Well it's been awhile since the last port, and the program is almost over, hard to believe that 82 days have passed. Everyday seemed so long and short at the same time. We leave the town tomorrow morning and I will shortly get back to my Host Family to give some gifts and take alot of pictures. The last couple weeks have passed with few big moments, the last week and a half was mostly reminiscing, performing and packing. We have to put on 3-4 shows for a few towns before we go, starting on wed. ending pretty much when we leave. The time before that was spent doing the FGD's (assessments) I mentioned last time, which were pretty much a big waste of time on my part, and copmpleting the smaller projects that a few ofus have taken up during our time here. Mine were mostly centered on environment, and helping other groups and I had a brief unsuccesfull attempt at an antismoking campaign. Most of of these projects could have been done in a week or 2 in canada, but due to several glaring differerences, simple tasks like printing and laminating posters took me 2 weeks to make, translate, and leave town (twice) to get them printed. I am not the most invested in my projects either, and while I know that change takes time, especially in a place that experiences so little of it, most of these side projects have had little effect on the town. My posters numbers have dropped substantially as the stores take them down for taking away their prime seller. The recycling bins that were built filled with garbage despite workshops, signs, and clearly marked bags. We may have been aiming high for much of what we did, but I'm hoping to get in touch with the next group who can pick up where we leave off, and maybe we started the changing process. Funny how much less affected and corny change is when you are trying to accomplish something.
The performances we are doing, or at leats some of us are doing are supposed to be thank you's and goodbyes. Apparently we have a lot of them to give regardless of what we beleive. mempora has many facets set about the island and we have to gove something to them all. Many of the canadians don't have a lot of performing experince, at least not until we joined the program, and weren't happy to learn about them all. Not that we are going to have to put something together for each one, no one has to do anytthing they don't want to, but we were expecting a calm trip home with time to spend with the group and gathering keepsakes to bring home (much harder to track down than you'd think). Instead we have to sit in a bunch of govenrnment buildings waiting for specch after speech inbetween a bunch of repetitive performances. I've seen most of what we haveodne several times. The performance that we all agreed was necessary was the one in our actual villagewith all our host families present witha big pot luck afterward. It went ok. The english song was a rewritten "I will Survive" played on traditional sudanese insturments. Didn't go so well, words forgotten, poor playing, but the audience just wanted us to strum a katcapy so they got what they wanted. They seemed to like everything but Hendri's students English drama. they came to hear music not english. Too bad, he spent a lot of time and effort on it, so did the kids. He's been one of the busier people here, putting together a small library, med kits for the schools, even had an outdoor reading area built. The family is definitely going to miss him, and I think me too.
So thats a basic update. I have tried to update before, but most of the times I managed to get a computer the internet was very slow or I had to rush out. The end of the rainy season brings more and more lightning storms. Every night we get to see it play along the mountains in the distance. I'm trying to write down as much as I can about this place, take a lot of pictures and a few videos. I haver been keeping a decent journal and I plan on adding to it in the next few days. I am Back in Canada on the 2nd of March, then in Halifax on the 5th. Not much longer now. I'm definitely ready to leave Cikandang, I am not looking forward to being dragged from event to event to have my picture taken by hundreds of random people, but I don't really wnat to leave the group behind and get on with my life. I am a little worried that Canada will seem boring by comparison, and I am thinking I'll be back in Indonesia if not exactly this part of it. There is way more to see here than Java island. I hope to get another entry before I get back home, but if I don't get the chance, I'll see everyone soon.
Justin
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
We are about 3 weeks from being back in Canada so things are really being crunched at this point. We have been asked by the government and CWY to do a bunch of assessments from the members of the whole community for the next 2 wks. This means that a great deal of our time will be filled with interviews with various groups split into married/not married, men /women, and different age groups. Since the program is supposed to have a health orientation now and in the future, these assessments will give useful information to future groups. the gov't here has been "trying" to do them since Aug. so that we could have benefited from it but instead put it off until now. We had a workshop on how to do these assessments which involve asking the community members about what their health issues are, where facilities are, etc. While it is a good idea in theory, and may save some time in the future, there are some fundamental flaws and general problems that we are having with them. One of the main flaws is that people don't like showing up at the chosen time, usually a half hr to an hr late. We knew this from doing the environmental meetings with the same basic mission. Another is that we are getting responses like coughing and diarrhea which could all have a half dozen causes, or people who think you can get typhoid from eating too late. We aren't exactly happy because these are eating up a lot of time and they tend to be booked after our work placements in the afternoon. When the rain comes. I spent about 10 min carrying a cardboard box today in the rain fording a road that was deeper than some streams I've crossed. The box broke. No one showed up for the meeting. Apparently women between 20-30 who aren't married don't exist in that area. We were told that might happen.
