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.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
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.
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