During orientation many of the conversations between ETAs were about our hometowns, or college towns or cities and the places we had visited up until coming to Indonesia. We would share stories about what made those places unique and how they had shaped who we are and even how we got here. Some of us were able to relate and share stories when our past locations over-lapped. These were the “homes” we had had before Indonesia; they were the places that had shaped us the most and they have all become a small part of us. I even began to remember people by where they were from and by the places they had visited.
Recently, all of the ETAs gathered in Makassar (South Sulawesi) for our mid-year conference. Between program meetings, during lunch, and over drinks at night the conversations started to change. Instead of talking about our homes in the past we started talking about our homes now. There are two main trains of conversation here: one is for people who are really struggling at their placements, these people would try to out-do the others with how bad their situations were, conversations about why this place is worse than this place were common, it wasn’t all complaining, more like commiserating; but then there were the ETAs who love where they live (for the most part), these ETAs have pretty good locations whether it is a buleh friendly city or a natural paradise, they would brag about how great their sites are and try to convince all other ETAs that a trip to place A or B is absolutely necessary. Sarah and I fit into the latter category, although it was not even completely obvious that we felt this way until recently.
Yes, Gorontalo is small. Yes, it is impossible to find almost anything comfortable and familiar. Yes, it is very hard to travel anywhere because our airport only services two planes a day. And, yes, foreigners are so rare here that we are constantly treated like celebrities and cannot seem to find any privacy anywhere. Despite all these things, though, Gorontalo has gotten under my skin. First of all I live with Sarah which makes like a million times easier, and more importantly, more enjoyable. I am still able to come home and find a friend who I can laugh with about my day and about our current life situations. We are both also blessed with having a wonderful ELF in Gorontalo city that acts as our big sister, mentor, and best friend. Can you even imagine how lucky I am to have TWO Americans near me when many of the ETAs have none?! My love for Gorontalo (and Limboto) goes much further beyond this, though.
Lonely Planet describes Gorontalo city as an “overgrown country town where all the locals seems to know each other and everyone is super friendly.” This is absolutely true. It is even more accurate for Limboto: a country town where everyone knows each other and is super friendly, but it is not “overgrown.” I have everything I could need here, even if I only have a few of the things I want. I have grown to love local food and Sarah and I entertain ourselves and have made some wonderful Indonesian friends as well. Not to mention the unique experience I am having of living in a city that is almost not even google-able much less listed in the Lonely Planet.
Besides being fairly secluded and off-the-beaten-track, Gorontalo has a naturally magnificent landscape. Enormous mountains surround us on all sides and within an hours drive these mountains descend sharply into the blue-green ocean. As you continue descending below water, the beauty continues to amaze. Mostly untouched and surprising vibrant and colorful coral awaits the snorkeler or diver. In addition, Gorontalo is home to many under water species that are completely unique to the area. While I still do not have a diving license (yet) Julianne and our friend Jimmie agree the diving is pretty amazing.
I must have been pretty convincing because two weeks after the mid-year conference I got Jimmie to come visit us. Here are some pictures from our Gorontalo adventures. (the underwater ones are courtesy of Julianne’s underwater camera and were taken by all of us at some point)
This is video I took when driving through Limboto. Sorry if it makes you dizzy! The last stop is where I live and the tune you hear about half way through is the ice cream man who drive around on a bicycle with an ice cream cooler strapped to the back. You will also see us driving under the Limboto tower, past my school, the University, the supermarket, and the police station.
In our five months in Indonesia so far we have had the “pleasure” of having several “pets” come in and out of our home. Some stay for a few minutes, some now permanently reside here; some are tiny, some are…. large. We have had every kind of bug you can imagine from huge moths, cockroaches (even flying ones), and spiders to small mosquitoes and gnats. We also have a great collection of geckos that run around our walls, chill in the bathroom, and sleep under the TV stand. We also had a pet cat that used to get in from upstairs and would eat our left overs right from the garbage! How convenient! Lately we have even had some little furry friends scurrying around (we think mice, but maybe rats). Having housemates is not something new to us, it is just a fact of life in Indonesia. The walls often have sounds of life running around, the geckos chirp off and on all day long, and Sarah and I have a bottle of cockroach killing spray locked and loaded and almost always with reach in seconds. Our house in many ways has become a zoo and a war zone, but until recently nothing has really kept us up at night…
…That was until the “thing”… we have been trying to name it since we saw it because “lizard” or “water monitor lizard” just doesn’t truly capture this thing. Some of the contenders are: The Creature, The Monster, or The Dinosaur. We are working on it.