My host-sister who is 20 from Bandung was in town as she is pregnant and they wanted to have a prayer circle for her. She spent the night of the circle cooking with the rest of the women (about 6) for all the men (about 25) they invited to do the actual praying. I made pancakes with a couple friends. My host family was getting upset with me because I was eating and sleeping at other peoples homes too often. Hendri explained that sleeping at girls homes was rude in this region. So I started bringing people home to eat etc. It seems complicated but actually simple; respect comes from being used by people, thus if Justin is sleeping/eating at someone elses home he must hate it in his own home. This isn't really true, but my home just isn't where people congregate and I don't want to come home at 6 when it gets dark and apparently when you are out after dark you lose fingers. I've compromised by bringing people to my place which pleases them, which gets them off Hendri's back etc. But I still eat and sleep at other homes, so on average the Host Parents will be happy with me
I have been working on the global warming front with the kids of the village up to this point and soon (providing my posters are translated and printed) I'll be working on an antismking campaign which may not be received well but I'm cool with that. Hopefully I find time to get it into the schools before we leave, many of the projects we've been attempting over the past 2 mths have resisted being done but we have some hard evidence we were here and hopefully we have made some kind of impact on the people here. Construction of 4 recycling bins have been completed, as well as signs asking people to slow down as they pass through the village. How effective they will be is depressing but at least we tried. Which is basically my feeling on the anti smoking campaign. I've learned some interesting things about Indonesias cigarettes, and people here like them a lot, but maybe a few people will listen. Either way I'm starting with the kids, they seem to be interested in the global warming lesson.
Well, I've dried a bit but since it's almost dark and the rain hasn't stopped I'm about to get wet again. But at least the computer isn't getting dripped on. A girl came and took its protective plastic sheet, and while a wet computer is never a good thing, these have all had their grounding prongs cut (the third prong at the end of an electric cord) so they already shock you when you touch them. Till next time.
Justin
My host-sister who is 20 from Bandung was in town as she is pregnant and they wanted to have a prayer circle for her. She spent the night of the circle cooking with the rest of the women (about 6) for all the men (about 25) they invited to do the actual praying. I made pancakes with a couple friends. My host family was getting upset with me because I was eating and sleeping at other peoples homes too often. Hendri explained that sleeping at girls homes was rude in this region. So I started bringing people home to eat etc. It seems complicated but actually simple; respect comes from being used by people, thus if Justin is sleeping/eating at someone elses home he must hate it in his own home. This isn't really true, but my home just isn't where people congregate and I don't want to come home at 6 when it gets dark and apparently when you are out after dark you lose fingers. I've compromised by bringing people to my place which pleases them, which gets them off Hendri's back etc. But I still eat and sleep at other homes, so on average the Host Parents will be happy with me
I have been working on the global warming front with the kids of the village up to this point and soon (providing my posters are translated and printed) I'll be working on an antismking campaign which may not be received well but I'm cool with that. Hopefully I find time to get it into the schools before we leave, many of the projects we've been attempting over the past 2 mths have resisted being done but we have some hard evidence we were here and hopefully we have made some kind of impact on the people here. Construction of 4 recycling bins have been completed, as well as signs asking people to slow down as they pass through the village. How effective they will be is depressing but at least we tried. Which is basically my feeling on the anti smoking campaign. I've learned some interesting things about Indonesias cigarettes, and people here like them a lot, but maybe a few people will listen. Either way I'm starting with the kids, they seem to be interested in the global warming lesson.
Well, I've dried a bit but since it's almost dark and the rain hasn't stopped I'm about to get wet again. But at least the computer isn't getting dripped on. A girl came and took its protective plastic sheet, and while a wet computer is never a good thing, these have all had their grounding prongs cut (the third prong at the end of an electric cord) so they already shock you when you touch them. Till next time.
Justin
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Its been awhile since my last post, and obviously a lot has happened.
The best was midproject. We are now about 30 days from leaving but we left town to reflect and celebrate almost 2 weeks ago when we were halfway through the project. We all travelled to Bandung, about 4-6 hrs away, depending on traffic. We all loved getting out of town for a bit. We were set up in a neibourhood of villas, each built for individual concepts, resulting in a field of very novel homes including castles, log cabins, N.American style, disney characters etc. Ours was rather plain by comparison, but we would all atleast have a mattress to sleep on.
A lot of the weekend was taken up by group bookkeeping. We had to assess where the group was, and had a comparison of different aspects of the two towns we lived in. While not all of it was interesting, and most of it was much lengthier than it needed to be, we got through it fairly quickly, and since we had control over what we were eating, we had what we wanted. Beside that, we got to enjoy all the material pleasures that aren't available to us in cikandang. We stopped at a couple malls,and got food we haven't been able to get while here. I had a burger for the first time in months, A&W is pretty constant everywhere. Most of the clothes were too expensive to make it worth buying much, but what we did buy, we enjoyed. I ate alot that weekend. We also had some day trips. On the saturday there was a partial solar eclipse in the area so we went to an observatory to see it. That didn't work out so well since it's still the rainy season and it was cloudy by the time it happened. But I got a glimpse of it before it finished so it was sort of worth it. After that we all went to pizza hut since everbody has been craving pizza for awhile. The next day we went out again to see a movie, which was a welcome change to the day of talking. Got to see avatar on the big screen. It was a movie with a similar message to what we have been trying to send to the people here, so it kind of resonated with us. Also it was pure escapisim, so we enjoyed for that reason also. All in all,I had a great time that weekend, we gt a lot done in the group and we had a great time seeing things in the city. Still don't like the smell or the traffic but it was good to get out of town.
When we got back I was sick unfortunatelly. I spent a couple days in bed with a fever and n urgent need to be near the bathroom, so that put a damper on the week. But after that I spent most of the weekwatching movies at a friends house. When we were in Bandung, most of us stocked up on videos and plan to have movie nights from here on out.
