Selamat Malam!
After all the excitement of last week and last weekend, it was about time for my Indonesian life to resume some normalcy, and that's just how it has been these last few days.
Since I had that week off for the retreat, it didn't make sense for me to head right back to Salatiga on Monday, so I stuck around Semarang, and helped at the TK in the morning. I spent the afternoon writing that enormous blog post that you may or may not have had time to plod through (and believe me, I don't blame you if you didn't make it to the end!)
On Tuesday, I went to the TK in the morning, and then headed off to the orthodontist in the afternoon to remedy a little mishap that occurred about two weeks ago, involving a pebble in the nasi (rice). It is not uncommon to find small stones in the rice we eat here, as the rice is often dried along the side of the roads, where it is exposed to such things as gravel. It's a rather unpleasant discovery, given that the texture of small stones (which often crumble if bitten) is... well, unpleasant. This time, however, the stone positioned itself just right so that when I took my first bite of nasi, the stone popped the glue off the upper wire in my mouth. (I debated the feasibility of instigating a personal rice boycott after this occurrence as rice is not my absolute favourite food, but in a country where people believe that you cannot be full if you haven't eaten rice, I've decided to postpone the boycott until my return to the homeland). Anyways, so it was off to the orthodontist to re-glue the wire. It feels funny to do things like go to the orthodontist when I think about where I am, but these are the experiences that remind me of the similarities between our cultures. I have learned, much to my dismay, that I really have held Canada in higher regard than any other country. This has extended so far as to believe that no one outside of my home country can do things as well as people in my home country can. I was so leery of going to the orthodontist here, thinking that they wouldn't know what the problem was, wouldn't have the equipment to fix it (I'm not sure why I believed glue to be unique to Canada...), that the facility wouldn't be clean, and so on. Well, of course, they knew exactly what the problem was, had exactly what they needed to fix it, and even charged through the nose for it, just like they would in Canada! And yes, it was spotlessly clean. The only notable difference was that, instead of one person fixing it, four or five people stood around me. I felt like I was going into some sort of serious surgery of sorts! So even something as small as a broken wire has provided an opportunity to learn and to grow here in the Indo! On Tuesday night, I went to the brand new photo print shop that just opened up around the corner, to make some hard copies of my pictures. They had a promo on, and 134 pictures came to about $9. It was amazing!
I taught English to the TK-A class on Wednesday. I usually teach them on Fridays, but this Friday is a national holiday (an opportunity to sleep in!!), so we moved class around. My kiddies in the TK have really taken to playing a game where I pick them up one at a time, and spin them really fast. They have asked if we can play that, along with tag, every single day, and so lately, I have been coming home from TK a sweaty mess, but leaving behind some very happy little kids! I am definitely not the world's most effective teacher, so I am thankful for other little ways to leave a positive impact on the school. Those kids are probably my favourite part about living in Indonesia, and I think that they are my biggest source of learning opportunities here. Those little four and five year olds just pour out love and patience on me every single day. They explain and re-explain something if I am not understanding, and if they cannot explain it, they'll often call another friend over to try to explain it. They never laugh at my language blunders, and they often seem to just magically understand something even when my instructions have been unbelievably weak. Almost always, when I arrive at the school, I am greeted by shouts of "Bu Ellery! Bu Ellery!", and hugs (that usually turn into clings, which require me prying them from my torso). They're so excited for stories and games, and they pour their little hearts into everything they do. And they don't just show love to me- they are so kind to each other too (usually). I see it most often in they way that they treat a physically challenged boy in my TK-B class. From what it looks like, Diaz has a mild case of cerebral palsy, which affects only his ability to walk. (it certainly doesn't affect his singing voice, which he uses enthusiastically during our singing times. "A Pizza Hut" is his favourite.) He's much slower, and more unstable than the rest of the kids, but he participates wholeheartedly in every game and activity- and he is wholeheartedly included. When he falls, the kids stop to help him up. When we play Duck, Duck, Goose, someone will always choose him, and then play at a speed that he can play with, but somehow make it look like they were playing for real. And it comes second nature to them. It's like they are blind to his differences. In fact, one day I asked the teacher if the kids every treat Diaz any differently. She looked at me like I was crazy, and responded, "No, not at all!" That answer speaks volumes to me about the hearts of these beautiful little children. I feel unbelievably blessed to get to spend every day with these kids. (Oh man, my eyes are welling up!)
Pak Har's cousin was here for just one night, Tuesday night, and we went to a warung for Mie Titee (pork and noodles in a sweet garlic broth), and sate babi (pork satay).Since my host parents go allll out when they host people, we also headed to a grilled corn stand that was super busy (despite its locations in a factory outlet parking lot), and served delicious grilled corn in many different flavours. This place also makes grilled sandwiches, which they stick in between two metal grills, and grill over a fire pit.
On Wednesday, I also led PPA at Sola Gratia, where I tried out a bunch of new group games on the kids. Man, they were difficult to please! I had like 5 games lined up, which I thought would be more than enough to fill the hour, and yet I found myself struggling immensely to fill the time after 30 minutes. We got through it though, and then I was off to Gloria Patri to help out at the learning centre there. Debora and I went out for dinner afterwards, to a warung/snack bar, and had a chance to catch up and talk about MCC Indonesia-related stuff. (Debora was an IVEPer a few years ago.) It was a really great evening!
This morning, I followed the typical Thursday routine, teaching Play Group at TK. We moved on to learning numbers today, and 1-3 went over quite successfully! In the afternoon, I spoke on Ichthus FM by myself, as my co-host was unable to attend. It is much more fun to do that with someone else! But I felt accomplished, sitting in the studio all by myself, knowing how to work everything (and praying that there wouldn't be a power outage, because then I'd really be stuck)! I went to PPA Sendang Guwo after that, and we played some games there. The kids at Sendang Guwo are another really awesome little group!
