A Day in the Life

I've talked a lot about the various differences between Indonesia and Western Culture. I've explained interesting facts, stuff that surprised me, differences that I enjoy and some that I don't.  The thing is, when you look at the bare bones of life itself, many things are pretty much the same.  People get up and go to work or school, do the daily grind, come home and spend time with family or friends or Netflix (which is now available here as of February.  Bangarang.)  I assume that's pretty much the same in most countries around the world.  It's just the way life works.

But, as any actor or screenwriter will tell you, nobody wants to hear about normal life.  That's boring.  It's the stuff out of the ordinary that intrigues us, keeps our attention focused on the stage, or follow certain blogs.  So, with that in mind, here are the details of daily life that I now consider typical or ordinary, but to my friends and family in the West might be the interesting, unusual, or intriguing bits.

For many Indonesians, the day starts at sunrise, or just before.  Remember, about 85% or the country is Muslim, and the first Muslim prayer of the day is, depending on the time of year, around 4 or 5 am.  So, many people will be up around that time.  (I say many...I have it on good authority that some people aren't as strict with this one.  But hey, nobody's perfect.) So from my point of view, Indonesians seem to be very good at getting up early.  Before heading out to work, they'll make breakfast.  Breakfast doesn't have any special foods, like it does in the West.  You can have a piece of chicken for breakfast just as easily as for lunch or dinner.  My own breakfast, and any of the other meals for that matter, usually consists of rice (obviously), some vegetables to mix in, and some sort of protein, a fried egg, some chicken or beef, or a fried soybean concoction called Tempe.  And of course there's sometimes fresh fruit, possibly picked right off the tree.

A shower happens somewhere before work too.  Indonesians typically shower twice a day, because it's so darn hot here.  A typical Indonesian Water Closet consists of a giant basin for water, and a plastic scooper to use for showering, washing hands, and brushing teeth.  It's also used when flushing the toilet, which is usually a plastic basin in the ground that drains into the sewer.  Overall, it's a very economic room.  Very wet, too.  Water goes everywhere, but it doesn't matter because the floor is tile and there's at least one drain in the floor.

Then, it's all about dropping the kids off at school, dropping spouses off at work, and driving oneself to work.  Many jobs are the same as what we have in the West, but there are also a few we don't have.  There are guys that wait by the roadside, ready to refill, or even repair, your tires and sell you gas from a glass bottle.  There are also the parking assistants.  You'll find these fellows everywhere, because no matter where you go, you either have to pay to park, or you'll need assistance in getting back out onto the road.  These guys will wave a flag or blow a whistle to slow down oncoming traffic so that you can merge back in.  There are also certain jobs that are gender-specific here.  You will always have a male driver in your bus, angkot, or taxi.  However, the ticket person on the bus will usually be a female, as will most of the venders in the traditional markets.  There are some large markets which have a large location specifically for that purpose.  But there are also some smaller ones that spring up in the mornings, maybe in the middle of a neighborhood, consisting of a few vendors who have some wares to sell.  These traditional markets are a great place to get any fresh food item you might want, from fruit to vegetables to meat.  I, however, usually avoid them as best as I can, namely because you have to bargain for anything you want.  If you know me at all, you'll know that I'm not the biggest fan of haggling any sort of deal, but especially if money is involved.  I've needed to do it on a few occasions, but I haven't enjoyed any of it.  Some of my friends are straight-up experts though.  If I can, I usually let them do it for me.  But I digress...

