Thursday, December 16, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Mohon maaf lahir dan batin!
After 30 days of fasting, on September 10th Ramadhan finally came to an end with what is called “Hari Raya” (the Big Day), “ Idul Fitri” (also known as Eid ul-Fitr in Arabic, meaning festivity of purification), or more informally “Lebaran” (religious holiday).
As Indonesia is the nation with the largest Muslim population in the world, it is widely celebrated here and everyone here has been anticipating and preparing for this day in a fashion that is comparable to Christmas in the states. It is really exciting! There are so many traditions that lead up to this one day and even more traditions on Hari Raya itself. I’m going to try to start from the beginning and work my way up to September 10th.
First, of course, the majority of the population fasts for 30 days before Idul Fitri as I mentioned before. So, at the end of the fast, there are many preparations for a big feast to celebrate the end of the fasting month. Two days before , we started making “ketupat”, which are diamond shaped rice holders made of woven palm leaves. On Wednesday, I sat for hours with my sister and brother-in-law making ketupat, eating krupuk (fried chip-like snacks made of rice flour), and listening to Indonesian and Hindi music by candle-light (because the power had gone out). It was a lot of fun!
After those are made, the next day rice is cooked inside these little holders in preparation for the big feast the next day. Rice is also cooked in banana leaves twisted into a cone shape, this is called “lontong”. During this holiday, it is common to make chicken, so everyone either kills chickens that they already have or buys chicken from the market and it is prepared curry-style with coconut milk and various spices. This is eaten with the lontong and ketupat rice dishes.
These preparations are all made the day before, but on the actual day of Idul Fitri, people wake up early, around 4:30 am and have something to eat to symbolize that they are no longer fasting, then they go to the mosque to pray together. On Friday morning I put on my kebaya (traditional Javanese outfit) and went to the mosque with my host family and the rest of the village. Friday was the first sunny morning we had all week, so it was breathtaking to watch the sun rise over the village, the rice fields, and all of the neighbors’ homes on our walk to the big green mosque. Once at the mosque, most of the neighbors were pleasantly surprised to see me there as well, but they were all so welcoming! I sat next to some of the little girls in the village who come to my home for English lessons and they showed me how to wear the “rukuh”, a white outfit that women wear over their clothes while praying, and how to follow along with the prostrations. Even the rukuh, though all of them are white and cover the entire body, are all a little different too. Each has its own decorations or designs to show the taste and style of its owner. The service itself was short and quite beautiful. Seeing the entire community come together to honor the end of an important season for them, praying together, was really kind of neat. Then at the end, we greet our neighbors and everyone goes back home.
After the prayer at the mosque, it is common for people to change into new clothes they have bought for the occasion. This is a big shopping season here. All of the stores are packed with shoppers, the markets have tons of new clothes to buy, and everywhere you look there are “Lebaran” and “Idul Fitri” sales! Men usually wear “baju koko” a nehru-collared type long or short-sleeve shirt with embroidered designs and a sarong with a plaid pattern of similar color to the shirt, and a “peci” hat. Women wear “kebaya krudung” an outfit consisting of a loose-fitting blouse, a long skirt, and a jilbab. If you’ve seen my pictures, its the traditional outfits my friends and I were wearing with the red top and batik pattern skirt (with the funny hair-do).
After changing, everyone goes to their relatives houses and neighbors houses and asks for forgiveness for any sins they have committed in the past and will commit in the future. I really like the idea of taking a day out to specifically ask for forgiveness and let everyone start over with a completely clean slate. It’s nice to get old grudges out of the way and start the next chapter in peace and harmony. It is common for people to take part in “pulang kampung” (literally go home to the village) or “mudik” which means that people travel back to their home towns in order to visit their relatives. This can be a quick trip, just to stop by and give holiday greetings to your relatives, or it can be a longer trip where family travel and stay at the homes of other relatives. Because of Indonesia’s population size, this is one of the largest human migrations in the world as people travel to ask forgiveness from their relatives. On Friday I went to all of the relatives of my family members and asked for forgiveness, then as the weekend continued and I had more time, I also went to the homes of the neighbors and asked forgiveness from them as well.
Not only is this a time to “minta maaf” (ask forgiveness), it’s also a time to eat. A LOT. I have had so much cookies, chips, sweet tea, rice, chicken, and so much more forced upon me in the last few days! It seems like they are trying to make up for 30 days of missing meals by forcing you to eat a bunch now! It’s great, but it’s been nonstop for 3 days and I’m a little tired from the act of eating itself. But it’s rude not to eat, and when people come to my house I force them to eat as well, so I guess I’ll just deal with it.
Another Idul Fitri tradition is that there is a mandatory salary bonus for all employees, so all of the teachers at the school were given a nice big bonus before their two weeks of holiday. As I am a volunteer and am not allowed to receive cash, I was given about 200,000 Rupiah worth of candy, wafers, chocolate, cookies, soft drinks, juice...it was amazing! Add that to the sugar I’ve had in the last few days and I’m a diabetic now for sure.
This day really reminds me of Christmas or Easter morning in the states. Everyone wakes up early in the morning, we go to church with the family, then we come home and go to relatives homes to give out gifts, on Christmas, or candy, on Easter, and offer holiday greetings. It’s a day filled with family, food, friends, and fun. It really made me miss my family, but the hospitality of all the neighbors here helped me to see that I’m also gaining a new family here as well and it’s really touching to know that.
There are so many traditions that are great about this holiday...visiting relatives, everyone gathering together to prepare and eat a lot of great food, buying new clothes, getting money (or sugar), but the most important and the best tradition is asking for forgiveness from everyone around you. So, in the spirit of Ramadhan I would like to say “Mohon maaf lahir dan batin” (I ask forgiveness from birth and in all my actions) and I would like to ask forgiveness of all of my past sins. If I have wronged any of you in any way I am sincerely sorry and hope to not commit those same mistakes again.
Selamat Idul Fitri!
As Indonesia is the nation with the largest Muslim population in the world, it is widely celebrated here and everyone here has been anticipating and preparing for this day in a fashion that is comparable to Christmas in the states. It is really exciting! There are so many traditions that lead up to this one day and even more traditions on Hari Raya itself. I’m going to try to start from the beginning and work my way up to September 10th.
First, of course, the majority of the population fasts for 30 days before Idul Fitri as I mentioned before. So, at the end of the fast, there are many preparations for a big feast to celebrate the end of the fasting month. Two days before , we started making “ketupat”, which are diamond shaped rice holders made of woven palm leaves. On Wednesday, I sat for hours with my sister and brother-in-law making ketupat, eating krupuk (fried chip-like snacks made of rice flour), and listening to Indonesian and Hindi music by candle-light (because the power had gone out). It was a lot of fun!
After those are made, the next day rice is cooked inside these little holders in preparation for the big feast the next day. Rice is also cooked in banana leaves twisted into a cone shape, this is called “lontong”. During this holiday, it is common to make chicken, so everyone either kills chickens that they already have or buys chicken from the market and it is prepared curry-style with coconut milk and various spices. This is eaten with the lontong and ketupat rice dishes.
These preparations are all made the day before, but on the actual day of Idul Fitri, people wake up early, around 4:30 am and have something to eat to symbolize that they are no longer fasting, then they go to the mosque to pray together. On Friday morning I put on my kebaya (traditional Javanese outfit) and went to the mosque with my host family and the rest of the village. Friday was the first sunny morning we had all week, so it was breathtaking to watch the sun rise over the village, the rice fields, and all of the neighbors’ homes on our walk to the big green mosque. Once at the mosque, most of the neighbors were pleasantly surprised to see me there as well, but they were all so welcoming! I sat next to some of the little girls in the village who come to my home for English lessons and they showed me how to wear the “rukuh”, a white outfit that women wear over their clothes while praying, and how to follow along with the prostrations. Even the rukuh, though all of them are white and cover the entire body, are all a little different too. Each has its own decorations or designs to show the taste and style of its owner. The service itself was short and quite beautiful. Seeing the entire community come together to honor the end of an important season for them, praying together, was really kind of neat. Then at the end, we greet our neighbors and everyone goes back home.
After the prayer at the mosque, it is common for people to change into new clothes they have bought for the occasion. This is a big shopping season here. All of the stores are packed with shoppers, the markets have tons of new clothes to buy, and everywhere you look there are “Lebaran” and “Idul Fitri” sales! Men usually wear “baju koko” a nehru-collared type long or short-sleeve shirt with embroidered designs and a sarong with a plaid pattern of similar color to the shirt, and a “peci” hat. Women wear “kebaya krudung” an outfit consisting of a loose-fitting blouse, a long skirt, and a jilbab. If you’ve seen my pictures, its the traditional outfits my friends and I were wearing with the red top and batik pattern skirt (with the funny hair-do).
