Experiencing True Indonesian Culture

Dear Friend,

What a great week I have had. As you might know, I just had a 12 day break and school started up this past Tuesday. I didn't do much over vacation, just relaxed. My holiday project was sewing a purse with traditional Indonesian material (Batik). This project would be fairly easy if I had a sewing machine and a nearby fabric store. Unfortunately I had neither of those. I needed an inside lining for my purse and decided to be innovative. I found a yellow button down shirt that I never wore, and decided to use that. I spent almost a whole day taking it apart with a seam ripper, trying to save every inch of material I could. Sewing by hand takes a LONG time! I felt so old-school though, thinking back to Jane Austen and their sewing projects.

Ironically, my first day back to school felt like my one day of vacation. After school I had basketball practice. After basketball practice one of the PE teachers was giving me a ride home. After commenting that he and Ms. Cynthia, the other PE teacher, were going to check out some fitness centers, he wondered if I wanted to go too. I figured it would be a 30 minute outing and since I just spent 12 days alone on vacation, I thought it would be good to hang out with people... so I said yes.

Well, the first fitness center was about 30 minutes away!!! It was really fun though. Here I am sitting on the back of a motorcycle, riding through the streets (some were dirt roads), with the hustle and bustle of everyone else leaving work and going home. It was so fun. I was able to see the side stores closer than when I am in a bus driving by. I always feel so separate from the street and culture when I drive by in a big bus looking out of a window. On the motorcycle, with the air blowing in my face, I felt closer to the every day life of that area.

The area I live in is very green and clean; paved roads, nice sidewalks, big houses etc. The area we drove through was more poor, dirt roads, cheap stores, trash thrown on the sides and even goats eating on the side of the street. I was happy to see the "real Indonesia."

After checking out two fitness centers it was around 6 pm and my stomach was making some noises. Ms. Cynthia asked if I was hungry. "I can always eat," I replied. They decided to take me to a traditional Javanese place. "You have to sit on the ground though," they said apprehensively. "Cool!" I enthusiastically replied.

The 'restaurant' was a little outdoor place you walk up to. First you get your plate of rice and toppings, then you choose the different skewered chicken parts you would like to eat. Yes, PARTS of chicken. They were on little wooden skewers and all had this same sweet sort of flavor to them. Looking at the assortment of food I could choose a skewer with two chicken feet, another skewer with a chicken head, one came with four livers, another with three little eggs, there was even one with chicken intestines. Instead of tables, we sat on little mats in a parking lot like area. I ate a chicken foot for the first time, it was crunchy, had a little layer of meat and a thinker layer of skin. I also ate a liver, a little egg, and a few intestines (very chewy). I didn't eat the chicken head though, I told them, "Maybe next time." I was offered the chicken brain after my friend ate the head though, I figured I might as well try it, so I ate a little white chicken brain. It was a little pasty feeling. Our beverage for the evening was warm milk with a chunk of ginger root placed inside. It was surprisingly yummy. Indonesian food is spicy so my lips were burning after eating.

When I was little I used to always eat with my hands. My parents would continually comment that I was going to grow up and live in Sri Lanka where it is okay to eat with your hands. Well, I'm not in Sri Lanka, but here in Indonesia we sometimes eat with our hands too. During dinner after taking a few bites of rice with a spoon the PE teachers look at me and mention, "You know, traditionally we eat with our hands." To their surprise, I gladly ate the rest of my dinner with my hands. The  Indonesians watching from the background were amazed that I was eating everything. They would ask my friends in Bahsa Indonesian, "Does she like the food?" My friends were amazed too, a "bule" (technical translation is albino, but causally just means foreigner) eating their food, with her hands, on the ground and enjoying it. I like trying to blend into the culture... even though I will always stand out being a white skinned tall girl with light brown hair.

The store owner joined us on the mat for a friendly conversation. He kept asking if I liked the food. I eventually told him that I really did, and I would even bring my parents to eat there when they come to Indonesia. My friend had to translate for us the whole time. It was all very amusing. This dinner had such a relaxed feeling to it, I kept thinking to myself, "This is what I didn't do over vacation, but what you are supposed to do."

All in all a fun spontaneous evening.

Hope life on your side of the world is going splendiferously!

Your friend,
Rebekah

Southern Cross!!!

Dear Friend,

Tonight I was at my friends house watching a few episodes of Gilmore Girls. As I walked home I looked at the sky and saw the stars and realized that this was the first time I noticed the new night sky of Indonesia. Since I am now on the other side of the equator I am seeing stars I have never seen before! I saw the southern cross for the first time! I was so excited!

I love looking at the night sky, but I haven't been out much at night here in Indonesia. So I am grateful for the reminder that this is a new sky of stars to me. I need to enjoy them while I can!