Tonight, we went to a restaurant called "Alcatraz" for dinner (this week provided several opportunities for mealtime excursions). The restaurant is decorated to look like the Alcatraz prison, and there are pictures of Alcatraz everywhere. It was pretty great! We went for a drive through the really upscale part of Semarang, where I laid eyes on the biggest, most elaborate homes that I have ever seen in my life! They rival Hollywood in their size and grandeur!
Tomorrow is a National Holiday, which means an opportunity to sleep in! We'll see what the afternoon holds.
Have a great day!
Love,
Ellery
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Retreat, The Modeling, and Other Little Musings
Hello Hello, Family and Friends!
Finally, after two very busy weeks, I have a free afternoon, which I am dedicating primarily to providing you, my loyal readers, with a tremendous (in length, if nothing else) account of what these past two weeks held for me here in Java. Brace yourselves... ;)
In all honesty, I have nearly no recollection of the day-to-day activities that took place in the week prior to the MCC Annual Retreat, with the exception of the birthday party and a pancake-making extravaganza at PPA. (This is a prime example of why one is encouraged to keep a journal on their travels! It's amazing how quickly the events of day-to-day life are forgotten.)
The birthday party is a difficult one to forget on account of it being dramatically different from any birthday party I have ever been to before. The plan was that I was going to be picked up at 2:30 by motorbike, and we would meet everyone at the place where we were going to be fishing, presumably for our dinner. Feeling well-experienced in Indonesian culture, I only started getting ready at 2:30, and still found myself waiting around for my ride at 3:10 (though to give them credit, I did receive a text to let me know that they were running behind.) It was only after I was picked up that my illusions of finally grasping the Indonesian culture were shattered, for punctuality is not the only cultural difference, surprising as this may sound. Of course we weren't heading straight to the restaurant; we were stopping at a "hostel" to meet everyone first, and then heading out. At the hostel, I was ushered into the bedroom of the boyfriend of one of the youth, and invited to sit down on his bed, a mattress on the floor (I'm guessing that this place was more of a student budget-friendly accommodation). I'm not sure if this kind of thing sounds weird to those of you living in the West or to you SALTers out there, because as I've mentioned before, my concept of "normal" has taken some dramatic shifts. This, along with the fourteen power surges over the course of 45 minutes, didn't phase me nearly as much as it would have back in September. Nor did it phase me that, when we finally got on the road to get to the fishing place, it was after 4PM. By this time, the sky had taken on an ominous tinge, and I foolishly had forgotten to bring any sort of rain jacket. About five minutes into the journey, the clouds opened, and a true monsoon swept over the city. My friend made valiant efforts to keep me dry during the twenty minute journey, but it was hopeless, and by the time we arrived, I was soaked from shoulder to toe (my head was protected by my helmet), and for the first time, I experienced the sensation of feeling cold in Semarang. Because people here have a very strong (and perhaps sometimes justified) belief that rainwater will make a person ill, everyone was very concerned about my situation. It took a lot of convincing to assure everyone that I was fine and that no one would be angry at them for allowing me to get wet.
We spent the next 15 minutes deciding on where to sit in the empty restaurant, and then finally sat down. Our food- fish- arrived 10 minutes later, at which point I discovered that we would not be fishing for food. I was eager to dig in while the fish were still hot, but the birthday boy was MIA, and so we waited for another 20 minutes before commencing with the eating. (But room temperature food is preferred among most people I've met here anyways.) We ate quickly, chatting a little, and watching one lone person halfheartedly cast his fishing rod into the water. There was one person there who I had not yet met, and I just didn't connect with her very well (namely because she mocked every Indonesian word that came out of my mouth, and made jokes about me in front of me in Bahasa Indonesia, thinking that I wouldn't understand... it's a wee bit challenging to really enjoy that kind of company). Once we ate, everyone packed up and headed home, but not before egging the birthday boy, a prank that I was told is "sangat lucu" ("very funny"), but that ended on a bit of an awkward note as it was not as well received by the birthday boy as was originally anticipated. Still, despite its unexpected components, I was glad I was invited, and glad that I went. Everything that happens here, good or bad, fun or boring, stressful or carefree, adds to the repertoire of new life experiences!
I went to Salatiga on Monday where I found an AWESOME package from my sister waiting for me! The package included so many treats, including Herb, a stuffed sheep, who has made his home base in Kopeng, with Laura. Besides the package, everything else about my Salatiga day was standard, and enjoyable, as always.
On Wednesday evening, in place of Gloria Patri, I was picked up by the makeup artist to try the dress that she had selected for me to wear at the makeup competition. All the way to the designer's studio, she was telling me how pretty it was, and how the designer is one of the best in Semarang. Once again, I imposed my Western mentality on a non-Western situation, creating a vision of the dress that I would be wearing. As it would be, the reality of the dress was just a titch different than my vision, for in my vision, the dress extended beyond my thigh, and was void of a plunging neckline. In my vision, the dress also fit like a glove, which wasn't exactly the case. After a tearing sound occurred as I was trying to put it on, the women at the studio pulled out a pair of scissors and cut every seam out of the side of the dress. The whole scene was about as classy as it sounds. After a few minutes, I decided I should probably break the news to the crew that I am here representing a church organization, and how it really wouldn't reflect well on me or on MCC to have me walk down the catwalk (there was a catwalk!) in a glorified bathing suit. The designer took this quite personally, and when all was said and done, she said that she simply could not modify it to suit my needs, and took us off of her list of projects. The makeup artist felt so bad that I had not liked the dress (and I too felt bad, since she had put time and effort into choosing it), and assured me that the next one would better suit my needs. Since I was leaving on Friday for the retreat, she asked me to send her my measurements, and said she would find a dress for me while I was on retreat. A good chunk of my Thursday evening was then spent with Nanek (my host grandma) and Ibu Vonny, trying to get all of the measurements together.
