Indonesia Raya, Merdeka Merdeka

Above the clouds, Mt. Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia 6/28/08

In a far away land where the clock reads 12 hours ahead, it is Independence Day (Merdeka) for Indonesia!

Like every country, Indonesia has its struggles and darkness, and also its successes and beauty.
Without fireworks here in Florida, I will write in celebration of Indonesia's efforts to be better and all its wonders.

This time last year was the first time I celebrated Merdeka in Indonesia. While BBQ and beer are essentials for many celebrations of 4th of July, it works a bit differently in Indonesia.

August 17, 1945 is celebrated through marching, singing, dancing, playing sports, eating, loud horns, and fireworks with schoolmates, workmates, family and often dangdut music. "Dangdut is the music of my countryyy!" I wish I could be a part of those activities today, but there will always be things I miss about Indonesia.
- My students that will be the future of Indonesia.
- My grandfather whose LOVE for Indonesia outweighs all that he dislikes about it.
- My family always with a lending hand and a gossip trail to keep me in check.
- My fellow teachers who loved to show me the food, sites and culture of Indonesia.
- Struggling musicians on the street appreciative of a listen, smile... and some change.
- Bottled water, toys, maps, and food as street intersection service.
- Beautiful beaches, mountains, hills, reefs, and monuments.
- Street food that's both delicious and cheap.
- Bahasa Indonesia.
- Jam karet ~ rubber time ;)

... and much more.

Selamat Ulang Tahun yang ke 63, Indonesia!
Selamat Merdeka!!!

10 Things I Learned

8/10

- My parents aren’t insane. They’re actually quite amazing parents who have worked hard to get to the US and came for the opportunities, but they don’t want us kids to take advantage of ALL the opportunities ;)
- Accept a lending hand. If it’s handing out food, advice, lectures, ill-informed theories, or general genuine help, just take it. I can do with it what I please, but I don’t live in this world by myself. I like warm cultures better than cold ones.
- Reciprocity. If compromise for a single situation doesn’t work, I can wait till the next time to give or accept. The exchange doesn’t have to be the same form.
- Take language classes even when abroad. Proper Indonesian is not the easiest language to learn! I shoulda taken formal classes cuz the informal meetings don’t always work out, especially in Indonesia. … and Mexico. It doesn’t hurt. Only helps.
- Respect my elders. And others that deserve that respect. I can further limit my options for those I respect. It can be a small effort for me, but a huge deal for others.
- It’s ok to say, “I don’t know.” My English grammar sucks and I didn’t want to teach the wrong thing. Sometimes I don’t know all the answers to their questions about English, US, or anything. Who does know ALL the answers?!
- Body language is a universal language.
Forget this English is a universal language crap. Although body language can have its accents, it speaks volumes in any country. Certainly in Indonesia where music, dancing, and singin is everywhere.
- Critical and creative thinking are gifts. Thinking outside the box is a luxury not everyone in the world is afforded.
- Asking “why?” is important, but sometimes the answer isn’t always important. I encourage my students to always ask why to anything they learn. To take everything they learn with a grain of salt. Yet the answer to why someone believes something doesn’t always matter. Whether it’s fasting during Ramadhan, eating turkey on “thanksgiving” day, shooting fireworks on July 4th, praying 5 times a day, celebrating the body & blood of Christ… all these things are interpreted in different ways, but the results to me can show community, peace and beauty.
- Bureaucracy taunts me. In the past, present, and future, bureaucracy will stay. The Fulbright mission of mutual understanding between nations has been red taped to only allow the understanding of the U.S. English language and culture. While we tried to open minds, we are not allowed to present the students with scholarships outside of the US, or debrief, or publish what we learned.
and where are there US high school students learning Indonesian language or at least culture? …

These are the first that came to mind...there's more where that came from.

Hopeful Critic Lagi Bingung

7/31/08

Today this hopeful critic is bingung – confused.
For about a month I was traveling with my brother around Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, and Indonesia… and I got back to Florida, my home state July 8th, and since then I’ve been ok chillin/entertaining family, job searching, catching up with people, and but of course playin’ capoeira.

I’ve had a few weeks to write , but I didn’t know the words to wrap this up. I guess it’s an unfinished journey … but the Fulbright ETA part has surely ended. So I’ll tell you about my transition thoughts…

For the first time since I’ve been back in the US, an overwhelming weight has settled on my heart and in my throat. (That sounds so cheesy, but that’s really how it feels!)
ahm.. In capoeira today the professor was talking about the family vibe you can find in capoeira groups… He made me think of my family networks that have grown out of not only capoeira, but also dance, school, sports, and livin with my grandpa ;)

I am blessed to have these friends and family around the world that have connected with me at different points in my life… and I know that I’m lucky to live in this generation where I can keep these ties with a click of a button. … but I can’t be there.