Sarah and I have been trying to ignore noises in our house lately because one night we saw a mouse and we called our cleaning guy to come take care of it and the next day all the teachers at our schools laughed at us. “We see those in our houses everyday!” Of course Indonesians just live with these things so we should too. That, or risk being laughed at everyday for our wimpiness…
…which is why we ignored the noises that started around one o’clock yesterday afternoon. Sure they were louder than your average, run-of-the-mill rat, but how bad could it be? How bad could it be?! Two hours later I was gearing up for what was supposed to be a glorious mid-afternoon, Sunday nap and Sarah was trying to turn on the internet when it happened. I had just gone into my room when I heard a crash and then Sarah screaming. Sarah ran straight outside while screaming and I followed as quickly as I could. All Sarah was able to explain to me was that she saw a tail that probably belonged to a very big lizard.
I imagined Sarah was exaggerating until our cleaning guy (who also saw the thing earlier) came back with 5 other men, several of which had machete like knives and poles. I didn’t freak out until I saw these brave men slowly, cautiously enter our house. Their fear reflected the size of our creature. If Indonesian men, who kill mice like they are ants, are scared then maybe this thing is a big deal. So the men entered our house like they were preparing for an exorcism of the devil and our female neighbor across the way stood in front of us (two scared and shaking buleh) incase the thing got past five men with machetes and came out alive. After about ten minutes the men brought out this:
They threw it on the ground outside of our house triumphantly and smashed its head in a few times to show who is boss (men are mostly the same in all cultures). So here is the nitty gritty of the whole thing:
Our most recent pet is what Indonesians call “biawak.” “Biawak besar sekali”to be exact. Biawak directly translates to “monitor lizard” in English (and “very big lizard” respectively). Monitor lizards get their name because they like to stand on their back legs and “monitor” their surroundings. Our monitor lizard was about 3 ½ feet long and is actually a “water monitor lizard.” They live all over SE Asia.
If you are Lizard savvy you may already know that Komodo Dragons are also monitor lizards. You may also know that these things can get very big and can be venomous. If you are movie savvy you may know that water monitor lizards resemble Komodos so much that it was a water monitor lizard that portrayed a Komodo in the movie The Freshmen.
This whole situation is pretty hilarious. We had a mini- Komodo Dragon (yes, I know, a little over-dramatic) in our living room! What is crazy is that this rarely even happens to Indonesians. My counterpart could not even stand to look at the pictures she was so scared. Now there will be few things we can’t handle. Although, I am not sure we can handle another one of these things. Our sense of security is pretty much gone, but our senses of humor aren’t. If we had forgotten that we were living in Indonesia…
Cambodia was a huge surprise to all of us immediately. We arrived in Siem Reap after an entire day of traveling on gross over crowded buses, getting ripped off and hassled at the border crossing and just feeling pretty low. We needed showers, we needed food and we needed to bring our spirits up. Siem Reap was a sight for our sore eyes for sure. It was much more western, and a much more modern and inviting city than any we had been to up to this point (even in Indonesia the most developed cities were not this western). I should note that we only stayed in the tourist parts of town in all of Cambodia so our experience was not that of a true Cambodian, but of a fairly rich (comparatively) tourist. We did not bother to book a hostel ahead of time, and so we had to spend about an hour going from place to place, but it was probably better this way because the place we ended up finding was perfect. Six dollars a night split between three of us and fairly nice compared to the hostels in Thailand!
