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
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
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
Saturday, December 19, 2009
To finish the trip description; on our second day in Jakarta , we were shown some of the typical tourist sites. First we went to a theme park, which depicted Indonesia in full. Their was a huge IMAX theater where we watched an movie about Indonesia and all its splendor, which made us all the more excited to get out and see some of it. It's hard to imagine that such a diverse country can exist, because all of the islands have such strong cultural differences that to make any one of them its own nation would stretch limits. it's rare for such diverse people to agree enough to run a country together, let alone agree on a single language that many people still do not speak in the outer villages. The park had a couple zoos ( I got to pet a komodo dragon), examples of houses form all the different areas of Indonesia, tons of food stands, a water park, even a lagoon with miniature islands representing the country. The place was so big that Hendri, before coming to Canada, spent 2 days there without doing anything twice. Its the size of a small town.
We went to one of their bigger malls, which is where we spent our afternoon and evening. The air conditioning was a blessed change of pace, more than a couple people had been burned during the day. Not much was bought by my group. Most of the things were expensive, comparable to N.American prices. We were told that in Bandung, we would be allowed to shop at outlet malls so I just bought a flash drive to hold pictures. We got out of Jakarta on our third day there. The bus ride out was pretty uneventful, got to Bandung and had to wait for some meetings. We got got talked at a lot on this journey, mostly government officials, but it did mean a lot of boxed lunches. It also meant that given the Indonesian lack of sense of time, we were stuck waiting for long periods of it, and missed our shopping excursion. I wasn't to disappointed, though I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Bandung. After leaving Jakarta, it seemed small, but it was still bigger than Toronto. Luckily I, unlike others, didn't need to buy a whole lot.
The next day was my Birthday. Considering many of my previous birthdays have been studying for or writing exams, this turned out fairly well. The bus sang the birthday song, I had to sit through another long and boring meeting, got lunch at a beautiful fancy restaurant, and I had a small Indonesian green cupcake lit with an emergency candle. Then we got to the community and things went sideways. I had been feeling queasy in the bus, but didn't think too hard on it. When we got to the village, there was a parade waiting for us, with clowns guiding us down the street, and children waving Indonesian flags. None of us knew what was going on, but we were led to the town square with most of the town and some of the surrounding town members watching us. We were seated with some of the Madrasa (CWY in Indonesia) officials and important members of the town. They put on a play that is native to the area, that was a little intricate and involved inviting someone into the family. We all still had no idea what was going on, but somehow I was chosen to represent the group in the play, so I walked up, got a wreath of flowers from a girl, and had lots of pictures taken. by this time, I wasn't feel well at all, sick to my stomach and dizzy. I found a bathroom, had to use a squat toilet for the first time, and came out to find a flock of girls who all wanted a picture with me. After that, I rejoined my group and had to sit down. I didn't perform the dance we've been doing for all the other official gatherings because my vision was starting to go white. After the speeches and stuff were done, I took refuge in the bus and when they kicked me out of there, I went to the mayors office and laid down on one of the couches.
I wasn't in the mood to socialize with people but some people came to me. One of them was a teacher at the school next door, who, upon learning I was ill attempted reflexology on me, starting with my feet. I'm not sure it worked, but it was surprisingly painful and eventually I'd had an almost full body massage. It's interesting to be sick and have no idea what the people taking care of you are saying. I don't really recommend it, but, as didn't want to offend anyone by refusing, I just sort of went with it. While gettng this massage, my host parents came in to meet me. Hendri had been there the whole time, and he and the other Indonesians we had in the group had been pretty good about translating here. Even with his help though, I wasn't sure how they took the situation. It's funny looking back but I was trying to make introductions as cordially as possible while someone translated and someone else was rubbing a salve on my back. Meanwhile, I just wanted to a familiar place to lie down and sleep.
We got taken home soon after. The sun had set, it was raining, and everyone else had made their own way home. The ride was a bit long in the dark, and I had a glimpse of Steph (a group member) in a house we passed. Otherwise, I had no idea where everyone was living but I just wanted to find the bed. Not a great way to introduce myself to the family, but considering the entirety of the day, still a solid birthday.