So much of me is attached to different places, groups, issues, and people that all that’s left is salty cheeks and a wandering mind.

Now I’m not sure what’s the next step, but hopefully something that I can go into with the same passion and excitement that I had for being a Fulbright ETA in Indonesia. After catching up with people with varying stories of success, struggle, and life at square one … I’m stoked to get through one of these open doors, but there’s so much research to do! And when you like to hike and you like to cruise, how do you know whether to take the paved or unpaved roads? Why can’t there just be a choice of blue or red pill?

Mt. Rinjani, Lombok ~ 3 day hike 6/28/08

WORDS competition in Jakarta Post!

6 months of work published in The Jakarta Post! Check it out here.



Thank you to everyone that supported this successful endeavor!

Maggots, Orangutangs, Blood Suckers, and Rapids

I have a lot of stories to tell, but there's one day in particular that deserves to be highlighted.

I just got back from Medan, Sumatera yesterday night. 9 of us met up there for Danielle's bday. We went to a town close by for a couple days called Bukit Lawang to do some hiking. Twas a beautiful place with enough power for yummy dinner time and plenty of darkness to see the stars and breath in clean air.

Friday morning I started off the day with an egg, tomato, & cheese sandwich. Half way through a tomato dropped on my plate and as I was about to take a chomp out of it, I noticed a couple of white-worm-maggot-like thingamajigs in my tomato. Often times there may be hair or stones in my Indo food, but not usually worms. So I removed all tomatos and kept eating :P

The maggots were only part of the introduction to my adventures that day as we trekked across some rivers and up mountains to see all sorts of critters. One of the most popular in the jungle was an orangutang named Mina. They described Mina as the only really mean orangutang who likes to steal bags looking for food and who is known for biting locals. Lucky for us Mina swung down from the trees and planted herself right in our path with her baby clinging to her side. She stole our bag full of water and was quite upset to not find food. I was the last in the line taking pictures and video until she got a bit too close for comfort. With not much space to escape, Mina grabbed my arm and I tried to pull back but she's a strong lil sucker. The main guide - Coless started throwing rocks at her to try to distract her. Apparently she was out to bite me until she was hit by a rock and started running towards Coless. The other guides had me cued me to run and thankfully I got away with just a couple scratches and bruises. We had three guides with us that day and each one of them saved me from multiple catastrophes. So moving on to the next heroes of the day were Rinto and Arnol - removing blood suckers from me every now and then, and saving me from many steep falls.

One time the guides made me fall, but they did eventually catch me. hahah. This time we were on 4 tubes attached to make a raft for 7 people in order to get back to the our base by water. At some point the raft got wrapped around a huge rock and we were stuck there with river rapids crashing our left sides into the rocks and water. So with what I thought was clever thinking, I leaned over to the right to get us back on track. but really I just tossed myself and my friend over board. I grabbed my friend Angie with my feet being swept off the rocks below me and we bounced around a bit until we were saved yet again and pushed back on the tubes. wooooweee!

It was a wild ride for sure, but in the end you just gotta roll with the punches. I coulda got mad for maggots in my food, almost being bitten by an orangutang, or guides missing a big rock dead ahead. ... but they also saved me a hell of a lot of times, and it was still a lot of fun! It was a trek not laid out in stone in any sense of that phrase. I loved it and am down to do it again! Ma, you wana come? :D

Even if I did get bitten, that'd be some sweet oleh2 (souvenir) and I guess I'm supposed to be honored because Mina doesn't usually go after tourists. But I have Indonesian blooood! and skin color of the locals. :p

But alls good now. I'm still alive despite maggots in my stomach, blood suckage, and other encounters with the beautiful beasts of the wilderness. I highly recommend it... especially in good company. Thank you all for a trip... fall, and laugh that will be hard to forget.

Damai.

"Asli Complicated"

Sorry for being so out of touch... especially after saying I would be better about it : S I have been uber busy with WORDS, new extracurriculars at school, traveling, and... WORDS. Reading many of these creative works across 5 Indo islands has gotten me to get my brain in creative mode too a bit. So here's a lil somethin2 I wrote for my kids the day we shared works for the first round of the competition...

"Asli Complicated"


I am American
I am Indonesian
I am hyphenated
Asli complicated

In multiple cultures my pride lies
Not only in Indonesia and the U.S.
In Brazil, Mexico, and China I have ties
Each place contributes to a culture called “Jess”

See there’s no one country that I belong
Frustrating as that may be, I get along
My Bahasa Indonesian may not be lancar
But here I know a comforting smile is never far

Indonesia is where my roots are
So when I salsa or play Capoeira
My moves stem from Indonesia

Indonesia is where there’s family
My daily nasi and houses of memory
Memories from before I was born
My heritage before my identity was torn

There are still blanks in my family tree
I don’t know all of my history
Records unwritten or lost without a key
But I don’t need it to define me

I know my family was here for Merdeka!
Bandung is the hometown of my dua kaka
I was raised with Indonesian rules
and since then I’ve gained new tools

New tools for new perspectives
Everyday with improved lenses
Never forgetting my roots, my base
Because of the past, I have a bright future to face

Terima kasih.

