Arrival in Ponrogo

I don't have much time to write at the moment, but I have arrived in my new home, Ponorogo. It is a stunning little town, I can't wait to photograph it. I am living with the director of my school for one month before moving to a permanent home either in a house by myself or with a family.

Everyone is amazingly friendly and my school looks very nice. I don't start teaching for another week because the students have off for the beginning of Ramadan. I did see the school though and it looks great. It has a really interesting philosophy, which I will write about more when I have more time.

I have a private office with wireless internet! I can't believe it!

My Computer Part 2

I ended up buying a new computer. I talked to a friend of a friend who works with computers and he told me once again that there was no point in trying to fix the old one. My new computer is an IBM Lenovo and it pretty nice. Another volunteer, Gillian, also needed a new computer so we searched together and ended up getting the same one. It only cost USD $650. It was a little bit of a hassle to get windows installed. The place we bought the computers wanted to charge USD $85 for Windows XP, which seemed ridiculously pricey for Indonesia. So we asked around and found a place in an electronics mall (called Yogyatronic) where they installed Windows XP for RP 100,000 (maybe USD $11). They also installed some other programs like Photoshop and Microsoft Office while they were at it, which is pretty awesome. I don't know about the legality of these programs, but I am just not thinking about that. They work, so that's what I care about. My computer is MUCH faster than my old too, so I'm pretty happy with my decision. I tried to turn on my old one to get some more data off of it and I couldn't get the monitor to work at all, so it was definitely not something I could have just lived with.

Otherwise, everything here is pretty much the same. I saw some interesting temples and shows and such, but I'm waiting to talk about those until I can get some photos up. I'm still taking language classes in Yogyakarta. They are going ok, but could be better if I could just remember more! The more I learn, the more I realize I have very very far to go before I can successfully communicate anything more complicated than "I want that". On Wednesday, I have my last day of classes and then I spend one last night with all the Indo volunteers for an evaluation. We are staying in a "villa" near a volcano, so it should be pretty fun. Then on Thursday, I'm off to my new home in Ponorogo!

The Beach

Last weekend the language school where I'm studying arranged a one night trip to a nearby beach. On Friday after class, we left for about an 1 1/2 to 2 hour bus ride. The ride was unremarkable. It was windy because we had to go up and then down a mountain. I got a little carsick because I was sitting in the very back of the bus and it was really hot.

But the beach was just amazing. We got there right around sunset. We were the only people on the beach and it was small but sort of perfect. It was clean, full of beautiful shells and there were caves in the nearby cliffs. I never got a chance to explore the caves, but I did go to the top of one of the little cliffs and the view was beautiful.

My friends and I decided to sleep right on the sand. It was very windy and got a little chilly in the middle of the night, but I had the foresight to bring a pillow and blanket so I wasn't so bad. I woke up looking at the sea.

The next day we went swimming a little bit. There was a bad undertow so we couldn't go very far out but the water felt nice and it was fun. I collected a few amazing shells and saw lots of jellyfish washed up on the beach. The only other people nearby were a few fishermen who lived on the beach.

Here are some photos:




VIA volunteer feet




Sunset the night we arrived





This is what I saw when I woke up.


a weird jellyfish


The beach from atop a little cliff


This woman was harvesting something, maybe seaweed or crabs or something.

My Computer

My computer is dying. Some wires that connect the two halves of the laptop are apparently no longer functioning so the monitor doesn't really work anymore. I have to position it just right and not move it. It's only a matter of time before it's completely unusable. My friend, who says he knows about these things, thinks it's not something that could be fixed and I should just buy a new laptop. I've been researching prices and I think I could get one for about $650 USD. This was not in my budget, so I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do yet. If I buy one, it will be soon, because prices will be higher outside of the city of Yogyakarta. I bought an external hard drive so I could back everything up before it dies completely.

That's my current dilemma but otherwise everything is going really well. I'm still struggling to find an Internet connection fast enough to upload photos. I was told that I may have Internet access at my school when I start working, so maybe that will be fast.

Chiang Mai leftovers

Here are a few leftover pictures from Chiang Mai, Thailand that I didn't get posted until now


Bugs available to eat in the market



Me and a friend, Connie


A park in Chiang Mai


Colored Buddhas at an antique store

Bogor

Last week, before we left Jakarta, we went to a huge botanical garden. Here are some pictures

One day in Yogya

7:00 AM:
My alarm goes off. I hit the button and close my eyes for a few more minutes.

7:05 AM:
I get out of bed and grab my toothbrush and toothpaste from the top of the bureau. I have a bathroom connected to my bedroom, but it doesn't have a sink, so I have to go into another bathroom to brush my teeth. I pad across the linolium in my bare feet, of course (no shoes allowed inside the house) and greet the Ibu (mother) of the house with "Selamat Pagi!" (Good Morning)

7:15 AM:
One of the servent's comes to my room to tell me breakfast is ready. She doesn't speak a word of English, but I know the word for breakfast at least. She seems very sweet and always happy, I wish I could talk to her a little more.

Breakfast is upstairs. The entire upstairs is basically a balcony with a few enclosed rooms. This morning we eat Sate Ayam (chicken skewers) with Peanut Sauce, watermelon and this strange rice stuff that is basically smashed rice cooked in a log and cut up. I don't like the rice stuff very much. It's weird to eat Sate for breakfast.

I chat with Tomo, a girl from Japan, and a new arrival to the guest house - a psychologist who will be working in Aceh.