Three weeks ago, the staff at PPA Sendang Guwo asked me if I would be willing to cook a Canadian snack with the kids there, and so on the Thursday afternoon prior to retreat, I arrived at PPA with homemade pancake batter, chocolate chips, strawberries, bananas, and- the Canadian component- maple syrup! The PPA staff, knowing that I was going to make pancakes, had also made what they called the "Semarang Pancake", so that we could do a taste comparison. Their pancake was actually a crepe with chocolate and cheese inside, a combination that I have slowly been growing accustomed to here. It was actually really delicious! Cooking with the kids and staff at PPA was SO much fun! People especially loved the Hershey's chocolate chips, and I am now on the hook to provide a bag to each of the staff members before I head home. (Andrew, how much room do you think you'll have in that suitcase?? :P) I don't know if they ate out of politeness or not, but every drop of pancake batter and syrup was consumed, along with the strawberries and bananas. I was really happy that it was so successful.
On Friday, after teaching at the TK in the morning, I headed to Salatiga for the MCC Annual Regional Retreat. This meant that everyone serving with MCC Indonesia, along with the families of the team members, were invited on this 6 day getaway. And oh, what a getaway it was! The adventure started off on Friday, with my first (and likely only) hair cut in Indonesia. After that, I joined Laura in conquering the task of baking enough cookies/brownies/muffins to cover the evening snacks for 30+ people for 5 nights. Luckily, Laura had things well underway when I arrived, so my involvement was deduced to making a batch of banana chocolate chip muffins. The Jantzi's ordered chicken from Bu Wati (a warung in Salatiga), and we enjoyed that for dinner. After dinner, Paul (Dan and Jeanne's son) took a bunch of us to the International school to climb the rock wall there. We also played some tag and some basketball, and then concluded the evening with strawberry juice and deep fried ice cream at Yege's, a local "restaurant." Mike and Nancy were there too, which meant that all the YALTers were united once more (the only time we will all be together again before we head home), and being together made me feel so happy and content.
I slept at Dan and Jeanne's, and awoke in time to snag a bagel (WITH CREAM CHEESE!!) before we headed out to the office, where everyone was meeting. MCC rented a coach bus to get us to Pangandaran, a beach area in South West Java, about 10 hours away. The bus ride went smoothly (or rather, flawlessly- "smooth" is not the word I would use to describe the roads that we took to get to Pangandaran), and we arrived in time for a late supper at "Pantai Indah", the hotel that we would be staying at for the week. Since we arrived later than expected, our evening was free. Most of us went to bed pretty early that night. It's funny how exhausting it can be to sit and do nothing in a vehicle for 10 hours!!
We were in Pangandaran from Saturday to Thursday, and each day was set up in the same manner. Worship started at 9, and breakfast was served before that. Breakfasts were a nice balance of Indonesian food (fried rice, noodles, etc.) and Western food (white bread, pancakes, omlettes), and some in-between food (fried bananas and fried cassava). At 9, we would all meet in the meeting room for an hour-long worship service, led each day by a different component of the MCC team (YALTers, MCC National crew, MCC International crew, etc.). We had a coffee break from 10-10:30, and then guest speaker sessions (which this year, were presented by each and every one of the people on the MCC team) from 10:30 until noon. The theme for these sessions this year was "Kingdom Tales: In Indonesia as it is in Heaven." The topic was a tough one, and I went the honest route in my presentation, sharing about the struggle that I have experienced this year in the faith department. Other people presented some really insightful and interesting stories that served the intended purpose of providing encouraging stories about seeing God's kingdom at work here in Indonesia. One story that was particularly interesting was Jason's. After I posted a just a few weeks ago about how supportive I am of the Compassion International Program, Jason did a presentation that included reasons for why he is not pro child sponsorship. I was intrigued by the words he spoke, and also found a lot of what he said to make sense. His presentation is on his blog (http://jasoninjava.blogspot.com/), and he and I also had a really interesting follow-up conversation about it that made me realize the significance of doing a lot of research and gaining a good understanding about the concept of missions such as child sponsorship, and organizations that support it. It was definitely a thought-provoking discussion.
The afternoons and evenings on the retreat were free for us to do as we please, and man, did we ever use that time wisely. We went to the beach every day, renting boogie boards and surf boards, and playing in the giant waves. On our first day, we took catamarans (Indonesianized ones- wipe those yacht-esque pictures from your minds) to a little beach just a ways away from the main beach. We were told that the waves were smaller there, and while this was true, they were replaced by a strong current and a rocky bottom rather than that smooth sand bottom that we were expecting. At least three of us cut our feet and ankles while swimming in that water! The beach also had monkeys, which at first I thought was a cool bonus, until I discovered that monkeys are not very nice creatures. These ones, while wild, were completely brazen, having grown accustomed to people being around. Apparently they were also accustomed to being fed and watered, and if the food and drinks were not volunteered, the monkeys would seek other means (ie: ripping the bottle from your hand) to acquire the goods they desired. Poor Riki lost her water bottle under these circumstances, and Jason would have too, if he hadn't engaged in a tug-of-war that ended badly for the monkey. The most memorable monkey-human interaction that I witnessed was between Mike and a little gray monkey that Mike had sought to fool. Mike thought it might be funny to fill a water bottle with salt water from the ocean, and see how the monkey would respond. Once the bottle was filled, Mike walked along the beach with the bottle in hand, past a group of monkeys who were fighting a ways back in the bushes (likely over Riki's bottle). When he saw them, he changed his mind about the prank, but by then it was too late, for one of the monkeys had spotted the bottle from way in the distance, and came racing toward an oblivious Mike, who turned around at the last second, and threw the bottle at the monkey to avoid an encounter like Riki and Jason. The monkey scurried up a tree, and we all watched as it gnawed a hole in the bottom corner to get at the liquid inside. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but as we watched, the monkey, clearly disgusted, cast the bottle aside, and looked Mike square in the eye with his beady little yellow eyes. Its ears went back, and it leaped from the tree, sending Mike sprinting toward the ocean, in hopes of escaping the wrath of the little gray monkey. Thankfully the monkey chose not to pursue Mike, but the prank had totally backfired, and for the rest of the week, Mike was leery of any monkey we came in contact with.