Glossary
asli - genuinely
lancar - fluent
nasi - rice
Merdeka! - Freedom! (Independence Day)
dua kaka - two sisters
Terima kasih - Thank you

Sand of time running thin... and I keep stackin' them lil grains!

Just six more days until I can read the work of my students for the WORDS competition about What does it mean to be Indonesian? woooowee I'm stoked!

In helping them get the ball rolling on what to write, I did a group brainstorming lesson plan about what does it mean to be American. It is pretty challenging to fit the meaning of American into 500 words! I mean just finding what approach or piece of the American you want to discuss. Ah, well many myths were dispelled or at least doubted about Americans, and then they worked on their own to brainstorm "What does it mean to be Indonesian?" In the beginning many of the students struggled, but once they understood that it's more about their opinions of Indonesians, they had a lot to say with a lot of emotion.

It looks like a live stream is not a feasible option for the final competition, but we will be working on a DVD and we have foundations willing to publish finalists' work. Whether we are able to work with them depends on our higher ups - AMINEF (American Indonesian Exchange Foundation) admins. Ah, bureaucracy, how I loathe thee.

Before my head aches from thinking too much about that, I shall move on to happy thoughts. My kids! Oh man, I'm feeling time running thin and.... right happy thoughts, so my kids rocked at a debate competition that we had been preparing for, for about 2 months. Really just one month intensely practicing. It was beautiful getting to know them and watching them really develop their critical skills - realizing that there are numerous sides of an issue, and arguing those points in English! Their English skills are still a bit shaky, but we still ended up going home with 3 wins out of 6 debates with some of the top-ranked schools in the city - we beat schools ranked higher than our school. Yay!

Imagine being in high school and debating why supermarkets should pay farmers more money in a foreign language. Ok so for some of you it may be easy, but still ideas of supply and demand, benefits/drawbacks of domestic goods, etc. are tough! especially in another language. (I kind of look like a high schooler in that pic eh?)

Soooo since ya'll get to see lovely pics of my students, I thought it was only fair that they see pics of you! haha. So I made a few lesson plans revolving around pictures of ya'll and another set of pics from USA. teehee! They wrote some funny stories about you guys. I should have copied them all, but there have been like 200 I've read so far. I'll try to pick the best ones and email yas. So here are your pictures on the board. They were guessing which were the three that were not U.S. citizens.

I know I haven't been the best at keeping in touch, but I just got internet at my house so I should be better about it. Although I also just started a capoeira class, salsa class, and words workshop in addition to students Eng club, teachers Eng club, and English tutoring...and bowling and friends' wedding - performing capoeira :P


Miss yas. Paz e amor.

OH WORD?!

Hey all.
Sorry it's been a while. I've been pretty busy as we're getting things going with the W.O.R.D.S. national creative writing competition. Here is a poster we have going around... and then leaflets made as well. Too bad the copying centers on every block of Bandung are not that reliable for a 1,500 copy job. :(

Anyhow stay tuned for more updates and please check out: http://summitedoutreach.org for more info about Fulbright Indonesia, W.O.R.D.S., and how you can donate. ^_~

My stories here are just a blink of the life in Indonesia. Every day I see things that are just so backwards from the life in which I was raised. I'm not the best person to explain such things as being fully covered in 90F weather, sleeping while working at a mall, driving against traffic, 50 cent DVDs, nature calls without toilet paper, or praying 5 times a day in prayer rooms that are in nearly every building. Maybe students here will shed light on things that I don't have the words for. Stay tuned to broaden your perspective and read what these students have to say when given an international platform.

Selamat Tahun Baru! Happy 2008!

Wouldn’t it be nice if the New Year was actually a new stage in life – like a new level of a tight video game where you’re on the beach swinging from trees and stomping the ground for bananas? Ahm, well I guess for those graduating or finishing projects in Dec it kind of is, but for me I still find my digital post its with “things to do” from last year that roll into this year. But what is time anyway? Haha. Ok ok so before I lose you, in the spirit of our tradition of the “new year” I’ve made New Year’s resolutions… to find a job for after SMAN 11 (recommendations are welcome), to read at least one article in Indonesian per week, to learn a new Capoeira song every week, and to compliment people more… genuinely cuz it makes my day and figure it works for others too ;)

Oooo this is a good lesson plan! What are your New Year resolutions? (feel free to post your answer – we’ll keep you accountable.)