Last weekend we had our government checkup where they sent a few bigwigs to see what we've been doing and travel to Depok which has the other group. We set up all our english lessons, environment projects, work placements and they visited our host families before we gave them a short show. But of course they were late getting here so many things we planned had to be moved or canceled. But I found the whole day hilarious and we got to get out of town again. We haven't had a weekend off and in the town since the begining of the indonesian phase. Depok was the same as our visit, not really sure why were all there other than they wanted the white people to enjoy themselves on camera. They even invited a couple people from the 3rd group on another island to even out the depok group which has lost 3 canadians so far. I enjoyed a volleyball game they had us play and the waves on the ocean we were next to were huge and great fun though short.
The power has been going on and off recently,many times I've tried to usethe comptuer and it's either been very slow, or it shut off on me. Not sure why the sudden blackouts but there has been a lot of thunder storms recently, a sign of the rainy season coming to a close. Thats in my good books. It's hard to do stuff when it pours rain from 12 to dark. There are times when the streets are literally flooded. So I better sign off before I lose what I've written again. We have this weekend off which is a first in awhile, so I imagine in the quiet boredom I'll have time to write more.
The best was midproject. We are now about 30 days from leaving but we left town to reflect and celebrate almost 2 weeks ago when we were halfway through the project. We all travelled to Bandung, about 4-6 hrs away, depending on traffic. We all loved getting out of town for a bit. We were set up in a neibourhood of villas, each built for individual concepts, resulting in a field of very novel homes including castles, log cabins, N.American style, disney characters etc. Ours was rather plain by comparison, but we would all atleast have a mattress to sleep on.
A lot of the weekend was taken up by group bookkeeping. We had to assess where the group was, and had a comparison of different aspects of the two towns we lived in. While not all of it was interesting, and most of it was much lengthier than it needed to be, we got through it fairly quickly, and since we had control over what we were eating, we had what we wanted. Beside that, we got to enjoy all the material pleasures that aren't available to us in cikandang. We stopped at a couple malls,and got food we haven't been able to get while here. I had a burger for the first time in months, A&W is pretty constant everywhere. Most of the clothes were too expensive to make it worth buying much, but what we did buy, we enjoyed. I ate alot that weekend. We also had some day trips. On the saturday there was a partial solar eclipse in the area so we went to an observatory to see it. That didn't work out so well since it's still the rainy season and it was cloudy by the time it happened. But I got a glimpse of it before it finished so it was sort of worth it. After that we all went to pizza hut since everbody has been craving pizza for awhile. The next day we went out again to see a movie, which was a welcome change to the day of talking. Got to see avatar on the big screen. It was a movie with a similar message to what we have been trying to send to the people here, so it kind of resonated with us. Also it was pure escapisim, so we enjoyed for that reason also. All in all,I had a great time that weekend, we gt a lot done in the group and we had a great time seeing things in the city. Still don't like the smell or the traffic but it was good to get out of town.
When we got back I was sick unfortunatelly. I spent a couple days in bed with a fever and n urgent need to be near the bathroom, so that put a damper on the week. But after that I spent most of the weekwatching movies at a friends house. When we were in Bandung, most of us stocked up on videos and plan to have movie nights from here on out.
Last weekend we had our government checkup where they sent a few bigwigs to see what we've been doing and travel to Depok which has the other group. We set up all our english lessons, environment projects, work placements and they visited our host families before we gave them a short show. But of course they were late getting here so many things we planned had to be moved or canceled. But I found the whole day hilarious and we got to get out of town again. We haven't had a weekend off and in the town since the begining of the indonesian phase. Depok was the same as our visit, not really sure why were all there other than they wanted the white people to enjoy themselves on camera. They even invited a couple people from the 3rd group on another island to even out the depok group which has lost 3 canadians so far. I enjoyed a volleyball game they had us play and the waves on the ocean we were next to were huge and great fun though short.
The power has been going on and off recently,many times I've tried to usethe comptuer and it's either been very slow, or it shut off on me. Not sure why the sudden blackouts but there has been a lot of thunder storms recently, a sign of the rainy season coming to a close. Thats in my good books. It's hard to do stuff when it pours rain from 12 to dark. There are times when the streets are literally flooded. So I better sign off before I lose what I've written again. We have this weekend off which is a first in awhile, so I imagine in the quiet boredom I'll have time to write more.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Another weekend, another camping trip. We finally went up the volcano we've been living under for the last month and a half. This trip was only for a night, but there was a lot more walking involved. We started near the bottom. We were told that there would be a hike to the top, and then we could set up camp in the park. That was sort of right. A few members of the group can't hike for long, so they went to the top to wait for us. The rest were dropped off near the bottom of the mountain. it was a long climb, abnout 3 hrs. But instead of a hike through the wildrness, we were walking on a road through town. It wasn't to exciting, though the hill's were steep. Good exercise, but also just a long walk through the town giving people a chance to call out to us, stare, and take pictures. Then it started raining.