After changing, everyone goes to their relatives houses and neighbors houses and asks for forgiveness for any sins they have committed in the past and will commit in the future. I really like the idea of taking a day out to specifically ask for forgiveness and let everyone start over with a completely clean slate. It’s nice to get old grudges out of the way and start the next chapter in peace and harmony. It is common for people to take part in “pulang kampung” (literally go home to the village) or “mudik” which means that people travel back to their home towns in order to visit their relatives. This can be a quick trip, just to stop by and give holiday greetings to your relatives, or it can be a longer trip where family travel and stay at the homes of other relatives. Because of Indonesia’s population size, this is one of the largest human migrations in the world as people travel to ask forgiveness from their relatives. On Friday I went to all of the relatives of my family members and asked for forgiveness, then as the weekend continued and I had more time, I also went to the homes of the neighbors and asked forgiveness from them as well.
Not only is this a time to “minta maaf” (ask forgiveness), it’s also a time to eat. A LOT. I have had so much cookies, chips, sweet tea, rice, chicken, and so much more forced upon me in the last few days! It seems like they are trying to make up for 30 days of missing meals by forcing you to eat a bunch now! It’s great, but it’s been nonstop for 3 days and I’m a little tired from the act of eating itself. But it’s rude not to eat, and when people come to my house I force them to eat as well, so I guess I’ll just deal with it.
Another Idul Fitri tradition is that there is a mandatory salary bonus for all employees, so all of the teachers at the school were given a nice big bonus before their two weeks of holiday. As I am a volunteer and am not allowed to receive cash, I was given about 200,000 Rupiah worth of candy, wafers, chocolate, cookies, soft drinks, juice...it was amazing! Add that to the sugar I’ve had in the last few days and I’m a diabetic now for sure.
This day really reminds me of Christmas or Easter morning in the states. Everyone wakes up early in the morning, we go to church with the family, then we come home and go to relatives homes to give out gifts, on Christmas, or candy, on Easter, and offer holiday greetings. It’s a day filled with family, food, friends, and fun. It really made me miss my family, but the hospitality of all the neighbors here helped me to see that I’m also gaining a new family here as well and it’s really touching to know that.
There are so many traditions that are great about this holiday...visiting relatives, everyone gathering together to prepare and eat a lot of great food, buying new clothes, getting money (or sugar), but the most important and the best tradition is asking for forgiveness from everyone around you. So, in the spirit of Ramadhan I would like to say “Mohon maaf lahir dan batin” (I ask forgiveness from birth and in all my actions) and I would like to ask forgiveness of all of my past sins. If I have wronged any of you in any way I am sincerely sorry and hope to not commit those same mistakes again.
Selamat Idul Fitri!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” -Mahatma Ghandi
Some people are so ignorant and intolerant of things that are outside of their system of beliefs and outside the scope of their understanding that it amazes me. The church in Florida that is threatening to burn Qur’ans on September 11th to mark the anniversary of what happened in 2001 in New York is a perfect example of a group of extremists who call themselves a part of a specific religious group, but are merely misguided maniacs on the fringe of that society. They don’t follow the basic principles of the religion, but find specific outrageous, and often outdated, ideas and fixate on them. Another example would be the people who flew planes into the World Trade Center nine years ago and killed so many innocent people in the name of a religion that promotes peace.
After living in Indonesia for about 6 months now, I have seen tolerance, respect, openness, and kindess from the citizens of the largest muslim population in the world. Even though I do not follow their system of worship, I have gotten nothing but the highest regard for my beliefs. Nothing to suggest or provoke narrow-mindedness like this.
Terrorism is not just the act of bombing crowded markets and flying planes into busy office buildings, it is any act of violence or retaliation against a viewpoint that you do not share. It is the reluctance and unwillingness to accept another person’s view or freedom to choose their own beliefs. It is wanting to do something inflammatory because someone did something that you do not agree with—like burning the holy book of a religion you do not follow because some fanatics did something crazy in the name of that religion!
I wonder what these so-called christians in this so-called church in Florida teach their children. Do they teach only outdated beliefs from the Old Testament? An eye for an eye? If someone does something to hurt you, you must do something to hurt them? If so, someone please call Child Protective Services because in my opinion that has to be a form of neglect and abuse.
Last night I received a message from our Security and Safety Coordinator informing me that due to this church’s actions, there have been protests at the offices of the Embassy in Jakarta and the Consulate in Surabaya. I am nowhere near those places, and I live in a small village where people are pretty protective of me, so I’m not worried, but I am embarrassed. I’m embarrassed that my coworkers, friends, and neighbors may see that on the news and get a different impression of Americans and christians than what I hope I am portraying to them. I hope that my actions and behavior in the last 6 months will reassure them that these people are not the norm, they are radicals that do not share the views of the majority of christians. If anything I hope it can help promote tolerance and acceptance for all religions and beliefs, regardless of your own personal views.
After living in Indonesia for about 6 months now, I have seen tolerance, respect, openness, and kindess from the citizens of the largest muslim population in the world. Even though I do not follow their system of worship, I have gotten nothing but the highest regard for my beliefs. Nothing to suggest or provoke narrow-mindedness like this.
Terrorism is not just the act of bombing crowded markets and flying planes into busy office buildings, it is any act of violence or retaliation against a viewpoint that you do not share. It is the reluctance and unwillingness to accept another person’s view or freedom to choose their own beliefs. It is wanting to do something inflammatory because someone did something that you do not agree with—like burning the holy book of a religion you do not follow because some fanatics did something crazy in the name of that religion!
I wonder what these so-called christians in this so-called church in Florida teach their children. Do they teach only outdated beliefs from the Old Testament? An eye for an eye? If someone does something to hurt you, you must do something to hurt them? If so, someone please call Child Protective Services because in my opinion that has to be a form of neglect and abuse.
Last night I received a message from our Security and Safety Coordinator informing me that due to this church’s actions, there have been protests at the offices of the Embassy in Jakarta and the Consulate in Surabaya. I am nowhere near those places, and I live in a small village where people are pretty protective of me, so I’m not worried, but I am embarrassed. I’m embarrassed that my coworkers, friends, and neighbors may see that on the news and get a different impression of Americans and christians than what I hope I am portraying to them. I hope that my actions and behavior in the last 6 months will reassure them that these people are not the norm, they are radicals that do not share the views of the majority of christians. If anything I hope it can help promote tolerance and acceptance for all religions and beliefs, regardless of your own personal views.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
The Color Purple
I’ve been giving English lessons to some of the kids in my village who want to learn the language. Most of these kids are a lot younger than my high school students and they’re all at different levels, so we decided to start from the very basics and continue on from there, spending more or less time based on what they know and don’t know. Well for one of the first lessons, I wanted to go over colors with the kids. Not having a set of crayons, and wanting some (not solely for the purpose of instruction), I went to the store to find a set.
As I looked through the “crayons section” and looked at the color sets, I realized that there was something missing…the color purple. I checked almost all of the sets under 20 colors and none of them had the color purple! It was really strange. I know it’s not a primary color, but it always seemed like a pretty crucial color to me. By gosh, it’s a secondary color! If you don’t trust my judgment about its importance, ask my sister Sherlyn. She probably has a million crayons and markers and color pencils…she basically majored in colors (just kidding, she’s an interior designer…but she gets the importance of purple) and she can let you know. Also, Oprah produced a movie based on this color, so that in itself should be enough to convince you of the validity of my argument.
Well I finally chose a small set of colors, begrudgingly and mainly because I didn’t have that much time to keep searching around, and I took it home to my kids and taught them colors without the added fun of being able to see “ungu” up close and personal.
Later, I asked my friend why there was no purple in any of the coloring sets, when there were two different greens and two different blues and a “nude” color. She wasn’t quite sure. Later, after considering it a little more she explained that purple is the color for widows, so that could be a possible reason as to why it is left out of children’s color boxes. In this superstitious society, I guess I can buy that reasoning even if I think it’s depriving the children of a beautiful royal hue.
Anyways, my family and I painted our walls purple yesterday (which was chosen because it was the only color left) so it made me think of that little fun fact.
