 |
| Celebrating Easter with my Indonesia host family! I'm holding a Peep! |
 |
| Successful Easter Egg dying, the first night with my host family |
 |
| Most of my immediate family on the left: Andi, Nisa and their daughter Nafa, and then Bu Mul in the middle. Our 3 neighbors whose names I can't remember on the right! |
Indonesia health:
According to my friend Mike, our lives in Indonesia are so healthy. We wake up between 5 and 6:30, take a morning mandi (shower), workout (Mike, not me, I'm the 6:30 riser!), eat breakfast, learn for about 8 hours, come home and study, eat again, read/time to ourselves, and then bed between 8:30 and 10 PM! In addition, we do not drink or smoke. What a healthy life!
Well, for the record, not all of it is healthy. I am having a bit of trouble with mold in my house, so when I come home I sneeze uncontrollably for about a half hour, and my nose itches and runs. To remedy, I am taking some medicine and bought a fan to get some airflow in ma chambre (whoops, French! That seems to slip into my speech here at random times!) Aside from that, the only non-healthy thing going on is the fact that all Indonesia food is cooked in lots of oil (read: fried). Indonesians do not joke around about their frying. To name a few...nasi goreng (fried rice) is a staple, then there is mie goreng (fried noodles), tempe (fried soybeans), daging ayam atau sapi goreng (fried chicken or beef), and pisang goreng (yes, fried banana).
The Pasar Tradisional:
Luckily, I went to the pasar tradisional (traditional market) yesterday with my group and Mas Teguh (cultural facilitator and the BOMB!) to barter for fruit and veggies. This was pretty hilarious, as we can barely say our numbers. I have 1-8 down pretty well, but Indonesian money (the unit of which is Rupiah) is currently this exchange rate: $1 = Rp 9,000. That means that candy bars are Rp. 5,000, and a half a kilogram of beans (2.5 lbs is one kilogram) is Rp. 2,000. Therefore we have to think in big numbers. A lot! Fortunately for Americans, our money goes a long way here. I can buy important things, such as about a pound of laundry detergent, for about $1.15. Anyways, the pasar was really cool to go to. I saw many similar markets in Senegal and Togo, but I never tried bartering for the veggies or fruit there. My group also makes a lot of heads scratch because the average Indonesian thinks Americans are white, and my group of 6 includes myself and Sam (white), Tammy (Korean American, and a fellow Carleton students, '03!), Mike (Chinese American), Lea and Melanie (Latina). Peace Corps trainers said that some volunteers spend their entire two years of service trying to convince people that they are American at all. Yet another form of white privilege for me, as no one asks me twice where I am from.
 |
| Tammy and I, Carleton Grads! The mini-mountain on the right there is the one I climbed yesterday. Uffdah! |
Anyways, the pasar was exciting! I got some duku, a fruit that is really hard to explain. Grape sized, you peel it open for the cloudy white fruit. It is so sweet! I also bought some veggies for my family, as I am going to try to cook tonight. The plan to cook hamburgers was thwarted when I learned that buying beef from the pasar entails buying a chunk of beef, not pre-ground. As in the beef chunks are hanging from a hook in front of the little hut and you walk up and ask them to hunk off a chunk for you. I could barely breathe for fear of smelling the warm beef that had been sitting out for hours. But I got my hunk, they plastic bagged it for me (I then proceeded to double bag it and use copious amounts of hand sanitizer!) and put in into my shopping bag, where this raw beef was to sit for another 3 hours before going in the fridge. I am sure this whole process was FDA approved!!!
 |
| FDA approved? |
 |
| Why would one not buy a whole chicken, Sam wonders?! |
Week 2 events:
This week, I have had a few adventures. I rode a Ferris wheel for the first time! The view of the mountains/hills by my house is amazing!
 |
| Batu town square |
 |
| A view from the top of the Ferris wheel. Selamat datang di Indonesia! |
Muslim Funeral Reception:
I also went to a funeral for Lea's host mother's grandma. I had to cover my head with a scarf to be respectful. We entered the house and all of the men were sprawled together over the porch, driveway, and first room. Many fewer women were in a small room in the back of the house. We sat, chatted with the women, and ate. The room was approximately 90 degrees and there we were in long skirts, long sleeved shirts, and a headscarf, eating spicy food. My glasses fogged up because of the heat!
The funeral was not what we expected. From what I can gather, when someone dies and they are Muslim, their family tries to bury them asap. The body is brought back to the home where the person resided and visitation occurs briefly. The burial comes next, and then, I believe, 7 days of prayer and eating. The only thing that we did at the funeral was sit and eat with the women. They prayed before we got there, but the main event is eating. At the end of the day, however, I suppose after we bury people in the US, we have the reception and eat and chat.
Warung Visit:
Another fun adventure, inspired by coffee addicts Sam and Mike, was to find at warung (small restaurant) to make our hang out! We found one, and the location could not be more peaceful or beautiful. While I live on a side street in Sidomulyo, I am not far from the loud main road. This warung was out in the farmland, an oasis in a beautifully scented place (Sidomulyo residents are most frequently flower and fruit farmers). At the warung, Teguh and I played chess and he beat me mercilessly 3 times.