The tourist areas of Siem Reap consist of 3-4 streets branching off from the bank of the river. These streets consist of markets and souvenir shops, salons and massage parlors, convenience stores, and restaurants from almost every corner of the world. We ate Mexican, Italian, French (there were many French restaurants because Cambodia was a French colony), American, Cambodian, Chinese, and Indian. For the four days we were there we thoroughly enjoyed eating food that can’t be found in Limboto (or in most places in Indonesia). In fact, in Siem Reap, and later in Phnom Penh, we found that we could find many “western” things that made us feel at home. We found skittles!, peanut m &ms, potato chips (not cassava!!), baguettes, pastries, AND MALBAC (my favorite wine from ARGENTINA). We could get champagne and wines from all over the world. This was all pretty shocking to us since much of what we had heard about Cambodia was that it was extremely poor and undeveloped, but in the cities we were in it would be easy to think that Cambodia is much more developed than almost any place in Indonesia and much more developed than any of us thought it would be. In reality, it is only the cities that are Western and developed. I know that if we had traveled outside of the two main cities then we would have seen more of the poverty we had been prepared for. One other interesting surprise about Cambodia was the fact that everyone in the tourist areas was fluent in English and they all used only American dollars! It was so weird having US dollars in my wallet again! The ATMs would only allow you to take out dollars and all the menus and price stickers were in US dollars! It almost made us feel like we were at home. It was nice to not have to think about conversions or about how to converse with people. We were actually able to just relax and enjoy most of our time there.
We did not travel to Siem Reap for any of these luxuries though. In fact, this modernization represents a stark contrast to the main event in Siem Reap: the ancient temples of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument or temple in the world. Angkor Wat itself is part of a large collection of temples that were built during the Angkor Empire. We spent two entire days exploring these ancient wonders. The first day we saw all the temples that were part of Angkor Thom. This is the main ring of temples and gates that made up the ancient village of the gods. Here we saw Bayon which was one of my favorites. The towers have menacing faces which look in every direction. It is said that these faces are made in the likeness of the king at the time so he could leer over his “adoring” public. In Angkor Thom there was also a temple that was being restored and some neat gates surrounding the village. We saw about 6 more temples the first day. These temples are both Buddhist and Hindu as both religions had control of the area at different points in history. We went to the temple at the highest elevation for sunset and then rested up for another full day of temple hopping.
The next morning we woke up early to catch sunrise at Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is said to be the eighth wonder of the world. For the most part, from the outside, it lives up to that name. It is enormous! Compared to Borobudor in Yogyakarta and to the temples from the day before it is easy to see why this one is the famous one. To be honest, though, it was not our favorite. The sunrise was a bust because the sky was a little foggy so we had a few minutes of a nice pink color and that was it. The temple was also over crowded, and you could only really explore the first level. We left feeling a little disappointed, but we continued to see temples the rest of the morning and afternoon and had a pretty amazing experience. We went to the “off the beaten track” temples that people rarely take the time to go to, that the monks still use to pray in, and that have not been restored. Many of them are being over-run by nature which gives the person exploring it a neat look at the cycle of destruction and eventual re-claiming of nature.These temples made us feel like this is what is supposed to happen. All that is created will eventually be destroyed, and nature is much more resilient than I think many humans realize. Seeing the beautiful and powerful ancient temples being over-run by trees and roots was an inspiring sight. It was also really nice that we could take our time and explore all parts of these temples without worrying about other tourists or ropes dictating what we could or could not see. The magnitude of the temples was breathtaking. To consider when and how they were made is really remarkable.
The next day was Christmas. We spent the day shopping to buy presents for our families and also each other. We indulged in good wine and plenty of amazing food. We exchanged presents and talked about our Christmas traditions back home. We had a very nice day. I was grateful to be with some amazing friends, but I really missed my family.
The day after Christmas we headed to Phnom Penh for three whole days. Our time here was mostly spent being shown around by Thom’s friend Jesse who is American but has been working for the Phnom Penh Post for awhile. It was really nice to see the parts of the city that many tourists probably do not get to see. We explored some markets, went to some night clubs, and had some great conversations about cultural adjustments, differences between the ways things work in the “east” versus “west” and news and gossip from back home.
