Temples and Horseback Rides!

Hello Friends and Family!

As this second week in Indonesia nears its end, I've found that I've been able to settle in to a bit of a routine here in my host community. Of course, it is nothing like what my life will look like once I get started with my actual placement, but it's a huge comfort to have some predictability each day, and that things are becoming at least a tad more familiar to me.

Yesterday was supposed to be Idul Fitri, one of the biggest celebrations in Indonesia. As a Christian community, we don't take part in the actual activities. However, there are fireworks, and marches with torches, and parades, all of which are really exciting to observe! We got ourselves all set up on the balcony with a barbecue (along with half a dozen different kinds of meat and seafood) and were prepared for fireworks. Some of them began, and then suddenly I found out that Idul Fitri celebrations would actually be the next night (tonight), so we packed everything up. I'm still a bit confused as to how that all works, but I will find out and get back to you on that! Nonetheless, the barbecue party was a ton of fun!

My host family has a lot of their extended family staying here right now as this is a week of holidays in Indonesia. Today we went to the town of Bandungan, which is way up in the mountains, somewhere between Semarang and Salatiga. I was told that we were going to see some temples, and I was asked in the morning if I like riding horses. I didn't put the two together until we arrived, and I discovered that we would be riding horses up Mount Ungaran to see the Gedongsongo Temples. I know that the temples were supposed to be the main attraction, but I think I got more of a thrill from the horse! It was just the coolest thing in the world to think "I am sitting on a horse looking at temples on a mountain in Indonesia!" How often does one get to do that kind of thing!? I made sure to enjoy it to the fullest, and took a bunch of pictures (which don't do justice to the experience and the surroundings), which I will post once I'm reunited with my own laptop!

After the temple tour, we had lunch (rabbit satay and lombok) and then headed off to a soy milk factory. We also explored a catholic tourist attraction that walked us through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (complete with life sized replicas of the tomb!), and also provided an opportunity to wander through beautiful gardens. I found that I was stared at by a lot of people there, and even noticed some people "discreetly" trying to take pictures of me. I suppose a fair-skinned (ok, SUPER pasty) redhead is a rare sight up in those mountain areas. We concluded our day with a stop to see two tigers that I think are an attraction at a really high end restaurant.

We arrived home by 2 PM, having left early in the morning to begin our adventures. It seems that a really long afternoon nap is part of the routine, at least in this household, and I find it difficult to know how to use the time. At home in Canada, days never go so slow, and I certainly never find myself with three hours to kill every afternoon (though my mom would say that that's because I busy up every spare second I get... to which my response would be that that's what keeps me out of getting roped into cleaning! :P). I've honestly found the afternoons to be the most challenging part of my day. Three hours provides ample time to sit and think about what I miss from home, and does nothing to help any homesickness I feel. My solution to that this week has been to bring my book into the living room and read there, even if no one else is around. That has been the routine this week at least, since my position doesn't start until October, and since I don't have enough vocabulary or confidence to meander too far (well, anywhere at all) by myself yet.

I know that one of the challenges of my position is to find enough to keep me busy, and I realize now that that could be true. I am eager to get input from the MCC team about what is appropriate to do as far as filling up spare time. I have SO many questions after this week, and I'm glad that we have six weeks together in Salatiga to talk about them! As far as spare time goes, perhaps a lesson I will learn this year is that I need to slow down a bit! I don't need to be busy all the time, and it may be good for me to have some time to just be still. That idea doesn't appeal to me one bit right now, but I may be saying something very different by this time next year!

Tomorrow is Wednesday, and I have no idea what the plan is, but on Thursday, I'm swinging by the radio station for my first experience with radio show hosting. I have NO idea how that will go, and I'm pretty nervous about it! It's one of those things that I'm just going to have to throw myself into, or else I'll never understand how it works! On Friday, all of us YALTers are being picked up again, and we're returning to Salatiga for our six weeks of (very VERY vital) language training. I wasn't too pumped about that at first, but now that I see how much I need it,  I'm really looking forward to it!

Thinking of everyone at home and around the world! I hope all you YALTers and IVEPers are really having an awesome first few weeks!

Love,
Ellery