If I were in the US today, I have already looked through an Easter basket, even though I'm well past the age of getting chocolately goodies and small amounts of silver money.  If I were back home, I would be experience both of my baby brothers' first Easter, watching them explore the oddities of colorful hardboiled eggs and being terrified of a large man in a furry costume.  I would sit in the living room and enjoy the company of my family and look forward to heading to Tulsa to spend the evening with church family.   

      Alternatively, if I were in my usual home in Indonesia, a fairly large village in Bali, I would be surrounded by the extremely visual Hindu presence, watching my host ibu put out her daily offerings to Brahma, Shiva, Wisnu, and other dieties, while my old bapak delicately places prayer flowers behind his ear.  But I'm not there either.  Instead, I am in central Java.  Rather than being surrounded by commercialism or inumerable handmade offerings, I have walked the streets among hijab-shrouded women and listened to the Muslim call to prayer.  I am thankful, though, because it has given me a unique opportunity to ignore everything that Easter represents in America and remember only the promise of salvation it truly represents.  I know the real story of Jesus and the life, love, and purpose he has given me.  But sadly, most of the people around me don't.  They don't know how much God has already done for them.  They make countless offerings for reasons they don't even know themselves, and are told not to question.  They strive to be as perfect as possible, in hopes that maybe in the end the good they are doing will outweigh the bad so that they can enter Paradise.  But how could it be different?  That is all they have ever known.  "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'" (Romans 10:14-15).   Today I encourage you to join in prayer so that the Indonesian people, all 200+ million of them, will have a chance to hear what holidays like Easter are really about... And, if you feel obligated enough, do something about it yourself.  

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12

Selamat datang di Yooooogya!

Sorry for not updating in a while... things have been really busy here!  I suppose I will start from where I left off last time.  We did indeed find that wonderful grocery store, called Coco's, which I have decided to rename "Indonesian Walmart."  If you know me well at all, you will know how happy it makes me that we found that store.   They even had real peanut M&M's! 

Over the weekend some friends and I went to a little beach town on the coast.  It had awesome waves, so we body surfed a lot (we aren't allowed to surf for real).  At night we hung out and santai-ed (chilled) a lot!  Perhaps the most exciting event of the weekend besides the beach was my purchase of 4 authentic "Ray Ban" sunglasses in various colors.  I'm currently wearing my blue pair as I write this. :)

Since we got back to Bedulu our week has been crazy!  It was our final week of regular school together before we left for our ISPs (idependent study projects.)  After class on Monday, Sara and I went to wayang once again.  While there, I sneezed four times, which was weird because I have only sneezed probably four times the whole trip.  Whie we were waiting for a bemo to take us home, I noticed my throat was sore and I remember saying, "Hm, I think I am getting sick."  And wouldn't you know it, by the time I got home after dance I thought I was dying (not really, but I felt pretty crummy.)  That night I went to sleep early, hoping that extra rest would help, but the next morning I woke up feeling even worse.  That made school that morning pretty awful because we had student-led discussions all morning for our final on Thursday as well.   So naturally, I slept through lunch.  I didn't feel much better when I woke up, just less tired, but I decided to go to wayang again anyway because we were supposed to present our projects the next day (Wednesday).  It turned out to be a really good decision because 1. I felt a lot better when I left the lesson, and 2. I finally finished my wayang!!  I decided I felt so good that I kept on truckin' through dance as well, which was really fun too.  Although it was a really busy day, and didn't have the best start, it turned out to be a pretty good day!

On Wednesday we had our final test for bahasa indonesia (Indonesian language) before the ISP period.  It went pretty smoothly, but made me nervous to be out on my own.  We had arts presentation part one that morning as well, so I was able to share with everyone in the program the wayang that Sara and I had made.  Later on, we had the afternoon free since I had finished my project, so my friend Alex and I decided to finally get one of the famously cheap Balinese massages.  It was about $6 US for an hour!!  Bagus, ya?  After some chill time in Ubud, we headed back for our final dance lesson.  The next morning we had our thematic seminar final, which felt like a marathon!  It was more or less constant writing for 3.5 hours... It was like an AP test!  I think I did well, however we won't find out until after ISP. Afterwards we had lunch, a little break, and then had to get ready for the arts presentation that night.  We weren't performing our dance until 6, but we had to start getting ready at 3!  Make up alone, for the four of us, took almost two hours.  It was insane!  I'm not sure if I enjoyed the dancing or the preparation more.  Mirah stuck around to hang out with us, and she's always very fun!  The performance started a little late, as usual in Bali, but went by really quickly.  I think we did well, especially for only have 5 lessons (two of which were three weeks before the others!)  Here's us in our crazy Balinese getup! 

(That is the sort of standard Balinese dancer pose, with the eyes and all.)  My host parents even came to watch me, and all dressed up too!  It was so sweet.  After we performed, Pak Garret (an employee of SIT who is originally from Hawaii but has live here for almost 30 years) performed one of his Javanese dances; he was awesome.  We had a final presentation and then our last meal together at the program center before ISP.  It was very bittersweet because we are all excited to get our projects underway, but it marks the end of our learning experience together.  When we get back we'll have a final test for Bahasa, ISP presentations, and then debriefing... so sad!  I will miss everyone a lot when the program ends, but until then I'm going to try to make every moment worth it!

On the way home Misra and I walked by the Pura Bedulu and remembered that our dance teacher was performing that night, so we stopped in to see if we could watch.   Turns out that we got there just in time!  In Balinese dance, the performers always enter the stage through a little door, usually in a large gate, and wait for the gamelan band to cue them in.  While she was waiting she looked into the crowd and yelled "MISRA!" and gave a big wave to both of us.  It made us feel really special, but a little embarrassed because then all of the tourists, who had all bussed in from Ubud, turned around to stare at us.  Whoops!  Anyway, she was such a good dancer!  Absolutely beautiful too!  I wish we could have gotten to know her better, but the whole language barrier thing gets in the way a lot of the time.  After the performance an Indonesian man got up and started talking to all the tourists, but we had no idea what he was saying... Before he stopped talking, Misra figured out that he was speaking French.  After he was done and while we were waiting, a few of the tourists came up and tried to talk to us, and after learning that we spoke English, directed their conversations elsewhere.  Eventually Indonesian tour guides tried to talk to us in French as well, I assume because they thought we were a part of the group, and we just stared at them open-mouthed... We didn't know what else to do!  It was such a bizzar thing to happen to us.  We are used to speaking their language, and sometimes they speak a little English, but I don't know any French, and at first it didn't even occur to us to say "I don't know what you're saying," in Indonesian.  So, we just stared.  Then our brains kicked in and we proceeded with conversation in Bahasa like normal.  