Our final day in Cambodia was spent at the genocide museum and the killing fields. It was a very depressing and reflective day. We all believed it was very important to make ourselves see these monuments and witness the evil. What was especially painful was seeing the torture chambers and being reminded of the mock Guantanamo chamber I saw. And when I saw the pictures of the torture victims I was reminded of photos from Abu Ghraib. It is disgusting and devastating to me that we cannot learn from history. What happened in Cambodia was so horrific that it is hard to imagine anything like that ever happening again, but it does. What is also hard to believe is that anyone who was intelligent, educated and sane could have supported the Khmer Rouge, but in the museum we read testimony from a young man from Europe who had supported the Khmer Rouge take over. He stated that he had been inspired by the Communist Revolution in China, but had become disappointed in the way Mao was handling his power and he saw the revolution in Cambodia as a truly pure revolution. This young man had become disillusioned with capitalism and western “imperial” society and saw Cambodia as an example for the drastic type of change that needed to be made.He saw hope in the Khmer Rouge. It was painful to read about the things he once believed. He believed in this revolution so strongly that he was able to set aside a few minor human rights abuses in order to realize the dream of a pure, “classless” society. The deaths of a few would simply be a sacrifice for something greater. It is this utilitarian ideology that terrifies me. Once you can justify any human rights abuses then the line has been crossed and erased behind you. Once one can be justified then all can be justified. This is the type of rationale that I believe history should have taught us to be very careful of. The role of the US in this genocide is also a painful one to consider and is also a theme in history to be wary of: meddling in situations that we think are minor or help to accomplish only our own narrow interests can have catastrophic affects on the very foundation of another society. To sum up, it was an emotionally heavy day and if you want to know more you can ask me sometime, but I would hate to be any more depressing in my blog. I think Cambodia has a lot of hope left. With trials approaching for perpetrators and the prospect of some more truth and reconciliation forums I think the right steps are being taken. While much of Cambodia is still deep in poverty the tourism industry seems to be well structured for the most part and the parts of the cities we saw leaves hope for more development and investment in the country in the future. Cambodia has a lot to give.
The pictures go in backwards order from how they were mentioned in the blog...
The killing fields
Genocide museum
bird on barbed wire at the genocide museum
Some of my favorite flowers outside the genocide museum
The difference in color here is because of restoration of the temple
Angkor Wat
Sunrise Angkor Wat
sunset
Gates near Angkor Thom
It is about time that I get some of these travel blogs online since I have been home long enough now to get resettled and gather my thoughts. I am not a huge fan of travel blogs because they basically turn into a list, or step by step, account of what I did, and, unless you were there, you would find that very boring. I will try to do better by only mentioning some of the more interesting things I did in my few weeks of travel.
Before going to Thailand I went to Yogyakarta on the island of Java. I think this city is perhaps the largest tourist destination in Indonesia behind Bali and Lombok. Yogyakarta is described by Lonely Planet as the soul of Indonesia. I did not explore the city much, besides going out for some Indian food (can’t get that in Limboto!). I did, however, spend some time with my friend Sarah who teaches at a school an hour outside of Yogya. Sarah lives very close to Borobudor Temple. Borobudor is a large Buddhist temple built in the 9th century. There is still little known about it compared to other SE Asian temples, but here is my favorite part of this temples history: Borobudor was completely covered by volcanic ash after a massive eruption in 1006 and was not rediscovered until 1814! This temple has been through a lot from volcanoes to bombs and is surprisingly pretty well intact thanks to vigorous restoration projects and luck.
