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.