As I looked through the “crayons section” and looked at the color sets, I realized that there was something missing…the color purple. I checked almost all of the sets under 20 colors and none of them had the color purple! It was really strange. I know it’s not a primary color, but it always seemed like a pretty crucial color to me. By gosh, it’s a secondary color! If you don’t trust my judgment about its importance, ask my sister Sherlyn. She probably has a million crayons and markers and color pencils…she basically majored in colors (just kidding, she’s an interior designer…but she gets the importance of purple) and she can let you know. Also, Oprah produced a movie based on this color, so that in itself should be enough to convince you of the validity of my argument.
Well I finally chose a small set of colors, begrudgingly and mainly because I didn’t have that much time to keep searching around, and I took it home to my kids and taught them colors without the added fun of being able to see “ungu” up close and personal.
Later, I asked my friend why there was no purple in any of the coloring sets, when there were two different greens and two different blues and a “nude” color. She wasn’t quite sure. Later, after considering it a little more she explained that purple is the color for widows, so that could be a possible reason as to why it is left out of children’s color boxes. In this superstitious society, I guess I can buy that reasoning even if I think it’s depriving the children of a beautiful royal hue.
Anyways, my family and I painted our walls purple yesterday (which was chosen because it was the only color left) so it made me think of that little fun fact.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Road Signs of Indonesia
What exactly does this mean?! I’ve asked a few Indonesians, but no one seems to have a definitive answer. That may be because you can get a driver’s license by paying the equivalent of $2 to the local police. Personally, I feel like there’s going to be a bear attack at any point…
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Hari Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia
Happy Independence Day, Indonesia!
65 years ago Indonesia was proclaimed to be a nation independent of its former colonizing nation, the Netherlands (can you guess who most Indonesians were NOT rooting for in the World Cup?). In celebration, the 10th graders at my school and students from the middle and elementary school plus their teachers all gathered at the district office in our village and had a special flag-raising ceremony. It was pretty neat. A few of the 12th graders from our school were the ones who actually raised the flag and it was interesting seeing them dressed in white and red (the colors of the Indonesian flag) and marching and looking so proper! It was over by 10 a.m. and we had the rest of the day off from school.
This is definitely a big difference from how we celebrate our Independence Day back home...barbecue, picnics, big firework shows, giving fire to little kids. I spent a good part of the morning and the last few days explaining the differences to many different people. It is interesting how for such a big day that is basically the same, it is celebrated so differently. I can't even remember the last time I saw a flag being raised before coming here (by the way, we have a flag ceremony every Monday morning at my school), I think it was in elementary school. I don't think one is better or worse than the other, but it sure did make me miss bbq and sangria...
65 years ago Indonesia was proclaimed to be a nation independent of its former colonizing nation, the Netherlands (can you guess who most Indonesians were NOT rooting for in the World Cup?). In celebration, the 10th graders at my school and students from the middle and elementary school plus their teachers all gathered at the district office in our village and had a special flag-raising ceremony. It was pretty neat. A few of the 12th graders from our school were the ones who actually raised the flag and it was interesting seeing them dressed in white and red (the colors of the Indonesian flag) and marching and looking so proper! It was over by 10 a.m. and we had the rest of the day off from school.
This is definitely a big difference from how we celebrate our Independence Day back home...barbecue, picnics, big firework shows, giving fire to little kids. I spent a good part of the morning and the last few days explaining the differences to many different people. It is interesting how for such a big day that is basically the same, it is celebrated so differently. I can't even remember the last time I saw a flag being raised before coming here (by the way, we have a flag ceremony every Monday morning at my school), I think it was in elementary school. I don't think one is better or worse than the other, but it sure did make me miss bbq and sangria...
I WILL SURVIVE
…and I have survived my first week of fasting!
*Takes a bow*
*Gives “high fives” all around*
Bercanda! (Just kidding!) It really wasn’t so bad. It probably helped that I had last week off so that I could get through the first five days at home and not have to work or really exert myself. But I still like to think my iron will and intense concentration had something to do with it as well. =)
So here’s how it went down. The first day, I got up around 3:30 am, ate a bunch of rice, then went back to bed feeling sick because of eating that much food so early. I woke up again around 6, went about my day and killed time, then around 5:30 pm we were able to break the fast. For dinner the whole family sat down to eat together, for the first time, and the meal was served. At that point food in proportions I had never encountered before for six people were laid out and ready to be devoured. Sugar-loaded drinks were refilled constantly in all of our glasses. Cakes, cupcakes, and all sorts of sweet and savory deep-fried snacks were forced upon me—by the bagful—and I ate it.
As you can probably imagine, I overdid it a little. I felt so sick after eating that much food. I couldn’t sit, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t sleep—it was too uncomfortable—so I made Bu Sul take a walk with me. We walked around the village, talked to a bunch of neighbors (who offered me more food), met some new people, and I started to feel a little better….but not much.
So I made a decision. This could not continue for 30 days…there is no way I could survive if I had to eat like this every day. The next morning I got up and made scrambled eggs, two, with a side of cherry tomatoes. It was yummy, filling (but not stuffing), and it was a normal sized meal. Just because I am fasting does not mean I need to eat truckloads of food in order to get through it.
I still tend to overdue the evening meals a little… I can’t help it, there’s just so much delicious food and I’m so hungry at that point…but I continue to take long walks.
There was one day that I broke down and had a drink because I had been walking around all day in the scorching heat of being about 7 degrees away from the equator and I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want to die and I think God and everyone else will understand… I hope. Other than that, I have been really good about not breaking the fast until sundown!
So that’s the first week… I’ll continue to keep you posted on how it’s going!
*Takes a bow*
*Gives “high fives” all around*
Bercanda! (Just kidding!) It really wasn’t so bad. It probably helped that I had last week off so that I could get through the first five days at home and not have to work or really exert myself. But I still like to think my iron will and intense concentration had something to do with it as well. =)
So here’s how it went down. The first day, I got up around 3:30 am, ate a bunch of rice, then went back to bed feeling sick because of eating that much food so early. I woke up again around 6, went about my day and killed time, then around 5:30 pm we were able to break the fast. For dinner the whole family sat down to eat together, for the first time, and the meal was served. At that point food in proportions I had never encountered before for six people were laid out and ready to be devoured. Sugar-loaded drinks were refilled constantly in all of our glasses. Cakes, cupcakes, and all sorts of sweet and savory deep-fried snacks were forced upon me—by the bagful—and I ate it.
As you can probably imagine, I overdid it a little. I felt so sick after eating that much food. I couldn’t sit, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t sleep—it was too uncomfortable—so I made Bu Sul take a walk with me. We walked around the village, talked to a bunch of neighbors (who offered me more food), met some new people, and I started to feel a little better….but not much.
So I made a decision. This could not continue for 30 days…there is no way I could survive if I had to eat like this every day. The next morning I got up and made scrambled eggs, two, with a side of cherry tomatoes. It was yummy, filling (but not stuffing), and it was a normal sized meal. Just because I am fasting does not mean I need to eat truckloads of food in order to get through it.
I still tend to overdue the evening meals a little… I can’t help it, there’s just so much delicious food and I’m so hungry at that point…but I continue to take long walks.
There was one day that I broke down and had a drink because I had been walking around all day in the scorching heat of being about 7 degrees away from the equator and I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want to die and I think God and everyone else will understand… I hope. Other than that, I have been really good about not breaking the fast until sundown!
So that’s the first week… I’ll continue to keep you posted on how it’s going!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Ramadhan
According to the Islamic calendar, today marks the first day of Ramadhan, a religious observance in the Islamic faith. This period symbolizes the coming of the first chapter of their religious book, the Qur’an, to Earth and it being given to the prophet Muhammad (pbuh- peace be upon him...its common to say this). During that time, Muhammad was ordered to fast for a month to bring him closer to Allah, so now millions of Muslims all around the world join together and commemorate the sacrifice that Muhammad made.
Already called to prayer five times a day, for this 30-day period during the year, followers of the Islamic faith will fulfill another obligation, of fasting, as well. Starting from the first call to prayer at 4 a.m., until sunset, everyone following “Puasa” (fasting) will refrain from eating, abstain from drinking, avoid doing anything that is useless or wrong (including sexual intercourse, which is forbidden), and avoid hurting people whether in actions or words. It is a time to cleanse the body and the soul. During this time they pray to Allah to thank him for everything they are given, work on improving their personality and behavior, and take the opportunity to empathize with those less fortunate than themselves.
So what does all this mean for me, a perpetually hungry, Christian woman from America?