The next day I headed to Thailand with three Fulbright friends: Sarah (not my roommate but the one who lives near Borobudor), Anna (teaches in Manado) and Thom (teaches in Semarang in Java). We stayed in Bangkok for only about one full day. Our hostel was on Khao San Road which is the famous backpacker’s paradise that is prominently portrayed in The Beach (with Leo DiCaprio). It was an incredibly intense experience after coming from Indonesia. There were so many foreigners!! And not just from Australia with the occasional German, but from all over Europe and Asia and even the US! There was so much going on, so many venders, so many beggars, so many bars, restaurants, lights. Not at all like little Limboto. Another culture shock besides this obvious one was the way we were treated as foreigners. We were not treated as a special guests and no one was curious about where we were from. No one tried to practice English with us or take our picture. Instead we were treated like normal foreigners: one of thousands. Not only that, but we were brushed off and even sometimes the victims of desperate aggression. None of this happens in Indonesia. Needless to say, while we saw some interesting things in Bangkok, we were glad to move on to Koh Chang.
Koh Chang is an island off the coast of Thailand. It takes a 5 hour drive from Bangkok and a 1 hour ferry from the mainland to get there. Thailand boasts some of the best beaches in the world and Koh Chang boasted that you could see these beaches without having to bargain for a spot on the sand with other foreigners. This is what we expected before getting there. We should have known we were bound for a little disappointment coming from Indonesia where the country is an island of beaches and the buleh (foreigners) have still not discovered them. Despite that, the beaches on Koh Chang were still pretty amazing and we made sure to do some things that can’t be done in Indonesia. We rode elephants through the jungle and swam with them in the river. We took a Thai cooking class where we learned how to make red curry, pad thai and spring rolls. We got real Thai massages and really good tans… in December! Overall it was a great experience. From there we headed to Cambodia, which will be another blog.
Side note: I lost my camera somewhere between Cambodia and home, so I don’t have any pictures from Thailand to share. Later I will try to post some pictures my friends took.
For those of you who need a little more hope for the future of the world, just take a look at these letters my student wrote to President Obama: (this is half of them, the second half haven't had the lesson yet) Each student wrote one letter and I combined the most common and the best parts of each so that every student that did the assignment has a part in their classes letter. I also edited very minimally (added an article here or there, fixed spelling, and some sentence structure). This is the hardest assignment they have finished and I am very proud of them.
Dear Mr. President Obama,
How are you? We hope you are well.We are students from class 10-7 at the senior public high school in Limboto, Gorontalo, Indonesia.
We think that you are a great president, who is always trying to create welfare for people, continue to give peace between the members, and a president who continues to promote his country. We are very proud that you are the first President of the United States that lived in Indonesia.We think you are very intelligent and kind. Your words inspire people around the world.
We think the United States is a country that has many advantages, and it prioritizes peace and welfare. America is a country that can become an example for other countries in the world. With your example we hope Indonesia can become a developed country.
In your next year as president we think you should further advance inter-state peace. We hope that all countries in the world can be friends so they can work together and not have wars. And we hope you can come to Indonesia in the district of Gorontalo.
We want to learn about education in America so we can improve the quality of our education. We want to ask you some questions about how it feels to be president. According to you, what efforts should be done by the state in Indonesia in order to become a developed country like the United States?
Thank you for reading our letter. We hope you are always happy and healthy.
Sincerely,
Class 10-7, SMA 1 Limboto
Dear Mr. President Obama.
We are students from Class 10-9 at the Senior High School in Limboto, Gorontalo, in the country of Indonesia.
We think you are a figure of a man who is very fair in terms of leadership and responsibility for the entire world community regardless of ethnicity, race, religion, and culture. We really admire you because you are a very important person in the United States, and you have been to school in Indonesia and now can become the president United States. We think you are a wise president, and we think the united state is something that must we guard together. I'm proud of you because you're the only president who has dark skin and you do not feel ashamed.
We think America is one of the most advanced countries in the world and it has many beautiful tourist destinations.We think America is the barometer of the world. We think the United States is has many universities, colleges and the United States also has a leading English language program in the world. United States also provides a wonderful place for us to walk. America has many cities and beautiful destinations in the world. This country has a high security system, backed by legal force that is very strong. I think you should add to the vision and mission of America to make it better than years ago. And you should also maintain citizen confidence in the United States. Hopefully you can move forward in the next year and become the best president.