On Monday afternoon, we had the option to go to Green Canyon, an absolutely beautiful canyon in Pangandaran. We took catamarans up a river, and then partway into the canyon. The boats waited as those of us who wanted to, swam against the current, to a place farther up, where we could jump from rocks, right into the rapids, and get carried back down the river. It was so SO beautiful, and such a unique experience, to be swimming in that kind of water, in a stunningly beautiful environment!
On Wednesday we embarked on a "Jungle Trek", but being tough and frugal Mennonites, we decided to ignore the warnings about a group of Russian hikers that went missing, and forgo the tourguide, certain that we could find the beautiful waterfalls- our intended destination- all by ourselves. We did not get lost, but we also never found the waterfalls, and I immediately regretted going on a hike through bushland wearing flip flops, as the ground was wet and slippery. I wound up taking my flip flops off and walking barefoot, but this meant watching the ground carefully to avoid stepping on those giant red poisonous millipedes or the thorns from fallen branches, and so the amount of "jungle" that I saw was limited to two red poisonous millipedes and one black monkey. But, another adventure! That evening, we rented bicycles built for 3, and, after mastering the deceptively tricky knack of riding them, we took off to do some souvenir shopping and riding around. It was a really fun little endeavour that concluded with an evening on the beach (which we had all to ourselves).
All of our meals throughout the week were provided by the hotel. Lunches were usually chicken or another meat, and rice. Dinner was always shrimp and/or squid, and fish. In Canada, an all-you-can-eat seafood dinner like that would cost a small fortune, but here, I've grown accustomed to finding seafood just about everywhere. It was delicious, and I think that the vast amounts of seafood will be something that I will really miss when I go back to Canada. I just won't be able to afford it on that darned student budget! ;)
We headed home on Thursday morning, arriving back in Salatiga around 7:30 PM. Us YALTers went out for dinner together, and then spent the night at Dan and Jeanne's or Karen and Major's. We all went our separate ways on Friday morning, with Riki and Mike accompanying me back to Semarang. We took Mike to the airport to say good-bye for another month (he'll be back on the 15th, three days before Andrew and his girlfriend Ellen arrive), and Riki stayed the night.
Saturday began my immersion into the world of modeling, beginning with a dress fitting on Saturday afternoon. Riki accompanied me on this endeavour. The dress was muuuuch more suitable this time around (and turned out to be much more in keeping with the rest of the dresses worn by the other models). It was gold, mermaid style, with lots of black lace and flowy gold tulle. It was also still much too small, but the people at the studio were awesome, and they took my measurements again, and immediately set to work on making it fit. The makeup artist (the girl who asked me to be her model) took Riki and I out for an incredible Japanese lunch as a thank-you. It was just unbelievable!
Riki went home in the late afternoon, and my host parents and I stopped at a souvenir store on our way home from dropping her off at the bus terminal. It's a really cool little place, with lots of authentic Javanese souvenirs. I've made a mental note to head back there in the next four months (less than, as of today!) In the evening, I played keyboard in the youth worship band for the first time. It was nice to get involved in that way, and great to brush up on my keyboarding skills!
After a rather fitful night sleep, I awoke on Sunday morning... the BIG DAY!! First though, I headed to church, and then joined in "Morning Tea" after the service. My host parents then took me out for lunch at Mbok De, a really great Javanese restaurant/warung, that serves some of the best Indonesian food that I've tried. I got picked up almost immediately after getting back to the house, and I was taken for lunch AGAIN. I didn't know that lunch was included in this modeling deal! While I was quite full after Mbok De, I couldn't turn down the opportunity to try Ox nose, a texture that is pretty much exactly what you would picture nose to be like. The taste wasn't too bad though!
From there, we headed over to the studio, and so began the transformation. My hair took an hour and a half, and the final result was a 1920's look that I have never personally sported. It was fun though! Then on went the dress, which was still being sewn right up until 45 minutes before the show. They were cutting the tulle off of it even after it was on me. I slipped into the gold heels that I had practiced walking in the night before, and hobbled on out to the car, where the driver kindly gathered my dress for me, and patiently waited as I contorted my body in new and exciting ways to try to get myself into the car without tearing the (very form fitting) dress. (The grace of a model is not yet a gift that I possess.)
We arrived at the mall, and I wish someone could have been there to laugh over the spectacle of me, a white woman, traipsing through the Java Mall in an excessive gown and stilettos. Every single person stopped and turned their heads, and I noticed people whispering to each other and glancing back at me. I think I must have a vague idea of how a celebrity feels. Perhaps fun for an evening, but definitely not my lifestyle of choice.