It means that for the next 30 days, I will be getting up at 3:30 a.m. to eat something before the first call to prayer, will fast all day, and then will break my fast with my host family at sundown. It means that I will be thanking God for all of the opportunities that I have been given. It means that I will be considering everything I have and will be praying for all of the people that go without some or all of those things every day of their lives. It means that I will think about the flaws that I find in my personality and in my behavior and I will try to change them to better myself and society. And it means that even though it has been a very long time since I have fasted, I will be joining my coworkers, my students, my neighbors, the majority of the Indonesian population, and Muslims worldwide, in what I expect to be an intense, but worthwhile endeavor.
Yes, I know you’ve previously heard me complain about being stuffed like a bird on Thanksgiving, but now you will get thirty days of complaints about me being hungry (“lapar”) and tired (“capek”). I’m fickle…what are you gonna do?
Already called to prayer five times a day, for this 30-day period during the year, followers of the Islamic faith will fulfill another obligation, of fasting, as well. Starting from the first call to prayer at 4 a.m., until sunset, everyone following “Puasa” (fasting) will refrain from eating, abstain from drinking, avoid doing anything that is useless or wrong (including sexual intercourse, which is forbidden), and avoid hurting people whether in actions or words. It is a time to cleanse the body and the soul. During this time they pray to Allah to thank him for everything they are given, work on improving their personality and behavior, and take the opportunity to empathize with those less fortunate than themselves.
So what does all this mean for me, a perpetually hungry, Christian woman from America?
It means that for the next 30 days, I will be getting up at 3:30 a.m. to eat something before the first call to prayer, will fast all day, and then will break my fast with my host family at sundown. It means that I will be thanking God for all of the opportunities that I have been given. It means that I will be considering everything I have and will be praying for all of the people that go without some or all of those things every day of their lives. It means that I will think about the flaws that I find in my personality and in my behavior and I will try to change them to better myself and society. And it means that even though it has been a very long time since I have fasted, I will be joining my coworkers, my students, my neighbors, the majority of the Indonesian population, and Muslims worldwide, in what I expect to be an intense, but worthwhile endeavor.
Yes, I know you’ve previously heard me complain about being stuffed like a bird on Thanksgiving, but now you will get thirty days of complaints about me being hungry (“lapar”) and tired (“capek”). I’m fickle…what are you gonna do?
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Washing Dishes
Our house runs on a central water system, which means we have a well at the back of the house from which water is pumped every day. We have no running water, so we have a big bucket of water where we keep any water that will be used for cooking.
When I was lazy at home, it was always possible to just throw the dishes in the dish washer. Here you can leave it for later, allow the ants to attack, maybe the rats, then you get to do it yourself later. Our kitchen sink consists of 2 plastic buckets filled with water. You “rinse” your plate in the first bucket, soap and wash the plate with a sponge, then rinse again in the first bucket, then rinse one last time in the second bucket. All the dishes are washed using the same water. It was a little hard to stomach at first, but I decided to take the words of one of my friends and trust that “the germs will make me healthier”. I’m not a scientist (and neither is she) but it sounds okay to me. If you know better, don’t correct me…ignorance is bliss.
When I was lazy at home, it was always possible to just throw the dishes in the dish washer. Here you can leave it for later, allow the ants to attack, maybe the rats, then you get to do it yourself later. Our kitchen sink consists of 2 plastic buckets filled with water. You “rinse” your plate in the first bucket, soap and wash the plate with a sponge, then rinse again in the first bucket, then rinse one last time in the second bucket. All the dishes are washed using the same water. It was a little hard to stomach at first, but I decided to take the words of one of my friends and trust that “the germs will make me healthier”. I’m not a scientist (and neither is she) but it sounds okay to me. If you know better, don’t correct me…ignorance is bliss.
The Flow of Things
DISCLAIMER: If you are easily disgusted, this blog posting is not for you! In this posting I will be discussing many things related to my bowels and what moves me…. So read with caution!
I will start with the squatty potty. Yes, I have used squatty potties before, especially when I visited India last summer, but I have to admit that this seems like a completely different experience from what I experienced there. First, in my dad’s home in Kerala, we had a regular Western-style toilet, meaning I could sit on it and it flushed, so I was pretty spoiled. Here, even if you have a toilet on which you can sit, it doesn’t flush. You just pour scoopfuls of water into it until whatever you deposited goes down permanently. This really is an art form… there’s a certain motion and a flick of the wrist that ensure proper disposal. In India I usually tried to hold any bodily functions, if possible, until I was able to find an acceptable toilet… but that doesn’t really work here. The potties are almost all squatty potties, especially the ones at the places I frequent most (home, school, friends’ houses, public offices), and the only places you are likely to find sitting toilets are western restaurants (like KFC, McDonald’s, or Pizza Hut) or hotels…none of which I regularly visit.
Second, we had toilet paper. They do not use TP here. They do not have the plumbing capabilities to facilitate the disposal of the TP, so instead they have big tubs of water and a bucket that you can use to pour water to clean yourself. That is not so easy to do, especially when you are squatting over, essentially, a hole in the ground and trying to balance yourself. Third, in India we had these squirting hose things that made it much easier to clean yourself. In Indonesia, I have only seen these squirting hoses in hotels or nice restaurants; they are not at all common. This brings me to the problem that has troubled me immensely… pouring with one hand while cleaning with the other. There is a reason the left hand is called the “dirty hand.” It is extremely disturbing, especially when using a public squatty potty where there is no soap… my friends and I all carry hand sanitizer with us wherever we go.
So from there I will continue on to what made us frequent those lovely squatty potties so regularly… diarrhea! For at least the first 2-3 weeks at our training sites it seemed like the rhea was a constant companion of mine. Whether it was a spicy meal, some improperly cleaned fruit, or water that wasn’t sufficiently purified, it all seemed to want to come out in a hurry. It was nothing major or threatening, just normal phenomenons while our bodies, and our stomachs in particular, adjusted themselves to their new conditions. During those first few weeks, I always made sure to have ready access to a toilet immediately after all my meals…just in case. Luckily, in the short time we’ve been there have only been a few cases of bad diarrhea in our group, but nothing too extreme or dangerous. I’m hoping to stay rhea-free for the rest of my trip…keep all your fingers crossed, please!
Mandi. To Bathe. We have neither showers nor bathtubs. Instead there are huge cement vats that hold water that is pumped from a well behind our house every day. There are little plastic dippers that you use to scoop cold (freezing cold!) water onto yourself. There is no hot water! I’m not sure I will ever get used to the cold mandis, but it does get easier. I always have to mentally prepare myself for the first scoop…it’s always the worst…but then your body gets used to the temperature. One great thing about the mandi is that it does promote water conservation, in its own way. When you only have that cold water, you have all the incentive in the world to get out of that bathroom as quickly as possible! There is no lingering, hour-long shower or bath here.
At the beginning of our Peace Corps journey it seemed like squatty potties and cold mandis would be some of the biggest challenges we faced, but after this short amount of time here we have realized that these are the least of our problems and have quickly become second nature.
I will start with the squatty potty. Yes, I have used squatty potties before, especially when I visited India last summer, but I have to admit that this seems like a completely different experience from what I experienced there. First, in my dad’s home in Kerala, we had a regular Western-style toilet, meaning I could sit on it and it flushed, so I was pretty spoiled. Here, even if you have a toilet on which you can sit, it doesn’t flush. You just pour scoopfuls of water into it until whatever you deposited goes down permanently. This really is an art form… there’s a certain motion and a flick of the wrist that ensure proper disposal. In India I usually tried to hold any bodily functions, if possible, until I was able to find an acceptable toilet… but that doesn’t really work here. The potties are almost all squatty potties, especially the ones at the places I frequent most (home, school, friends’ houses, public offices), and the only places you are likely to find sitting toilets are western restaurants (like KFC, McDonald’s, or Pizza Hut) or hotels…none of which I regularly visit.
Second, we had toilet paper. They do not use TP here. They do not have the plumbing capabilities to facilitate the disposal of the TP, so instead they have big tubs of water and a bucket that you can use to pour water to clean yourself. That is not so easy to do, especially when you are squatting over, essentially, a hole in the ground and trying to balance yourself. Third, in India we had these squirting hose things that made it much easier to clean yourself. In Indonesia, I have only seen these squirting hoses in hotels or nice restaurants; they are not at all common. This brings me to the problem that has troubled me immensely… pouring with one hand while cleaning with the other. There is a reason the left hand is called the “dirty hand.” It is extremely disturbing, especially when using a public squatty potty where there is no soap… my friends and I all carry hand sanitizer with us wherever we go.