It's the rainy season, we've been experiencing it for a few weeks now. It rains from about 12 to 8, and not always lightly. I have bought an umbrella, which has gone missing, and a rain coat which also went missing. I managed to borrow a poncho from someone else in the group for the walk, which was good because it poured. For awhile. Even with the poncho, I was wet. It did not make for a good start to the trip. But we kept marching up. After an hr, it let up and we were able to take off the rain gear. And the houses started to disapear, and the road got steeper. We had to take more breaks, we were tired, but considering how little exercise we've gotten and the higher altitudes, we did pretty well. We finally rerached the camp site, or rather the entrance to the park.
We got there and hoped to find food ready to eat, at this time it was a little after l;unch and we were pretty hungry. Unfortunately, the peiople that took the van to the top didn't do any cooking. We rested for a bit, people bought snacks from the vendors that were around. There are always a few little stores selling coffee and food. We were then informed that the site where we were top be camping was a further 2 hrs up the mountain. We had to take an extra guide up to the site, despite bringing 2 of our own, but finally we were in the park and exploring the volcano.
It was a touristy spot, well worn trail, and a few people wandering around taking pictures. We even found a couple from Holland there on vacation. But it was still very pretty. We started off where the volcano was semi actrive, and had destroyed about 8 yrs ago. We didn't see any magma, but there was plenty of steam from bubbling pits of water, and the air smelled of sulfur which pained huge yellow scars across the canyon. We carried all our gear, so we were pretty weighted down, but I took a bunch of pictures regardless. The rain came and went, and there seemed to be a constant curtain of mist surrounding the mountain tops, preventing any real sunshine, but there was enough light to see the surrounding area. Most of the tops were covered in trees, and they came in handy when we had to climb up at steeper places. The well worn poath was slick with mud, and the switchback path proved a little to much for some of our group. I had a blast, climbing back and forth helping people up and seeing the sights. We got to our campsite around 5, 6 hrs of hiking later.
By this point, everyone was tired, and we set up camp as quickly as possible. Somehow, we had opnly brought 2 tents , one of which was really only the fly of a tent, that we folded a tarp under to sleep on. Everything and everyone was wet, and the rain started again when we were all at the top. The supper we made was mostly pre-made, I'm glad I thought to make spaghetti sauce before going up, because we didn't have many flashlights, and those were needed elsewhere. One of the tents was a girls only tent again, and that fit 5 people. The other tent was only a 10 perosn, but considering the temperature was around 10 C and it was raining, we fit everyone else in. Sort of. 15 people semi slept the night on a tarp the only kept part of the water out. The morning did not come quickly.
We were slow to leave the next day, people were tired and wanted to go but there were snags. One was a small earthquake, maybe a 1 on the Richter scale, my first one. But after the camp was cleaned up, and the garbage was burned, and after we were sure that the tremor we felt wasn't the volcano going off or a precursor of a bigger shake, we made our way back down. It was a long wait for the bus once we completed the much less treacherous path down. BUt it gave me time to eat, which I did in abundance. Guess it took it's toll. I had a good time, I enjoyied the hike and the scenery, which was beautiful. I have lots of pictures. But the way we do these things is so unorganized, with so few people taking responsibility for their own stuff, much less the groups, its very dissatisfying. I don't think I'd like to take another trip like this with this group.
On to other aspects of life here. I still haven't started work yet. Today we werre supposed to start at las, bu the principal didn't show up. Apparently this is common, many people here don't work when they don't want to, let alone show up anywhere on time. So we were told to try again tomorrow, as we need her permission to teach. This means that I'm only goind to be working for about 17 days, if every other day we can.
This weekend is mid-project, we leave for an area just outside Bandung. The governemnt here apparently has lots planned, which worries me. I don't like when they "plan" things for us to do.
We also have a bunch of evaluation stuff we have to do, as well as some things we want to talk about, like comparing Antigonish and Cikajang. I'm not looking forward to that any more than the other things planned. I'd like a couple days off from everything, but mid-project is supposed to be 4 days, so not much chance of that. Maybe we can have some free time to explore the town and shop though. And the other crew may nearby, for better or worse.
on that note, it's raining hard here now, the roof above me is leaking and my back is wet. The roof of my room did the same thing last week, soaking one corner of my bed which I've since avoided. Nothing here feels dry, my shoes which got soaked on the mountain hike have yet to dry and have started to smell like they are rotting. I need to get a new pair when I get back to Canada, nothing they make here will fit me. So on that note, I sign off.
Justin
It's the rainy season, we've been experiencing it for a few weeks now. It rains from about 12 to 8, and not always lightly. I have bought an umbrella, which has gone missing, and a rain coat which also went missing. I managed to borrow a poncho from someone else in the group for the walk, which was good because it poured. For awhile. Even with the poncho, I was wet. It did not make for a good start to the trip. But we kept marching up. After an hr, it let up and we were able to take off the rain gear. And the houses started to disapear, and the road got steeper. We had to take more breaks, we were tired, but considering how little exercise we've gotten and the higher altitudes, we did pretty well. We finally rerached the camp site, or rather the entrance to the park.
We got there and hoped to find food ready to eat, at this time it was a little after l;unch and we were pretty hungry. Unfortunately, the peiople that took the van to the top didn't do any cooking. We rested for a bit, people bought snacks from the vendors that were around. There are always a few little stores selling coffee and food. We were then informed that the site where we were top be camping was a further 2 hrs up the mountain. We had to take an extra guide up to the site, despite bringing 2 of our own, but finally we were in the park and exploring the volcano.
