Hello, March!

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening to you, wherever you may be!

Whenever I blog, I realize just how fast time is going. It feels like I just posted, and here we are, over a week later- and into March! We leave on Friday for the MCC annual retreat, and before that I have a few fun things coming up, namely a birthday party this afternoon (we're going fishing- wish me luck!) and my weekly trip to Salatiga on Monday (which didn't happen last week, so I'm especially looking forward to this week's visit). The retreat will take us into mid-March, and then Mike and I are in serious countdown mode for our pacars' (boyfriend/girlfriend's) visit in April!

I last posted on Saturday, leaving off with uncertainty about the evening's activities. I had completely forgotten about youth, which happens every Saturday night from 6-8PM. It was a more low-key night on Saturday- no drums, no keyboard; just an acoustic guitar. We all sat on mats on the floor in one of the classrooms, rather than in the pews in the sanctuary. There were a few power outages, as there tends to often be here, but we persevered! I was invited out for dinner and mall-wandering with a few of the youth afterward, and my acceptance of this invitation opened the door to the birthday invite. It's really awesome to get some invites out with people my age. I've felt much more grounded in the community here as things like this have started popping up.

Sunday morning was THE SERMON. I have been asked how it went, and my response has been, "Think King George VI, pre-speech lessons" (those of you who know your history or watched The King's Speech will know what I'm talking about). Oh what a mess that sermon was! But the youth were patient as patient can be, and my host parents (who came specially, just to show their support) said that it wasn't bad for my first sermon (though my host mom did toss me a sympathetic smile halfway through). Laura, who also came for moral support, provided me with a nice and honest response when I asked how she thought it went: "Well you know", she said (after a hesitation), "they're just thrilled that you got up there and did it." Sigh. Well, there's truth to that; 7 months ago, I didn't know a word in Bahasa Indonesia. Going from that to a 45 minute sermon (which I admittedly did not translate by myself) is still a noteworthy accomplishment, I think. Besides, the church community that I have found myself in is comprised of the most understanding and loving individuals who truly do value the effort far above the quality. The knowledge of this is what enables me to go out on a whim and make a fool of myself as I did for this sermon. (Not but 5 minutes after writing this, I received a call from a lady at church with a question for me that will take "making a fool of myself" to a whole new level... read on!)

Laura came back to my house and spent the night on Sunday. We were rewarded for our efforts (my speaking efforts and her listening efforts) with dinner out, at a restaurant that served Indonesian and Western cuisine, and that had a bakery and chocolate shop in the front. I have to say, while Indonesians have mastered the art of beautiful fabrics and ridiculously delicious fruit drinks, their chocolates leave much to be desired. Think dollar store chocolate Christmas calendars- those waxy little squares with minimal taste and a strange texture. Apparently it's to keep the chocolate from melting in this climate, but my thinking is why even bother? Nonetheless, Laura and I each chose a truffle of sorts, and ate them for dessert later in the evening.
Rather than heading to Salatiga on Monday, Laura and I stuck around Semarang. The plan was to get some photos developed at the new photo shop that opened up nearby, but we ended up sleeping rather late, and decided to just grab lunch instead. We parted ways in the mid-afternoon, and I headed home for a quiet afternoon and evening.

Tuesday, normally a slow day, was busied up when I ran into my host mom pulling out of the driveway on my way home from school. She was heading out to do errands, and asked me if I'd like to join. I said sure, and we were off to the bank, to the insurance office, and to the traditional Chinese medicine store. It felt very much like the Indonesian version of a morning with my mom at home, and it was kind of fun! Afterward, I got the chance to try Rendang. Rendang is a traditional Indonesian dish made from meat, coconut milk, lemon grass, and a bunch of different spices. "In 2011 an online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International chose Rendang as the number one dish of their 'World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods' list" (thank you, Wikipedia,), although it shows up as number 11 on the official list, and I'm hesitant to trust a list that includes ketchup and marzipan as top foods in the world... Nonetheless, I have been eager to try this since hearing about its status, and it was pretty darn delicious! And now I can tick that off the list of things to do before I leave Indonesia. In the evening, I accompanied my host parents to ACE Hardware, where there was supposedly a big sale happening. ACE is 5 levels, and very Westernized, and every time we go, I find myself transported back to Canada in my mind, shopping for home decor with my parents (a beloved pastime for us). It was a fun little outing!

Wednesday is normally a busy day from beginning to end, but the cancellation of classes at the Gloria Patri Learning Centre made for a free evening that I spent trying to prepare for another presentation in Bahasa Indonesia that I was to give on Thursday morning for the school board (about 25 teachers). I'm not sure if it was the overconsumption of Rendang or the stress of another presentation, but I slept so poorly that night that I gave myself a sick day on Thursday morning, and tried to catch at least a few hours of sleep prior to the presentation. This plan (kindly supported by my principal) proved very successful, and the presentation, while not perfect, flowed much more smoothly than that little sermon blunder on Sunday. I had been asked to present a mock English lesson that I would give to a TK class. I felt a bit intimidated by the topic, given that I've taught for all of 5 months and these teachers have been teaching for years, but I gave it my best shot, and the teachers were good sports about going along with "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and playing "Duck, Duck, Goose." It was certainly a relief to get that second presentation out of the way. The presentation took the place of my usual Thursday afternoon at Ichthus FM, and I went from school to PPA, where we made bookmarks to send to sponsor families. It is SO COOL to be on this side of a big aid organization like Compassion International (the program that sponsors the kids who attend PPA). I get a really unique opportunity to see- not just one or two times, but over and over again- where people's money is going, and how it is helping families. From what I've seen and read so far, Compassion seems to have a really great system in place to provide children with health care, education, and other basic needs, and they pledge that they will never allow less than 80% of any financial support to go directly to the children that people sponsor. I'm sure that every Compassion site in every part of the world is run differently, but the two that I get to interact with on a weekly basis really make me believe in their mission. The leaders are dedicated, and I've seen the kids demonstrate their gratitude for support through their commitment to attending the after-school program. If you're interested in learning more about Compassion International, their website is:  http://www.compassion.com/.

