Loving Bandung!

Today, like many of my days in Bandung, I am sitting at my computer, in my beautiful room on top of a guesthouse. I often get distracted from countless readings about International Relations, war and security, and diplomacy, and after being distracted yet again, this time from the call to prayer, I have began to contemplate my life in Indonesia so far. The call of prayer was something I first experienced in Yogyakarta. The siren-like speaker was just behind my room so I was constantly reminded that now was the time that the majority of Indonesians were bowing to Allah. I found it really difficult to cope with these drawn out, melodical chants blaring through the speaker into a my room, a place I was trying to find comfort and to make an oasis from the unknown culture and way of life outside. I have heard this speaker since the 7^th of February until now, every day, five times a day. I think that's about 1,200 times!! I still don’t love it, but I am not compelled to grab my iPod and blast some uplifting music in my ears until the prayer stops. Now I feel largely at peace in Indonesia and it’s a rewarding feeling! There are still times when the differences between life in Australia and Indonesia are really noticeable and frustrating, but these are only small things and life is never perfect!

 

I have come to love some of the differences that living in Indonesia brings such as fresh food markets along the road where I can buy a bag of vegetables and fruit for $1.80, the social culture and extremely generous people, the traffic jams that make me slow down, be patient and appreciate the time to talk with those around me, the ability to walk to the gym daily under a canopy of tropical trees with vines hanging over the road, going to an amazing international church, going out to brunch, lunch and dinner at least twice every week, being able to buy and cook the food I love (pesto pasta with broccoli and baby tomatoes is my fav. at the moment), learning about International Relations from an Indonesian point of view, the opportunity to travel to Jakarta, hike up volcanoes, visit natural hot-springs or tea or strawberry plantations on the weekend, the massive shops here and second-hand warehouses filled with millions of clothes for $2 each or less, being able to drink a fresh coconut or have a plate of gado-gado on the side of the road for just over $1.

 

 

Bandung is very different to Yogya. In Yogya, I lived in a village situated in the mountains for 2 months. I was constantly surrounded by people who were always cooking, teaching, playing, working to make other’s lives better and resting. Life in Yogya was amazing and I could not believe I was getting credit for uni to live in a village and to help people (I could understand getting credit for the 30 page report though!). As amazing this experience was, it was also draining and spiritually-challenging at times. For me, being immersed in such a selfless and strong Muslim culture was a dramatic change to life in Adelaide. I really noticed the stark difference between the culture at home which  is for me, very fast-paced, unfortunately self-focused with weekly schedules full of prior commitments and responsibilities, but is the way of life I have come to love and appreciate. However, life in the village was slooooooow, the people I lived with were always helping others to cook (sometimes before 5am!), clean, teach, and hardly ever took the time to put themselves first even when they were exhausted. If plans existed they often changed last minute, the time was hardly referred to, and there was hardly ever a quiet moment where someone was not laughing, singing, popping in from next door, cooking together, teaching or playing with the children outside, etc. This was great and probably the way I wished life was in Adelaide sometimes although, I did really miss living with people who spoke my language, eating healthy foods, having a set daily schedule, and having Christians that I could relate to, and university - I really missed learning new complex theories and having a mental challenges. Thankfully, I have found this in Bandung! University is a real challenge and is a lot more intense than university at home so I can say, God's given me more than I could wish for! I am thankful for this challenge though and the ability to learn things I wouldn't have studied in Adelaide that will set me up well for the future.

 

 

Ultimately, I know God knows me and the desires of my heart. I have learnt that when I walk through life holding his hand, letting Him direct me life becomes way better than I could ever hoped or imagined. I know many challenges lie ahead like the countless exams and assignments in the next 7 weeks... but I look forward and keep pushing on to run the race that God has planned, because He has plans to prosper and to protect me, He gives me strength and I have nothing to fear because He is on my side!         

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOkImV2cJDg

 

 

P.S. Thank you so much to each of you who are praying for me. I appreciate it so much!

 

May God bless you all,

Pip xx

 

 

Time flies when you're having fun!

I can't believe it has been 7 weeks since I wrote my last blog! Time definitely flies when you're having fun! Here's a recap of my life in Indonesia and some of the highlights...


Weekdays

I study at the largest university in Indonesia called Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) which is only a 5 minute walk from my kos (student boarding house). I walk through my lively neighbourhood every morning. Every morning, without fail, I hear many men whistle, and say 'cantik, cantik', and old ladies peep up at me, smile and stare at my white skin, long-legs and light-brown hair. All this  attention makes me feel like I'm famous! I love to watch the village life around me on my way to uni. It's very interesting to see the little food stalls set up on the side of the road and where the popular food is. There are also delicious aromas wafting from these stalls and roadside warungs. However, much of the food is fried so I often give it a miss and buy my food from a local, fresh food market and grocer nearby.

