Candiejo

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.