I taught TK-A on Friday morning, and then headed to Sendang Guwo in the late afternoon for PPA. Fridays at PPA are often quite casual, and I frequently get the opportunity to just sit and chat with people, particularly the handicraft leader, Bu Elise. Bu Elise loves talking about marriage and skin colour, and we've had some very interesting little chats about both of these things. The skin colour discussions always baffle me, and Friday's was no exception. Bu Elise talked about how her kids were born more white, but have become darker, and she crinkled her nose and shook her head as she said that. She is so confused as to why people in North America would want to have darker skin. When I asked why people here want white skin, she said, "because it's clean." I wanted to explain to her that people in North America (or the people in the circles that I'm connected with anyways) don't have the same views towards skin colour as people do here, but I couldn't find the words to make it make sense. There are some cultural differences that are just really hard to sort through and understand.

Yesterday, Saturday, I gave out a listening test to my little kindergartens to see how they're coming on learning their numbers from 1-10 (they can count them no problem, but they've never actually learned to identify which number is which). Three of them got perfect, and one of those three was entirely unexpected. I was so excited, thinking man, I'm really reaching those unreachable children, and I proudly informed the teacher, Bu Ratih, of the student's (and my) accomplishment. Bu Ratih was quick to knock me off my high horse: "Oh, that's because she copied off of Jessy." Ah. Well that's too bad. I confronted the girl (her name is Angel, ironically) about the little cheating situation, asking straight up, "Angel, did you copy off of Jessy for the test today?" Angel looked confused for a second as she tried to remember what test I was talking about (After all, at least 20 minutes of intensive play time has gone down between then and now) and then a light dawned and she nodded eagerly. Her response was so honest that I had to laugh, though I did my best to cover it up as I informed her of the seriousness of this action. I suppose cheating on a kindergarten numbers test is a little less serious than those university papers I've been immersed in in the last three years.

I spent Saturday afternoon working on some stuff for MCC, and then headed to youth in the evening. Apparently the sub-par presentations I've given have not been a deterrent for the people at church, and I was asked to give an impromptu speech ("just 10 minutes this time") on an experience that has been difficult in my life (surprisingly, I did not choose Indonesia!). This presentation was the best of the three I did this week, and it was actually fun to give. It was nice because there were enough people there who could fill in the blanks for words I didn't know in Bahasa Indonesia, and the spontaneity of this meant that I didn't have time to stress about it. I was invited out to eat again with some friends, but my host family already had plans to take me up to Ungaran for dinner (at a restaurant that boasts two live tigers as an exhibit!). The food was delicious- seafood, something I'm really going to miss when I go home. We got home super late, and I headed to bed shortly thereafter.

My outings this week were yet again filled with confessions of love ("Mr! I love you!" The gender thing is a lost concept, it would seem), and professions of how beautiful I am being called to me from the street. One of those occurred on the afternoon of running errands, and my host mom looked absolutely disgusted when the parking guy seized the opportunity to peer through the open window and inform me that "kamu cantik!" ("You're beautiful!"). She asked me if that happens in Canada. No, sadly, it does not. My favourite little student shaved his head bald this week, presumably as a means to save the cost of frequent hair cuts, and it is just so cute! I've been rubbing his head all week- it feels so funny!

We are on Day 2 of Javanese wedding music being played in the area, and while I'm a pretty big music fan, traditional Javanese just is not my style. If you're interested in hearing it, here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueqvI6NiGP0 
The first 20 seconds are just ads, and the strange skeleton video has nothing to do with Javanese culture as far as I am aware- puppets are more their thing- but if you just listen, that will give you a good idea of the sound that drifts into my bedroom whenever a wedding or other significant Javanese event is going on nearby (though this video lacks the heavy bass sound that I've found in most of the Javanese music here- sometimes that's all I can hear, and it is mildly irritating to listen to.)

The excitement for today (besides the upcoming fishing party, which I am anticipating eagerly and with only a hint of trepidation) involved a young aspiring makeup artist who has asked me if I would be willing to model for a makeup competition. She said she likes working on Western faces because they have a different bone structure. Well of course I said yes (who would turn down such a flattering invitation?) and she came by today to meet me and discuss the details. If all goes according to plan, I will be sitting on a stage in the Java Mall two weeks from today, being made over (one of those live transformation type things), and yes, walking the catwalk in high heels and the fanciest dress I'll likely ever wear. The heels are being dropped off tomorrow so that I can start practicing the walk. (For those of you who have watched too many crime shows, this makeup artist is the sister of a woman from church, and my host family will be accompanying me on this endeavour. The only questionable element in this gig is my personal ability to strike a model pose at the end of that catwalk. I'm hoping for lots of pictures.)

Anyways, there's this week's essay! ;) Hope you're all keeping well!
Have a great day!

Love,
Ellery