Orale. So instead of chillin with my high school crew in FL this year (which I missed muchly), I was on the opposite side of the world with my Bandung and Jakarta Capoeira crews. Bandung was rowdy man! Like it was midnight from sunset until 1am! We played until we got rained out at 11pm… then played some more from like 1-3am. Teehee! Someone once told me that if you’re a capoeirista, you’ll be welcomed like family by other capoeiristas all around the world. So far that’s proven to be true in the 10 cities I’ve played.

I traversed Java to get to Bali with a couple of my Capoeira chicos for Senzala’s 1st batizado in Bali (Capoeira convention) ft. Mestre Gato, Mestre Ousado, C.Mestre Gatinho, C. Mestre Bangu e otros… It was about a 2 ½ day trip with a brief stop in Jogja and the rest of the time on trains, train station floors, and a ferry with a sick beat. :P It was beautiful and it makes me soooooo mad to see so many people littering and polluting here! I yell at the offenders, usually my friends, and they laugh and then forget 2 mins later… most are just used to people picking up after them. But dude, I don’t wana wear a gas mask when I go outside!

Yeah… there are interesting cultural habits here that make me perturbed but I guess Hooters doesn’t really make me happy either.

Ok… well it’s time for me to get back to doing work for this WORDS competition. Hope alls well where ever you are… even if you’re freezing your bum off while I’m sweating here. Much rather be sweating though. I was in Paris with the fam for Christmas and while it was refreshing to breath fresh air for the first few hours, I gotta say I don’t miss the cold. But it’s always good to have the cold or rainy or gray days to appreciate these sunny hella hot days ;)

Miss yas. Peace.

Pusing dengan Senyuman

I will never admit to being stressed because of it's negative connotation. So I'll use an Indonesian's translation and say my subject line says "Dizzy with a Smile."

I've been on a wild whirl of life. We finally got our national creative writing competition approved, but we need to change our topic and title and we need to get moneyyy! So all you big spenders out there, beware - I'm coming for you! ;)

So the competition is one thing that's made my stomach turn and make me pusing amongst many other things. Yet to some extent this feeling makes me feel like I'm doing something good to keep my brain moving you know? And when times get rough I take a look at pictures like this one with my students and senyum at their kick arse percussion instruments -- drum duct taped up the wazoo, a chair, and the floor as instruments that they smack with hands and drum sticks or at least half of a drum stick. It sounded good too! Remind me to show you the video of this when I see yas.


Other video opportune moments was at this huge food court when my girl MC Peaches rapped/spoken worded about love -- and then Corey and I had a nice and embarrassing moment singing completely wrong words to "Every Breath You Take" oh man - we were glad when that was over - then made them let me try to redeem myself with "The Rose." I sucked, but it was times like this I was thankful to be in a country where they get that I always love to sing and dance - and it's not THAT weird.... (except when I look Indo and can't sing Indo songs. :S) BUT what was even cooler was that I was with my Bahasa Indo teachers, capoeira friends, Fulbright ETA friends, and new English teacher friends. Such a random group!

On to today -- I'm in the beginning of a backpacking trip at our 1st stop in Jogja in transit for a day before hitting up Surabaya on my way to BALI! yes again, but this time for Capoeira Senzala's Batizado! Wootywooo! Been playing a lot which has been a nice balance to other random craziness em minha vida. Here's a pic of one of our performances at the MIT of Indo ITB - Institut Teknologi Bandung - where I play pretty often.


Well, ya'll are in my thoughts and I miss yas muchly, whether I'm playing capoeira, dancing the night away, teaching amazing but nakal kids, planning a nation-wide competition, speaking Indonesian, Spanish, or Portuguese, chillin with fam at grandpas, driving people around, talking over shisha (hooka) n cervezas, performing, trying to samba, or just looking at pictures for extended periods of time on my laptop or behind my closed abnormal eyelids. :P Props to you if you know what I'm talkin' about.

Thank you for all of you that have been so very helpful this past month. I haven't ever had to rely on people (besides my parents and sibs) as much as I have this past month. Terima kasih banyak.

highlights of past weeks

This is a story all about how my life got twisted upside down and I’d like to take a minute just sit right there and I’ll tell you how mold became black in my air.

So I tried to post something last week but the internet crashed and I lost a lot of writing about my whereabouts the past couple weeks. So here I am trying again a bit late I know. Sorry.

