pretty low key day. First, we went to the mall to exchange our dollars for rupiah and get cell phones to communicate with each other. The mall was similar to ours except the bottom floor was all cell phone stores and it was connected to a Carafour (like wal mart). There was a Fantasy Kingdom (like Chuckie Cheese) too!
A woman in the middle of the mall tried to sell me skin whitening cream! I thought it was lotion so I didn't pay much attention, but then one of the girls that I was with informed me of what it was. It is interesting how people here see fair skin as beautiful and we try to be darker.
After that, we had a really fancy dinner with the dean of the university we will be studying at as well as several other important faculty. It was in a beautiful garden courtyard (probably the most beautiful place I have ever been). They had a local band playing the gamelon (sort of looks like a xylophone) and some flutes. There was also a special performance of traditional dance. I tried to take pictures, but only a few came out and none of them captured the awesomeness of the experience.
As far as the food goes, they are giving us the special celebrity treatment. I am not sure if they think that all Americans are fat and eat all the time or they are overly hospitable, but by dinner time, none of us are actually hungry. Sunday we had a buffet breakfast with toast, porridge, and pastries, but also chicken, rice, and other foods we wouldn't normally eat at breakfast. Then two hours later we had small appetizers prepared. Then two hours after that was lunch! Everything is really good though...very spicy :) My favorite food so far is mashed potatoes rolled into a ball, breaded, and fried..it starts with a "P" but I can't remember what it is called. We have cooking class later in the week and I might see if I can learn how to make that.
Yesterday morning we went to a hamlet (like a township) election in the area where one of Pak Bill's former students lives. Their ballots have a picture of each candidate and to vote you just poke a hole through the face of the one you want to vote for. Then after you vote, you put purple ink on your finger so that they know you have already voted. The ink lasts for 1 month. Then, a designated person counts the votes with witnesses for all four candidates and the community police watching. Once elected, the hamlet official sees to the interests of the residents in areas such as community safety, zoning, and other ways.
We learned that the community policing is different from the standard policing. Mohtar (one of the men who is helping with the class) explained that if someone broke into your house, you wouldn't call the standard police because they would probably expect a bribe to help you or else come into the house and steal more of your things. The community police are all volunteers that live within the community and are more loyal. However, whether or not the community policing is successful depends on the income level of the community. Higher income = more resources= more successful.
After that, we ate at pizza hut (right). I think they wanted to give us a taste of what "American" food was like in Indonesia. It was nicer than any pizza hut that I have ever been to in the US. BOUGIE
Next, we went to the main market on Malioboro street. This is where most of the tourist shopping is. It was really packed. We are coming back in a few weeks to actually shop, this was just to see.
We got a tour of the university at which we will be studying. We learned that their enrollment is about 54,000 just like OSU. The campus was beautiful and all very modern. It is the second oldest and also the second best in Indonesia.
We also went swimming yesterday at a local pool. It was an olympic size pool with really high diving boards. Pak Bill assured us that it would be ok to wear normal swim suits....not so much. All of the women swam in shorts and a t-shirt and a couple swam in hijabs and full long sleeves and pants (talk about drag)! People looked at us for a while, but nothing too major. Next time I will cover better. There was one funny moment where Meaghan was on the high dive (I think she is the only girl to ever do it because everyone cheered for her) in her bikini as the Muslim call to prayer is sounding in the background :)
We learned here that everyone has some kind of religion. You have to list it on your ID. If you say that you are not religious, then they count you based on the make up of your neighborhood. So far, I think we have met more Christians than Muslims. Most people in Java are "people of the book" meaning Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, and there are a handful of Jewish people. On Bali, though, it is 98% Hindu.
Friday, June 17, 2011
We have arrived
27 hours of plane rides...Columbus, Chicago, Amsterdam, Dubai, Jakarta, Yogyakarta....more awesomeness to come
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Some Quotes
“When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego and when we escape like the squirrels in the cage of our personality and get into the forest again, we shall shiver with cold and fright. But things will happen to us so that we don’t know ourselves. Cool, unlying life will rush in.” – D. H. Lawrence
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
12 Hours Til the Airport
Hello All,
Leaving for the airport later today around 2pm...waiting for some last minute laundry to finish up and packing the last few things. I bought a real journal today (in case there isn't internet access, plus it just seems more classic/nostalgic).