When I got home, I was given the most warm greeting I have received the whole time I have been here!  My ibu walked up to me, pinched my chin, gave me a hug, and kept telling me how skilled I was at dancing while patting my cheek.  She was so proud of me!  It made me feel great and really cared for, like with my parents back home.   The next day Bu Ari said that they talked very highly of me at the performance to her, saying I was the most clean and organized student they have had (which is especially funny because they have only had one other student, haha.)  After she greeted me, I sat down with her and my bapak (father) and talked for a long time about my research project.  I will miss my Bedulu family a lot during our ISP!  

Friday was a big day.   Melissa and I began our trip to Yogyakarta, Java at about noon.  After packing up on some serious snacks, we headed to the Denpasar bus station to awake our 18-hour bus ride.  While waiting, a man started talking with me about where we were going, what we were doing, etc.  Whenever people get to the "Where are you from?" part of the conversation, they always say "Aaaahh, Obama!" when we answer that we're from America.  They also always ask how he is.  I'm not the best at keeping up with politics, so whenever people do this in Bahasa, I always like to answer like I know him personally; "Oh, you know, he's doing alright.  Pretty good, nice family."  This man, however, took it to a new level.  From here we started talking about our preferences of George Bush versus Obama and their views on gun policy.  I don't know why he brought that up, but it was probably the most political conversation I've had in Indonesian so far.  Why this man cares about gun policies in the US beats me.

Anyhow, back to the bus ride.  I am very glad we decided to take the bus rather than fly, given the flight would have been maybe half a day's worth of travel, in the bus we were able to see some of the most peaceful and beautiful parts of Bali I've been in thus far.  We road up along the west coast for a few hours, which is much less densely populated and is covered with rice fields that run right up to the ocean.  While we were driving the sun was also setting which made it all the more breathtaking!  About an hour after sunset, our bus drove onto a ferry, and we were able to get out on the deck and enjoy the short ride across the strait to Java.  It was so peaceful!  It was the first time I had been on a real boat too (canoes don't count in my book) so it was extra exciting!  When we landed we got back on our bus, and Melissa and I promptly went to sleep.  When we woke up the next morning we were in Solo, Java, about an hour or so away from our destination.  When we finally got to Yogya, we took a shuttle to our hotel.   Since we've been here, Melissa and I have run a lot of errands for our ISP, as well as get set up in a sweet boarding house that we will be living in for the next two weeks.  It has a lot of luxuries that we've been without at our homestays for the entire trip, including tvs (with cable!), air conditioning, hot water, a fridge and cooking area, laundry service, and wifi!  We are living it up for our ISP for sure!  But right now I need to go to sleep, because tomorrow is Easter! Yay!!

Selamat malam!

Hei semua,

Guess what is red and white, and black all over?  My nearly completed wayang puppet! Yay!

Actually it has quite a bit of color now, but I've been waiting all day to make that joke ;)

Sunday was an interesting day, to say the least.  Melissa and I, after a little searching, made it to the church we planned on going to in Denpasar.  I was so happy to be there when we arrived, but it was certainly a different kind of church than both of us were used to, but it made me so thankful for the church family I have to go home to :)  Later on we went to a shopping center to eat lunch (McDonalds!) and guess who we saw? Mirah, our the program director assistant!!  It had been a pretty stressful morning and I was so happy to see a familiar face, especially of someone I like so much!  Melissa and I then had lunch with Mirah and her best friend (who didn't speak English), which was really nice.  Later on the two of us met up with one of our local friends and his little brothers so that Melissa and he could camera shop.  Afterwards we went to a beach in Sanur and played around in the water.  We found a star fish, which was pretty cool because I've never touched one that was alive before.  Here's a picture of our santai (chill) spot, taken by Melissa:

After that, we filled up on some Indo food and headed home.  It ended up being a really nice day!

Since then, not much has happened around in the village.  We start our independent study projects (ISPs) in about a week and a half, so everyone has spent time preparing for that, as well as finishing art projects.  My week has been consumed with wayang, ISP, language, and some pretty sweet weather.  Hopefully I can add dancing to that list tonight, because we haven't had a lesson in about two weeks, and I am getting rusty :)

      This afternoon I heard a rumor of a grocery store near my town (I haven't been to one in about a month!) so I am headed out to explore.

Sampai jumpa!

Selamat Hari Raya Nyepi!

       It has been a pretty interesting week.  Monday and Tuesday were pretty uneventful.  For the most part it was spent in Bedulu at school or hanging out, but I did get pretty far on one of my art projects!  Here is the work I've done so far on my wayang puppet!

      I chiseled him out of pure cow hide!  Now all I have to do is finish his arms, paint him, and assemble him, then I'm done! 

     On Wednesday we did a ceremonial purification.   Bu Ari suggested it because we have been having pretty bad luck in terms of weather and things this semester, and this was her remedy for it.  So, after lunch on Wednesday we (who belum datang bulan) got dressed up in our pakaian adat and headed for the temple.  The way you become purified is by washing yourself, fully clothed, in a pool with a series of spouts.  If you are Hindu you say a short prayer at each one and then dunk your head under the stream (which is pretty strong most of the time) 3 times.  There were 15 spouts, so it took us a while to get everyone through.  It was pretty fun and refreshing, but it was pretty hard to walk afterwards.  We have to wear wrap skirts called serangs, which is usually fairly restrictive, but even more so when they are wet! 

     On Thursday we only had school for a little bit because Friday was Nyepi!  Nyepi, a Balinese holiday (there are a lot if you've noticed!) is the Silent Day.  Separate banjars (comparable to neighborhood governments)  spend all month making ogoh-ogoh, which are giant bamboo and paper statues.  They are made into demonic figures that are representative of evil spirits.  The day before Nyepi they parade them around and have a mock battle in the town square to attract the spirits.  

     On the actual day of Nyepi, Bali is completely silent (no eating, exerting energy, or using electronics, especially lights) to give the appearance of a deserted island so that the spirits pass over it for another year.  The ogoh-ogoh festivities lasted from around 5 to nearly midnight, just in time for everyone to get home and prepare for the next day.  On Nyepi you aren't allowed to leave your compound (house), so I hung out with my family quite a bit.  It was really fun.  I played tops with my brother (technically host-nephew, but he's more like a brother because he's 3), and that was really exciting because it's the first time we've interacted for more than five minutes (he used to be scared of me, haha.)  I cheated a bit because I ate lunch and dinner since my Ibu did, and I watched a movie in the afternoon.  Bu Ari said that realistically Balinese usually use Nyepi as an indulgence holiday because they eat and watch television quite a bit, but you still aren't allowed to go outside.  It is meant for meditating and reflecting, because Nyepi also marks the last day of the Balinese year.  The next day (today) is spent doing rituals and asking for forgiveness, but many people use it for vacation time :) That is really all that has happened this week.  It's been very relaxed, which has been a blessing.

Sampai Jumpa!

We're back from the village!