Here are the highlights. Read what’s in CAPS if you’re too lazy to read it all :P
1) I’m MOVING. I don’t know where to quite yet but there’s some major mold growth goin on in my house and the water pressure and quality is not so groovy. One night I didn’t take a shower because I just couldn't after 30mins of killing about 23 cockroaches coming out of my bathroom. Then a few days later I didn’t shower because the water pressure was like cold drizzling rain out of 4 holes of my showerhead .. and there are some days I have to brush my teeth with the bottled water cuz it looks like what's in that green bucket of tap water. So when the mold was growing to the point where I felt like I was breathing in a sauna I decided to move to my grandpas temporarily. A friend of ours, fellow ETA in Bukitinggi, Padang, Sumatera had a lot of mold in his house and now he is in the health care of Jakarta pollution diagnosed with bronchitis. Finding a decent place to stay for 6 more months is just not that easy though so I might be staying at my grandpas. I have been at my Opa’s for the past week and it’s been pretty funny as he’s 95, deaf, and delusional sometimes.

2) Our program leaders the LOVED the NATIONAL CREATIVE WRITING COMPETITION idea we have! In fact they love it so much that they want to double the funding of the project, they want embassy people abroad to watch on a live stream, and they envision it being an annual program. WOOWOOT! That means a lot more work for Jamie and I, but it seems that we have a lot of great support from all the right people so far. Hey we’re kinda iffy on the competition name, what do you think of: “Worldviews of Real Daring Students” (W.O.R.D.S.) ????

3) This past weekend in Jakarta I met a Brazilian Contre Mestre of Capoeira and Columbiano salsa teachers, so I got to practice my ESPANOL and PORTUGUES! As well as Indonesian and English ;)

4) In days before this weekend I have hit up HOT SPRINGS an hour up in the hills, played with FIREWORKS, and had an amazing BBQ with the neighborhood I’m very sad to leave. (P.S. Many Indos don’t believe black mold is bad for people, so some think we’re a bit strange to complain about it. They think our friend has bronchitis for some other reason.)

5) The students are wonderful! They rocked this CHANGE THE WORLD creative writing project based off the song “With My Own Two Hands” by Jack Johnson and Ben Harper. Credit to Jamie for it being her idea. Next up I think I want to work a Michael Franti song… maybe “Bomb the World” with an article about Franti in Iraq. But that’s deep … hum. But some students are capable of ideas like: “Money has become our god/To buy things that do not last;” ““I think USA is enourmous country but sometimes I think USA is greedy country because USA pleasure to appress another country;” “smile like virus (contagious).” Even if the words or grammar aren’t there, the ideas are provocative eh?

My English Club students are mantap! Awesome! We watched Take the Lead and talked about educational issues and motorcycle gangs in Indonesia and US. Some of them can even hardcore debate on issues such as uniforms, arranged marriage, and authority through fear. Psh’yah I’m learnin a lot too.

Ok mis sayangs, thanks for reading. Holler back youngin’. Oooo oooooooo!

“Indonesian Writers Idol” ….? Jamie and I are trying to write up this formal proposal for a national creative writing competition for our students. Suggestions for a name of the competition are welcome. There are 31 of us English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) all over Indonesia so it’d be pretty groovy if we could get some of our students to compete against one another, eh? Plus I think it would provide an awesome forum for students to be heard… hopefully. Wouldn’t you want to know what my Indonesian high-schoolers think about the world today? I’m interested to see how they perceive the world and specifically the US through our wonderful pop-culture that is kind enough to dominate the world. meh.

We’re tossing around the topic idea of Gandhi’s “We must be the change we wish to see in the world,” or a Kennedy quote, or something else along the lines of Fulbright’s mission for mutual understanding between nations. Perhaps a quote from his book, Arrogance of Power.

This week I’ve been gathering writing samples from students to hopefully motivate sponsors to give us some moola. Today my 10^th graders rocked on this activity about being world leaders and writing ideas of what they thought are the world’s biggest problems. Among the 50 something issues raised, my favorites are: global warming - destroys the ozone layer, melts the north pole, and makes land sink – such as Indonesia; creating diplomatic relations between countries; war between America and “Irak;” and Malaysia stealing Indonesia’s songs!

It’s really great to be back in Bandung with these awesome students. Apparently I’m one of the luckiest because other ETAs said that their students really can’t speak English too well, and their areas are pretty secluded. I had the chance to chill with about 12 of the other ETAs out in Bunaken under the sea, Manado, and Yogyakarta.

Had a short refresher dive after 7 yrs in Bunaken, and in the following dives I saw a lot of pretty fish and coral, a ship wreck, and went night diving and had glowing things, red worms and freaky fish swim all around. Purty sweet.

Breathing under water again was definitely a highlight of the trip, but chillin with Bunaken locals (diving crew to the left) was pretty awesome too! The kids there (not in pic) were my tour guides, and we jumped off the dock, n played water football and marco-polo :) and they even brought me mangos one day when I was sick. I miss them.