Everyday, I look forward to buying lunch with my Aussie friends after my Bahasa Indonesia class from 9am-12pm at UGM. Then we usually go to the gym, or I meet with my tutor, or help out at a local school with my friend Ri. We hold a "Craft-a-noon" on Thursday.. afternoon ;). The kids seem to be loving it so far which is great! It's also a great opportunity to practice our Bahasa and for the children to practice their English. Ri and I always enjoy our craft times as we laugh with the children at many random things. I also enjoy working with one boy with a mental disability who loves to make people laugh (sometimes by covering his legs in paint :/). He also randomly sings the SpongeBob Square-pants theme song which is great since it's something Ri and I recognise and can sing along to with the children. This week will be my last week helping run the Craft-a-noons because I will be moving to live in Gunung Kidul (a remote village) on Saturday to improve education and small businesses. I am hoping to start craft-a-noons and olahraga-noons (sport afternoons) there.

Weekends!

Over the last seven weeks I have also been to Borobudur (the largest Buddhist temple in the world) for the sunrise tour. Alex, Ri and I woke up at 4am to see the sunrise at about 5am. It was very serene and beautiful. I would definitely go back again. The colours of the clouds and the black silhouette of mountains on our right was stunning. It was also interesting to see the street lights turn-off as the sunlight lit-up the town below us. It was also great to see the town's layout and all the bright green grass areas, trees and rice fields. We made our way down from the temple and I decided to wrap my 'holy, Buddhist' yellow sarong around my neck instead of my waist- bad idea!! I don't know if it was karma, but a bee was too attracted to my brightly coloured sarong and stung me twice on the back of the neck! Ouch! Anyway, I tried to ignore the pain and enjoyed the delicious banana and chocolate pastry that was provided afterwards. We quickly walked back to the Lotus II Guesthouse (which was absolutely beautiful!) and put some cold water on my sore neck :( Then we spent the day chilling by the rice paddy fields, on our private veranda,  reading and listening to music. Then we grabbed our backpacks, signed out of our room :'( and bought some lunch and fresh produce from the local markets before we jumped on the local bus to go home.

Another highlight was going to the end of Jalan Kaliurang (Kaliurang Road). I live on km 5 of this road and it goes up to km 25 which is at the base of a mountain called Mt. Merapi - also an active volcano that is supposed to erupt soon! :/ Ri, Alex and I caught a local bus all the way from km5 to km 25 which took us through the city and local villages. The scenery in the local villages was beautiful and very interesting to see buffalo and goats walking through rice paddy fields. The way of life in the village compared to the city is so different and they are only a few minutes away from each other. Jalan Kaliurang km 25 is an amazing place for people to visit for a fun weekend. It has animal-shaped paddle-boats, a short walk to a waterfall, a steep hike to see Mt. Merapi (which was amazing!), and there many places to eat and to buy fresh produce. There was also a group of older ladies selling sticky rice in banana leaves and the most delicious tofu I have ever tasted! There was also a lot of skinned kelinichi (rabbits) hanging around the food places which was interesting, but not appreciated by my two vego friends! After our hike, lunch and a paddle-boat ride we walked through the village to Ullen Sentalu - the most amazing and interesting museum I've ever visited! The museum was covered in vines and we were taken through a door which led to a beautiful forest, then to an underground museum. It was nice and cold down there and the air was fresh (a nice change :) ). The guide showed us traditional Indonesian instruments, beautiful paintings of the royal family and told us interesting stories about the family members' lives throughout history and explained a lot about Yogyakarta's culture. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos but I took a few photos as we approached the museum and one of a slanting (falling) work of art symbolising the degradation of Yogyakarta's culture in recent years. Then we walked back to where the bus should have been waiting to take us home, but the bus had finished for the day! We had no way to get home until a friendly man approached us and organised his friend to take us home, but it wasn't cheap! He knew he had us, and we knew that too so we paid the 1,500,000Rp and remained grateful to finally be taken home after a very fun and adventurous day!

The next week, the majority of ACICIS students and I were taken to a beautiful beach in Gunung Kidul about 2.5 hours away from Yogyakarta. It was so much fun to go on another new adventure with two bus loads of Aussies and ACICIS staff. It was fascinating to see more village life in another mountainous part of Yogyakarta and great to breathe in fresh air again. The bus drove through forests and up very steep roads with absolutely beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. I appreciated being out of the hot and bustling city centre, and into the quiet and less humid natural surroundings. When we reached the beach the first bus load of people were already in the clear, warm water. Ri and I ran up the steps of the bungalow, dumped our stuff, got our bathers on then dived into the water. It was incredible :) We spent the rest of the day exploring the beach, chatting, eating a delicious seafood dinner, playing cards and then crashing on our swags - then being woken by more and more people finding a spot to sleep on the wooden, bungalow floor (there must of been about 25 of us sleeping in one line- it was a cozy experience!). The next day was great and we met more international students from Germany and Switzerland who played a very entertaining and competitive game of Uno! After this, everyone went scouting for their lunch from various nearby warungs - I ate Lotek my favourite Indo meal made of kankung (like spinach but better), compacted rice, cucumber, fried tempe and tofu then covered with peanut sauce. Yumm :) We ate our lunch by the sea then jumped on the bus to go home. What a great weekend!

