Christmas eve was probably the hardest day I've had here yet. I went to church with Miss Agnus, a Christian teacher at my school, and basically cried through the whole thing saying I had a cold. I was pretty miserable and just didn't want to be there. They sang a bunch of songs I didn't know and the Indonesian version of Silent Night. And, of course, I couldn't understand the sermon but they didn't seem to read the Christmas story which I thought was strange.
Christmas day wasn't much better. I continued crying in church and was just really happy when I could come home and pretend that it wasn't Christmas at all. Fairly easy to do in a Muslim country and so I went to see some traditional dance that evening with my Muslim friends.
Last week it was Javanese and Islamic new year so there were all kinds of activities that i will talk about in a future post. I am having some cultural fatigue so I am really looking forward to my three week vacation on Bali coming up on Jan 10. Bali is Hindu so the culture of that island is quite a bit different than here on Java. Also Bali is full of vacationing westerners so it will be awesome to have other Americans around, especially my VIA friends. After spending well over a month of training in July and Aug seeing those people every day, it will be great to be all together again.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
idul-adha
I know I have been lazy with my blog lately, so I thought I'd give you all an update. Part of the reason I've been lazy is because the photo uploading speed seems to be slower than usual and my local internet place. So I decided to make a post without photos.
As it gets closer to christmas I am starting to feel more and more homesick, although it doens't actually feel like the holiday season at all. When I see the rare christmas tree or decoration it feels odd, like seeing a christmas tree in July. Afterall the weather here is exactly like it was when I arrived in August with the exception of their being more rain now. On Christmas day, my only plan is to go to church with the Christian woman i know. I apologize to everybody because you're not getting christmas cards or presents. It's impossible to find so much as a postcard in this town, Christmas cards are out of the question. And I just don't want to do anything that feels Christmasy. Becuase 1) it doesn't feel like christmas and 2) it would just make me unbareably homesick if it did.
Let's see, a few weeks ago some American friends of mine who are also volunteering with VIA came to visit me here in Ponorogo and we attended Idul-Adha festivities which involved the sacrifice and butchering of a goat. Or 6 goats to be presise. It was similaniously an interesting, disgusting, funny and delisious event. I'd never seen an animal butchered like that before. There's a definitely line when what you are seeing changes from a dead animal to meat. It made me thing a lot about American meat habits. I've always believed that if a person is so disgusted by raw meat that they are uncomfortable handling it and cooking it, they should really not be eating meat at all. I think it's important when we eat meat to acknowledge and be aware of the fact that yes, you're eating an animal. It used to be alive and moving and making sounds, it has bones and hair and a heart and intestines, just like you. If you can't handle that, don't eat it. don't pretend meat is no different than a potato. anyway, Indonesians know their meat is meat. It's impossible to ignore here. And they have no qualms about butchering together. At Idul-Adha, the men did the skinning and gutting and the women butchered the meat into mangable portions. The whole community gathered, children included. And they had a great time posing with the goat heads, playing with the goat organs and hacking through the goat bones. It was surreal.
This week is Islamic New Year so there are all kinds 0f interesting activities going on which I will try to photograph and upload
As it gets closer to christmas I am starting to feel more and more homesick, although it doens't actually feel like the holiday season at all. When I see the rare christmas tree or decoration it feels odd, like seeing a christmas tree in July. Afterall the weather here is exactly like it was when I arrived in August with the exception of their being more rain now. On Christmas day, my only plan is to go to church with the Christian woman i know. I apologize to everybody because you're not getting christmas cards or presents. It's impossible to find so much as a postcard in this town, Christmas cards are out of the question. And I just don't want to do anything that feels Christmasy. Becuase 1) it doesn't feel like christmas and 2) it would just make me unbareably homesick if it did.
Let's see, a few weeks ago some American friends of mine who are also volunteering with VIA came to visit me here in Ponorogo and we attended Idul-Adha festivities which involved the sacrifice and butchering of a goat. Or 6 goats to be presise. It was similaniously an interesting, disgusting, funny and delisious event. I'd never seen an animal butchered like that before. There's a definitely line when what you are seeing changes from a dead animal to meat. It made me thing a lot about American meat habits. I've always believed that if a person is so disgusted by raw meat that they are uncomfortable handling it and cooking it, they should really not be eating meat at all. I think it's important when we eat meat to acknowledge and be aware of the fact that yes, you're eating an animal. It used to be alive and moving and making sounds, it has bones and hair and a heart and intestines, just like you. If you can't handle that, don't eat it. don't pretend meat is no different than a potato. anyway, Indonesians know their meat is meat. It's impossible to ignore here. And they have no qualms about butchering together. At Idul-Adha, the men did the skinning and gutting and the women butchered the meat into mangable portions. The whole community gathered, children included. And they had a great time posing with the goat heads, playing with the goat organs and hacking through the goat bones. It was surreal.
This week is Islamic New Year so there are all kinds 0f interesting activities going on which I will try to photograph and upload
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Photos of Ponorogo
My friends Ben and Marisa (also with VIA) came to visit Ponorogo last weekend and Ben took some great photos, which you can see here
Be warned that about half way through there are some graphic goat sacrifice photos so if you're not ok with seeing dead goats being skinned and cut up, just look at the first half of photos. I'll be writing more about the sacrifice later.
Be warned that about half way through there are some graphic goat sacrifice photos so if you're not ok with seeing dead goats being skinned and cut up, just look at the first half of photos. I'll be writing more about the sacrifice later.
Zipline in the park with elementary students
A few weeks ago we took some of the elementary school students on a field trip to a local park for a day of fun learning activities. Here are some photos.
The students work in groups in a scavenger hunt type of thing
Two girls pose after their team wins the game
Miss Febri, my teaching partner, is explaining the rules
Working hard
Thinking
There was a zip line at the part and all the students were excited to try. We taught them to say "I did it!" when they finished.
After watching all my students and some of the teachers complete the zipline, I finally have in to peer pressure and agreed to do it. The worst part was the first part when you have to jump off the balcony thing. Otherwise it was fun
The students work in groups in a scavenger hunt type of thing
Two girls pose after their team wins the game
Miss Febri, my teaching partner, is explaining the rules
Working hard
Thinking
There was a zip line at the part and all the students were excited to try. We taught them to say "I did it!" when they finished.
After watching all my students and some of the teachers complete the zipline, I finally have in to peer pressure and agreed to do it. The worst part was the first part when you have to jump off the balcony thing. Otherwise it was fun
Friday, December 12, 2008
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