The saickness lasted into the 3rd day in the villiage, and kind of left a dmaper on my spirits. Hard to stay positive and find comfort in a strange place and new language while sick. SAtill things get better everyday, and we have our work placements now. I'm teaching english and sometimes milking cows. Thats pretty much what all the jobs were, but I got my choice. I'm getting up at 530 or 6 everyday, but we're gong to bed around 9. Not much to do and there are no street lights. After dark, everything stops. Next time I'll have more current stories. 2nd week here.
We went to one of their bigger malls, which is where we spent our afternoon and evening. The air conditioning was a blessed change of pace, more than a couple people had been burned during the day. Not much was bought by my group. Most of the things were expensive, comparable to N.American prices. We were told that in Bandung, we would be allowed to shop at outlet malls so I just bought a flash drive to hold pictures. We got out of Jakarta on our third day there. The bus ride out was pretty uneventful, got to Bandung and had to wait for some meetings. We got got talked at a lot on this journey, mostly government officials, but it did mean a lot of boxed lunches. It also meant that given the Indonesian lack of sense of time, we were stuck waiting for long periods of it, and missed our shopping excursion. I wasn't to disappointed, though I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Bandung. After leaving Jakarta, it seemed small, but it was still bigger than Toronto. Luckily I, unlike others, didn't need to buy a whole lot.
The next day was my Birthday. Considering many of my previous birthdays have been studying for or writing exams, this turned out fairly well. The bus sang the birthday song, I had to sit through another long and boring meeting, got lunch at a beautiful fancy restaurant, and I had a small Indonesian green cupcake lit with an emergency candle. Then we got to the community and things went sideways. I had been feeling queasy in the bus, but didn't think too hard on it. When we got to the village, there was a parade waiting for us, with clowns guiding us down the street, and children waving Indonesian flags. None of us knew what was going on, but we were led to the town square with most of the town and some of the surrounding town members watching us. We were seated with some of the Madrasa (CWY in Indonesia) officials and important members of the town. They put on a play that is native to the area, that was a little intricate and involved inviting someone into the family. We all still had no idea what was going on, but somehow I was chosen to represent the group in the play, so I walked up, got a wreath of flowers from a girl, and had lots of pictures taken. by this time, I wasn't feel well at all, sick to my stomach and dizzy. I found a bathroom, had to use a squat toilet for the first time, and came out to find a flock of girls who all wanted a picture with me. After that, I rejoined my group and had to sit down. I didn't perform the dance we've been doing for all the other official gatherings because my vision was starting to go white. After the speeches and stuff were done, I took refuge in the bus and when they kicked me out of there, I went to the mayors office and laid down on one of the couches.
I wasn't in the mood to socialize with people but some people came to me. One of them was a teacher at the school next door, who, upon learning I was ill attempted reflexology on me, starting with my feet. I'm not sure it worked, but it was surprisingly painful and eventually I'd had an almost full body massage. It's interesting to be sick and have no idea what the people taking care of you are saying. I don't really recommend it, but, as didn't want to offend anyone by refusing, I just sort of went with it. While gettng this massage, my host parents came in to meet me. Hendri had been there the whole time, and he and the other Indonesians we had in the group had been pretty good about translating here. Even with his help though, I wasn't sure how they took the situation. It's funny looking back but I was trying to make introductions as cordially as possible while someone translated and someone else was rubbing a salve on my back. Meanwhile, I just wanted to a familiar place to lie down and sleep.
We got taken home soon after. The sun had set, it was raining, and everyone else had made their own way home. The ride was a bit long in the dark, and I had a glimpse of Steph (a group member) in a house we passed. Otherwise, I had no idea where everyone was living but I just wanted to find the bed. Not a great way to introduce myself to the family, but considering the entirety of the day, still a solid birthday.
The saickness lasted into the 3rd day in the villiage, and kind of left a dmaper on my spirits. Hard to stay positive and find comfort in a strange place and new language while sick. SAtill things get better everyday, and we have our work placements now. I'm teaching english and sometimes milking cows. Thats pretty much what all the jobs were, but I got my choice. I'm getting up at 530 or 6 everyday, but we're gong to bed around 9. Not much to do and there are no street lights. After dark, everything stops. Next time I'll have more current stories. 2nd week here.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
There is life in Indonesia.
I am in the town,have been for a few days now. the travel wasn't actually that bad. I was expecting something really arduous, but the worst part of it was the driving. From Halifax to Toronto something was wrong with the pressure in the cabin, andas my nose was pretty stuffy, it somehow deadened the nerve to the top left half of my teeth. It was a little diconcerting to have them all slowly go numb, but that was about as exciting as that flight got. The Toronto Hong Kong flight was actually fun. I got a bit restless towards the end, but I slept for the first 8 hrs and spent the rest dong crosswords, watched a few movies and finished writing in my canadian journal. The time pretty much flew by...