In Yogya we saw the famous Borobodor (left pic is of D and I reaching for Buddah's left foot for good luck) and many other sights including the “sex temple” in Solo (right pic). Yeah… history and Indonesia today don’t really match in my head. I haven’t quite figured out the social dynamics of Indonesia – everyone has a different take on social norms… but I’ve noticed amongst the 31 ETAs, we have pretty different ideas of America’s norms.

3:30am Breakfast call!

Sometimes the explanation doesn’t matter. I mean the reasons for why something is in existence doesn’t always matter you know? It’s the results of that something that matter. I guess that goes along the lines that it doesn’t matter what the intent a person may have, it’s the impact that matters.

Specifically I’m thinking of puasa – Ramadaan – fasting. People have different reasons for fasting – or for believing in anything right? The beautiful thing about puasa for me is that everyone recognizes it, and once the sun goes down it is a time in which we can all be thankful for the food and community around us. In the beginning of puasa I went to Capoeira from 4-6pm. Everyone was pretty exhausted but it was still a pretty tough practice. Around 5pm I was excited to see the sun going down so that I could have some water. By 5:48ish :P the prayer sounded and everyone cheered and ran to their water and snacks. I was thankful to have some water and I had lunch that day! Everyone shared their treats and we played around a bit more.

A couple days ago I talked on the radio about this and they had asked if we have fasted at all. Jamie and I had fasted for 8hrs while we were working, but never the full 14hrs. So today was the first day we fasted like many around us. We had sahur at 3:30am with some of the family members from next door, and I had my last sip of water at 4am. It really wasn’t bad at all with just spurts of hunger or thirst, and a bit of tiredness and crankiness. By 6pm it wasn’t really a rush for food, but it was nice to be with people that immediately brought us water and snacks, with dinner that followed. It’s like open family dinners all around.

Yesterday I took some studio pics with the English club and then we had buka puasa (breaking fasting) for the day at a food court of a nearby mall. Bandung ppl love their malls ;) Bandung is the Paris of Java – home of the Gedung Satay, SMAN 11, good lookin’ men, no drugs, and rebellion… riiight. Ooo I should use that for a quick True or False quiz :P

Now my school is in their pesantren week – their week of religious study. Then the Ramadaan break starts next week until Oct. 21. So I’m off to Manado – Bunaken to go scuba diving for a week, and then I’ll be in Yogyakarta for a bit.  Abracos y saludos. And for all yas fasting, much respect and I hope you're getting some beautiful community love or at least a refreshed body. ;)

PS. I taught the capoeira crew here: “Obrigada/Obrigado; de nada; boa noite; cuidado; voce tambem.” teehee!

quotes

Carl Sandburg - “Slang is language that takes off its coat, spits on its hands, and goes to work.”

So true. Maybe proper use of language is good for when I should wear a suit, but I don't like dressing up. ahm. So I'm looking up quotes to share with my students... maybe I'll use idioms every day from this idiom book or a cool quote such as the one above. Any quotes or idioms ya'll recommend? Or any good comic strips for role play? Or fill in the bubble.

Anyhow here’s a pic of the little alley I take sometimes on my walk to school with a becak guy biking down to find some clients. You wouldn't really realize these cute alleys from driving around in the crowded and polluted area of South Bandung, but then again maybe you wouldn't think there are pretty rice fields either.

Everyday Indonesian pride is present and I love passing the flags, becaks, ankots, rice fields, food markets (even though they smell like dirty flies atop stinky fish) and a quaint little residential/market area with tall walls.... yeah.

Welp please pass on any suggestions for teaching these kids as I hope to have a bit more liberty AND organization with teaching these kids in a fun way. Cheerio!

More pics :)

Yoyoyoyoyoyo! :PSo I actually went for a bit of a driving lesson with one of my cool fellow teachers, and we visited a sick student at home with about 12 other people - students and teachers. Then we dropped off some people and did some errands so I didn't eat until around 3pm. I need to learn to eat some bigger breakfasts.

Anyhow, so Bali was splendid as you can imagine :) With lots of family in a beautiful hotel on the beach, an amazing wedding, and rafting on a surf board. I can't say I really surfed, because I didn't really get to a full stand - just kind of a mini attempt to stand that you would make on a flimsy raft.


In Bali we stayed in Kuta - where there was a carnival and most the wedding festivities. We also took a day trip to Ubud where we walked around, passed by monkeys, and visited the Blanco museum (supposedly the Dali of Bali, but I like Dali better.) The pic is my fam at the gorgeous museum.


The other pics are from the wedding, but these only capture 1/4 of the beauty. It wasn't a tres Indonesian wedding so sorry ya'll that were expecting exotic photos. Perhaps in another episode. Stay tuned.

Alls peachy :)

Heyas! I'm going to keep this short because I'm quite hungry and have to scurry off home to eat. It's considered quite rude to eat or drink in public during Ramadaan here (bulan puasa). So actually school ends earlier -- 11:55am instead of 2 or 3pm.