My travel book came in the mail yesterday so I sat down for coffee with Hanad and made a list of things that I wanted to look into doing. I plan to make a more detailed list on the flight (18 hours of joy).
As of now, this is the list of things I would like to accomplish on this trip: (1) parasail, (2) snorkel, (3) ride a motorcycle, (4) climb to Mt. Merapi (volcano), (5) hike Ujung Kulon National Park (rainforest), (6) cultivate rice, (7) learn traditional dance, (8) make friends with locals and Australian vacationers, (9) go out for drinks with Pak Bill/have some sort of crazy memorable experience with him, (10) see the famous shadow puppet shows
At some point it would be ideal to learn something about development, politics, and the economy too.
Leaving for the airport later today around 2pm...waiting for some last minute laundry to finish up and packing the last few things. I bought a real journal today (in case there isn't internet access, plus it just seems more classic/nostalgic).
My travel book came in the mail yesterday so I sat down for coffee with Hanad and made a list of things that I wanted to look into doing. I plan to make a more detailed list on the flight (18 hours of joy).
As of now, this is the list of things I would like to accomplish on this trip: (1) parasail, (2) snorkel, (3) ride a motorcycle, (4) climb to Mt. Merapi (volcano), (5) hike Ujung Kulon National Park (rainforest), (6) cultivate rice, (7) learn traditional dance, (8) make friends with locals and Australian vacationers, (9) go out for drinks with Pak Bill/have some sort of crazy memorable experience with him, (10) see the famous shadow puppet shows
At some point it would be ideal to learn something about development, politics, and the economy too.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Indonesia Preparation
Hello and Welcome to my travel Blog. I will be leaving in exactly one week for Yogyakarta, Indonesia for a four-week study abroad. The focus of the trip will be "Indonesian Development," and each week will be focused on a different aspect of international development. The themes are as follows: (1) Tourism and Development, (2) Democracy and Development, (3) Market, State, and Community Development, and (4) Gender and Religion in Development.
We will be staying in a dorm for most of the time. We will also do a two-night home stay and are planning to spend three nights in Bali (probably another home stay or a hostel).
I am extremely excited to leave next Thursday. The other nine students that are going are great, and I know that we will have a blast together. The professor that is going with us is amazing as well. He is an expert in Indonesian politics and economics and has been studying the country for roughly forty years. We call him Pak Bill, which means Mr. Bill in Indonesian. He bought us all Indonesian-English dictionaries as a gift, but I have not had a chance to look at mine.
It seems so surreal that I am leaving in just one week. I haven't started packing and probably won't for a few more days. I have been so busy with classes that I have hardly had time to think about the trip.
Since we are staying on a campus there will be internet access, so I will try to post on here once or twice a week. That way everyone will know that I am ok and how I am feeling about my experiences and what I have experienced. I will try to put some pictures on here too.
Hopefully, I will be able to keep this blog up for all of my future travels (which implies that there will be more).
:)
We will be staying in a dorm for most of the time. We will also do a two-night home stay and are planning to spend three nights in Bali (probably another home stay or a hostel).
I am extremely excited to leave next Thursday. The other nine students that are going are great, and I know that we will have a blast together. The professor that is going with us is amazing as well. He is an expert in Indonesian politics and economics and has been studying the country for roughly forty years. We call him Pak Bill, which means Mr. Bill in Indonesian. He bought us all Indonesian-English dictionaries as a gift, but I have not had a chance to look at mine.
It seems so surreal that I am leaving in just one week. I haven't started packing and probably won't for a few more days. I have been so busy with classes that I have hardly had time to think about the trip.
Since we are staying on a campus there will be internet access, so I will try to post on here once or twice a week. That way everyone will know that I am ok and how I am feeling about my experiences and what I have experienced. I will try to put some pictures on here too.
Hopefully, I will be able to keep this blog up for all of my future travels (which implies that there will be more).
:)
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