Getting to Hong Kong in the middle of the night was probably a good thng, as the place is huge and greatly resembles a mall. As stores started to open up, we explored what we could, straining our invisible CWY leash. Considering how little time it took for us to feed ourselves, we bascally wandered shops with no real interest to buy for an hr. Even if one of us had the urge to buy an overpriced gucci bag, we didn't have room to store it. We had to take a train to our gate, and soon we were on our way to Indonesia.
By this tme the sun had caught up to us and we could see Thailnd and some of the other Islands of Indoneasia on our approach. Finally getting there, we were hit by a warm moist wave of air. Jakarta at this time of year is a hot place to be. The airport was busy, we had brought a hundred or so Indonesians finishing their trip to Mecca, so the baggage claim was filled withfairly quiet but bustling people making gathering luggage a problem. Driving in general in Indoneasia is done with more care to where you want to go than those around you, which holds truer for luggage carts. More than one of us got hit by a reckless driver. Actually getting into the city was even worse. I have no idea why there aren't more accidents, but they certainly cut it close, and I'm glad I don't have to drive. Its insanity, whipping into the tiniest gap, and the motorcyclists are even worse, dodging cars and people like traffic cones. Pedestrians beware in Indonesia, it's one of the things they were all concerned about.
We got to the hostel type place we were being housed and had to unload baggae and find rooms. The city itself reeked, garbage everywhere, and the heavy air kept the exhaust from all the cars weighed down, like a blue blanket over the city. The heat was oppressive, especially when the sun deigned to peak through the clouds, and we were all greatful for the air conditioned rooms, and the tradtional cold Indonesian showers.
Biggest cultural hit beyond the garbage, which is piled, then burned in the peoples yards, is the bathrooms. We started the trip with si tdown toilets, a bucket full of water and a hose. I didn't have to go for the first while, but the group soon became very comfortable discussing their uncomfortable bowel movements. The only things that has changed is the loss of a sitdown and a hose.
We had 2 days n Jakarta which was kinda nice, as we were all asleep the first evening around 6, time zones finally catching up with us. The next day we were all up around 4 or 5, had an early breakfast and ventured into the city. There was a mall nearby that wasn't open yet, but the AC was a nice change of pace, and we got to take in a bit of the city from it's higher windows, watching people go on their way to work. There is no rush hour in Jakarta, just grid lock and not gridlock. the city is so spread out and massive, that getting to where we went later required an extra couple hrs just considering that, and we still were late to most of our events. I'll cover that and the rest of the trip later.
As a heads up to where Im at now, I'm ok. Thisisn't really what I thought it'd be like. think our main concern herewill be pollution. Like Jakarta, and apparently the rest of Indonesia, there is no recycling, compst or really any kind of garbage pick up. Some plastcicbottles are collected on occasion, but glass bottle are only collected in certain cities, not the villages. Everything else is either buried or burned in ther front yards, or, thrown into the river or woods. Healthy all around, it creates an endless haze over the town which is added to by a constant cloud of cigarette smoke, which the men do anywhere and everywhere, and I don't think the motorbikes and cars are at N.American emission standards. I get the sense they want to change things here, but need a leader to do it. Enter us with our white skin and English voces, which make everything better. I've seen a lot of faces whitened by makeup since arrving. White is in, and everybody accepts it, favours it. We are pretty much superstars here, I was mobed for my photo the first time I got out of the bathroom here. The kjids following us and people pointing and laughing and shouting"Boulays" was kind of endearing at first but it is wearing us down fast. Topped with everyone having dire need of the bathroom and trying every cure we know for stomach illness, spirits here are low. know it will all pass, and we gain stregnth from the group, but a few of us are feeling a little down, trying not to count downthe days tocome home. Hope I'm more hopeful by the next post, but right now I miss home and don't really get things here, even though the family is being pretty nice considering the language barrier. The town is honoured to have us, so I geuss that counts for something.