So from there I will continue on to what made us frequent those lovely squatty potties so regularly… diarrhea! For at least the first 2-3 weeks at our training sites it seemed like the rhea was a constant companion of mine. Whether it was a spicy meal, some improperly cleaned fruit, or water that wasn’t sufficiently purified, it all seemed to want to come out in a hurry. It was nothing major or threatening, just normal phenomenons while our bodies, and our stomachs in particular, adjusted themselves to their new conditions. During those first few weeks, I always made sure to have ready access to a toilet immediately after all my meals…just in case. Luckily, in the short time we’ve been there have only been a few cases of bad diarrhea in our group, but nothing too extreme or dangerous. I’m hoping to stay rhea-free for the rest of my trip…keep all your fingers crossed, please!
Mandi. To Bathe. We have neither showers nor bathtubs. Instead there are huge cement vats that hold water that is pumped from a well behind our house every day. There are little plastic dippers that you use to scoop cold (freezing cold!) water onto yourself. There is no hot water! I’m not sure I will ever get used to the cold mandis, but it does get easier. I always have to mentally prepare myself for the first scoop…it’s always the worst…but then your body gets used to the temperature. One great thing about the mandi is that it does promote water conservation, in its own way. When you only have that cold water, you have all the incentive in the world to get out of that bathroom as quickly as possible! There is no lingering, hour-long shower or bath here.
At the beginning of our Peace Corps journey it seemed like squatty potties and cold mandis would be some of the biggest challenges we faced, but after this short amount of time here we have realized that these are the least of our problems and have quickly become second nature.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
My New Host Family
Lots of people and complicated relationships…the story of my Indonesian family life. So my official “guardians” are Pak Sul and Bu Sul, but I don’t live with them. I live in the house next door (which is actually just an extension of their house split down the middle) with Bu Sul’s late brother’s wife and her family. Bu Sul and Pak Sul rent out rooms in their house to a few students—Anisa, her sister Renita, Maya, Via, and Rina—who attend my school.
In my house are Bu Romlah (Bu Sul’s sister-in-law), her 7-year-old son Ilul, her 20-year-old daughter Alisa, and her daughter’s 23-year-old husband Budi. Bu Romlah’s husband passed away a few years ago of either a stroke or stomach complications (from what I could understand). So a few weeks ago, Bu Romlah got married to her 2nd husband, Pak Sam… and my family expanded even more, but no one except Pak Sam lives with us so I’m not going to confuse you with more people you won’t remember.
In my house are Bu Romlah (Bu Sul’s sister-in-law), her 7-year-old son Ilul, her 20-year-old daughter Alisa, and her daughter’s 23-year-old husband Budi. Bu Romlah’s husband passed away a few years ago of either a stroke or stomach complications (from what I could understand). So a few weeks ago, Bu Romlah got married to her 2nd husband, Pak Sam… and my family expanded even more, but no one except Pak Sam lives with us so I’m not going to confuse you with more people you won’t remember.
I hope you weren't holding your breath....
...but I'm finally back! After buying a laptop, having it malfunction numerous times, taking it back to the store multiple times, finally getting a confirmation that I was sold a faulty Acer laptop, sending it back to the warehouse for a new hard drive, and finally getting it back 2 months later, I am officially back in the game! I promise to write more regularly now. Please subscribe to my blog so you can get automatic reports when I update!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
An Update of the Last 3 Months...
I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV)!! About a week ago, my fellow trainees and I were sworn-in as volunteers by the US Ambassador to Indonesia in Malang and I just wanted to take this time to update y’all on what’s happened up to that point.
I arrived in Giri Purno (a village in the city of Batu) about a week after I arrived in Indonesia. Four of my friends and I lived there, each with a different host family. My family consisted of my mother (Ibu Lastri), her daughter (Didit, 15), her mother (nenek), and my mother’s sister-in-law (Ibu Tinet). Ibu is the Indonesian term for Mrs. /mother, so any older woman is called by “Ibu” (or Bu, pronounced “boo”, for short) and her given name. Bu Tinet’s daughter, Indra, runs a salon in the front of our house, so she and her family (her husband Titi and daughter Viven) were always there during the day. Bu Tinet’s son, Agung, attends a high school in Surabaya (about 3 hours away) so he is gone during the week, but comes back home on the weekends. It took me so long to learn everyone’s name and their relations to each other, but I figured it out eventually. Bu Lastri is so funny and a great cook—I ate so well there! She does the makeup for weddings all around Batu and Malang (there are so many!) and she is amazing at it. Bu Tinet sells rice at a traditional market nearby. Every evening, after coming home from work, she would eat dinner with me, help me study Bahasa Indonesia, and then we would watch “Karmila”, a popular soap opera. I didn’t really understand what was happening, but it gave me more exposure to the language, so I didn’t mind watching it with her. My 15-year-old host sister, Didit—lover of Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Leonardo di Caprio—played the role of my primary translator any time words and expressions were lost in translation between other family members and myself.
The family dynamic of living in a house full of women was my favorite part of the entire experience. In a society with certain views and expectations of relationships between men and women, it was nice to always come home to a more liberal and free-spirited situation. Living there I was granted more freedom and autonomy than some of my friends who lived with more traditional families. The women came and went as they pleased, lived as they pleased, and entertained who they pleased without having to worry about impropriety on their part. One example of this is the phenomenon of smoking cigarettes in Indonesia; the men smoke heavily but it is considered inappropriate for women to smoke. While I don’t condone smoking for anyone regardless of their gender, I have to admit that it gave me a certain amount of pleasure knowing that my host mom could freely smoke a cigarette some evenings after she came home from a long day. She did what she wanted because she is the head of her house! I am eternally grateful to my family in Malang for their love, their easy friendship, and for the instruction in a different family structure from what my preconceived notions had made me believe.
Our daily schedule consisted of language training in the mornings and technical training for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in the afternoons. We were taught Bahasa Indonesia by Ibu Icha, who soon became our first Indonesian friend because of her open-mindedness, easy going personality, and her great sense of humor… she often laughed at our misspoken Indonesian words and we were able to joke with her about her English pronunciations as well! I will definitely miss having her around to accompany me to the market, assist me in honing my bargaining skills, and translate for when I don’t understand or am not understood. As I arrived at my new site two weeks ago, it was almost shocking to realize how much Bahasa Indonesia I learned over the past 3 months. During my first days in Indonesia I remember thinking that this language was so different from any of the languages I had previously learned and I didn’t know how any of it would ever make sense. Now, I have trouble thinking in any language but Bahasa Indonesia! I am nowhere close to fluent, but I have come a long way in the short time I have been here and hope to continue my education in the language for the next 2 years.
Part of our technical training consisted of completing a practicum at a local high school, Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 3 Malang (MAN 3). We went to the school twice a week for 4 weeks and team-taught English classes for an hour and a half. This was, undeniably, the best high school in all of Malang. The students were so enthusiastic, the teachers were so energetic, and they had all of the modern resources of a typical American classroom. It was completely impractical in terms of what we would experience at our future sites, but my friends and I definitely enjoyed teaching there!
One requirement of our Peace Corps service includes conducting a community project that would serve one or more of the 3 parts of the PC mission (learning about other cultures, introducing the American culture to others, and introducing other cultures to Americans) and serve the community in which you live. My friends in Giri Purno, Pandanrejo, and I had a few projects that we decided to work on. First, the 9 volunteers and I who had our practicum at MAN 3 felt like we should conduct some kind of a project there since they were so good to us and since we had created such a bond with the students. After talking to Pak Yoga, a teacher and our main contact there, we decided to have a Field Day for the students that we taught for the month we were there. What started as a half-day event to introduce some American games to a few classes evolved into a major International day/ farewell party/ talent show/ cheer competition/ costume contest with the 9 PC volunteers, the entire student body and staff, educators from all over East Java, other English-teaching programs such as English First and AISEC, and many news stations and press representatives. With the help and seemingly endless resources of Pak Yoga, the event was transformed from a small field day to “International Day at MAN 3… Connecting MAN 3 to the world”. It was HUGE. The 9 volunteers were dressed up in traditional Javanese Costumes, and then we operated our stations, which included a water balloon toss station, an American dance station (where Lauren and I taught the kids the electric slide and the cupid shuffle), a Peace Corps banner signing area, and a sidewalk chalk art station. We had so much fun and met so many amazing students and teachers there and are truly grateful for the experience!