In your next year as president we think you should not start new wars in the world and make any policies that are more supportive of the realization of peace on this earth. In the next year as a leader, we think you should keep your goal in reconciling the whole world community to respect and love one another. We hope there will be no more violence and differences between all communities.
We hope that we can bridge religious and cultural differences between Western and Muslim countries and can carry out specific programs in the field of trade, education and health services in the Muslim world.
We hope that before you leave your presidency that you can prepare everything so that we do not have the same problems again later.
We hope that you stay healthy and are not too tired.
Sincerely,
Class 10-9 SMA 1 Limboto
Dear Mr. President Obama,
We are students from class 10-5 at the senior high school of Limboto, Gorontalo in Indonesia.
We are very proud that you lived in Indonesia. We think you are smart and kind and the best president in the world. There are no words that can show our admiration for President Barak Obama.
We think the United States is an advanced country that has laws that are fair and impartial and not just to help the rich. In your next year as president we think you should continue to be a dreamer, and a wise, fair person to help the country - regardless of the country's economy.
We hope you can help Indonesia become a fair and developed country just like the United States. We hope we can be friendly countries.
In your next year as president we think you should have America become the best again.
We want to ask you some questions about education in your country especially the high school level. How do you handle students who are disadvantaged?
Can we learn how students there improve the quality of education so we can learn to imitate their ways?
Please respond. We hope someday you can visit Gorontalo.
Sincerely,
Class 10-5 SMA 1 Limboto
Dear Mr. President Obama,
We are students from class 10-6 at the senior high school in Limboto, Gorontalo, Indonesia.
We want to know if you are happy and healthy and not too tired. We think you are a fantastic president, you are the best and a wise father because you can to divide time between personal life and politics besides that you lead with good.
According to us you are a smart leader, wise and fair, and American people surely like your leadership
The United States is a developed country, both in the fields of industry, government, economics, and education. We agree with you that we should not distinguish between religion, ethnicity, culture, and skin color. We all are equal. For us, the United States is the nation's dream for all people. We often dreamed of going to the United States. We want to go to the United States to continue with school. We hope Indonesia can become a developed country like the United States. And we hope the United States and Indonesia can establish a good friendship. We also salute American ingenuity, and spirit that is being led by you!
About our school: our school is a good school in Gorontalo. Students in our school are students who are full of dreams, hopes and ideals. We always hope there will be a scholarship to continue our school in the United States. And we hope you can help realize our dreams.
We think you are a great person, because you can lead a country. We think being a leader is not easy, and there are many problems that must be faced. A leader must be able to be wise in all areas. In view of the changes that are increasing in this sophisticated era, perhaps you can improve the welfare of the people because it is a priority.
We are students and we are very concerned about education. We want you to know we are concerned about children in the world who are not in school. We are happy because we can go to school alone. We want the kids out there to feel how wonderful school is. They are not unwilling to learn, but the economic conditions forced them to be unable to attend school. We ask you to help fulfill their dreams.
We really applaud your struggle, because reaching goals is very hard but you never give up.
Sincerely,
Class 10-6 SMA 1 Limboto
Dear Mr. President Obama,
We are students from class 10-8 at the senior high school in Limboto, Gorontalo, Indonesia.
In your next year as President you should make our earth prosperous and protect us from Global Warming. We hope that you can also protect our state from corruption.
In our opinion, you are the best president ever in the world and you are very clever in overcoming any problems. You are good friends with the Muslim world, and you have never looked at anyone else based on skin color, religion, tribe, and culture. You love your people and love working together with mutual respect between everyone. We should be more concerned with common interests.
In our opinion, America is a country that is very rich. Going to America is the dream of all people, including us.
We hope, Obama can help achieve the best thing that we dreamed of: unity for all people and an end to corruption, HIV/AIDS and global warming.
We hope that someday you can take a stroll with us to look at all poor people we see and you can feel their trouble. Like in a movie, you will have to be in disguise, but I think if you do it, then you can be united with them.