Love to everyone
Justin
I am in the town,have been for a few days now. the travel wasn't actually that bad. I was expecting something really arduous, but the worst part of it was the driving. From Halifax to Toronto something was wrong with the pressure in the cabin, andas my nose was pretty stuffy, it somehow deadened the nerve to the top left half of my teeth. It was a little diconcerting to have them all slowly go numb, but that was about as exciting as that flight got. The Toronto Hong Kong flight was actually fun. I got a bit restless towards the end, but I slept for the first 8 hrs and spent the rest dong crosswords, watched a few movies and finished writing in my canadian journal. The time pretty much flew by...
Getting to Hong Kong in the middle of the night was probably a good thng, as the place is huge and greatly resembles a mall. As stores started to open up, we explored what we could, straining our invisible CWY leash. Considering how little time it took for us to feed ourselves, we bascally wandered shops with no real interest to buy for an hr. Even if one of us had the urge to buy an overpriced gucci bag, we didn't have room to store it. We had to take a train to our gate, and soon we were on our way to Indonesia.
By this tme the sun had caught up to us and we could see Thailnd and some of the other Islands of Indoneasia on our approach. Finally getting there, we were hit by a warm moist wave of air. Jakarta at this time of year is a hot place to be. The airport was busy, we had brought a hundred or so Indonesians finishing their trip to Mecca, so the baggage claim was filled withfairly quiet but bustling people making gathering luggage a problem. Driving in general in Indoneasia is done with more care to where you want to go than those around you, which holds truer for luggage carts. More than one of us got hit by a reckless driver. Actually getting into the city was even worse. I have no idea why there aren't more accidents, but they certainly cut it close, and I'm glad I don't have to drive. Its insanity, whipping into the tiniest gap, and the motorcyclists are even worse, dodging cars and people like traffic cones. Pedestrians beware in Indonesia, it's one of the things they were all concerned about.
We got to the hostel type place we were being housed and had to unload baggae and find rooms. The city itself reeked, garbage everywhere, and the heavy air kept the exhaust from all the cars weighed down, like a blue blanket over the city. The heat was oppressive, especially when the sun deigned to peak through the clouds, and we were all greatful for the air conditioned rooms, and the tradtional cold Indonesian showers.
Biggest cultural hit beyond the garbage, which is piled, then burned in the peoples yards, is the bathrooms. We started the trip with si tdown toilets, a bucket full of water and a hose. I didn't have to go for the first while, but the group soon became very comfortable discussing their uncomfortable bowel movements. The only things that has changed is the loss of a sitdown and a hose.
We had 2 days n Jakarta which was kinda nice, as we were all asleep the first evening around 6, time zones finally catching up with us. The next day we were all up around 4 or 5, had an early breakfast and ventured into the city. There was a mall nearby that wasn't open yet, but the AC was a nice change of pace, and we got to take in a bit of the city from it's higher windows, watching people go on their way to work. There is no rush hour in Jakarta, just grid lock and not gridlock. the city is so spread out and massive, that getting to where we went later required an extra couple hrs just considering that, and we still were late to most of our events. I'll cover that and the rest of the trip later.
As a heads up to where Im at now, I'm ok. Thisisn't really what I thought it'd be like. think our main concern herewill be pollution. Like Jakarta, and apparently the rest of Indonesia, there is no recycling, compst or really any kind of garbage pick up. Some plastcicbottles are collected on occasion, but glass bottle are only collected in certain cities, not the villages. Everything else is either buried or burned in ther front yards, or, thrown into the river or woods. Healthy all around, it creates an endless haze over the town which is added to by a constant cloud of cigarette smoke, which the men do anywhere and everywhere, and I don't think the motorbikes and cars are at N.American emission standards. I get the sense they want to change things here, but need a leader to do it. Enter us with our white skin and English voces, which make everything better. I've seen a lot of faces whitened by makeup since arrving. White is in, and everybody accepts it, favours it. We are pretty much superstars here, I was mobed for my photo the first time I got out of the bathroom here. The kjids following us and people pointing and laughing and shouting"Boulays" was kind of endearing at first but it is wearing us down fast. Topped with everyone having dire need of the bathroom and trying every cure we know for stomach illness, spirits here are low. know it will all pass, and we gain stregnth from the group, but a few of us are feeling a little down, trying not to count downthe days tocome home. Hope I'm more hopeful by the next post, but right now I miss home and don't really get things here, even though the family is being pretty nice considering the language barrier. The town is honoured to have us, so I geuss that counts for something.
Love to everyone
Justin
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