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!