When lunch time rolls around, there are a few options.  You can pack your lunch, using the foods stated above.  You can always go out to eat, as little food stands (called warung) are extremely common.  Most of these serve only a few dishes, so if you're in the mood for something specific, you know where to go.  If not, there will be other options right next door.  The third option for lunch is one that we don't really have in the West.  The closest thing we get is an Ice Cream truck.  Basically, there are men that wheel a cart around neighborhoods, or outside of businesses, and stop and chill there during lunch hour.  They have a stove built into their cart, as well as necessary ingredients to prepare whatever the singular meal is that they sell.  Many of them have some sort of noise-maker that they use to alert the world to their presence, like a wooden bowl that they bang on, or sometimes they just clank a spoon on a plate.  If you're familiar with the carts that come through the area, you can usually tell who is outside by the  noise, which, of course, is the point.  A common one outside my school is the Bakso guy -- Indonesian meatballs.  His noisemaker is clacking on a wooden bowl.  However, these cart vendors aren't limited to lunch and dinner options.  There are guys that go around with giant bags of crackers (actually it's a specific kind of cracker called Krupuk, there are a ton of various types, and everyone has their favorite), or guys that serve sweet bread treats.  Actually, I get annoyed when the sweet bread guy comes around, and no, not because it's a delicious temptation.  It's because his noisemaker is an obnoxious recorded tune that's about 11 seconds long, then repeats, and can be heard all the way down the street.  And I mean all the way.  I don't know how that guy hangs onto his sanity, having to listen to that all day.   These cart guys will patrol from sun up to sundown, and sometimes later.  I have, on occasion heard somebody out at 10pm, (probably the Fried Rice guy).  You never know who will be hungry.

Something very common here is what's typically translated into "taking a rest."  Maybe this means taking a nap, maybe it's literally just resting and not doing anything.  But it's super common, after any large activity, or after getting home, or before starting a new activity.  It's quite an acceptable way to spend an hour or so.  It's even been nearly mandatory for me at times, when I return from some event with a friend, or arrive somewhere new, my host will insist that I take a rest.  I will admit quite shamelessly that I've become quite used to taking naps at various times during the day.

After work, the day ends just like anywhere else.  Massive amounts of traffic interrupting the commute home, eating some sort of dinner from any of the many options, hanging out with whoever is around.  It's common for households to contain many people, including grandparents and grown children.  It's very much a Western custom for children to move out before they get married.  Here, there's nothing wrong with having everyone stay in the house for many years after university.  It's also very common for relatives to come by and visit, or friends and neighbors.  Evenings can be full of visiting and just hanging out with whoever drops by.

Of course, that doesn't mean everyone's not counting the days until  the weekend.  Weekends are great no matter where you live.  However, in Indonesia, depending on your job or where you  go to school, your weekend might not be two days.  Many schools conduct classes, or at least organize events on Saturdays, and many jobs require a six-day week, instead of a five-day.  But for anyone who doesn't have to work, Saturday can be full of shopping, chilling, or exploring the various natural or ancient wonders Indonesia has to offer.  The university campuses are full of students holding meetings, sports, or events all over campus.  I'm actually a little jealous about how much goes on at the universities on the weekend, my University never came close to that.  Since most people will have off on Sunday (except, obviously anyone in public service, food service or retail -- we've all been there) Sunday has something special to offer, something that does not, and probably cannot, exist in the West.  From 5:30am to 8:30am, the streets leading to the City Center are closed.  Hundreds of people gather to crowd the vacated streets with bikers, joggers, vendors, performances, aerobics classes, promoters, musicians, dancing, and even some wild animals.  Unfortunately, it's so early in the morning I rarely make it there, but it's always interesting when I do.  I can't imagine any American cities closing down major roads for several hours every single week.

So that's the long and short of it.  Turns out the daily grind looks pretty similar on the other side of the globe.  Obviously there will be differences, but nothing too significant.  In the end, we all do what we have to do in life, and we'll do whatever we need to accomplish it.  Hopefully by the end of the day we'll be happy with the results.  Either way, we'll all be going back to work tomorrow...

Fun Facts! (Alt. Title: I promise I'm not Buzzfeed)

After an extended time anywhere, you get pretty used to the way things are, despite how different they might be.  I was pretty well adapted to life here in the first few months, and so not a whole lot surprises me any more.  However, seven months later, there are still many things that I find interestingly different from my own culture.  Now, you may remember towards the beginning of my stay, I wrote a post about details I was not expecting, like the prominence of Selfies, or Tofu, or the Muslim Call to Prayer (see that one here!).  The items on that list don't surprise me anymore, and indeed, I have come to expect them.  The items on this list are things that still make me think "I've gotta tell everyone about that when I get home," or at least make me give that small expulsion of air from my nostrils that qualifies as the smallest physical indicator of amusement.   However, I don't really want to be that guy who spouts random facts about Indonesia into an otherwise normal conversation so that everyone around me gets real bored, real quick.  Therefore, logically, I decided to put them here.  So! Here's a bunch of random fun facts.