Last week was also exciting since my development studies buddies plus Alex, Ri and Fay travelled to Jakarta for a Global Leadership Conference which focused on the Millennium Development Goal's and local knowledge. The first day was interesting since professionals in the aid sector spoke about their experiences and perspectives on helping people get out of poverty. There was a speaker from the United Nations who talked about his work in Indonesia, a man from Japan who shared about his work in natural disaster management which was very relevant to Indonesia since there are always earthquakes, landslides and volcanos erupting. The next day university students from Indonesia, the Philippines and one student from Uzbekistan spoke about development issues. However, their English was a little bit difficult to understand which made it hard to concentrate for 4 consecutive hours before and after lunch. However, lunch was delicious and dinner was always very special since we were always given an array of amazing foods to choose from. We were taken to a beautiful restaurant surrounded by water on the first night, then the Governor's House on the second night. The Uzbekistan couple loved to dance at these events so it was fun to get up on the dance floor and bust a move after dinner then to sit down and laugh at everyone else. On the last day we were taken to Tamun Mini which is a miniature layout of Indonesia and each region's different cultures. It was fascinating learn about these differences and to see all the different architectural and interior designs. My favourite house was probably from North Sumatra because their rooms were intricately painted on the outside with bright colours and inside the rooms were filled with colourful fabrics. The North Sumatran's also had a matriarchal society which is cool. The homes from Sulawesi were also amazing since they were constructed high above the ground and some times in trees!

I am thoroughly enjoying living in Indonesia and thank you so much to each one of you who are praying for me. I can definitely feel your support. I am heading out to the most impoverished village with the worst sanitation levels in Indonesia on Saturday so your prayer will be MUCH appreciated over the next few months.

Thank you and God Bless,
Pip xxx

Week 2 - The Volcanic Eruption!

This week has been like no other!! Firstly, Mt Kelud erupted very early on the 13th of February and rained ash all over Jogja. There is still ash in my room! Thankfully I live with 2 girls from Australia in my kos, Alex and Megan, and a friend called Sindy from another kos, came over to be locked inside with us. Many shops and places to buy food were closed or flat-out, taxis were almost impossible to get a hold of. We found ourselves most worried about finding food than anything else! We finally found out that Pizza Hut was open and ordered way too much pizza, salad and drinks! Sindy and her pendumping (helper) bravely rode to Pizza Hut to pick up the food. They came back saying mostly every other franchise/shop was closed, the streets were deserted, and with news that many civilians were trying to escape Jogja. I personally did not want to leave but I did read the facts about volcanic ash and became too scared to go outside and to breathe-in the thick, and potentially harmful substance. Anyway, we had our first very relaxing day and appreciated the rest. The next was also fairly chilled. Alex and I hung out in my kos listening to music, reading and drinking coffee before we got ready to go to Gilang's Wedding! Below are some pictures of the ash covered road and buildings from my kos' window.

 

 

After about 48 hours of locking ourselves inside our kos Alex and I left the kos for first time wearing our new Batik clothing (and a mask) for Gilang's traditional wedding. Gilang is a man who works for ACISIS and coordinates the Development Studies Immersion Program. Here are a few photos of his beautiful, Catholic wedding:

 

 

 

After the reception a small group of us headed out to a local dessert shop called Cocolat which may have been where some of us got over-tired and laughed way too much. We finally jumped into a taxi and I arrived home to my kos feeling exhausted, covered in volcanic ash but very happy after such a joyous day.



 

Day 2 - Adventure time!!

 

 

Travelling around Jogja yesterday was fun but it was pretty, darn, hot and humid! I enjoyed the morning walk to the main shopping street. There were horse and cart everywhere (some horses were a lot thinner than others :'( ), there were colourful French styled lampposts, and beggars approaching us as we walked along. There were also weird smells coming from underneath the foot paths. However, the city is very pretty when you excuse the poverty of the place, with green trees over the roads, reminding me of Grote Street in Adelaide.

When we (a group of 6 Aussie girls) got to Jalan Malioboro (the shopping road [see above]) everyone was a bit too keen to see us like we were money with legs! A local kindly told us that there were many pick-pocketers and we hugged our bags a little closer. 

We found a very western 4-5 story mall with a shop called ‘Hero’ very much like Woollies, with the slogan “The fresh food people!”. I bought a shower sponge and a pair of scissors there then we up a few levels to get a 30 minute back massage with a friend for $3!! It was even better than my Dad's massages dare I say it!!

 

At 2pm we were starving and stopped at a fairly busy place for lunch where they sold weird food! I regret getting my dish of brown-looking egg, and gelatinous jackfruit with rice. It makes me sick thinking about it.. it also makes me laugh that I actually ate it because I wanted to be adventurous... bad mistake! Anyway, that's when things started going down hill health-wise and I felt a migraine coming on. There was also a transvestite dancing over my friend who sat on the edge of the table. This man dressed as a women freaked us out and sung terribly and wouldn't leave until we gave him money. After lunch we decided to jump on a Indonesian styled tuk-tuk and a man rode us back to our hotel for $2.50 each. I wonder if I'll be able to get a cheaper price when my Indonesian improves and I'm not perceived as a tourist!

Once I arrived back at the hotel I felt fairly sick and went straight to my room, drank some water checked fb and went to bed.