Karen, Major, and Laura came to support me, and they arrived just a few minutes after me. We watched the Javanese wedding makeup show that was on before the "Evening Gown Makeup Contest", of which I was a part. Karen and Major bought me french fries from McDonald's, and for awhile, I thought I had to be the only model consuming McDonald's before a show. Then I spotted another model scarfing down a hamburger, and I didn't feel quite so bad. The Javanese wedding show ran late, and we waited for forever until we finally got started. During that waiting time, I got a chance to talk to some of the other models. Most of them were really friendly, but one of them, a girl who must have a better sense of the magnitude of these competitions than I do, tossed her head and informed me that "You're the only bule (foreigner) in this competition, and it's actually really unfair." I couldn't help but chuckle at that, and responded, "well, if it makes you feel any better, I've never modeled before, and have never walked the catwalk." She seemed to calm down a bit after that. This same girl also told me that her native language was English, and it was difficult to take her seriously after that. (Who tries to convince a true native English speaker that their native tongue is English!? I know I can't judge based on an accent, but the grammar gave her away.)
The contest finally began an hour and a half behind schedule. We all walked out to chairs that were set up on the stage, and for 45 minutes, sat perfectly still while our makeup artists worked their magic. The time went fast, and before I knew it, my face had been completely transformed, right down to fake eyelashes. Next came the part that I was a bit apprehensive about- the walk down the runway. Thankfully I did not completely wipe out, but the darned dress got stuck on my shoe, and it was also too tight to go up and down stairs, which I had to do. I made up for the blunder with a little laugh and a curtsy, and everyone laughed pretty hard at that (with me, rather than at me, I hope...) The whole experience was just wildly out of my element, and something that I would never dare try at home, but I made that commitment to myself to say yes to every new experience that this year presented, and I'm doing my best to follow through on that. While we did not win (the make-up was too "minimalist" for the judges, who prefer that caked on look over subtlety), it was definitely an AWESOME experience, and just too ridiculous to not enjoy!
Well, I have been working on this post for over three hours now, and I think it's time to give your (and my) sore eyes a break!Thank you so much for bearing with the lag in posts, and even more so for plodding through the essays that follow!
Have a great day!
Lots of love,
Ellery
PS- The two pictures below mean that I have FINALLY figured out how to resize my photos so that they do not take so long to load. This means that my posts should once again include pictures! I'm excited to be able to give you a better glimpse into my life here now that I have this option, but I'll leave that for the next post.
Finally, after two very busy weeks, I have a free afternoon, which I am dedicating primarily to providing you, my loyal readers, with a tremendous (in length, if nothing else) account of what these past two weeks held for me here in Java. Brace yourselves... ;)
In all honesty, I have nearly no recollection of the day-to-day activities that took place in the week prior to the MCC Annual Retreat, with the exception of the birthday party and a pancake-making extravaganza at PPA. (This is a prime example of why one is encouraged to keep a journal on their travels! It's amazing how quickly the events of day-to-day life are forgotten.)
The birthday party is a difficult one to forget on account of it being dramatically different from any birthday party I have ever been to before. The plan was that I was going to be picked up at 2:30 by motorbike, and we would meet everyone at the place where we were going to be fishing, presumably for our dinner. Feeling well-experienced in Indonesian culture, I only started getting ready at 2:30, and still found myself waiting around for my ride at 3:10 (though to give them credit, I did receive a text to let me know that they were running behind.) It was only after I was picked up that my illusions of finally grasping the Indonesian culture were shattered, for punctuality is not the only cultural difference, surprising as this may sound. Of course we weren't heading straight to the restaurant; we were stopping at a "hostel" to meet everyone first, and then heading out. At the hostel, I was ushered into the bedroom of the boyfriend of one of the youth, and invited to sit down on his bed, a mattress on the floor (I'm guessing that this place was more of a student budget-friendly accommodation). I'm not sure if this kind of thing sounds weird to those of you living in the West or to you SALTers out there, because as I've mentioned before, my concept of "normal" has taken some dramatic shifts. This, along with the fourteen power surges over the course of 45 minutes, didn't phase me nearly as much as it would have back in September. Nor did it phase me that, when we finally got on the road to get to the fishing place, it was after 4PM. By this time, the sky had taken on an ominous tinge, and I foolishly had forgotten to bring any sort of rain jacket. About five minutes into the journey, the clouds opened, and a true monsoon swept over the city. My friend made valiant efforts to keep me dry during the twenty minute journey, but it was hopeless, and by the time we arrived, I was soaked from shoulder to toe (my head was protected by my helmet), and for the first time, I experienced the sensation of feeling cold in Semarang. Because people here have a very strong (and perhaps sometimes justified) belief that rainwater will make a person ill, everyone was very concerned about my situation. It took a lot of convincing to assure everyone that I was fine and that no one would be angry at them for allowing me to get wet.
We spent the next 15 minutes deciding on where to sit in the empty restaurant, and then finally sat down. Our food- fish- arrived 10 minutes later, at which point I discovered that we would not be fishing for food. I was eager to dig in while the fish were still hot, but the birthday boy was MIA, and so we waited for another 20 minutes before commencing with the eating. (But room temperature food is preferred among most people I've met here anyways.) We ate quickly, chatting a little, and watching one lone person halfheartedly cast his fishing rod into the water. There was one person there who I had not yet met, and I just didn't connect with her very well (namely because she mocked every Indonesian word that came out of my mouth, and made jokes about me in front of me in Bahasa Indonesia, thinking that I wouldn't understand... it's a wee bit challenging to really enjoy that kind of company). Once we ate, everyone packed up and headed home, but not before egging the birthday boy, a prank that I was told is "sangat lucu" ("very funny"), but that ended on a bit of an awkward note as it was not as well received by the birthday boy as was originally anticipated. Still, despite its unexpected components, I was glad I was invited, and glad that I went. Everything that happens here, good or bad, fun or boring, stressful or carefree, adds to the repertoire of new life experiences!