We love our state very much. So we want to ask you a question, can you help our state in order that there will be no more illiterate people in our state, please?
We want to ask:
1. What you will do to tackle problems of corruption, drugs, etc.?
2. What should be done in Indonesia for achieving the progress of a nation, starting from economic terms, political, legal, social and cultural, educational, and various others?
3. What are your feelings after becoming president of America when people choose you?
4. What are your principles in your life as a leader?
I am finally home safe and slowly working through piles of laundry, email updates, and future lesson plans so I have not had a lot of time to blog, but I wanted to throw this one out there before it becomes out of date.
Before hoping on a plane in Jakarta on one of the many legs of my recent adventure I decided to pick up some reading material. In Indonesia you cannot get that days newspaper until after noon so I opted for a (overpriced) Newsweek and a Jakarta Post Weekender which has a lot of travel and random articles in English written by people living in Indonesia. In the magazine there was an article written by a Bule (foreigner) who is living in Indonesia teaching yoga and doing some freelance writing. She summed up in 17 points that are highlights of her year. Things she was proud that she had done or that she really enjoyed... etc. I am not really sure who she is and why we should care what she did over her last year, but I enjoyed the article and it got me thinking, so here is my list:
1. I graduated from college a little over a year ago and spent all of this year redefining myself as something other than a student as well as realizing first, how to put what I learned into practice and second, that I still have MOST of my important life lessons in front of me. It is refreshing to know that the most important lessons are still ahead of me and that my growth does not stop when I step into the "real world". On this point I would also like to say that this year several of my closest friends graduated as well (Jaci, Kelyn, Rothany, Recie... etc.) and it is exciting to talk with them about life now that we are all exploring who we are post- undergrad. I am very proud of them.
2. President Obama was elected and after a lot of hard work we finally had an executive order banning torture signed. After all the work myself and many, many more people put into that it is refreshing to reflect on its importance. Putting aside all the other political problems going on now, this is a success that should not be downplayed.
3. I worked with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and learned how to lobby as well as what a career in nonprofit communications would require. More importantly, though, I learned that I would love to be able to work in the type of community (office, team, project, whatever) where everyone is involved in the work of everyone else and new opinions and ideas are always being shared and tested together.
4. Two inspiring couples in my life celebrated their first anniversaries in 2009. My sister and brother in law and Shelley and Chris. They all have had hard years, but their commitment as a couple continues to inspire me and keep me optimistic (rather than cynical) about the chances of me someday having what they have.(not any time soon though! Don't push it.) (also, another friend Kelsi got engaged to future-husband Ryan and I could not be happier for them).
5. I had yet another year filled with experiences that remind me of how lucky I am to have strong friendships. From my road trip, to visits to Drake, to Wis. Dells, to Chi-town, to El Loro trips and concerts, I am eternally grateful to my closest friends for keeping me around.
6. This year was the first without my grandmother Arlene on my dads side. She struggled for much of her life and it has been important lesson for everyone involved to truly understand patience and compassion when it is not very easy, and also learning how to let go while maintaining her memory in positive and healthy ways.
7. This year my parents turned 50 (and are still kickin' it!) and my grandmother on my moms side turned 70! Their ages (thankfully) don't reflect their energy or love of life... much less their maturity. ;)
8. I realized my little brother is also my best friend.
Now for the Fulbright related ones, since this has been probably the most important 4 months of my year:
9. I made many new friends who I will know and cherish the rest of my life. No one back home will ever truly understand my time in Indonesia and the ways in which Indonesia has shaped all of us except them.
10. I learned how to overcome my fears so well that I actually have very few fears anymore. Cockroaches, centipedes, earthquakes, terrorism threats, rickety airplanes, pick pocketers,sketchy hospitals, GERMS, nasty toilets, the list really could go on and on. These are facts of life and I have done a good job not letting them stop me. I am constantly pushing my limits to the point that I realize they are even limits any more.
11. I spent my first Christmas away from home and realized that while I can survive it, I never want to do it again. I am grateful I was surrounded by good friends.