This past week has been awesome.  The big event before we left for the village was the Full Moon festival which happens about once a month.  Each time a group of villages come together for the celebration.  They don't celebrate it at the same temple every time; it is cycled through the group of villages.  It started on Wednesday evening, and I didn't really know what to expect except that we were supposed to wear pakaian adat because we were going to temple.  My family didn't go that day because my host-sister-in-law was sick, so my friend Melissa (whose family also wasn't going) decided we would show up by ourselves and wing it, thinking it would be similar to Kuningan.  Oh were we wrong!  We showed up at the center of Bedulu, next to our program center, and there were heards of men in white clothing and women in their nicest traditional clothing.  There were way more people there than lived in Bedulu, which was initially a little confunsing (we didn't know anything about the festial except that it was for the full moon at the time.)  In addition, no one was going to temple; they were just waiting on the side of the road for ... something.  So, Melissa and I being the the go-getters that we are, decided to walk past the crowds to temple by ourselves.  About halfway there we saw a large  procession of people, being led by men carrying large golden chairs, umbrellas, and an array of other traditional aesthetics.  As they passed the crowds, people joined in the parade.   We didn't know where they were walking to, so after a slight hestation we excitedly jumped in, just in front of the band.  There had to be at least a thousand people walking with us, and it was so fun!  Along the way we ran into some of our mahasiswa friends who invited us to join their families, which was really nice.  After about half an hour of slow walking, we finally reached the temple, which was in the villlage just north of us.  The whole walk was sort of eerie because of the music and the fact that it was at night, but it was really fun because you just chatted with whoever was walking next to you, whether they were American or Balinese.  Just outside of the temple, everyone suddenly sat down on the ground as the band continued to play.  Women near the front gate, all uniformly dressed, performed a choreographed dance, and as we watched Melissa and I had a man explain to us the details of the celebration. Each night the procession grows until the final walk back to Bedulu on Saturday afternoon.  After the dance ceased, we made our way into the temple.  It was extremely ornate with piles and piles of offerings in each of the temple's pavilions.  We followed another friend, Eliza's, family and watched as they prayed.  After the ceremony was over we stayed for a few minutes to take pictures, but in the midst of it it started to rain, which happens pretty often here.   Melissa and I just waited it out at a warung, or little shop, and walked back once it cleared up.  

The next two night I wasn't able to go because I recently started Balinese dance lessons, yeah!!  I am doing it with my friends Alex, Melanie, and Misra.  We have only had two lessons so far, but we've already run through the whole dance.  There are a few parts that are pretty hard to memorize, especially the hand movements, but it seems to be coming together faster than I imagined.  Balinese dance is a lot more fast-paced than what we did in Java, so our dance is considerably shorter (it was 15 minutes in Java!)  The whole thing is pretty funny, and just goes to show how much we still have to learn about Balinese culture.  Balinese dancers are known especially for their facial expressions, particularly their eyes.  At certain points in the dance we dart our eyes to the side and then give a piercing (and perhaps a little creepy) stare towards the audience.   Our teacher, who is around our age (and just gorgeous!) was explaining this to us, and that after that we were supposed to give a smile to the audience for a couple of counts.  Another piece of information we didn't know, or at least I didn't, is that Balinese dancers never smile with their mouth open, so when she asked us to do this I, being a goofball, flashed her the biggest smile I could do.  She laughed so hard she cried.  Whoops! It was really funny though, and she still chuckles everytime we get to that part.  

Saturday my family also wasn't able to go to temple, so I decided to grab my camera and walk by myself.  Sara and I are both doing wayang puppet making, but hadn't been able to go but once because she was sick, so I originally was going to go just for a few minutes and then walk back to change and go to our lessons.  I ended up staying for a little over and hour thinking that the parade would start at any time, which ended up not happening, but I did get to see a lot of Balinese dance, which I just loved!  I also finally got to see a gegong dance, which is a large Chinese-style dragon costume that is worn by two people.  After that I hurriedly walked back to Bedulu to meet up with Sara, but by the time I got back it was too hard to find a ride to the lesson, so we jalan-jalaned, or went for a walk.  We didn't really know where to go, but ended up in a rice field.  There I tried to pet a cow and failed, watched some ducks, and walked barefoot through the muddy field, which all made for a really good time.  Incidentally, this rice field was right by the road that parade was marching on, so when we finished we jumped in.  It was a little hilarious because there Sara and I were, barefoot, muddy, and in our regular clothes, in the middle of nicely dressed Balinese parade.  Hehehe.  We got a few chuckles and questions, but it's really no more attention than we get for just being white/Hispanic/psuedo-Indian, just a different kind of attention.  

The next day we left for Bu Ari's village!  This was definitely the highlight of my week.  It was quite different from Bedulu because in that it is extremely rural, and it reminded me of an interesting mix of Bedulu, Icandi (a Kuna village in Panama), and Kellyville.  Most of the people who lived there were rice farmers, and it was small enough that everyone knew everyone else.  (Bu Ari said that there were about 80 families living there.)  We didn't have many activies, and most of the activities that were planned were optional.  It was especially fun because we had local students from Udayana University and Warmadewa University in Denpasar (as well as one more graduated volunteer), and they were all really fun to be around.  With the acception of the only girl student, Anita, I didn't get to know them very well until the last night, which I kind of regret, but I suppose these things happen.   During the few days we tried out a lot of the local cultural activities.  We played gamelan the first two nights, which Bu Ari admittedly said we weren't very good at (and then immediately apologized, haha.)   We also made coconut bowls... it was surprising how much work they required!  The first full day we were there we helped Bu Ari's mom collect items from around for making traditional medicine, which we helped make as well.  I don't remember what all of it was for, but there was something I ate that was very spicy and made my nose run a lot!   I think I may be building up a tolerance for spicy foods (finally!) but it's been a somewhat painful process.  The second full day we worked in a rice field in the morning; we cleared a patch of land so that it could be prepared for the next round of rice, which they plant 2-3 times a year.  It was immediately followed by a mud fight, coconut drinks, and a river mandi (bath!!)    River mandis were always really fun, just as they were in Icandi, and I know I'll miss getting to do it now that we're back in Bedulu.  One of the more interesting points of the excursion was the Balinese flirtation dance.  They invited professional traditional Balinese dancers to the village for it, and it was pretty surprising.  I expected it to be pretty low key, but we were required to wear pakaian adat, and they invited all of us, one at a time, to join the dancer on stage!  I was really embarrrassed at the time, and some of the dances were kind of awkward, but it was a lot of fun.  At the end the gamelan band played and everyone got up on the little stage to dance, which I liked the best.  One day (I don't remember which) we walked about 20 minutes to Pak Yudi's village to a balian, or traditional healers.  They are very mystic in nature, and he explained how he became a balian, as well as some of his methods for treatment.  It was very interesting.  After that we walked a little further to see Pak Yudi's new baby!  She is a little over a month old and she is sooo cute!