I went to Salatiga on Monday where I found an AWESOME package from my sister waiting for me! The package included so many treats, including Herb, a stuffed sheep, who has made his home base in Kopeng, with Laura. Besides the package, everything else about my Salatiga day was standard, and enjoyable, as always.
On Wednesday evening, in place of Gloria Patri, I was picked up by the makeup artist to try the dress that she had selected for me to wear at the makeup competition. All the way to the designer's studio, she was telling me how pretty it was, and how the designer is one of the best in Semarang. Once again, I imposed my Western mentality on a non-Western situation, creating a vision of the dress that I would be wearing. As it would be, the reality of the dress was just a titch different than my vision, for in my vision, the dress extended beyond my thigh, and was void of a plunging neckline. In my vision, the dress also fit like a glove, which wasn't exactly the case. After a tearing sound occurred as I was trying to put it on, the women at the studio pulled out a pair of scissors and cut every seam out of the side of the dress. The whole scene was about as classy as it sounds. After a few minutes, I decided I should probably break the news to the crew that I am here representing a church organization, and how it really wouldn't reflect well on me or on MCC to have me walk down the catwalk (there was a catwalk!) in a glorified bathing suit. The designer took this quite personally, and when all was said and done, she said that she simply could not modify it to suit my needs, and took us off of her list of projects. The makeup artist felt so bad that I had not liked the dress (and I too felt bad, since she had put time and effort into choosing it), and assured me that the next one would better suit my needs. Since I was leaving on Friday for the retreat, she asked me to send her my measurements, and said she would find a dress for me while I was on retreat. A good chunk of my Thursday evening was then spent with Nanek (my host grandma) and Ibu Vonny, trying to get all of the measurements together.
Three weeks ago, the staff at PPA Sendang Guwo asked me if I would be willing to cook a Canadian snack with the kids there, and so on the Thursday afternoon prior to retreat, I arrived at PPA with homemade pancake batter, chocolate chips, strawberries, bananas, and- the Canadian component- maple syrup! The PPA staff, knowing that I was going to make pancakes, had also made what they called the "Semarang Pancake", so that we could do a taste comparison. Their pancake was actually a crepe with chocolate and cheese inside, a combination that I have slowly been growing accustomed to here. It was actually really delicious! Cooking with the kids and staff at PPA was SO much fun! People especially loved the Hershey's chocolate chips, and I am now on the hook to provide a bag to each of the staff members before I head home. (Andrew, how much room do you think you'll have in that suitcase?? :P) I don't know if they ate out of politeness or not, but every drop of pancake batter and syrup was consumed, along with the strawberries and bananas. I was really happy that it was so successful.
On Friday, after teaching at the TK in the morning, I headed to Salatiga for the MCC Annual Regional Retreat. This meant that everyone serving with MCC Indonesia, along with the families of the team members, were invited on this 6 day getaway. And oh, what a getaway it was! The adventure started off on Friday, with my first (and likely only) hair cut in Indonesia. After that, I joined Laura in conquering the task of baking enough cookies/brownies/muffins to cover the evening snacks for 30+ people for 5 nights. Luckily, Laura had things well underway when I arrived, so my involvement was deduced to making a batch of banana chocolate chip muffins. The Jantzi's ordered chicken from Bu Wati (a warung in Salatiga), and we enjoyed that for dinner. After dinner, Paul (Dan and Jeanne's son) took a bunch of us to the International school to climb the rock wall there. We also played some tag and some basketball, and then concluded the evening with strawberry juice and deep fried ice cream at Yege's, a local "restaurant." Mike and Nancy were there too, which meant that all the YALTers were united once more (the only time we will all be together again before we head home), and being together made me feel so happy and content.
I slept at Dan and Jeanne's, and awoke in time to snag a bagel (WITH CREAM CHEESE!!) before we headed out to the office, where everyone was meeting. MCC rented a coach bus to get us to Pangandaran, a beach area in South West Java, about 10 hours away. The bus ride went smoothly (or rather, flawlessly- "smooth" is not the word I would use to describe the roads that we took to get to Pangandaran), and we arrived in time for a late supper at "Pantai Indah", the hotel that we would be staying at for the week. Since we arrived later than expected, our evening was free. Most of us went to bed pretty early that night. It's funny how exhausting it can be to sit and do nothing in a vehicle for 10 hours!!
We were in Pangandaran from Saturday to Thursday, and each day was set up in the same manner. Worship started at 9, and breakfast was served before that. Breakfasts were a nice balance of Indonesian food (fried rice, noodles, etc.) and Western food (white bread, pancakes, omlettes), and some in-between food (fried bananas and fried cassava). At 9, we would all meet in the meeting room for an hour-long worship service, led each day by a different component of the MCC team (YALTers, MCC National crew, MCC International crew, etc.). We had a coffee break from 10-10:30, and then guest speaker sessions (which this year, were presented by each and every one of the people on the MCC team) from 10:30 until noon. The theme for these sessions this year was "Kingdom Tales: In Indonesia as it is in Heaven." The topic was a tough one, and I went the honest route in my presentation, sharing about the struggle that I have experienced this year in the faith department. Other people presented some really insightful and interesting stories that served the intended purpose of providing encouraging stories about seeing God's kingdom at work here in Indonesia. One story that was particularly interesting was Jason's. After I posted a just a few weeks ago about how supportive I am of the Compassion International Program, Jason did a presentation that included reasons for why he is not pro child sponsorship. I was intrigued by the words he spoke, and also found a lot of what he said to make sense. His presentation is on his blog (http://jasoninjava.blogspot.com/), and he and I also had a really interesting follow-up conversation about it that made me realize the significance of doing a lot of research and gaining a good understanding about the concept of missions such as child sponsorship, and organizations that support it. It was definitely a thought-provoking discussion.
