Well it's been a long while since I've posted something, sorry I've just let it slide with everything else that's been going on.
So far we've, or at least some of us, have been working on our fundraiser. We've been making some decent progress, we have the menu planned, a place to do it, tickets printed, letters being sent out for donations, a set list for the entertainment and we are working on the songs and dances we have to memorize. It's fairly mutable at this point, a lot can change with little notice, but at this point I am doing songs in 2 medleys and a dance that the whole group is involved in. The dance I have down, the songs not so much. Not only are they not in english, they aren't in Bahasa. The medleys were designed to represent the whole of Indonesian culture, and like canada, it's fairluy varied. Unlike canada, each province has it's own dialect that is almost incomprehensible to the others, and while they all had to learn the words in their 2 week intro course to the program, they don't know what they're singing.
Most of the acts are Indonesian in nature, with a couple english and a french act interspersed throughout the show. Over midproject we were attempting to have a dance party, and for some reason I decided to teach some people a little of the swing dance I learned at Mt A. Apparently I learned more than I thought, and people were impressed, and suddenly it was in the show. Originally we had 6 people, 2 Indonesians. Since then, people have either not been comfortable, gotten hurt or both so it's down to Anna and myself. We have covered quite a few cool moves and now we need to work on some choreography because we need to look good for the cameras.
Somehow, Hendri spoke to a national news program in Indonesia, and they asked if we could film it for their broadcast. So, apparently we're going to be on national tv in different country. THIS is how viral videos start.
Midproject, already more than a week ago, was pretty fun. I felt we spent a lot of time talking when we could have been enjoying the weekend off. Some extraordinary luck found us at the Sisters of St. Martha retreat, a very scenic spot a little up the coast, quiet and secluded and plenty of space for us to cook, party(ish), and have "lively" group sessions. Most of our time was spent discussing different aspects of everyones life. Most of it was repeated sveral times, and the sit in a circle and talk style of learning has never been my forte, but we suffered through it and somehow somethings were resolved and, if not that, people could vent. I just don't like that everyone feels compelled to speak when they don't want to, and many things either don't need to be said, or have already been said. We're still working on our communication skills
It's starting to get cold here. Somehow I got frostbite on my ears, and today we were removing plastic from some of the fields, and with all the rain my fingers were wet and numb for most of the morning. I'm trying to stay on the side of healthy (insert swine flu worry here) and slowly losing that battle. The cold does not help the immune system. I'm wondering what my body will do when we go to Indonesia. It should be around -5 in late Nov. and 25 in Java. A bit of a difference, should be fun to see the reaction.
I got the package from Fort Simpson (thanks Mum and Dad), and found some interesting souvenirs I can give out. Not sure who thought ordering dehcho first nations "bandannas" would be a good idea, or why the colour scheme is black and red tie-dye, but they're a cool gag gift. Whoever put the M&M's in wins my undying love, I enjoyed those, thanks for everything.
With that I say goodbye. I'll work on more regular updates.
Justin