Every 2 weeks, a group of women in our village came together to form a walking club. Dressed up in bright blue micro fiber jogging suits, they would eat hard candy by the bagfuls and walk through the rice fields and around Giri Purno. We would often join them on their walks, so when they told us that they had planned a cleanup of the village, we were eager to help out. After getting delayed many times, the cleanup was finally on! With our gloves on and trash bags handy, we were prepared to pick up the trash that was littered all over our village. As we soon learned, “cleanup” in Indonesia does not mean the same thing as it does in the states. For the walking club women it meant de-weeding certain areas of the village, not allowing men to help because it was not appropriate, and yelling at us to not pick up the trash because it was dirty! We were not able to convince them to allow us to conduct our version of a cleanup, but at least we know what we are up against in our permanent sites.
The last 3 months have sometimes been frustrating and extremely difficult, but they have also been eye opening and interesting. I’ve learned a language (and realized that I will soon need to know 3!); I’ve learned about a culture that is so different from my own; I’ve relearned how to do even the most simple tasks, such as doing laundry, using the bathroom, bathing, and even washing dishes. Even though I already knew that people in other parts of the world live so differently from how we live in the US, this experience has definitely made me realize just how differently life is on the other side of the world. The biggest lesson I have learned in Indonesia is that I need to be patient and just accept things as they are, things will never work as I expect them to, and sometimes that’s ok. Nothing will work exactly as I expect it to, whether attending a meeting or trying to take public transportation, and the sooner I embrace the ambiguity, the bettter my chances are of succeeding and actually accomplishing something here.
I know I am leaving out so much of what I have experienced here in last few weeks, but this is already so much longer than I expected it to be and I suspect that I may have already lost many of you! I am really excited about my service for the next 2 years and as soon as you forgive me for this really long letter I will update you with more details about my new home, my new school, and about all the unbelievable people here!
I arrived in Giri Purno (a village in the city of Batu) about a week after I arrived in Indonesia. Four of my friends and I lived there, each with a different host family. My family consisted of my mother (Ibu Lastri), her daughter (Didit, 15), her mother (nenek), and my mother’s sister-in-law (Ibu Tinet). Ibu is the Indonesian term for Mrs. /mother, so any older woman is called by “Ibu” (or Bu, pronounced “boo”, for short) and her given name. Bu Tinet’s daughter, Indra, runs a salon in the front of our house, so she and her family (her husband Titi and daughter Viven) were always there during the day. Bu Tinet’s son, Agung, attends a high school in Surabaya (about 3 hours away) so he is gone during the week, but comes back home on the weekends. It took me so long to learn everyone’s name and their relations to each other, but I figured it out eventually. Bu Lastri is so funny and a great cook—I ate so well there! She does the makeup for weddings all around Batu and Malang (there are so many!) and she is amazing at it. Bu Tinet sells rice at a traditional market nearby. Every evening, after coming home from work, she would eat dinner with me, help me study Bahasa Indonesia, and then we would watch “Karmila”, a popular soap opera. I didn’t really understand what was happening, but it gave me more exposure to the language, so I didn’t mind watching it with her. My 15-year-old host sister, Didit—lover of Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Leonardo di Caprio—played the role of my primary translator any time words and expressions were lost in translation between other family members and myself.
The family dynamic of living in a house full of women was my favorite part of the entire experience. In a society with certain views and expectations of relationships between men and women, it was nice to always come home to a more liberal and free-spirited situation. Living there I was granted more freedom and autonomy than some of my friends who lived with more traditional families. The women came and went as they pleased, lived as they pleased, and entertained who they pleased without having to worry about impropriety on their part. One example of this is the phenomenon of smoking cigarettes in Indonesia; the men smoke heavily but it is considered inappropriate for women to smoke. While I don’t condone smoking for anyone regardless of their gender, I have to admit that it gave me a certain amount of pleasure knowing that my host mom could freely smoke a cigarette some evenings after she came home from a long day. She did what she wanted because she is the head of her house! I am eternally grateful to my family in Malang for their love, their easy friendship, and for the instruction in a different family structure from what my preconceived notions had made me believe.
Our daily schedule consisted of language training in the mornings and technical training for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in the afternoons. We were taught Bahasa Indonesia by Ibu Icha, who soon became our first Indonesian friend because of her open-mindedness, easy going personality, and her great sense of humor… she often laughed at our misspoken Indonesian words and we were able to joke with her about her English pronunciations as well! I will definitely miss having her around to accompany me to the market, assist me in honing my bargaining skills, and translate for when I don’t understand or am not understood. As I arrived at my new site two weeks ago, it was almost shocking to realize how much Bahasa Indonesia I learned over the past 3 months. During my first days in Indonesia I remember thinking that this language was so different from any of the languages I had previously learned and I didn’t know how any of it would ever make sense. Now, I have trouble thinking in any language but Bahasa Indonesia! I am nowhere close to fluent, but I have come a long way in the short time I have been here and hope to continue my education in the language for the next 2 years.
Part of our technical training consisted of completing a practicum at a local high school, Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 3 Malang (MAN 3). We went to the school twice a week for 4 weeks and team-taught English classes for an hour and a half. This was, undeniably, the best high school in all of Malang. The students were so enthusiastic, the teachers were so energetic, and they had all of the modern resources of a typical American classroom. It was completely impractical in terms of what we would experience at our future sites, but my friends and I definitely enjoyed teaching there!
One requirement of our Peace Corps service includes conducting a community project that would serve one or more of the 3 parts of the PC mission (learning about other cultures, introducing the American culture to others, and introducing other cultures to Americans) and serve the community in which you live. My friends in Giri Purno, Pandanrejo, and I had a few projects that we decided to work on. First, the 9 volunteers and I who had our practicum at MAN 3 felt like we should conduct some kind of a project there since they were so good to us and since we had created such a bond with the students. After talking to Pak Yoga, a teacher and our main contact there, we decided to have a Field Day for the students that we taught for the month we were there. What started as a half-day event to introduce some American games to a few classes evolved into a major International day/ farewell party/ talent show/ cheer competition/ costume contest with the 9 PC volunteers, the entire student body and staff, educators from all over East Java, other English-teaching programs such as English First and AISEC, and many news stations and press representatives. With the help and seemingly endless resources of Pak Yoga, the event was transformed from a small field day to “International Day at MAN 3… Connecting MAN 3 to the world”. It was HUGE. The 9 volunteers were dressed up in traditional Javanese Costumes, and then we operated our stations, which included a water balloon toss station, an American dance station (where Lauren and I taught the kids the electric slide and the cupid shuffle), a Peace Corps banner signing area, and a sidewalk chalk art station. We had so much fun and met so many amazing students and teachers there and are truly grateful for the experience!
Every 2 weeks, a group of women in our village came together to form a walking club. Dressed up in bright blue micro fiber jogging suits, they would eat hard candy by the bagfuls and walk through the rice fields and around Giri Purno. We would often join them on their walks, so when they told us that they had planned a cleanup of the village, we were eager to help out. After getting delayed many times, the cleanup was finally on! With our gloves on and trash bags handy, we were prepared to pick up the trash that was littered all over our village. As we soon learned, “cleanup” in Indonesia does not mean the same thing as it does in the states. For the walking club women it meant de-weeding certain areas of the village, not allowing men to help because it was not appropriate, and yelling at us to not pick up the trash because it was dirty! We were not able to convince them to allow us to conduct our version of a cleanup, but at least we know what we are up against in our permanent sites.
The last 3 months have sometimes been frustrating and extremely difficult, but they have also been eye opening and interesting. I’ve learned a language (and realized that I will soon need to know 3!); I’ve learned about a culture that is so different from my own; I’ve relearned how to do even the most simple tasks, such as doing laundry, using the bathroom, bathing, and even washing dishes. Even though I already knew that people in other parts of the world live so differently from how we live in the US, this experience has definitely made me realize just how differently life is on the other side of the world. The biggest lesson I have learned in Indonesia is that I need to be patient and just accept things as they are, things will never work as I expect them to, and sometimes that’s ok. Nothing will work exactly as I expect it to, whether attending a meeting or trying to take public transportation, and the sooner I embrace the ambiguity, the bettter my chances are of succeeding and actually accomplishing something here.
I know I am leaving out so much of what I have experienced here in last few weeks, but this is already so much longer than I expected it to be and I suspect that I may have already lost many of you! I am really excited about my service for the next 2 years and as soon as you forgive me for this really long letter I will update you with more details about my new home, my new school, and about all the unbelievable people here!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Makanan (Food... I know you've all been waiting to find out!)
Rice. And fried everything, including rice. And of course, more rice (AKA “nasi”). I used to think I ate a lot of rice when I went back home to Irving with my parents, but in comparison to this, that was nothing! Here, rice is eaten 3 times a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Indonesians keep telling me that they don’t feel full unless they eat rice. Luckily, I don’t get rice for breakfast very often anymore (after mentioning several times that I was going to have a nasi belly before I left), but everything is still deep-fried so I’m pretty sure it’s not any better for me. If I don’t gain 50 pounds within the next 2 years it will be a miracle.