Isn't she precious?  I got to hold her, and everyone nicknamed me Malia "Baby Magic" Castillo because she was wailing when I got her, but was able to make her stop.  I guess that is what happens when you work in a daycare and have two baby brothers ;)  It did make me miss Jackson and Jaythan a lot though, but a couple of days later I got to Skype and see them, as well as the rest of my family, which made me super happy!  

The last night of the village was pretty bittersweet, only because it was super fun and we knew we had to leave in the morning.  We all had a big sleepover at Bu Ari's house (local students included), where we stayed up and played games, watches movies, and got to know each other a lot better.  In the morning we got up really early to catch the sunrise, but it was cloudy.  That was actually the third time I had gotten up at 5:30 to see it (hard to believe from me, I know) but wasn't able to because of the clouds.  I guess it just wasn't meant to be... :(  Then we left the village for a town called Lovina in north Bali, which was sad for me .  I was a little apprehensive when we first arrived because it was so without modern luxury, which I was accostomed to because of the Kuna village, but once I jumped into the culture it was great!  To give you and idea of how rural this place is, they didn't get electricity until the early nineties!  Even with the lack of the usual commodities, like western toilets (and toilet paper for that matter ;) ) it was a blast, and gave me an even greater appreciation for Balinese culture.  

The drive to Lovina was about 2 hours.  There we stayed at a hotel instead of a homestay (which we had done in the villlage like in Bedulu and Yogyakarta.)  In Lovina we did several fun activites.  One was attending a lecture at a local university where we discussed religious relations in northern Bali, which was really interesting.  We also prayed at a Chinese temple, explored the area, and saw a Buddhist temple. We saw a lot of diversity!   At night we got to eat American delicacies, like pizza (!) and see live music, both of which I love!  After two nights we traveled another couple of hours into the mountains to a small fishing village.  We arrived there yesterday afternoon and planned on climbing Mt. Batur pagi-pagi, very early this morning, but the weather wasn't too friendly so we were forced to reschedule.  We ended up leaving just before lunch, and have been hanging out in Ubud/Bedulu since we got back. I have a great week, but I am excited to get back into the swing of things tomorrow.  I apologize for the lack of pictures in this update, but it's rather long and my internet is pretty slow. Maaf! I'm also sorry if there are misspellings because I didn't proofread :)

Sampai nanti!

Hello!

                I’m sorry for the lack of updates lately.  I had internet access very sporadically in Java, and only once since I’ve been back, so the blog writing suffered a little.  Maaf!  I will try to be more diligent in the future J  Anyhow, since there is quite a bit of ground to cover, I am only going to touch on the highlights of the past couple of weeks. 

                There were a few particularly exciting things that went on in Java since I updated last.  Possibly my favorite part of the whole trip was the Ramayana Ballet.  It was SO cool!  If you hadn’t been introduced to a little bit of Indonesian culture beforehand you may have looked at it and thought, “Hm, this is pretty odd,” but as I mentioned earlier we have been learning a Javanese dance similar to what was presented in the ballet.  Also, gamelan music is pretty weird when you first hear it.  It’s a large collection of metal xylophone-style instruments with wooden flutes and leather drums.  Sometimes they are accompanied by singers, both male and female, the woman usually sounding like those crazy Chinese opera singers (if you’ve ever heard one, you’ll know what I’m talking about.)  The first time I heard gamelan I was not at all a fan (it sounded like a bunch of discordant notes) but now I love it!  Maybe because I’ve learned to dance to it, so that’s all I want to do when I hear it now.  Anyway, it all came together very beautifully.  The dancers were very impressive as well.  It’s not a ballet as you would traditionally think of it.  The dancers have extremely elaborate make-up, hair, and costumes, and move with more precision than anything I can think of.  I have never seen (or danced) anything that makes you so body-conscious.  Everything is precise, down to the angles of their fingers and toes.

                 Just look at that crazy make-up!  Also, it’s important to mention that we saw this at night at the Prambanan temple.  Usually it is done outside under the moon, but it was raining when we arrived so we had to see it inside.

                Another fun thing that we did while in Java was actually done separately for each village.  Last Sunday we woke up early with our host family and walked with almost everyone in the village around Godean (where we were staying.)  We walked through the whole town by houses, through rice paddies, and even past a wedding!  It was awesome.  Next we jazzercised it up with all of the women.  The five mahasiswa were asked to pick the top five people, so we did that and then presented them with mystery prizes in a diplomatic fashion, with the hand shake and everything!  After a short istirihat (break) we returned to judge a cooking contest between the men.  They all did variations of fried rice.  Here is who came in second place (but still my favorite!)

Enak, ya? That title reads "Friday Night"

Later that week we had an interfaith discussion, also one of the highlights of the trip.  There were representatives from Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Catholicism.  My friend Carolyn and I were the United States representatives, and it was a lot of fun!  We were told kind of late notice, and had to prepare a power point in about 10 minutes to cover religion in the US (which is a lot!), but I think we did just fine.  It was cool getting connected with all of them, and I think I made some good contacts for my Independent Study Project (ISP) in April, because I’ve just decided that I will do it in Yogyakarta! 

At the end of the week we had a going away party that the families in all of the villages hosting mahasiswa attended.  We also had an a cappella group from the hosting university sing to us.  After that our villages dancing group (Mirah, Aries, Olivia, and me) performed the dance we had been working on, in full garb and makeup! Here is our beautiful dancing group!

The whole party was a lot of fun, but I was very sad to say goodbye to my family.   They were so great, but I was really excited to get back to my family in Bedulu as well.  Since we have been back to Bali we’ve been so busy.  On Monday I started another art project, making wayang kulit puppets.  It is a slow process, but I really like it.  I got to use a lot of tools which made me feel very skillful even though I didn’t know what I was doing.  Today I start another one, which is learning Balinese dance.  I will be so cultured by the time I get back!  Right now I think I am most looking forward to another excursion we are taking on Sunday.  We will be gone for a week traveling around Bali, including Bu Ari’s home village!  The best part about it is that we will have students from two local universities in Denpasar accompanying us for a few days of the trip.  It is going to be very interesting though… Yesterday we took a day trip to Denpasar to meet some of the students, some of whom are boys, and some of those boys are already interests for some of the girls in the program.  We’ve been surrounded by only girls our age for almost the whole trip (except Dede who doesn’t count because he’s our teacher), so it will be interesting to see what happens! 

There is a lot more I could say but I have to go to dance lessons now.  I guess you will just have to talk to me to find out the rest J  Sampai nanti!

Selamat pagi!