The afternoons and evenings on the retreat were free for us to do as we please, and man, did we ever use that time wisely. We went to the beach every day, renting boogie boards and surf boards, and playing in the giant waves. On our first day, we took catamarans (Indonesianized ones- wipe those yacht-esque pictures from your minds) to a little beach just a ways away from the main beach. We were told that the waves were smaller there, and while this was true, they were replaced by a strong current and a rocky bottom rather than that smooth sand bottom that we were expecting. At least three of us cut our feet and ankles while swimming in that water! The beach also had monkeys, which at first I thought was a cool bonus, until I discovered that monkeys are not very nice creatures. These ones, while wild, were completely brazen, having grown accustomed to people being around. Apparently they were also accustomed to being fed and watered, and if the food and drinks were not volunteered, the monkeys would seek other means (ie: ripping the bottle from your hand) to acquire the goods they desired. Poor Riki lost her water bottle under these circumstances, and Jason would have too, if he hadn't engaged in a tug-of-war that ended badly for the monkey. The most memorable monkey-human interaction that I witnessed was between Mike and a little gray monkey that Mike had sought to fool. Mike thought it might be funny to fill a water bottle with salt water from the ocean, and see how the monkey would respond. Once the bottle was filled, Mike walked along the beach with the bottle in hand, past a group of monkeys who were fighting a ways back in the bushes (likely over Riki's bottle). When he saw them, he changed his mind about the prank, but by then it was too late, for one of the monkeys had spotted the bottle from way in the distance, and came racing toward an oblivious Mike, who turned around at the last second, and threw the bottle at the monkey to avoid an encounter like Riki and Jason. The monkey scurried up a tree, and we all watched as it gnawed a hole in the bottom corner to get at the liquid inside. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but as we watched, the monkey, clearly disgusted, cast the bottle aside, and looked Mike square in the eye with his beady little yellow eyes. Its ears went back, and it leaped from the tree, sending Mike sprinting toward the ocean, in hopes of escaping the wrath of the little gray monkey. Thankfully the monkey chose not to pursue Mike, but the prank had totally backfired, and for the rest of the week, Mike was leery of any monkey we came in contact with.
On Monday afternoon, we had the option to go to Green Canyon, an absolutely beautiful canyon in Pangandaran. We took catamarans up a river, and then partway into the canyon. The boats waited as those of us who wanted to, swam against the current, to a place farther up, where we could jump from rocks, right into the rapids, and get carried back down the river. It was so SO beautiful, and such a unique experience, to be swimming in that kind of water, in a stunningly beautiful environment!
On Wednesday we embarked on a "Jungle Trek", but being tough and frugal Mennonites, we decided to ignore the warnings about a group of Russian hikers that went missing, and forgo the tourguide, certain that we could find the beautiful waterfalls- our intended destination- all by ourselves. We did not get lost, but we also never found the waterfalls, and I immediately regretted going on a hike through bushland wearing flip flops, as the ground was wet and slippery. I wound up taking my flip flops off and walking barefoot, but this meant watching the ground carefully to avoid stepping on those giant red poisonous millipedes or the thorns from fallen branches, and so the amount of "jungle" that I saw was limited to two red poisonous millipedes and one black monkey. But, another adventure! That evening, we rented bicycles built for 3, and, after mastering the deceptively tricky knack of riding them, we took off to do some souvenir shopping and riding around. It was a really fun little endeavour that concluded with an evening on the beach (which we had all to ourselves).
All of our meals throughout the week were provided by the hotel. Lunches were usually chicken or another meat, and rice. Dinner was always shrimp and/or squid, and fish. In Canada, an all-you-can-eat seafood dinner like that would cost a small fortune, but here, I've grown accustomed to finding seafood just about everywhere. It was delicious, and I think that the vast amounts of seafood will be something that I will really miss when I go back to Canada. I just won't be able to afford it on that darned student budget! ;)
We headed home on Thursday morning, arriving back in Salatiga around 7:30 PM. Us YALTers went out for dinner together, and then spent the night at Dan and Jeanne's or Karen and Major's. We all went our separate ways on Friday morning, with Riki and Mike accompanying me back to Semarang. We took Mike to the airport to say good-bye for another month (he'll be back on the 15th, three days before Andrew and his girlfriend Ellen arrive), and Riki stayed the night.
Saturday began my immersion into the world of modeling, beginning with a dress fitting on Saturday afternoon. Riki accompanied me on this endeavour. The dress was muuuuch more suitable this time around (and turned out to be much more in keeping with the rest of the dresses worn by the other models). It was gold, mermaid style, with lots of black lace and flowy gold tulle. It was also still much too small, but the people at the studio were awesome, and they took my measurements again, and immediately set to work on making it fit. The makeup artist (the girl who asked me to be her model) took Riki and I out for an incredible Japanese lunch as a thank-you. It was just unbelievable!
Riki went home in the late afternoon, and my host parents and I stopped at a souvenir store on our way home from dropping her off at the bus terminal. It's a really cool little place, with lots of authentic Javanese souvenirs. I've made a mental note to head back there in the next four months (less than, as of today!) In the evening, I played keyboard in the youth worship band for the first time. It was nice to get involved in that way, and great to brush up on my keyboarding skills!
