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!