Yesterday was a great day.  Everyone from my village was pretty tired all day because after Starbucks we went to a karaoke place. The Dean of the philosophy department lives in my village and decided to treat us for being awesome mahasiswa, along with Mirah and Aries, our program director’s assistant and one of our language teachers.   It was really cool but very different than I was imagining.  Instead of being in one big room there were several floors that contained many little rooms.  Each room had a couch, a projector, a computer full of songs to sing to, and, of course, microphones, so we had our own private little karaoke party!  We were there for an hour, and everyone sang and danced, even the Dean and our other Indonesian driver!!  I hope we get to go back again before we head back to Bali. 

In the morning we had Bahasa as always.  After that we had a thematic seminar on Pesantren, or Indonesian Muslim boarding schools.  From there we headed to lunch and then to a Pesantren to hear more about the structure of student life, take a tour of the campus, and talk to girls who go to school there.  I was also asked to lead a prayer in the Muslim school!!  It was very short and basic, but it felt so good to pray aloud with people, even if there were very few believers there.  I really miss being a part of a church family, especially because I feel so close to everyone at Logos.  I am hoping to find one when we get back to Bali (I have heard there are a couple in Ubud), but we will see. I realized the other day that I haven’t been to church, or even stepped foot in a church, in nearly a month, which hasn’t happened in … I don’t know, years.  It has been difficult to find both the time and enough Believers in my area, but I know that where two or three are gathered in His name, there He will be also (Matthew 18:20), and I also know there is at least one Christian in the program!   Anyway, after the talk with the students and faculty we walked around the campus.  I even made a couple of friends, Dea and Mia! They showed me around their room and answered all of my questions.  Here I am with my beautiful new teman-teman!

After school, I hung out for a bit with friends and my host family, and then headed to dance lessons.  Mirah and Olivia decided to join the lessons today after watching Aries and me practice yesterday with our guru (teacher).  Although Carolyn didn’t want to dance herself, she came again today as well to cheer us on!   We now have 5 people who are performing for the village on Thursday.  Tonight we all decided to go all out for the show, so we are getting traditional hair and makeup done and are renting the customary garb.  I can’t wait!  I just hope that we can learn the 15-minute dance before then.  Mirah and Oliva caught on fast today, so I think we’ll be able to pull it off J

Mudah-mudahan! Sampai nanti!

This is gonna be a long one… Maaf!

So much has happened since we have gotten to Java!  I met my host family on Tuesday, who I love!  They live in the village of Godean near downtown Yogyakarta.  We did introductions at the Dean of Philosophy’s house (from Gadja Mada) in Indonesian.   After I said where I was from the Dean got a really excited look on his face, and he asked, “You’re from Tulsa?  Like Tulsa, Oklahoma?! I used to teach there at TCC!”  It was crazy!  He has been to my hometown, and now someone from Tulsa has been to his, a little village in Indonesia!  Afterwards I officially met my new Ibu.  She’s was a sweet-looking older woman wearing a beautiful pink jilbab, or head covering, which is fairly normal wear for Yogya women.  I then gathered my things as she walked me to their home two houses down the road from the Dean’s.  Families in Java don’t live in compounds like those in Bali, but instead in more western style homes with a common living area and more luxuries.  Or maybe that is just my family… Anyway, my family is very lovely.  I have enjoyed staying with them so much.  They interact with me a lot more than my Balinese family, which I think may be because they live in houses instead of spread-out compounds.  In any case, I am pumped to say I have become a lot more conversational since I got here.   Thanks, new host family!  A lot of conversation happens at the dinner table, because my host sister (who is in her 30’s I’m guessing—I’m sort of in between generations here as well) and Ibu (mom) eat with me every breakfast and dinner, and everyone makes an effort to be talkative.  They are also really goofy, so it’s fun to talk to them, even when I have no idea what is going on (which is a good part of the time.) 

Tuesday was the real beginning of a great week week.  We had class for a full day, learning Bahasa and attending lectures about Javanese families.  At 3 we were able to chat with local students, which was by far my favorite part of the day, but it was also the time where I realized I was being labeled.  We broke up into groups that rotated so we were able to talk to everyone, and almost every single group asked if I was Indian!  (Not Native American, like from India.)  There was one exception where a boy said I looked like Adele, but he’s a bit of an outlier.  Turns out a lot of people have been saying it, though.  Everyone’s Ibus in my village, Godean, have asked their American student if I was from India.  Although there was an exception to that too, because Olivia’s (a girl in the program) Ibu said I looked like I was from Suriname, which I didn’t even know existed.  Random people have also frequently asked me where I was from, and they only believe me half the time when I say I’m from America.  Friday I got a henna tattoo as well (because I’m too chicken to get another real one), so it looks like this is just going to be a losing battle for me. 

Wednesday we didn’t have any class because it was field trip day! We got to go to both Borobudur and Prambanan.  Borobudur is a massive Hindu temple that used to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World! The temple itself was very impressive, and the view around was absolutely breathtaking.  There were many rice fields and small towns surrounding it in the distance, and to the east was a majestic active volcano.  It erupted last year, mostly ash and small rocks I believe, and we saw a lot of the damage it caused on the way over that is still being cleaned up.  Bu Ari, our program director, said “Ya, it’s just like us women; beautiful, but dangerous!”  We chose a good day to go, because it wasn’t overwhelmingly hot like it can be in Bali.  It also made for some great pictures!This is some Pak Yudi, our language director, Emma, Jess, Me, and Abby (a Kappa!) after we had scaled to the top!

 Here was also my favorite part of the day.  I got to ride an ELEPHANT!! Oh, it was awesome.  This is me with my new best friend after our magical 3-minute ride:

Next up was Prambanan!  This is another, slightly less massive, Hindu temple which is constructed from several buildings for the separate deities.   The temple consisted of several layers, but the first one is completely gone and the second in ruins, both from more natural causes.  Like Borobudur, the walls on the separate layers of each edifice had stories carved into the stone so that illiterates would be able to learn the stories.  But, unlike Borobudur, there were rooms inside each of the buildings that held sculptures of the deities that were used for worshipping and rituals.

Although the temples were awesome, Thursday was probably the most fun day this week.  We had Bahasa and a lecture in the morning, which was fun.  I love our Bahasa classes.  We have three teachers and 15 mahasiswa, or (university) students, so we are able to learn in small groups and it is a blast.  After lunch we left one of the biggest parts of the day: a guided float trip through a cave!  It was so cool! *Anyone concerned about my safety should skip the next few sentences.* We also got to cliff dive inside and outside the cave!  Inside it was only like 10 feet, but outside was probably 15 or 20.  The inside was especially cool because there was a large opening overhead where the sun shone through and that various vines and plants grew into.  It was beautiful .  One of the men guiding us through the cave also jumped with us (and told us where to jump to be safe), but outside he jumped from insane heights.  It made me really nervous to watch him.  I didn’t get any pictures of it because I wanted to keep my camera safe, but Bu Ari has probably uploaded some to facebook if you want to see!