It was a touristy spot, well worn trail, and a few people wandering around taking pictures. We even found a couple from Holland there on vacation. But it was still very pretty. We started off where the volcano was semi actrive, and had destroyed about 8 yrs ago. We didn't see any magma, but there was plenty of steam from bubbling pits of water, and the air smelled of sulfur which pained huge yellow scars across the canyon. We carried all our gear, so we were pretty weighted down, but I took a bunch of pictures regardless. The rain came and went, and there seemed to be a constant curtain of mist surrounding the mountain tops, preventing any real sunshine, but there was enough light to see the surrounding area. Most of the tops were covered in trees, and they came in handy when we had to climb up at steeper places. The well worn poath was slick with mud, and the switchback path proved a little to much for some of our group. I had a blast, climbing back and forth helping people up and seeing the sights. We got to our campsite around 5, 6 hrs of hiking later.
By this point, everyone was tired, and we set up camp as quickly as possible. Somehow, we had opnly brought 2 tents , one of which was really only the fly of a tent, that we folded a tarp under to sleep on. Everything and everyone was wet, and the rain started again when we were all at the top. The supper we made was mostly pre-made, I'm glad I thought to make spaghetti sauce before going up, because we didn't have many flashlights, and those were needed elsewhere. One of the tents was a girls only tent again, and that fit 5 people. The other tent was only a 10 perosn, but considering the temperature was around 10 C and it was raining, we fit everyone else in. Sort of. 15 people semi slept the night on a tarp the only kept part of the water out. The morning did not come quickly.
We were slow to leave the next day, people were tired and wanted to go but there were snags. One was a small earthquake, maybe a 1 on the Richter scale, my first one. But after the camp was cleaned up, and the garbage was burned, and after we were sure that the tremor we felt wasn't the volcano going off or a precursor of a bigger shake, we made our way back down. It was a long wait for the bus once we completed the much less treacherous path down. BUt it gave me time to eat, which I did in abundance. Guess it took it's toll. I had a good time, I enjoyied the hike and the scenery, which was beautiful. I have lots of pictures. But the way we do these things is so unorganized, with so few people taking responsibility for their own stuff, much less the groups, its very dissatisfying. I don't think I'd like to take another trip like this with this group.
On to other aspects of life here. I still haven't started work yet. Today we werre supposed to start at las, bu the principal didn't show up. Apparently this is common, many people here don't work when they don't want to, let alone show up anywhere on time. So we were told to try again tomorrow, as we need her permission to teach. This means that I'm only goind to be working for about 17 days, if every other day we can.
This weekend is mid-project, we leave for an area just outside Bandung. The governemnt here apparently has lots planned, which worries me. I don't like when they "plan" things for us to do.
We also have a bunch of evaluation stuff we have to do, as well as some things we want to talk about, like comparing Antigonish and Cikajang. I'm not looking forward to that any more than the other things planned. I'd like a couple days off from everything, but mid-project is supposed to be 4 days, so not much chance of that. Maybe we can have some free time to explore the town and shop though. And the other crew may nearby, for better or worse.
on that note, it's raining hard here now, the roof above me is leaking and my back is wet. The roof of my room did the same thing last week, soaking one corner of my bed which I've since avoided. Nothing here feels dry, my shoes which got soaked on the mountain hike have yet to dry and have started to smell like they are rotting. I need to get a new pair when I get back to Canada, nothing they make here will fit me. So on that note, I sign off.
Justin
Monday, January 4, 2010
We got back from our vacation the day before last. It was quite a little adventure.
The beach we went to was only about 200 km from us, in a straight line. Unfortunately, we are in the mountains and we had to make some pit stops. the road there was beautiful. We got more into the wilderness as we went and the road we took gave plenty of scenic places. I took quite a few pictures, something others in the van weren't able to do. The trip had been planned by the Town Leader, which didn't bode well, but we had been told that nothng had been planned and that held true, for better or worse. The van we had was a 12 seater max. In Indonesia, seatbelts are rarely provided, almost a luxury. This van was not a luxury vehicle. We crammed about 23 people into it. I spent the first half of the trip in the front with another participant 2 children and the driver. The second half I was hanging on the side of the van, some of it sitting some not. I kind of enjoyed it but others were pressed in against each other folded up on themselves. Not the most comfortable ride.
This ride then lasted about 6 hrs. We lost about an hr to prayer as it was Friday and we were traveling around noon. We lost another 2 or so when we stopped for to buy food and they realized that a tire may need to be changed. People weren't particularly pleased by the length or the lack of foresight in these matters, but we eventually reached the beach and were glad to do so.
The lace we were camping was (they said) 4km from where we were dropped off. We had to haul our gear across the beach to get there. This part didn't bother me as much as others because I'm usually ready to carry my own weight, and the beach was gorgeous. Composed of white coral and sand, the waves were breaking about half a km away on the reef. Very picturesque.
We got there when the tide was coming in for some reasn, and the full mkoon ensured it wa\ould be coming up high. Some people weren't as fast as the others and a few things got trapped by the waves, to picked up later. This included a our tents.