 |
| Sam is concerned about how this will affect his immune system...so far so good! |
 |
| Melanie sipping a coconut! |
Then I had my first of probably many embarrassing moment in Indonesia. I politely asked in Bahasa Indonesia if there was a kamar mandi (bathroom) that I could use. The warung man was sorta like, "are you sure?" And I was thinking to myself, "Self, please! The only toilet I have used for the last two weeks is a hole in the ground surrounded by porcelain. I have to squat to use this toilet, and there is no toilet paper. Of course I can use this man's squatty potty!" (Explanation: to yuse the bathroom in Indonesia, you pour water on your bum with your right hand, whilst wiping yourself with your left hand, no toilet paper. Then you wash your hand very, very well!) Anyways, he said "something, something, something kamar kecil," which means something, something, something small room. I said, "Tidak apa apa! (no problem!) I don't care if your bathroom is small. So all the Indonesians were like, "OH!" (little did I know why...) So I innocently followed this man to what I assumed was going to be his house. Instead, we turn into his plot of farmland, walk through a row of small bushes, and he points to a sectioned-off area. I'm thinking, okay, interesting location for a toilet, but alright! I enter the small enclosure (surrounded on three and a half sides by 6-foot brick wall and see....a river. This bathroom was simply the river running by, and the walls were built over the foot-wide river. How embarrassing that all of the Indonesians in the warung knew now that the white lady who can barely speak their language was squatting over the river peeing. Oalah! (Bahasa Jawa for "oh my gosh!"). Well I went to the bathroom in the river, and sheepishly returned to my group and the warung full of Indonesians laughing at me. Aie!
Take a Walk!
Another adventure in Batu (the region I'm living in) this week was my walk with Melanie and Sam. We were venturing around, and ended up in the next village over. As we were walking, suddenly a man was yelling at us, "Hey!" from about 20 meters away. We sorta slowed down but kept walking, until the man said, "Sam!" Sam realized it was a member of his host family and laughed! We went up to him, I met him for the first time, and he invited us to see his workplace. Sam added that he was a fisherman, so it was not surprising when we turned the corner and saw large cement pools for the fish. However, he then took us over to some cages by the pools, and there were huge snakes! GROSS! We couldn't figure out if they were there for people to eat or there to eat little animals, or there to look at...No time to ask more questions because then he turned another corner and there were...monkeys, peacocks, birds, and an otter in cages. "What is this, a remotely located zoo?" we asked each other. He said it's not a zoo, but his workplace. Why the snakes, Melanie and I ask again, frightened. Still lost in translation. We concluded that they captured them from the nearby mini-mountain that we were planning to climb (we are still going to do so, just with better knowledge of what to expect I guess...gulp!) When Sam went home that night, he asked the host brother more questions about his workplace and why all the animals were there. Our conclusion is that he is simply a fisherman who secretly also works in a private zoo!!!
Bule!
On a completely different topic (my Carleton friends can attest to how bad I transition into new, minutely related things with a quick, "speaking of _______, ...") it turns out that hardly anyone (if anyone) screams "Bule!" (white person) at us when they see us. Instead, they yell, "Hello!" and "How are you?" in English. I have gotten multiple, "Hey Mister!" comments as well. My first goal in Peace Corps (PC) Indonesia? To explain to everyone who calls me 'mister' why I am NOT a 'mister' but a 'miss!' Haha!
Just a little Jalan-Jalan
Let me preface this by saying that "jalan-jalan" translates to "walking for fun."
Yesterday Sam, Melanie, Mike and I coerced my host brother Andi and my host brother-in-law Kamal to go hiking with us. As we approached what can only be described (in my opinion) as a mini-mountain, people kept saying, "Jalan-jalan?" They simply wanted to know where this motley crew was going. We energetically responded, "Ja, jalan-jalan!"
2 hours later, at the top of this massive hill, I was not about to call that intense hike a nice "jalan-jalan." The whole way up was steep, and incredibly steep in some places. Melanie and are a wheezing to a plateau to rest. As we crest the uphill turn, there are and Andi and Kamal (Andi is wearing flip-flops, mind you!) smoking. Not breathing heavily, not popping snacks or pounding water like myself, but smoking! OH MY GOSH! How they were doing this I do not know, but that was the moment when Mike and Sam simply said, "Your host brother is a bad@$$!" Gee whiz!
The view from the top was totally worth it, however! And while I sit here typing about how intense that hike was, I would (and will) do it again in a heart beat! After spending so much time sitting in class all week, I yearn to climb these big hills (about 2x bigger than the bluffs at Devil's Lake in WI, and significantly less (aka NO) nice trails. Just a foot-wide dirt path.
But it would not do this hike justice if I did not also mention that as we approached the top of Gunung Banyak (Swan Mountain in Bahasa Jawa), I saw terraced areas where people were FARMING! WHAT?? People walk up this hill every day to farm? That is insane! However, when we got to the top, we discovered that there is a paved road up the other side that the farmers and tourists use more frequently. Sheesh! But again, I wouldn't change that sweaty hike for a car ride up! Many people were taking pictures and those willing to pay to paraglide jumped off here (which I may do, as long as they permit those partaking in said paragliding to scream one's head off for the first 2 minutes in the air).
A Day of Rest (Istirahat!)
Well those are the main highlights of this week! Today is much more low-key. Tried to write a letter in French to Ignace in Togo and that was ridiculous. After ten years of studing French I had to stop frequently to remember the most basic words. Bahasa Indonesia is taking up my brain space! In about an hour I am heading over to my friend Lea's house to learn some traditional dance from her ibu, who is a traditional Javanese dance instructor. Should be dramatic!
So Apa kabar (what's the news?) in the US? Has Mitt Romney won the Republican candidacy yet? I suppose I could take an extra sec here to look it up in this internet cafe, but it's more dramatic to ask! Any engagement announcements?! Snow in MN/WI? Dog-teeth being pulled (how's Snicks, Mom and Claire??)
Please shoot me a FB or email message, or comment/question here about anything. Can't wait to share more pictures with you all!