After we left the cave we headed for the beach (pantai).  We weren’t able to swim at this beach because the waves were too big and there were a ton of rocks, but it was still the best beach experience I had so far.  There were a lot of tide pools with cool marine life that you could touch and look at up close.  It was cool to walk on too because it was very soft and clean.  We saw a lot of sea urchins too!  There was a rock slightly off of the shore (much like at Tanalot) that had a rope swing on it, so my friend Alex and I monkeyed around on that for a bit.  After that we met up with our friend Misra who found a great spot to look for seashells.  The tiny seashell to actual sand ratio was like 2:1—it was nuts!  I came away with a lot of good souvenirs.  Then Alex found a gorgeous spot to take pictures.  We had to climb up on some pretty tough rock though, and she tore her serang (a wrap skirt sort of material) a tad on the way down, but it was all worth it in the end.  The sun was setting when we left, and it brought out the best colors of that place.  I wish I could capture it all in a better picture!

On Friday we had a quiz in Bahasa and then traveled to a shop to do something I have been looking forward to for a long time: making batik!  Batiking is a pretty slow process, and it takes a lot of patience and a steady hand to do a good job.   You start with a white sheet and pour hot wax in intricate designs that stay white during the dying process. The finished product, when made by professionals, is just incredible.  Mine looked more like a second grader did it, but we will see how the finished product comes out!  Saturday we attended part of a funeral that was happening in our village, but we mostly just shook hands with a lot of women from Godean.  Next we went to Karaton, a palace which the last king of Java lived in.  It was set up as a museum, and we learned a lot about the last generations of the royal family.  We also got to see our first wayang puppet show, complete with a gamelan band!  Later we had time to explore Yogya for a little bit on our own.  After dinner Aries, one of our language teachers, and I finally started our first dance lesson of the semester!! Here we are studying the traditional Javanese dance, which is similar to Balinese dance but much slower.  It was really fun, and we may perform on Thursday night for our families before we head back to Bali!

Today was no less eventful than the rest of the week.  We got up really early and headed to the village mosque to start a walking tour.  We went all around the village, passing a wedding and beautiful mountain views through the rice fields.  When we were done we did Jazzercize (I’m pretty sure I spelled that wrong) with the women at the mosque, which was so fun!  They gave out door prizes and let us judge competitions.  After a short nap we came back to make some “American” food for them, which was actually guacamole.  Then the men had a nasi goreng competition, and we got to judge that as well.  They came up with some really good presentations!  Now I am at my friend Eliza’s house with a few others watching Mama Mia while I wait for dance lesson number two!  Afterwards the Dean is taking all of us to Yogya to have some Starbucks coffee, and I’m pumped!  I will try not to wait as long to post my next update J  Hopefully this one isn’t too long.  I have been listening to soundtrack music all week, so my week seemed especially intense.

Until later!

Hello Java!!

This weekend has been full of fun activities.  On Friday some friends and I went to see what we thought was going to be a music festival in Ubud.  It turns out that we showed up a day early, so we wandered around for a little bit and then ran across a good cover band in a restaurant, so we decided to hang around for a little bit.  They played everything from Guns N’ Roses to Enrique Iglesias, and did a wonderful job at all of it, so it made for a pretty good night. 

Saturday was definitely the highlight of it all.  A few of us headed out at about 10 in the morning for a day full of activities and site-seeing.  Our first stop was a monkey forest about 45 minutes away from Bedulu.  The monkey forest was a temple constructed in a place where a large group of monkeys naturally live, and now it is mostly used as a tourist attraction.  We got to feed them and let them climb all over us.  We even saw some monkey cannonballs in the monkey pool!  It was really funny, and we got a lot of good pictures.  This is me with a monkey hat:

Next up was Taman Ayu Temple, better known to visitors as the Floating Temple.   They call it that because it’s surrounded by a moat with beautiful lotus flowers, as seen here:

Kinda gloomy, but really pretty in person.  There was quite a bit to explore, but a while into our wanderings it started to rain pretty hard, so we darted for cover and eventually made our way back to the car.  From there we traveled to a Kupu Kupu (Butterfly) Garden.  Apparently butterflies naturally sleep when it is cloudy outside, and since it was pouring when we arrived we sadly did not get to see them. 

From there we set out for our final destination and my favorite part of the day, Tanalot.  Tanalot is a temple built on/into a sort of rock island about a hundred yards or so away from the rest of the coast.  It’s a fairly famous tourist attraction because of its gorgeous sunsets, but still remains a functional place of worship for Bali’s Hindu population.  We were there on another holiday, so there were quite the religious festi vities which we were lucky enough to witness.  Unlike the other ceremonies we had seen, all of the men were dressed in white from head to toe, while the women wore light clothes with hues of peach and green sprinkled throughout.  They would pray sitting in the sand and then line up to make their way to the top of the temple rock.  It was hard to tell exactly what they were doing up there, but I imagine it was something similar to what we experienced on Kuningan.  It was all really fun to watch.  We did the usual tourist thing and took a ton of pictures and did a tremendous job of perfecting our (east) Asian photo poses J (Sorry Yi and Haibei!)  We had shown up about 3 hours before the sun was supposed to set, so we explored the coast and various angles of Tanalot for a while and then made camp for the evening in one of the Cliffside restaurants.   There was one called “Sunset Bagus,” or “Good Sunset,” which I thought was really funny.  Bagus is just kind of a funny word to say anyway.  Since it had been raining all day it was still cloudy when we sat down, and when the sun set, but it was still a wonderful time.  Everything about that place was beautiful, or indah.

Amazing, right? That was our view of Tanalot most of the evening (this was taken just before we left.) I am actually sort of glad that it was cloudy because it made the weather a lot nicer.  We enjoyed a nice breeze up on the cliff as we ate our meal into the twilight of the day.   I had a banana milkshake with banana and pineapple pancakes.  It was a lot of bananas (which probably means I am just missing Katie Birnie,) but it was enak!  There are a few things I always really appreciate about Indonesia, despite the capias amounts of rice we consume on a daily basis.  One is that their drinks are all fantastic!  There are so many juices, coffees, and teas, and they are all splendid.  Another thing is their extensive use of bendy straws.  We go out to eat quite a bit during the weekend and such, and whenever you get a drink it always comes with a straw.  I have only gotten one that wasn’t a bendy straw, and that was with street food so I didn’t have high expectations to begin with, but it was still good!