After a rather fitful night sleep, I awoke on Sunday morning... the BIG DAY!! First though, I headed to church, and then joined in "Morning Tea" after the service. My host parents then took me out for lunch at Mbok De, a really great Javanese restaurant/warung, that serves some of the best Indonesian food that I've tried. I got picked up almost immediately after getting back to the house, and I was taken for lunch AGAIN. I didn't know that lunch was included in this modeling deal! While I was quite full after Mbok De, I couldn't turn down the opportunity to try Ox nose, a texture that is pretty much exactly what you would picture nose to be like. The taste wasn't too bad though!
From there, we headed over to the studio, and so began the transformation. My hair took an hour and a half, and the final result was a 1920's look that I have never personally sported. It was fun though! Then on went the dress, which was still being sewn right up until 45 minutes before the show. They were cutting the tulle off of it even after it was on me. I slipped into the gold heels that I had practiced walking in the night before, and hobbled on out to the car, where the driver kindly gathered my dress for me, and patiently waited as I contorted my body in new and exciting ways to try to get myself into the car without tearing the (very form fitting) dress. (The grace of a model is not yet a gift that I possess.)
We arrived at the mall, and I wish someone could have been there to laugh over the spectacle of me, a white woman, traipsing through the Java Mall in an excessive gown and stilettos. Every single person stopped and turned their heads, and I noticed people whispering to each other and glancing back at me. I think I must have a vague idea of how a celebrity feels. Perhaps fun for an evening, but definitely not my lifestyle of choice.
Karen, Major, and Laura came to support me, and they arrived just a few minutes after me. We watched the Javanese wedding makeup show that was on before the "Evening Gown Makeup Contest", of which I was a part. Karen and Major bought me french fries from McDonald's, and for awhile, I thought I had to be the only model consuming McDonald's before a show. Then I spotted another model scarfing down a hamburger, and I didn't feel quite so bad. The Javanese wedding show ran late, and we waited for forever until we finally got started. During that waiting time, I got a chance to talk to some of the other models. Most of them were really friendly, but one of them, a girl who must have a better sense of the magnitude of these competitions than I do, tossed her head and informed me that "You're the only bule (foreigner) in this competition, and it's actually really unfair." I couldn't help but chuckle at that, and responded, "well, if it makes you feel any better, I've never modeled before, and have never walked the catwalk." She seemed to calm down a bit after that. This same girl also told me that her native language was English, and it was difficult to take her seriously after that. (Who tries to convince a true native English speaker that their native tongue is English!? I know I can't judge based on an accent, but the grammar gave her away.)
The contest finally began an hour and a half behind schedule. We all walked out to chairs that were set up on the stage, and for 45 minutes, sat perfectly still while our makeup artists worked their magic. The time went fast, and before I knew it, my face had been completely transformed, right down to fake eyelashes. Next came the part that I was a bit apprehensive about- the walk down the runway. Thankfully I did not completely wipe out, but the darned dress got stuck on my shoe, and it was also too tight to go up and down stairs, which I had to do. I made up for the blunder with a little laugh and a curtsy, and everyone laughed pretty hard at that (with me, rather than at me, I hope...) The whole experience was just wildly out of my element, and something that I would never dare try at home, but I made that commitment to myself to say yes to every new experience that this year presented, and I'm doing my best to follow through on that. While we did not win (the make-up was too "minimalist" for the judges, who prefer that caked on look over subtlety), it was definitely an AWESOME experience, and just too ridiculous to not enjoy!
Well, I have been working on this post for over three hours now, and I think it's time to give your (and my) sore eyes a break!Thank you so much for bearing with the lag in posts, and even more so for plodding through the essays that follow!
Have a great day!
Lots of love,
Ellery
PS- The two pictures below mean that I have FINALLY figured out how to resize my photos so that they do not take so long to load. This means that my posts should once again include pictures! I'm excited to be able to give you a better glimpse into my life here now that I have this option, but I'll leave that for the next post.
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| With my proud host parents, post-modeling gig! They filmed the whole thing for future viewing pleasure. |
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| Catamarans line the edge of the river. (Green Canyon Adventure!) |
Saturday, March 17, 2012
A Quick Word to Assure You/Remind You of My Presence ;)
Hey Everyone!
And now suddenly we find ourselves in mid-March, and I'm getting word of 20+ degree weather in Southern Ontario, and realizing that I've now been away for half of a Summer, a Fall, and a Winter in Canada. Insane!
I have been trying to find the time to sit down and get a really good blog post written, but between the MCC Annual Team Retreat, and lots of activities going on in my host community, I have just not been able to write a blog post that is worthy of being posted.
This tiny little post is just to let you all know that there will be an update in the next few days- don't give up on me! The retreat provided a few stories worth sharing, and tomorrow is supposed to be my modeling gig, so I am positive that there will be something fun to tell you about in regards to that!
In the meantime, I am thinking about you and sending out my love and gratitude for your support and your interest in the goings-on of my life here in Java!
Have a great day! Enjoy that heat!
Love,
Ellery
And now suddenly we find ourselves in mid-March, and I'm getting word of 20+ degree weather in Southern Ontario, and realizing that I've now been away for half of a Summer, a Fall, and a Winter in Canada. Insane!
I have been trying to find the time to sit down and get a really good blog post written, but between the MCC Annual Team Retreat, and lots of activities going on in my host community, I have just not been able to write a blog post that is worthy of being posted.
This tiny little post is just to let you all know that there will be an update in the next few days- don't give up on me! The retreat provided a few stories worth sharing, and tomorrow is supposed to be my modeling gig, so I am positive that there will be something fun to tell you about in regards to that!
In the meantime, I am thinking about you and sending out my love and gratitude for your support and your interest in the goings-on of my life here in Java!
Have a great day! Enjoy that heat!
Love,
Ellery
Saturday, March 3, 2012
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
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
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