The good news was that we had enough space for everyone to sleep in a tent unless they wanted to sleep outside. The bad news was that both were declared women only, despite having enough room for the girls who wished to sleep alone to have their own tent. That cause some dissent on the first night. I ended up with a few other Canadians sleeping on a small porch covered in ants (they were everywhere, and in force) that wasn't big enough for all of us to lie down properly. With those distractions, a small animal living under our roof who called out occasionally, and the people who didn't seem to understand that others were sleeping nearby, it was one of the worst sleeps in memory.
That was balanced by the beauty of the place. I went for a midnight walk on the beach at low tide under the light of the full moon, it was quite magnificent. The next morning, Jon woke me up with "Justin, I found monkeys!". We went exploring in the jungle, played in the water, collected shells, generally had a grand time in the sun. And yes their were monkeys. Most of Java is to over populated to allow much wildlife, so there wasn't a lot to see on that front. And what was there either had to be avoided or avoided us. When we went to where the waves were breaking we had to cross a coral reef, very hard on the feet, and we couldn't swim because of a strong undertow. I got to experience that last one, but still here. It was nice to be away from the town, not have anything planned, and just have to deal with our own stuff. We had some problems though. Some of the people weren't happy about the food and seeping situation, but most of that was avoidable and their own responsibility. Including the sun.
We put on sunscreen. Multiple times. Didn't do a lot of good, in the end. A bit of sunstroke, a lot of burns, still waiting on the tan. Yesterday was not comfortable. Most of my torso is burnt, as well as the back of my knees. Others had it worse, and even some of the Indos got burnt. Damn equatorial sun. But even with the drama, the sun burns, fire ants, lack of real swimming etc. It was still a great way to spend the weekend. I'm glad we went.
This week is when Steph and Putri lead the Compost Revolution, along with a few others in the group. We are introducing waste management to the community, and they have been leading the revelation. So far they seem very receptive, though the energy levels going into these things are always higher then when the work starts. We'll see. After the weekend, people seem to be in slightly better spirits. Many of us haven't started work, or are finding the placements rather dull when they so work. In 2 months we'll be back home, which seems both long and short. A month hasn't seen much change yet, but I guess we're still in the wait and see stage. Either way, we seem more positive now that we've crossed the 1 month mark, so that's positive.
The beach we went to was only about 200 km from us, in a straight line. Unfortunately, we are in the mountains and we had to make some pit stops. the road there was beautiful. We got more into the wilderness as we went and the road we took gave plenty of scenic places. I took quite a few pictures, something others in the van weren't able to do. The trip had been planned by the Town Leader, which didn't bode well, but we had been told that nothng had been planned and that held true, for better or worse. The van we had was a 12 seater max. In Indonesia, seatbelts are rarely provided, almost a luxury. This van was not a luxury vehicle. We crammed about 23 people into it. I spent the first half of the trip in the front with another participant 2 children and the driver. The second half I was hanging on the side of the van, some of it sitting some not. I kind of enjoyed it but others were pressed in against each other folded up on themselves. Not the most comfortable ride.
This ride then lasted about 6 hrs. We lost about an hr to prayer as it was Friday and we were traveling around noon. We lost another 2 or so when we stopped for to buy food and they realized that a tire may need to be changed. People weren't particularly pleased by the length or the lack of foresight in these matters, but we eventually reached the beach and were glad to do so.
The lace we were camping was (they said) 4km from where we were dropped off. We had to haul our gear across the beach to get there. This part didn't bother me as much as others because I'm usually ready to carry my own weight, and the beach was gorgeous. Composed of white coral and sand, the waves were breaking about half a km away on the reef. Very picturesque.
We got there when the tide was coming in for some reasn, and the full mkoon ensured it wa\ould be coming up high. Some people weren't as fast as the others and a few things got trapped by the waves, to picked up later. This included a our tents.
The good news was that we had enough space for everyone to sleep in a tent unless they wanted to sleep outside. The bad news was that both were declared women only, despite having enough room for the girls who wished to sleep alone to have their own tent. That cause some dissent on the first night. I ended up with a few other Canadians sleeping on a small porch covered in ants (they were everywhere, and in force) that wasn't big enough for all of us to lie down properly. With those distractions, a small animal living under our roof who called out occasionally, and the people who didn't seem to understand that others were sleeping nearby, it was one of the worst sleeps in memory.
That was balanced by the beauty of the place. I went for a midnight walk on the beach at low tide under the light of the full moon, it was quite magnificent. The next morning, Jon woke me up with "Justin, I found monkeys!". We went exploring in the jungle, played in the water, collected shells, generally had a grand time in the sun. And yes their were monkeys. Most of Java is to over populated to allow much wildlife, so there wasn't a lot to see on that front. And what was there either had to be avoided or avoided us. When we went to where the waves were breaking we had to cross a coral reef, very hard on the feet, and we couldn't swim because of a strong undertow. I got to experience that last one, but still here. It was nice to be away from the town, not have anything planned, and just have to deal with our own stuff. We had some problems though. Some of the people weren't happy about the food and seeping situation, but most of that was avoidable and their own responsibility. Including the sun.
We put on sunscreen. Multiple times. Didn't do a lot of good, in the end. A bit of sunstroke, a lot of burns, still waiting on the tan. Yesterday was not comfortable. Most of my torso is burnt, as well as the back of my knees. Others had it worse, and even some of the Indos got burnt. Damn equatorial sun. But even with the drama, the sun burns, fire ants, lack of real swimming etc. It was still a great way to spend the weekend. I'm glad we went.