12. I caught a terrible case of the travel bug that has now burrowed under my skin and may never be cured. I have seen so much beauty in so many unexpected places.
13. I have grown up in so many ways. I mean obviously I am one year older than I was this time last year, but I feel like I am a more whole person. I feel happier and healthier and I feel like I can take on many more challenges in a more informed, mature way.
14. I learned how to stop, breathe, process, and let go.
15. I realized what responsibility truly means. I have never had to be this accountable to people who are really relying on me.
Now for resolutions:
-blog more -Find a Bahasa Indonesia tutor (because I am so far behind!) -make more friends my age in Indonesia -Visit as many places in Indonesia as I can -Start to make some plans for what will come next in my life. -Get a dive license -Visit all the beaches within 3 hours of where I live -Make a dent in my book list -Maintain close relationships with all friends mentioned above whether in Indonesia or elsewhere. -Find a way to make a lasting impact at my school -Continue to push the envelope as far as trying new things -Avoid hangovers (ie no more mansion house) -Avoid MSG -Smell better more often... OR try not to care that I often smell bad in Indonesia because of too much sweat/ putting off cold showers
This year in pictures: (i tried to find pictures where I am at my happiest, and also tried not to repeat too many pictures previously posted here)
Back home my brother and my mother and sister got a snow day and I started feeling sad about not seeing snow this year for Christmas so I decided to have a snow day at my school with my students. First we made snow flakes and we talked about how every snow flake is unique just like every person and we brainstormed things that make us unique. Then we played with this really awesome fake snow that I bought at the Mall of America before leaving. It is a white powder that you add cold water to and it expands into a cold, wet, snow-like substance that supposedly lasts for weeks. My students loved it! After played with that for awhile outside we went back in and learned the lyrics to “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and I even taught them the extra parts we learned as kids, although they preferred to say “You’ll go down in history… like Michael Jackson” instead of George Washington. Finally we wrapped up the day by brainstorming all the other things we would do on our snow day in Limboto like ice skating on the lake, skiing, making snow men and women, snow ball wars, snow castles, and finally drinking hot chocolate. My students were also very concerned about what they would wear on their snow day; first because they were worried they would be too cold to play outside, and second because they have never had the opportunity to wear cute winter clothes. In one of my English clubs we also listened to “Grown up Christmas List” by Amy Grant and we talked about our “wished for the world.” My students said lots of the usual things, but I found it interesting to see where their priorities were. Many, many students wanted an end to corruption, which is a big deal in Indonesia (especially since it is such a new democracy in which the government is still partially occupied by the dictator’s old cronies). Other students wanted everyone to have someone to love, an end to global warming, and no more poverty or natural disasters. How many American students do you think would first want to end corruption and then natural disasters? Probably not a majority like my students. I really only expected the usual world peace, and love… etc… but it was a great exercise and we all had fun.
This time of year is definitely the hardest to be away from home, but it is also very easy for me to get lost here and forget that it is December back home. It is in the 90s and sunny here almost all the time and every weekend lately I have been able to go to the beach. I forget all about missing the snow and Christmas and hot chai tea sometimes. Other times it is hard to imagine that I won’t be near my family for Christmas for the first time ever. I miss seeing all the beautiful snow and sitting all cozy in my house drinking hot cocoa or chai and reading a book while my mom listens to Christmas music and makes cookies, but I remind myself where I am and why I am here (and I look at the smiles on my students’ faces) and I know I am in the right place for now.
So what are my Christmas plans? In two days (on Sunday) I leave for Yogyakarta where I will spend four days hanging out with my friend Sarah (not my roommate, but the other Sarah), celebrating her birthday and seeing Borobudor (an ancient temple near-by).Then on Thursday we hop on a plane headed for Thailand for about a week, then an overnight taxi to Cambodia for another 5ish days, then a plane to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) for only a day, and then back to Jakarta for New Years (maybe…), and then another week of travel (who knows where…) before going back to Limboto on January 5th. I will not be blogging much in the meantime (obviously) but you can expect some serious travel updating when I get back “home.”