Anyway, back on track.  Yesterday we took a plane ride in the afternoon to Yogyakarta, a city on Java, Indonesia’s most populous island (and Bali’s neighbor) to the east.  Yogyakarta’s name is something I still don’t understand.  They pronounce it almost like “Georgia,” and sometimes it’s spelled Jogjakarta, but I’m not sure which one is more correct.  In any case, I am extremely excited to be here.  Java has a large Muslim population (Bali is almost completely Hindu), and I am anxious to see how life is different here.  In a couple of days we get to stay with another host family, all in various villages in the area, so we get the chance to experience it firsthand.  Right now we are staying in a hotel, which is a big blessing.  Last night I slept on a comfy bed with a comforter, and it was amazing!  Most people don’t sleep with them (although sometimes they use a very light blanket or sheet) because it is always hot.  But we had air conditioning for the first time, so it was definitely welcome.  I also had my first hot mandi, or bucket bath, this morning.  Balinese (and I guess most Indonesians?) have what are called wet bathrooms.  It consists of a toilet (western about half the time), a faucet, and a large basin or buckets that hold water.  Whenever you bathe, or mandi, you use a small bucket to scoop water out of the basin or larger buckets to wash water over yourself while you perform your various hygienic actions.  It’s usually pretty cold, but you get used to it by the time you finish.  I didn’t have to this morning though, and it was awesome!

Right now we are at the University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia’s oldest university.  It’s huge! Our lecturer this morning said that 55,000 students are enrolled here! After the welcome speech we took a tour of campus, and it’s pretty big.  I don’t know if it is as big as TU, but the buildings are all larger.  Later on we will have a chance to meet and hang out with some of the philosophy students here who speak English, which should be a lot of fun! 

Last week I decided to take the chance with some Indonesian music which isn’t traditional Balinese gamelan. I bought two cd’s, one Christian and one that I had no idea what it was, but the cover looked cool.  The first was a compilation of several artists. The second one was a band, or maybe just one guy, which is called Dialog Dini Hari.  The album I got is Beranda Taman Hati, and it is sooo good!  I don’t know quite how to describe it, maybe like Jack Johnson (although I actually don’t know him well enough to say for sure) with a jazzy twist, but it’s very chill.  I don't know what they're saying, but I'm sure the lyrics are great too.  If you get a chance you should check it out!

Maaf for this being such a long post!  I just had a good weekend J If you haven’t sent me address, you definitely should, because I’m sending out a bunch of postcards this week.  I would love for you all to have a little piece of Indonesia!

 Sampai nanti!

This will probably be my only post in the next few days.  Tomorrow some of the girls in the program are going to travel around Bali a little bit to explore some of the more natural sights in the area, and I will be joining them!  Sunday we will spend most of our day either at school or making the short flight to Jogjakarta, Java, so I most likely will not be able to use the internet then either.  Sorry, I know one of the highlights of your day is hearing about my life J

I haven’t been able to start any of my art projects this week, for one reason or another, so I have had a lot of time to read and do fun things like that.  Our program center has a small library of Bali and Indonesia related topics, as well as some books that past students have donated, so I looked through that yesterday.  I found a copy of Mere Christianity, which I have already read and really liked, and The Case for a Creator, which I decided to borrow.  If I ever get through my stack of readings for school maybe I will be able to finish it before I leave.

         Yesterday after school everyone from my program went to a ceremony at one of the students’ house.  Her host sister recently had twin girls, and when they turn 3 months old they have a naming ceremony, and we were invited to attend, wearing pakaian adat of coure. 

As you can see, they were rather adorable.  The whole thing lasted about an hour.  There were about 5 women who were sprinkling holy water around the compound’s various areas for most of the time.  Through most of this time there was also a man chanting while sprinkling holy water on a shrine.  I wish I would have known what all of it meant, but it’s hard to ask at these things.  There usually aren’t people who speak English quite well enough to say why they do these rituals, but it is still beautiful to watch.  The family also had a couple of puppies, and it made for a very cute afternoon. 

That’s all I have for now.  See ya in a few days!

Selamat Siang!

Sorry for the lack of updates lately.  I do not have internet at the village I live in (Bedulu), so I have to make time to come to Ubud (touristy town adjacent to us).   I have realized that “village” is a pretty poor term to describe Bedulu.  Whenever I think of the word village, dusty dirt floors and thatch roofs come to mind, like what I experienced in Icandi, Panama.  Here I almost always have running water, electricity, and a western toilet (which is a big deal!)  I am fairly certain that there are more people in Bedulu than in my home town; it just lacks some of the characteristics of Kellyville, like a central governing body.  It is more like a collection of families and neighborhood organizations, complete with shops, small schools, and anything you may need.  Maybe not a motorbike dealership, but that is nothing too detrimental.

I did, in fact, get to go to the temple on Saturday for Kuningan.  I went with a few relatives of my host family who live in Denpasar.  It was really pretty convenient because the father of the family is a tour guide who speaks English, so he was able to guide me through ritual and explain what everything meant.  I wore my pakaian adat for the second time in Public, and my family really liked it.  My host brother owns a store that sells them, and I think they were all really pleased with my taste!  The ceremony was beautiful. The temple is separated into three parts, and this celebration occurred in the first courtyard area.  The individual buildings were more ornate than our houses, which is pretty hard to accomplish.  There were always waves of women being escorted up and down the steps carrying enormous offerings on their heads.  Balinese people are all about the aesthetics!  I was allowed to pray with my family along, with other students and Balinese in the courtyard.  We prayed five times, I to my own God and they to theirs, while they presented their offerings.  Afterwards we were all sprinkled with holy water. Then everyone was given some to drink (three times) and some to ceremonially cleanse themselves with.  It all reminded me of a sort of Communion.  It was a very cool experience.  That night I also had my first family dinner!  It was kind of funny because they kept apologizing that I had to eat with them, but I thought it was great. 

On Sunday we went to another beach.  This time it was black sand, which was pretty to look at (it was sparkly), but very hot to walk on.  It also wasn’t extremely well kept, so I will instead (finally) post a picture of the last one we visited:

Monday and Tuesday were very busy days for us.  We had Bahasa (language) class each morning, and then traveled to Denpasar.  On Monday we learned about dancing and theater, and their role in Balinese life.  We also got to try out a little bit of lelong dancing, and it is really fun!  Tuesday we learned about mask and wayang (shadow) puppet making.  It was really interesting. Because our program consists of only girls, we decided to do a secret Valentines activity here in Bali as well yesterday.  I got the coolest card! It made me feel a lot better about being away from all of my loved ones. I miss all of you!

For our program we have to do an art project, which consists of taking lessons from a local artisan and producing something.  For my projects I have chosen to do lelong dancing and wayang puppet making.  Today I have my first dance lesson and I am terribly excited!  I can’t wait to get those hips shakin’!  Just kidding (sort of.)

I think that’s a good note to leave on.

Sampai besok!

Selamat Hari Raya Kuningan!

Today is Kuningan here in Bali, a Hindu holiday that celebrates … something.  I’m actually not really sure, but I do know that everyone has been on vacation this week.  Later today I am going with my host family to the Pura, or temple, to watch a religious ceremony that involves a lot of praying and some rice.  Today they will ask for protection for another year, and be ritually cleansed. 