8:00 AM
I return to my room to Mandi (bathe). Bathing in Indonesia is completely different than in the States. You have a big tub filled with cold water. You use a small bucket with a handle to scoop the water over your head. When wet, you proceed to shampoo, etc. Then you dump more cold water over your head. It's not my favorite thing in the morning (although it does wake you up!) but it feels really nice in the afternoon and evening after being out in the heat all day. Indonesians will Mandi up to 4 times a day when it's hot or they're really active.

8:30 - 9:30 AM
I sit in my room and study Indonesian for a bit. I sort of fall asleep for about half an hour. I try to memorize the days of the week. I think I have it down. Senin, Selasa, Rabu, Kamis, Jumat, Sabtu, Minggu.

9:30 AM
I walk the three minutes to Wisma Bahasa, my language school. Class doesn't start until 10:15 but I want to use the wireless internet. When I get there, the internet is down. Typical. So I just sort of hang out. Soon a friend arrives and we chat until class begins.

10:15 AM - 12:00 PM
I learn food vocab and sentence structure.

12:00 - 1:00 PM
Lunch. The school has a little canteen. Today I have two tiny pieces of chicken, a piece of fried tempeh and some noodles. It costs 12,000 Rp. which is more than I think it should, but oh well.

1:00 - 3:00 PM
I learn about positions. My book is on top of the table. Buku saya di atas meja.

3:00 PM
Class is over over and now I'm at an internet cafe with two friends and updating my blog! I'm also drinking hot lime and eating french fries that I suspect were gotten from the McDonalds down the street. But the hot lime is wonderful.

Homestay in Yoyakarta

Yesterday I moved into the house of my host family where I'll be staying for the next three weeks while I take language classes. The family is very nice. It was a little awkward when I first got to the house because the Ibu (mother) wasn't home and nobody spoke a word of English. So I was showed to my room, given a smoothie and ignored for three hours. I read and awkwardly wandered around the room. It's a pretty nice room. I have a small bed, a desk and a small bureu. I will try to post pictures but the internet in Indonesia seems to be so slow, in general, that I'm not really willing to deal with the uploading process. I also have my own bathroom, which I am very very happy about. When Ibu Wiwik finally made it home, she showed me around and we chatted a bit. Her English isn't that good, but it's leagues above my Indonesian. The house has far more servants than family members which, for me, is sort of uncomfortable. None of the servants speak a word of English so all I can do is like hand them my dirty dishes and say Thank You! There is a girl who does laundry every day so that's convenient for me, I guess. I'm guess that this isn't the most typical Indonesian family life. The father said three words to me: "Hello, you are very beautiful" and that's the last I saw of him. He didn't eat with the rest of the family.

People here seem to compliment me all the time because I'm white, which is another uncomfortable experience. What am I supposed to say when a girl tells me she wants my round eyes? Mostly, I've just been saying that my eyes are so boring in America and that I think her eyes are so pretty. People also take pictures of and with me. I guess I should get used to it because it's going to be even worse in Ponorogo where I am the only foreigner.

I'm not sure if the Ibu or the servant made dinner, but it was delicious: Tempeh, fried fish, veggies and white rice, of course. There are a few other Westerners staying there. A girl from Nevada, a girl from Japan and a girl from Australia who will be leaving tomorrow.

I will update more soon!

Jakarta, Indonesia

I arrived in Indonesia two days ago. VIA owns a house in Jakarta, the capital, and we stayed there for two nights. We did some cultural training and I learned a little bit more about my post in Ponorogo. I will be making a little more money than I expected! (Although it's still less than $200 a month). In Indonesian Rupiah, I am making 1,750,000 a month. I'm a millionaire, finally.

I am very excited about the post. It sounds like a great school. Apparently, while many Indonesian schools are very un-experimental and sort of stick to a regiment, this school is creative and likes to try innovative techniques. Part of my job is just to bring an outside perspective to their curriculum and teaching methods. I'm a little nervous about that, since I've never taught before. I'm not sure how much help I'll be. If anybody has any great teaching ideas or experiences, send them my way!

But before I go to Ponorogo, I'm going to be spending a few weeks in Yogyakarta for language training. We'll be spending most of that time living with a family, which I'm looking forward too.

It's dinner time now, so I will update more from Yogyakarta. We are taking a night train there in a few hours...should be interesting!

Elephant Camp

Last weekend I had the amazing experience of going to the Elephant Nature Foundation's elephant sanctuary. I went with two VIA friends, Dave and Thi-Bay. The camp takes in injured or abused elephants and works on reintroducing them to the wild, if possible.

It was a full day trip that started with a 1 1/2 hour drive into the mountains and country-side. On the way, we stopped to load some fruit into a truck to feed the elephants.



When we finally arrived the elephants were hanging out near the feeding platforms because it was almost lunch time. This one has a bandage on it's face from where it was hurt by it's previous owner. Another one was blind and they have several with limps. One is even missing part of a leg from a land mine.






We were able to hand feed the elephants fruit. It was kind of chaotic because they were reaching all over the place with their trunks, trying to grab anything. Their trunks are stronger than you'd think!




Sometimes they'd have fights over who got fed, but the mahouts (trainers) quickly stepped in and with a few yells had them separated.




We gave them baths in the river (sorry, no pictures of that, since I was in the river) which was amazing, and them could just hang out and play with them a little bit.












Then we sat up in a pavilion to hear the founder of the sanctuary speak for a bit. She's an amazing woman and told us about how she would go so far as to steal and elephant if the owner was abusing it and wouldn't sell it to her legally.




Some babies came out to play and get their bathes while we were in the pavilion.


They also had a (mostly) white elephant, which is very rare.