Anyhow, many of yas have emailed me concerned because of the recent earthquakes. I was actually driving at the time from Tegal (Central Java) to Bandung (West Java).... Although my fam in Tegal felt the quakes, I only felt my stomach turning upside down from driving in Indo. Thank you all for your concern.
There are many stories to tell, but for now, here's some evidence to let you know I'm alright:

Peachalicious baby.

Photo Copyright: Jeff Loman

Random shout outs... find yours!

Apa kabar semua?! Baru makan Sapi Kecap haha – ngga ada babi di supermarket jadi saya masak babi kecap sama sapi, ayam, telor dan tahu. Twas ok – sapi sidikit dry. Tapi Jamie bilang dia suka makanan. Errr iyah bahasa indo aku seperti bahasa ingris siswa-siswa. Aku perlu tutor. This weekend pergi ke Jakarta dan kasih…atau mengirim? sms ke keluarga dan temen-temen disini saying something like, “Temen saya sakit dan musti pergi ke US besok. Jadi saya pergi ke Bandung besok.” …. Jadi saya peroleh?ambil?dapat? 5sms with something like – “Kamu sakit?! Mau pergi ke hospital di JKT? Kamu pergi ke US besok??” hahaha! Susah! Well… saya mau latihar disini. Maaf kalo kalian ngga bisa ngerti!

Yeahh all this language learning and teaching and traveling is making me reminisce about so much and making me want to know all languages….now! Being here I’ve developed even more of an appreciation for my teachers of all kinds – my parents, all parents, my sibs, coaches, mestres, friends, teachers at school who’ve helped get me here and spent the time teach me the wonders of people, life, dance, art, music, rhetoric and communication… tools to see the world in a way that’s so my style. Yeah. Extraño uds mucho. Uds que puedo entenderme. Tengo multicultural withdrawal. Yo comí nachos en Jakarta sabado y en lugar salsa habia ketchup. Me gusta ketchup en mi ketchup pero con mis nachos… no gracias. Por supuesto lo comí pero no estaban nachos buenos. Pero! Habia algunos veces escuchamos Corazon Espinado y Oye Mi Canto en los antros aca. Woooo! Hey que bueno y un poco triste que estoy pensando en bahasa indo cuando yo trato a escribir en espanol. Pero mas que la comida extranio la gente y hay mucho aca como mercados, street performers/beggars, y siempre musica y danza. Toda la gente aca encanta chillin ;) supuestamente hay mucho gente que puede bailar salsa – hay muchos que quieren aprender. Mis professoras en mi escuela quieren que yo las ensene salsa. Oh! Y aprendi un poco de tango de mi amiga! Yeaaa.

E amanha eu vou a Capoeira en oa Universidad de nina, luka, lia e angga  - mis primos y amigos. Eu estou muito emocionada! Emm eu estaba practicando mis movimientos en un antro se llama embassy - estaba R&B noite – yo comence? Uma roda de baila! Perdi poppin, lockin e breakin, pero tengo mis flips todavia :P

So… Ma, don’t get mad – I’ll translate this to you when I see you in a week for Imron’s wedding! Wooo! And any others – holler at me if you want to know wussup – I just need to practice mis lenguas – my languages. I don't think there is anyone I know that understands all of this. cool! ahm.

Turus...on my long rides to and from Jakarta I did a lot of thinking and as a result I’m giving some random shout outs. (man my music is so good that I got – como 500 lagu lagu/canciones 70 cents per CD). Anyway though – on to today – which was oh so groovy besides the 50 mosquito bites I just got from leaving my room door open! Arg. Ahm so today was the first day I formally taught lesson plans! For the past week I had been observing/being on the hot seat with 70million questions. You’d be surprised at some of the questions they gave me! About my thoughts on “Iraq aggression,” Muslims in America, who I’m dating, why I’m not married, if the guys are better in US or Indonesia, and if I will stay in Bandung forever. Haha! They’re pretty wonderful and instead of giving me any problems, they are making my day every day! I’m so lucky! After the 70million questions one of the teachers had asked them to write a paragraph about what they learned about me and some did just that while others actually wrote letters to me. Here are just a few quotes that make me smile: “In our class, she can make me happy and make situation not boring.” “She’s also dance with my friends. She looks so funny!” “mmm, are you thinking of moving to Bandung permanently, so I can study English with you.” Actually I met a tarot card reader the other day for free at this restaurant and with my basic understanding of Indonesian I learned that Indonesia is where my luck lies. I’m supposedly lucky in Bandung for this year, but after that Bandung will not be good for me. Apparently I will receive some great opportunity soon and I should stay in Indonesia because the US or any other country is not good for me. I’m sure she more eloquently said these things but with my Indo I only understood – good, bad, lucky. :P I mean who can turn down: “Overall, I’m really loves Jessica.” I’m really lovin it here, but really missing you all more than you know. Often times I wish you were here to experience this with me. Cheerio lads and lassies!

