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!!