My vacation is starting out well. I haven't done much. I've cleaned the house, done some laundry, and started my project. Whenever I have a long vacation I like to have a project. My new project is making a purse, a little side purse out of traditional batik material. Unfortunately I do not have a sewing machine... so it is taking a while, but I have 12 more days of vacation and no plans with anyone to do anything so there is plenty of time to hand sew a purse... I just have to create the pattern and figure out how to do it! Which is half the fun! Maybe I'll try to show you a picture when it is done!

With love,
Rebekah E.

Cat or Dog?

Dear Friend,

Are you a cat or a dog person? I am a cat person. It started a long time ago with my sister. She is a dog person, AN EXTREME DOG PERSON! We would be driving in a car and she would see a dog and be able to name the kind of dog AND at least five details about him. If it was a good house dog, if it shed a lot, what size it can grow to be etc. Well growing up, we roomed together, so naturally we had many conflicts. Since she was a dog person, I in turn was a cat person. Although, in actuality my favorite animal is a koala... don't know why, it just is! 

In Indonesia cats are seen as street animals. There are many stray cats around, I even saw two adorable kittens and their mother one night. I wanted to go pet them, then thought I better not, or else they may hang around my house. I may be a cat person, but at the end of the day, I am not a pet person. I can't currently justify using my time caring for a pet, feeding it, washing it, entertaining it, and taking care of it.

I do, as of last night, have a little pet in my house though. A mouse! I saw it yesterday. I was watching TV and he hopped in and hid underneath my drawers holding up my TV. He is a cute little gray mouse with an adorable little hop. I left him there after a while and went to my room. Then I went back to the TV room and he decided it was too noisy or something and scampered away. I followed him into the bathroom and watched as he came out, ran along the wall, and hid under the fridge. I don't know where he went from there. I suppose I should try to shoo him outside, but then the cats will get him! If it was a rat I would be totally freaked out, but I don't mind a mouse. Mouse, not mice... as long as it is only one, I'm okay with it. In Indonesia all the floors are tile and the walls are cement, so the mouse does not have a little mouse hole that he can climb into the walls from. Instead, he has to stealthily walk along the walls and hide behind big bulky things. I say stealthily because this cute little mouse walks the way we pretend to play FBI. He walks along the wall, pauses at a corner, then scampers on. I wonder if I will see him today.

Today is the first day of vacation. I have a cold, so vacation came just a the right time. I want to get a routine down so that I don't feel like I am wasting my days. Everyday the floor needs to be swept and mopped because it is tile and gets dirty really fast. So I will wake up, read or exercise, and then clean the house! One thing I know how to do is mop a floor, thanks to working for BEST for four years! My vacation is 10 days long. It is a Muslim holiday, Idul Fitri also known as Lebaran. I call this their version of Christmas. At the grocery store people were buying boxes of chips and cookies... like the shipping boxes! I saw a whole cart full of chips, it was crazy!!! Everyone travels back to their hometown to be with their families bringing tons of food and presents.

I should probably see if I can actually start a routine for this holiday.
Hopefully I will get better soon.

I am a little worried that I will just stay at home or go work at school for all 10 days. If I stay at home that long, and am by myself the whole time... hmmm... I may end up going crazy. God is good though, so I'm sure he will have people intervine at the right time and offer to take me somewhere or do something with me. We'll see!

Have a great rest of the week!
Rebekah E.

Cockroaches and Sports

Dear Friend,

HELP!!! I have a cockroach on my floor. He is turned upside down and can't seem to turn himself over. I think I am just going to leave him there until he dies, because to squash him would be nasty. Cockroaches here are like they are in Japan, about the size of dried dates. I could place a cup or something over him like my sister does, but I don't really have extra cups. Ewwww gross. Where is my dad? Yuck!

Sorry, what a horrible way to start out a letter! How are you doing? I had a good week. We started book month and all my lessons revolve around the different stories that the students are reading, so that brings more cohesiveness to my lessons.

This week I was so athletic! I started helping the senior school girls after school basket ball program. I'm not the best basketball player or anything, but it is fun to learn and get some exercise. After practice I get one of the PE teachers to unlock the ball cage and I get out a Volleyball. (That's the whole reason why I play basketball... to be able to play volleyball afterward.) They don't have a volleyball program here... yet... so I just play by myself to get back in shape with volleyball skills. Anyways, so basketball practice is on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Then on Thursday we had a staff volleyball game which was so fun. A few of us stayed later and kept playing for another hour! Then on Friday I played badminton with a few people after school. Badminton is the sport of Indonesia. In fact, it is the only sport they show during the Olympics. This is hard for me to imagine, but it is true. So I need to improve in this sport. The first game I played was with partners and we lost 2-30. Ha!!!! It was so fun though. The only downside is, somehow I sprained my ankle, so this whole weekend I have been bumming around my house trying to stay off of it.

Well friend, I need to get ready for church now. Sorry for the random letter.
Till next time!

Rebekah E.