Pic. 1 - Some of the Lo & Budiono fam at a Sundanese restaurant.
Pic. 2 - Something I drew/wrote during orientation. Fits my mood now.
Pic. 3 - Some of the boyz from SMA11 :)

Wooooooo! Bootleg movies and computer applications! A mall full of black marketness! Awful pic of me but hey that's cool, just be happy you're not lookin at my unshaven legs ;) ahm so yeah. and the pic on the right is a pic of some other wonderful fellow ETAs at lunch today at a pretty gorgeous restaurant here in Jakarta - $3 malay mee (yeah not mie) goreng and $2 sapo tofu mmmm. yeah so alls well and it's purty late here but I thought I'd share with yas the most challenging experience I've had thus far on my way to Depok to meet friends and then to Jakarta to meet up with some US delegates.

Jamie (girl/house-mate to the left of me in the pic) and I took a bus from Bandung to Depok to meet up with Depok ppls and faced the hardest task we've had so far. Picture this. We're on supposedly the nicest bus with AC and even a smoking section and bathroom. It's 7:30pm and we were supposed to arrive at 7pm. We've both drank lots of water and we are on a neverending windy road that does not seem to lead to any city close by. I heard from a friend that you won't find toilets off the ground in a bus, but I had no choice. Luckily I had some tissue with me and stumbled to the back of the bus, into the smoking section, and finally to the bathroom door... It was worse than what I had imagined. There was a non-functional sink and two huge buckets of water swishing back and forth like they were about to flood the bathroom floor already soaking wet with who knows what. but I had gotten that far, I needed to go all the way. It was tricky but with every muscle of my body I overcame my fears and the deed was done.

20 mins later Jamie could not help but try challenge herself. Indeed this was an experience to be had.

oh so many stories so little speedy internet.

nevertheless, much love!

buenos noches! boa noite! selamat malem! goodnight my angels now it's time to sleep. after my warm shower time here in JKT. (probably costs less then a dime Boo!)

Ups and downs of being sick in Indo

Deliciousness that made me o so sick. Now I'm at Tante Sylvia's recouping with some awesome family and speedy internet :) Had this shady warung food a couple days ago -- yeah you see the huge pieces of ice in my orange juice... mmm bad choice. Then the next day I had some rujak and spicyness that was tasty but I don't think my stomach likes that stuff so much. So last night around 2am my body thought it'd be nice to visit the blue room every two hours. Fun times. But now I just had some nasi sama kua dan pisang without feeling too bad so I think things are looking up for me. but how I miss my ma muchly at times like this :P

I was supposed to go out to celebrate a friend's bday today, but instead she came and visited me. It is really a beautiful thing that everyone visits you when you're ill. My first day at school I visited the headmaster's wife in the hospital, and another teacher sick at home -- it was a bit uncomfortable on both ends for me bc I guess I just don't want to be seen by all when I'm stuck in bed or in the bathroom, but it's all love here no matter what :P

So here's a pic of some of my friends, a couple of whom visited me today. The asian folks, Lia & Angga, coincidentally go to the same university as my cousin, nina. But actually I met them as relatives of one of my Fulbright guides/leader ppl... They have been awesome hosts to Bandung outside of training. and the bules in the pic are a few of my fav fellow ETAs always down for everything - Ken in North Central Java, John in West Kalimatan and Danielle aka Peaches in Medan.

and as I wrote before here's a pic of the outside of mi casa here in Bandung. A bit prettier outside than it is inside. but it'll do esp since my situation sounds a lot better than others.

and here's a pic of my first hiking trip here. been groovy times so far and these pics are only a few glimpses of the many awesome experiences here. sooo you should visit to get more of an inside scoop ;)

But as for SMAN 11 where I'm teaching - it's a pretty highschool with palm trees and a kantin/cafeteria and one squatter for all teachers. wooo. I haven't really gotten a chance to chill with the students yet bc the past couple days have been just preperation/celebration for MERDEKA! Indonesian independence day that was yesterday. So I've been mostly chillin with the teachers, visiting sick teachers, and playing games with them to celebrate indep day. There was a flag ceremony with all sorts of saluting and then there was a 40min march around school, and then we played some 5 on 5 soccer while karaoke and dancing was going on. I felt pretty Indonesian as I was playing soccer while dancing and singing. People are always dancing here. I don't feel so weirdddd now! haha.

aritey homeys. Mosquitos are eating me here so I think I'm going to have some Pocardi Sweat (salty gatorade) and then crawl back into bed.

till next time.