This week is when Steph and Putri lead the Compost Revolution, along with a few others in the group. We are introducing waste management to the community, and they have been leading the revelation. So far they seem very receptive, though the energy levels going into these things are always higher then when the work starts. We'll see. After the weekend, people seem to be in slightly better spirits. Many of us haven't started work, or are finding the placements rather dull when they so work. In 2 months we'll be back home, which seems both long and short. A month hasn't seen much change yet, but I guess we're still in the wait and see stage. Either way, we seem more positive now that we've crossed the 1 month mark, so that's positive.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
New Years
So this week has been a little tumultuous. I started off being ill, which wasn't fun. I was up for most of the night on tuesday. Slept away most of the next day, and in the meantime got pretty dehydrated and couldn't eat much so I was a little out of it. That threw me for a bit afterwards, only now getting over it and feeling back to health. Meanwhile, I wasn't very happy for the last couple days, which is a common theme in the group. A lot of the Canadians have been down recently. In the wake of Christmas people are feeling homesick, which is normal, but even the Indonesians are starting to feel homesick. We put a good face on for the ceremonies, but that good spirit seems to be waning under the pressure of the community.
A lot of us still don't feel like part of the town. People here are treating the Canadians like tourists, and our Indonesians like translators. I thought that the cat call from people would stop, and that every celebration we go to wouldn't turn into a photo op but they still do. I still feel like I'm not a part of the family where Ilive. Most of the communication we have is them getting me to eat or them getting my laundry or my shower ready. They are nice, but I have no idea who they are, and while Hendri has emersed himself in the family, I'm often in my room reading which is better than having food and drink forced on me. Saying no doesn't work too often, unfortunately. Everyone has been having these problems, and we all seem to have different things that bother us. Some of us hate the pictures, some hate the people yelling at us and staring, others are upset with the slow movement and lack of motivation and organization in a lot of the people here.
I find most of it pretty annoying, but it helps to think of everythng as a sitcom, all these little botherations with a laugh track. It wasn't working very well when I was sick, but I'm dealing. Apparently people in the other group are leaving (unconfirmed) but I doubt anyone will from ours or at least I hope not.
Couple stories that are the highlights of this week. We made pizza one night, but couldn't eat mine as I'd filled up on the ingredients. So I brought it home and kept it in my room for later. There are few fridges in the town so I figured it was safe wrapped in a plastic bag on top of our dresser. Late the next night, I had some. We did a good job considering how few ingredients we had for the process. As I turned the pizza around out of the bag, a cockroach crawled onto my hand. The next morning, as I was playing sudoku on the edge of my bed, a mouse crawled out from under my bed and over some of my clothes on the floor. Didn't know their were mice in the house.
Rainy season is in full swing now, and will be for the next 3-4 wks. It starts around noon, then its anywhere from light mist to monsoon. I come home wet a lot, though I don't have as far to walk as others. We still don't have a steady schedule for work or group. We were supposed to start work next week, but apparently that's wrong as the kids are still out of vacation between semesters. We are going for a hike into the mountains next week, and this week we go to see the other group and will get to see a beach for the first time. That should be pretty sweet, we're camping for both trips so I get to sleep out on the beach. I need the exercise and swimming will be the safest option. Funny fact, very few Indonesians can swim well.
Tonight is New Years Eve. We have a small get together planned, but it will be very different from what most of us are used to. Still, it should be some fun. On that note,
Happy New Year to everyone, hope you all celebrate the new year well
Justin
A lot of us still don't feel like part of the town. People here are treating the Canadians like tourists, and our Indonesians like translators. I thought that the cat call from people would stop, and that every celebration we go to wouldn't turn into a photo op but they still do. I still feel like I'm not a part of the family where Ilive. Most of the communication we have is them getting me to eat or them getting my laundry or my shower ready. They are nice, but I have no idea who they are, and while Hendri has emersed himself in the family, I'm often in my room reading which is better than having food and drink forced on me. Saying no doesn't work too often, unfortunately. Everyone has been having these problems, and we all seem to have different things that bother us. Some of us hate the pictures, some hate the people yelling at us and staring, others are upset with the slow movement and lack of motivation and organization in a lot of the people here.
I find most of it pretty annoying, but it helps to think of everythng as a sitcom, all these little botherations with a laugh track. It wasn't working very well when I was sick, but I'm dealing. Apparently people in the other group are leaving (unconfirmed) but I doubt anyone will from ours or at least I hope not.
Couple stories that are the highlights of this week. We made pizza one night, but couldn't eat mine as I'd filled up on the ingredients. So I brought it home and kept it in my room for later. There are few fridges in the town so I figured it was safe wrapped in a plastic bag on top of our dresser. Late the next night, I had some. We did a good job considering how few ingredients we had for the process. As I turned the pizza around out of the bag, a cockroach crawled onto my hand. The next morning, as I was playing sudoku on the edge of my bed, a mouse crawled out from under my bed and over some of my clothes on the floor. Didn't know their were mice in the house.