Living with my host family has been great!  They are all very friendly, especially my grandparents.  It is a little awkward sometimes, both because I have a very basic understanding of the language and because I am in between generations, so I am not quite sure who my “parents” are, or if I’m supposed to have any.  In any case, they have been extremely hospitable and accommodating, and I love hanging out with them!  The first night I was picked up by a man in the family who speaks a good amount of English and introduced to everyone in the family.  There is a cucu, or grandson, who is about 2 and a half who is just adorable.   Eating for Balinese is not a social activity like it is in the US, and everyone eats in their room by themselves, but my family has set up a table for me in the kitchen to eat at.  I am always the only one eating in there, but the grandparents always come to keep me company and make sure I have everything I need.   I really appreciate it, because when they aren’t in there it is super lonely.   After dinner on my first night I joined some of my female relatives while they were making offerings and doing one of their favorite pastimes: watching Indonesian soap operas.  Those shows are the most dramatic television programs I have ever seen!  Even during the tender moments are not without intense music.  

Yesterday was fairly uneventful.  We had a quiz in Bahasa (I got a 98, woo!!) and then a field trip to Ubud.  There we visited an Indonesian Women's art gallery which was started by an British women 20 years ago.  The woman was a pretty big feminist, which made the talk a little bothersome to listen to, but the art we saw was beautiful!  There was a room full of art done by girls 13 and younger, and the attention to detail they showed was incredible.  Afterwards we headed back to our program center for a thematic seminar on Balinese Hinduism.  They spend an unthinkable amount of time making offerings to keep the good and evil spirits in  balance.  In Hinduism, it is not necessarily about being a good person, but more about keeping these powers in equilibrium.  I don't quite understand it yet, but I hope to have a better grasp on their beliefs before I leave.  

I am not sure if you have seen my note on facebook, but I can get snail mail!  (Seriously, it takes about two weeks!)  This is my address:

Malia Castillo

SIT Indonesia Bali Program

PO Box 138

Ubud 80571

Bali, Indonesia

If you would like to receive a letter/postcard, please message or email me your address and I'll get right on it!  That's all I have for now.  I don't have a reliable internet connection in Bedulu (the village I live in,) but I am hopeful that I'll find a good enough connection in Ubud soon to post a lot of pictures! 

Sampai nanti!

Halo semua!

I am currently sitting in café in Ubud sipping on ­­­­a banana milkshake.  In just a few short hours the girls and I will make the 15 minute bemo ride to our program center in the village of Bedulu where we will final meet our homestay families.  I am so pumped!  I'm a little nervous about the speech in Indonesian, but I am decently confident that it will go smoothly.  The good thing about Balinese people is that as long as you try they are impressed.  If you fail miserably, they just laugh a lot.  This morning we had another language exercise, which was taking a series of bemos to Ubud.   It went pretty well.  We made a deal with the second bemo driver to take us all the way to Ubud instead of making stops like we would've had to otherwise, and that was nice. Yesterday was our last day in our orientation palace, Puri Saraswati.  This is just a little taste of what we have been living in for the past week:

I want my life to seem as glamorous as possible, so I will spare you the pictures of the bathrooms we have been using. Yesterday was the Auspicious Day for the Balinese, which is a religious holiday that happens every full moon.  Because of this, we took most of the day off.   In the morning we went to a water palace to practice our speeches and, of course, go swimming.  Spring water is filtered into the palace, so it was very cool and clear!  The palace itself was breathtaking.  The Balinese spare no expense when it comes to aesthetic appeal. 

This afternoon we had lunch and a short break that turned into a siesta fiesta, after which we headed to the beach.  I have only been to the ocean a handful of times, but none of them involved a beach this spectacular.  There were gorgeous cliffs, clear blue water, staggered rice fields, and made complete with coconut drinks! (I will upload a picture tomorrow when I have a better connection.) It was a very nice way to spend the afternoon.  All in a day’s work in Bali, I suppose!  Now to prepare to meet my host family.

Sukses, ya!!

First Entry, Yay!

 Halo and greetings from Bali!

Wednesday I arrived in the beautiful country of Indonesia after a long 33 hours of travel time.  I am here studying in the SIT: Indonesia program with 14 other American girls.   They are all incredibly nice, which is wonderful because I was worried when I first heard that it was a bunch of girls.  Right now we are in orientation in a city called Amlapur, which is on the east coast on Bali.  On Wednesday we will travel to the village of Bedulu (near Ubud) to meet our homestay families, and I am really excited!  There we have to give them a short speech about ourselves in Bahasa Indonesia (the lingua franca of Indonesia which we are studying.)   The language is pretty easy to learn.  The most difficult thing about it is learning vocabulary, but that comes with time and practice.  Our teachers, Pak Yudi, Dede, and Aries, have been extremely helpful, and are just delightful to be around.  The program director, Bu Ari, and her assistant, Mirah, crack me up constantly and have been incredibly helpful.  I am happy we are blessed with such a wonderful staff!

Yesterday we did our first “drop-off” activity.  Basically, we were all taken to surrounding villages via bemo and dropped off individually for an hour to make conversation with local people without help from our teachers or classmates.  It was just me, a notebook, and hopefully people that spoke Indonesian instead of Balinese... scary.    Although it was intimidating at first, I was thrown into very convenient situation.  They dropped me off in front of a store which was initially barren, but once I walked up the dirty steps I was warmly greeted by a woman who promptly sat me down and told me to wait.  So, I waited.  A few moments later a girl came out to greet me.  Her name was Anida and she was a 21-year-old student who was studying in Denpasar to be an English language teacher.   Lucky, right?!  We chatted together for the whole hour in the Indonesian version of Spanglish, whatever that is.  She told me all about herself and introduced me to the women of her family.  All in all, it was a great experience, and I learned a lot about the language and culture of Bali.  I am thrilled to have a whole Indonesian family to talk to in just a few short days!

 Today we went to a local market to practice our newly acquired Indonesian bargaining skills.  It is pretty much the same as bargaining at the Indian market in Panama, which was a relief!  We all purchased our first pakaian adat, or traditional ceremonial clothing.  The outfit is beautiful, especially the batik!   Even though Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world, people on Bali are mostly Hindu, so we will learn a lot about both.  I am very anxious to get to the homestay, because I think that we will learn a lot from them.  I bet they’re super sweet too.   Everyone in Indonesia has been so far!  In a couple of weeks we have a two week excursion to Yogyakarta (on Java) which is what I am most excited about.  Good thing I brought my parallel Indonesian-English Bible with me! (Makasih, Agung!!)  I am hopeful about the chance to share Jesus with one or both of my homestay families while I am here, or at least introduce them to what my relationship with him is all about.  Because this program has an artistic aspect to it, we will be doing artsy activities throughout our stay, like making batik in Java (yay!) and various religious crafts in Bali.  There is just so much to look forward to.   I can’t wait to be able to tell you of all of the great adventures we’ll have!

Sampai nanti!!