In the south we love our sweet tea, but it turns out that I have not actually had real sweet tea until I got to Indonesia. Here the tea consists of equal parts sugar and water—it’s ridiculous—so if I come out of Indonesia without diabetes as well, it will seriously be a miracle!
OK, now that I’ve gotten my principal complaints about Indonesian food out of the way, I must admit that the food is actually really good! First, they eat a lot of fish in their diets, which I love, so it’s nice to have that as a regular part of my meals. Also, there are so many fresh vegetables and fruits available to us. We live in really rural farming communities, so they grow all their vegetables here and have them fresh every day. The fruits, especially, are so good! I can get guava, mango, honeydew melon, papaya, bananas, apples, tangerines, watermelon, and so much more any time. I’ve also found some fruits that aren’t common to the US. First, there is rambutan, a leci-type fruit that is covered by a thick, red, spiky skin that you peel off in order to get to the fruit within. It’s sweet and I really like it. Another is duku, another leci-type fruit that has a brown, fuzzy skin and is very similar to the rambutan in taste. Also, there is a fruit that draws very extreme reactions—you either love it or hate it—the dorian. I have not actually tasted the fruit yet, but I have smelled it many times as we drove past carts that sold them, and that alone drove me away. The dorian has a disgusting, pungent smell that is really unappetizing, but maybe I’ll try it one of these days. Finally, a surprising fruit in Indonesia is the avocado! In the US, we eat the avocado as a vegetable—on salads, with salt and lime juice, in guacamole—but here they eat it as a fruit with sugar…and it’s really good! I have only ever had Haas avocados, but here they grow HUGE avocados the size of footballs!
Fruit juices are widely available here and are, without a doubt, my favorite things here. They are made right when you order them and are extremely cheap—you can get a cold, tall glass of fresh fruit juice for about 60 cents! Whether we’re coming back from a long, difficult day, a good lesson at school, or it’s really hot outside, one of our favorite things to do is go and get a refreshing glass of juice and hang out. My favorite fruit juice is definitely the avocado juice—avocado, brown sugar, and chocolate syrup blended together—it’s absolutely delicious!!
I have eaten many strange things, I think, but Indonesia has definitely broadened my consumptive horizons. I always say that you should try something twice (once just to try something new, and twice because if you didn’t like it the first time it might have just been a fluke and you should give it one more shot before writing it off forever) but there are some things I’ve tried here that I don’t think I will pursue again. The other day my friends and I had a free afternoon, so we went into Batu (a city nearby) to take care of some errands. Every day we have breakfast and dinner at our own homes, and then we make rounds and have lunch together at a different person’s house, so with our free day we decided to go out and get lunch on our own for the first time. Excitedly, we decided to pick items from the menu that we had never tried before. Luckily, all of the items we chose turned out to be delicious! Unluckily, they brought us an extra dish, which consisted of a plate holding, what we guessed was, different body parts of a baby cow. Being from Texas, I have eaten many parts of many cows, but never before have I been presented with a brain, a liver, fried skin, and some unidentified crispy meat. Well, I had never tried brain before, and I rationalized that it’s got to be good otherwise they wouldn’t make it, right? Wrong. It was pretty disgusting, actually. Exactly how you expect a fried brain to taste… a little crispy on the outside and mushy on the inside. I almost threw it up. Then, a couple days later, when we were having lunch at my house, my host mom made a dish with some strange clear-ish “meat” that we couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t really good either, they texture was off and not really appealing. After eating and cleaning up, my language teacher pointed it out and told me that it was cow tongue. Fabulous, more cow parts.
No matter how good or bad the food is, the biggest problem that all of us face concerning the food is probably the quantity that we are expected to eat. People are constantly trying to shovel food into us. No matter how much we’ve eaten, they never think it’s enough! Even if we have just eaten, and they watched us eat an entire meal, they will come and find us and make us eat more. It’s very impolite to refuse food, but sometimes it is just ridiculous.
In the south we love our sweet tea, but it turns out that I have not actually had real sweet tea until I got to Indonesia. Here the tea consists of equal parts sugar and water—it’s ridiculous—so if I come out of Indonesia without diabetes as well, it will seriously be a miracle!
OK, now that I’ve gotten my principal complaints about Indonesian food out of the way, I must admit that the food is actually really good! First, they eat a lot of fish in their diets, which I love, so it’s nice to have that as a regular part of my meals. Also, there are so many fresh vegetables and fruits available to us. We live in really rural farming communities, so they grow all their vegetables here and have them fresh every day. The fruits, especially, are so good! I can get guava, mango, honeydew melon, papaya, bananas, apples, tangerines, watermelon, and so much more any time. I’ve also found some fruits that aren’t common to the US. First, there is rambutan, a leci-type fruit that is covered by a thick, red, spiky skin that you peel off in order to get to the fruit within. It’s sweet and I really like it. Another is duku, another leci-type fruit that has a brown, fuzzy skin and is very similar to the rambutan in taste. Also, there is a fruit that draws very extreme reactions—you either love it or hate it—the dorian. I have not actually tasted the fruit yet, but I have smelled it many times as we drove past carts that sold them, and that alone drove me away. The dorian has a disgusting, pungent smell that is really unappetizing, but maybe I’ll try it one of these days. Finally, a surprising fruit in Indonesia is the avocado! In the US, we eat the avocado as a vegetable—on salads, with salt and lime juice, in guacamole—but here they eat it as a fruit with sugar…and it’s really good! I have only ever had Haas avocados, but here they grow HUGE avocados the size of footballs!
Fruit juices are widely available here and are, without a doubt, my favorite things here. They are made right when you order them and are extremely cheap—you can get a cold, tall glass of fresh fruit juice for about 60 cents! Whether we’re coming back from a long, difficult day, a good lesson at school, or it’s really hot outside, one of our favorite things to do is go and get a refreshing glass of juice and hang out. My favorite fruit juice is definitely the avocado juice—avocado, brown sugar, and chocolate syrup blended together—it’s absolutely delicious!!
I have eaten many strange things, I think, but Indonesia has definitely broadened my consumptive horizons. I always say that you should try something twice (once just to try something new, and twice because if you didn’t like it the first time it might have just been a fluke and you should give it one more shot before writing it off forever) but there are some things I’ve tried here that I don’t think I will pursue again. The other day my friends and I had a free afternoon, so we went into Batu (a city nearby) to take care of some errands. Every day we have breakfast and dinner at our own homes, and then we make rounds and have lunch together at a different person’s house, so with our free day we decided to go out and get lunch on our own for the first time. Excitedly, we decided to pick items from the menu that we had never tried before. Luckily, all of the items we chose turned out to be delicious! Unluckily, they brought us an extra dish, which consisted of a plate holding, what we guessed was, different body parts of a baby cow. Being from Texas, I have eaten many parts of many cows, but never before have I been presented with a brain, a liver, fried skin, and some unidentified crispy meat. Well, I had never tried brain before, and I rationalized that it’s got to be good otherwise they wouldn’t make it, right? Wrong. It was pretty disgusting, actually. Exactly how you expect a fried brain to taste… a little crispy on the outside and mushy on the inside. I almost threw it up. Then, a couple days later, when we were having lunch at my house, my host mom made a dish with some strange clear-ish “meat” that we couldn’t quite place. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t really good either, they texture was off and not really appealing. After eating and cleaning up, my language teacher pointed it out and told me that it was cow tongue. Fabulous, more cow parts.
No matter how good or bad the food is, the biggest problem that all of us face concerning the food is probably the quantity that we are expected to eat. People are constantly trying to shovel food into us. No matter how much we’ve eaten, they never think it’s enough! Even if we have just eaten, and they watched us eat an entire meal, they will come and find us and make us eat more. It’s very impolite to refuse food, but sometimes it is just ridiculous.
The Group!
When I first received my Peace Corps nomination, I was nominated to be placed in an English teaching program in Sub-Saharan Africa, but a few months ago I was asked to join a group of volunteers to start up the Peace Corps program in Indonesia (there was one group of volunteers in Indonesia in the 1960s, but due to political reasons they were only in the country for 2 years and then the program had to be shut down), which is projected to one day be the country with the largest group of Peace Corps volunteers. That sounded like an exciting opportunity, so I jumped at the chance and headed to San Francisco to meet all the amazing people that would make up “Peace Corps Indonesia 1!”
