KERAPAN SAPI

As I was taking public transportation into the city yesterday morning, an old lady sitting next to me asked me where I was going. After telling her I wanted to meet a friend, she told me that I should change my plans and just get off where she did and look at the cows instead. Considering how often I see cows…every single day…I thought, no, I’m ok. But on my way home, I saw huge crowds of people heading towards some event, so I decided to follow. I asked my sister, Alisa, what was happening and she explained that it was a “kerapan sapi” which basically means “cow races”. Yup, just like horse races, except with cows!

This is the “race track”—dirt field, bamboo fence on two sides, no start or finish, crowds of people. Basically, a well-organized event.

Usually the cows just go straight after the race, but these little guy on the right decided to take the scenic route by turning left and chasing down about a dozen spectators, including myself, through an old corn field. Finally it ran into a tent and was apprehended. Luckily no one was hurt. =)

Kalimantan & Sulawesi Trip

After the school year ended, we had two weeks for our semester vacation, so some of my Peace Corps friends and I decided to take a long vacation! The first week, we went to Kalimantan (also known as Borneo), the third largest island in the world. We took a houseboat through Tanjung Puting National Park in Pangkalan Bun, Kalimantan.

The Sekonyer River flows through the national park.

The inside of our boat! During the day we rode up and down the river, got out at different areas of the park to see and hang out with the orangutans, then we slept on the boat, under millions of beautiful stars!

Tanjung Puting National Park is an orangutan rehabilitation center that has the largest wild orangutan population in the world.

So there were a LOT of them always around.

Literally translated from Bahasa Indonesia, “orangutan” means “person of the forest.”

I got some quality time with the orangutans… high-fivin’…

Hanging out and relaxing in the sun…

Holding hands…this one was trying to take me back into the forest (hence, the face).

Shaking hands...

Then, for some reason, we thought it would be a good idea to take a 26 hour ship from Kalimantan back to Java (which would then be followed by a 10 hour bus ride from Central Java to East Java). For some reason there was a mad rush to get on this ship that wouldn’t leave the harbor for at least another 2 hours.

Then we got on the ship and were directed toward these plywood sleeping areas. We occupied numbers 103 to 106. The lights were never turned off, there were babies crying the whole time, a women was throwing up in a bag (then falling asleep again like nothing happened), there were men smoking all around us, and there was no circulation in the belly of this enormous, moving, metal, torture device...BUT we ended up getting there 4 hours earlier than we thought we would, 22 hours instead of 26, and saved a lot of money so I guess it was worth it.

After Kalimantan, and our interesting ship ride, we finally made it to Sulawesi. We went to Northern Sulawesi, to a small island called Bunaken. This is the view of Panorama Cottages, where we stayed for the week.

Bunaken Island, a part of Bunaken National Marine Park in Northern Sulawesi, is a very popular area for scuba diving and snorkeling.

Yes, I realize this is kinda cheesy-looking, but this is a picture of our first snorkeling adventure.

A view of the coral reef, the ocean, and the mountain in the background.

I wish I had an underwater camera so I could show you all the amazing things we saw while we were snorkeling, but this is a picture I took, of the coral reef, from the boat.

There were so many blue starfish!

Watching the sun rise over the mountains, the water, and the beach was so peaceful and beautiful.

After listening to the constant cry of chickens and roosters, the revving of motorcycles and huge trucks speeding past my window at, literally, all times of the day and night, the chanting on loud speakers from several mosques at 5 times each day for the calls to prayer, and the constant hum of people around me (one delight of living on the world’s most populous island) for the past 16 months, I had almost forgotten what it felt like to experience quiet. It was so nice—no, absolutely heavenly—to just sit in the sand listening to nothing other than the sound of the ocean hitting the beach in small waves, the wind calmly rustling the leaves of the coconut trees, and tiny birds chirping at daybreak. I love the strange, foreign, and sometimes obnoxious sounds that make up the soundtrack to my life in Java, but I will really miss the peace and silence and calm that I experienced on Bunaken.

Then, every evening we got to experience an even more gorgeous sunset.

And they just continued to be more breathtakingly beautiful every day.

Evening after evening, the sunset never failed to impress.

The sunsets were definitely one of my favorite things about being on this island.

How could a person ever get tired of views as naturally beautiful as this one?

I had never seen sand dollars before, so I was really excited to collect them. I got Yosiah, one of the kids who lived in a village on Bunaken and was always playing on the beach near us, to help me find a bunch on the beach one afternoon.

The group—Noel, me, Travis, and Sam—before we left Bunaken. It was tough to leave.

Kawah Ijen (Ijen Crater)

In February, my friend Ayu and I went to Kawah Ijen, an active crater lake in East Java where sulfur is mined. It is the largest crater lake in Java--the climb to the top is 3 km high, the lake itself is 200 m deep and it contains 36 million cubic meters of steaming acid water, usually covered in a disgusting, smelling swirling sulfur cloud that sometimes made it hard to breathe--but it was definitely worth it!

This is a view of another volcano on the climb to the top of Ijen Crater.

Ayu fully prepared to battle against the cold and the overpowering, rotten-egg odor of the sulfuric smoke that attacked us on most of our climb. Many layers and fur-lined jacket for heat, sunglasses, climbing stick, and face mask--unfortunately, the smoke still won that battle.

Shadows, mountains, sulfur, 3 km marker!

The main attraction of this crater is that sulfur is hidding in the sheer walls of rock. This volcano is actually a twin of Mount Merapi in Central Java, which recently erupted. Climbing to the top we constantly passed men carrying sulfur in baskets, like these, from where it was mined at the top of the crater, then back down to the bottom where it is sold. The men carry loads of up to 70kg (around 155 lbs.) on their backs.

Ayu (without face armor on) and me at the top!

At the top! Something about I'm king of the world comes to mind...

There was too much smoke on the day we went there, but it was still a pretty cool picture of the green lake!

This is how it really looks on a clear day.

Still reppin' Texas =) (and underneath is my school exercise outfit...pretty sweet, right?)

Fading into the Background

The natural and the man-made seem to exist in complete harmony here. Walking around the many villages with the kids, this was one of the interesting things I noticed about how art just seems to happen. Beauty doesn't need to be posed or displayed. It doesn't need to be made or manipulated. It just is. =)

Here's our (late) photo with the President!

Here is a quick photo update of a few things I've done since I last posted to the blog in September. I probably forgot a few things, but I'll get more photos updated to the album soon!

There is a big river in our village, so some of the kids decided to take me hiking to it. We walked through rice fields, past many banana and coconut trees, waded through mud that was knee-deep and finally arrived at this beautiful view overlooking the breathtaking scenery that’s in my backyard. =)

Here is Endri, my host cousin, taking it all in before jumping off the big rock into the river.

Went camping with my students in Palang Merah Remaja (Youth Red Cross) to Lamongan Mountain!

Ayu and I tried to keep up with the kids, but we realized that we need a full night of sleep...

The moon and the mountain… gorgeous.

Watching the sun rise in the morning.