Rainy season is in full swing now, and will be for the next 3-4 wks. It starts around noon, then its anywhere from light mist to monsoon. I come home wet a lot, though I don't have as far to walk as others. We still don't have a steady schedule for work or group. We were supposed to start work next week, but apparently that's wrong as the kids are still out of vacation between semesters. We are going for a hike into the mountains next week, and this week we go to see the other group and will get to see a beach for the first time. That should be pretty sweet, we're camping for both trips so I get to sleep out on the beach. I need the exercise and swimming will be the safest option. Funny fact, very few Indonesians can swim well.
Tonight is New Years Eve. We have a small get together planned, but it will be very different from what most of us are used to. Still, it should be some fun. On that note,
Happy New Year to everyone, hope you all celebrate the new year well
Justin
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas to all. It's Boxing day here, but we're a day ahead. We went to Garut for the day, and had a break from the town. We set up a small christmas tree and decorated it. We decided to cook our own supper for Christas Eve, which made us feel more in the spirit. Christmas morning we spent giving gifts as part of a secret Snata, and our supervisor Krista put out some things for stockings. Overall it was a good day, we worked through the problems that came up. Most of our food was pieced together from what we could find at the grocery store. We made an Italian dish called Gnocchi, potato pasta with marinara sauce from scratch, stuffing without savory, some stir fried veggies, and a salad sans lettuce. All the food was great even so, and the cooking was fun resulting in flour fights and many pictures.
Madrasa, the governement program paired with CWY, is a bit confusing. They had planned our day, consulting us but without really telling us what was goung on. Ths led to repetitive activites and visits we weren't keen on, like a trip to a school to give and hear more speeches, and lunch at a polluted lake with paddle boats and the remains of a sorry little park. About halfway through we waded across the language barrier and explained that we would like to make other plans, and, after much explaination, we convinced them to let us have Christmas to ourselves. We got some shopping in for secret santa and did food searching. A few of us went to church here, regardless of faith. That was an interesting experience, and since all the christtians were celebrating the holiday, it seemed a little more familiar and comfortable. Helped get into the spirit. We got back yesterday and watched home alone, which counted as our christmas movie, and got to spend a few more hrs as a group.
Life other than Christmas is going well. I'm getting more comfortable in the country, if not really at home. I'm getting used to having people smoke around me, and I can ignore most of the piles of burning garbage in the road. I'm still working on getting used to the driving. n the car is fine, but its discomforting to be walking down the road and have a bike or truck whiz 1/2 a foot away from you dong 60. Also, there are few mufflers to be found, so conversation has to stop when you're be9ng passed. It sounds like living on a highway, but the road is pretty small compared to the rest of the country.
This town is supposed to have some of the cleanest air and quietest area in the country, which is sad but better than it being the worst. We've been walking a lot, going up into the mountains where it's a little fresher. Unfortunately, there isn't any wilderness around us. We've walked for hrs and found only farms and fields. It's beautiful up in the mountains, and the rainy season has kept the weather in a careful balance of not to much sun or rain. Either are dangerous in large doses. I've already had a couple bad burns, and apparently the rain in Indonesia will make you sick. Not sure of the validity of that claim, but best not to risk overexposure considering the other toxins I'm getting.
Heading over to friends house for a movie day now. Movies are stolen and really cheap, but DVD players are hard to come by, so now that we've pinned one down we want to use it.
Merry Christmas
love Justin
Madrasa, the governement program paired with CWY, is a bit confusing. They had planned our day, consulting us but without really telling us what was goung on. Ths led to repetitive activites and visits we weren't keen on, like a trip to a school to give and hear more speeches, and lunch at a polluted lake with paddle boats and the remains of a sorry little park. About halfway through we waded across the language barrier and explained that we would like to make other plans, and, after much explaination, we convinced them to let us have Christmas to ourselves. We got some shopping in for secret santa and did food searching. A few of us went to church here, regardless of faith. That was an interesting experience, and since all the christtians were celebrating the holiday, it seemed a little more familiar and comfortable. Helped get into the spirit. We got back yesterday and watched home alone, which counted as our christmas movie, and got to spend a few more hrs as a group.
Life other than Christmas is going well. I'm getting more comfortable in the country, if not really at home. I'm getting used to having people smoke around me, and I can ignore most of the piles of burning garbage in the road. I'm still working on getting used to the driving. n the car is fine, but its discomforting to be walking down the road and have a bike or truck whiz 1/2 a foot away from you dong 60. Also, there are few mufflers to be found, so conversation has to stop when you're be9ng passed. It sounds like living on a highway, but the road is pretty small compared to the rest of the country.
This town is supposed to have some of the cleanest air and quietest area in the country, which is sad but better than it being the worst. We've been walking a lot, going up into the mountains where it's a little fresher. Unfortunately, there isn't any wilderness around us. We've walked for hrs and found only farms and fields. It's beautiful up in the mountains, and the rainy season has kept the weather in a careful balance of not to much sun or rain. Either are dangerous in large doses. I've already had a couple bad burns, and apparently the rain in Indonesia will make you sick. Not sure of the validity of that claim, but best not to risk overexposure considering the other toxins I'm getting.
Heading over to friends house for a movie day now. Movies are stolen and really cheap, but DVD players are hard to come by, so now that we've pinned one down we want to use it.
Merry Christmas
love Justin
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