Link 1
Junerejo: Maggie (Colorado), Scott (Colorado), Luke (Chicago), Colleen (Utah), Andy (Connecticut)
Tlekung: Bart (New York), Diana (Michigan), Samantha (Michigan), Erika (Texas), Noel (Michigan)
Link 2—the people I see almost every day—I love them =)
Pandanrejo: Gio (Minnesota), Angela (Georgia), Andrea (Michigan), Travis (Pennsylvania), & Mike (California)
Giri Purno (my cluster!): me, Sarah (Hawaii), Lauren (Maryland), Truong (New Hampshire), and Matt (Oregon)
I know the groupings were based mainly on language-learning aptitude, but it seems like they grouped me with the people with whom I share the most similarities! All the individuals in my group are so funny, personable, athletic, adventurous, and just so down to earth. I really love them! I get along so well with everyone in my link that I feel this group was tailor-made just for me!
Even though I have only known these people for about a month and a half, it really seems like I’ve known some of them, especially the people in my cluster, for so much longer. I really feel so blessed to have the opportunity to serve alongside this group and I hope to do them justice in how I portray them over the next two years because they really are some of the most genuine, most compassionate, and most incredible people I have ever met!
Link 1
Junerejo: Maggie (Colorado), Scott (Colorado), Luke (Chicago), Colleen (Utah), Andy (Connecticut)
Tlekung: Bart (New York), Diana (Michigan), Samantha (Michigan), Erika (Texas), Noel (Michigan)
Link 2—the people I see almost every day—I love them =)
Pandanrejo: Gio (Minnesota), Angela (Georgia), Andrea (Michigan), Travis (Pennsylvania), & Mike (California)
Giri Purno (my cluster!): me, Sarah (Hawaii), Lauren (Maryland), Truong (New Hampshire), and Matt (Oregon)
I know the groupings were based mainly on language-learning aptitude, but it seems like they grouped me with the people with whom I share the most similarities! All the individuals in my group are so funny, personable, athletic, adventurous, and just so down to earth. I really love them! I get along so well with everyone in my link that I feel this group was tailor-made just for me!
Even though I have only known these people for about a month and a half, it really seems like I’ve known some of them, especially the people in my cluster, for so much longer. I really feel so blessed to have the opportunity to serve alongside this group and I hope to do them justice in how I portray them over the next two years because they really are some of the most genuine, most compassionate, and most incredible people I have ever met!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Selamat Datang!
Hi! Sorry I haven’t been writing regularly, but our internet access has been really limited and even now, I’m borrowing my friend’s laptop in order to get this post developed to upload later. These past 3 weeks have been so busy and hectic and strange that I don’t even know where to begin. I’m not going to be very detailed with the beginning, but here is what has happened since I left the states:
I got to San Francisco, where I stayed one night. We had some pre-staging information and I met the 19 other people that I would be serving with for the next 27 months. Even from the very beginning, we all felt so lucky to be in this particular group that’s starting up the Indonesian Peace Corps program. Not only are we so excited to be doing this, but so is everyone else! A rep from the US Embassy flew down from DC to talk with us, and then we had dinner at the home of the Indonesian Consulate General in San Francisco. They prepared an amazing meal for us and were so gracious—they sat with us and answered our many questions, told us what to expect/what not to expect, and also gave us some useful cultural tips.
Then we travelled for 3 days. It was miserable because I HATE flying, but it was interesting how well we all worked together in that situation. From San Francisco we flew to Tokyo, Japan, then to Bangkok, Thailand (which has the nicest airport hotel I’ve ever seen!), and finally to Jakarta, Indonesia.
Jakarta was such an interesting experience. When we got there, we found out that the reason we were even in Jakarta was because President Obama was scheduled to come to Indonesia and we were to be available in case he had some time on his schedule! You can not imagine our excitement! It turns out that the health care bill needed his full attention and the trip was cancelled, but we ended up staying in Jakarta until Tuesday and just started our training there. Jakarta is a great city, so alive, big, and so different from anything we were expecting from our “Peace Corps experience.”
After our brief stay in paradise, on Tuesday, March 23rd, we left the big city and finally made our way to our real destination—the host sites for our training period—Malang. Malang is the big city near the 4 little villages where we actually live. The group of 20 was split into 4 groups of 5 and each group was distributed to one of the four villages (also called “clusters”): Giri Purno, Pandanrejo, Tlekong, and Junrejo. I live in Giri Purno. Two Clusters make a “link” and the other cluster in our link is Pandanrejo. The people in Giri Purno and Pandanrejo are the ones I see almost everyday.
Ok now you are caught up on absolutely nothing interesting =) I will work on getting the more juicy stuff up soon! I plan on getting a laptop soon, so it should be a lot easier to update this blog in the coming weeks!
Oh! By the way, the language I’m learning is called Bahasa Indonesia, which means “Language of Indonesia” in case any of you were wondering!
Coming soon: My fellow volunteers, my host family, food, drinks, language, transportation, sports, culture, and whatever else comes up!
Sampai Jumpa! (See you later!)
--Nisha
I got to San Francisco, where I stayed one night. We had some pre-staging information and I met the 19 other people that I would be serving with for the next 27 months. Even from the very beginning, we all felt so lucky to be in this particular group that’s starting up the Indonesian Peace Corps program. Not only are we so excited to be doing this, but so is everyone else! A rep from the US Embassy flew down from DC to talk with us, and then we had dinner at the home of the Indonesian Consulate General in San Francisco. They prepared an amazing meal for us and were so gracious—they sat with us and answered our many questions, told us what to expect/what not to expect, and also gave us some useful cultural tips.
Then we travelled for 3 days. It was miserable because I HATE flying, but it was interesting how well we all worked together in that situation. From San Francisco we flew to Tokyo, Japan, then to Bangkok, Thailand (which has the nicest airport hotel I’ve ever seen!), and finally to Jakarta, Indonesia.
Jakarta was such an interesting experience. When we got there, we found out that the reason we were even in Jakarta was because President Obama was scheduled to come to Indonesia and we were to be available in case he had some time on his schedule! You can not imagine our excitement! It turns out that the health care bill needed his full attention and the trip was cancelled, but we ended up staying in Jakarta until Tuesday and just started our training there. Jakarta is a great city, so alive, big, and so different from anything we were expecting from our “Peace Corps experience.”
After our brief stay in paradise, on Tuesday, March 23rd, we left the big city and finally made our way to our real destination—the host sites for our training period—Malang. Malang is the big city near the 4 little villages where we actually live. The group of 20 was split into 4 groups of 5 and each group was distributed to one of the four villages (also called “clusters”): Giri Purno, Pandanrejo, Tlekong, and Junrejo. I live in Giri Purno. Two Clusters make a “link” and the other cluster in our link is Pandanrejo. The people in Giri Purno and Pandanrejo are the ones I see almost everyday.
Ok now you are caught up on absolutely nothing interesting =) I will work on getting the more juicy stuff up soon! I plan on getting a laptop soon, so it should be a lot easier to update this blog in the coming weeks!
Oh! By the way, the language I’m learning is called Bahasa Indonesia, which means “Language of Indonesia” in case any of you were wondering!
Coming soon: My fellow volunteers, my host family, food, drinks, language, transportation, sports, culture, and whatever else comes up!
Sampai Jumpa! (See you later!)
--Nisha
Monday, March 15, 2010
The next 3 months
For the first 3 months of my time in Indonesia I will be in "training" to become fluent in the language, understand the people and culture, and realize how to best assimilate into their society. We will all be very busy during those months, so I have been told that I will have very limited internet access. I hope to post to this blog as often as I can, but please be patient if you don't see anything for a while! I will be posting videos, pictures, and stories whenever I get the opportunity!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Small World
The more I venture out into the world, the more I realize that it's so much smaller than I ever believed. Through this blog I want to bring Southeast Asia a little closer to home.
As I journey to Indonesia as a volunteer with the Peace Corps, I also hope this blog will give me the opportunity to keep in contact with my friends and family and to provide an open and transparent look into my experiences. In my mind, I would like this to become a collection of regular postings and pictures on my part, but also contributions and feedback on your part as well. I would love your insights into to differences and similarities between these countries and cultures!
=)
As I journey to Indonesia as a volunteer with the Peace Corps, I also hope this blog will give me the opportunity to keep in contact with my friends and family and to provide an open and transparent look into my experiences. In my mind, I would like this to become a collection of regular postings and pictures on my part, but also contributions and feedback on your part as well. I would love your insights into to differences and similarities between these countries and cultures!
=)
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