Fun fact #1) Of course, there are gas stations around here.  But, at least in Semarang, there's only one brand.  Pertamina basically has a monopoly on gas sales here.  However, along with all the various food stalls and motorbike repair stations you can find on the side of the road, there are also folks selling gas.  I had no idea what it was at first, as the display consisted of a cart of yellow liquid in glass and plastic bottles, and quite frankly, I tried not to think too hard on that.  But there it is.

Fun Fact #2) The national language of Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesia (which, literally translated, means Indonesian Language).  However, every Indonesian person speaks at least two languages: Bahasa Indonesian and the language of their region.  For instance, the people in Bali speak Balinese.  However, the greater the island, the more languages there will be.  On Java, where I live, it's Javanese in East and Central Java, but in West Java it's Sundanese.  And then, each region has its own accent.  In all, Indonesia, throughout its islands, contains over 300 different languages and dialects.

Fun Fact #3) In America, many suburb neighborhoods have a nice, little sign by the entrance, that says something along the lines of "Welcome to Perkiomen Woods".
(Yes, I'm from Pennsylvania, we have weird names, move along.)
Here in Semarang, both inside the city, and in the surrounding villages, each entrance to the neighborhood has a big ornate gateway that you pass through, telling you which neighborhood you're entering, and which part of that particular neighborhood.
 (I did warn that these were really random fun facts.)

Fun Fact #4) Wanna know a pastime that's really big here?  I'll give you a hint.  In America, you can usually find it in a smokey bar, on, like, a Tuesday night, on a tiny stage, and see a mix of drunk/tone-deaf/drunk and tone-deaf singers.  That's right, it's karaoke!  Except you won't find it in the bars around here... mostly because you won't find any bars around here.  However, there are entire buildings dedicated to karaoke.  You rent out a room with a bunch of friends, order drinks or food or whatever, and sing your heart out for 2 or 3 hours.  I was surprised to find that it was more fun than I expected.  Karaoke is so popular that you can find it almost everywhere: it's even a perk of various tour buses, right there along with Wifi and a snack.  And I'm pretty sure I saw a karaoke machine at  my gym...

Fun fact #5) Parts of Indonesia are huge tourist spots.  Bali is the most well known, but it's a country of islands, so there are beaches everywhere.  Beaches where, among other things, Westerners come to get a nice, solid tan to take back to work and be the envy of all their pale, sickly co-workers.  Except... that's just a western thing.  In fact, Indonesians are the exact opposite.  The majority prefers to stay out of the sun, and they often wear long sleeves and pants for full protection.  But the contrast goes even further than that.  Almost every single bottle of skin cream or lotion or soap has a "whitening agent," which is designed to do exactly that: make the skin whiter.  Talk about opposites, huh?

Fun Fact #6) You won't really find too many pets around here.  Sure, there are stray cats that run around the neighborhood, and some Christian families will have a dog or two. (Dog saliva is considered unclean in Islam, therefore, there are very few dogs. [Look at that, a fun fact inside a fun fact! Fun Factception!])  However, you will see birds.
 Not only is there an entire market dedicated to selling birds of all shapes and colors, but you'll also frequently see at least one, if not three or four,cages hanging outside someone's house.
There's a food vendor down the street from my school who taught his bird to do a back-flip.  It's always a little entertaining to see someone on their motorbike with a giant bird cage strapped behind them, but it happens more often than you'd expect.

Fun Fact #7-??) I could probably write an entire post on Bahasa Indonesian.  I'm not going to, because who wants to get edjumacated when they only came to this page to read some (hopefully) interesting and (possibly) entertaining tales of Indonesia?  However, I do want to make a few interesting notes of some of the details of Bahasa Indonesian.  Except, I'm not going to talk about the language itself.  I want to share some things about the actual speaking of the language.  Cause that's the stuff I really find interesting.

First off, each of the vowels make only one sound.  In English, the letter "A" has a bunch of different sounds, like in Father, Fade, Fad, and a few more in between.  In Indonesian, "A" just makes an "Ah" sound.  Even when it's paired with another vowel, like "I," (which, like in Spanish, makes an "Ee" sound,) the vowels make their own sounds.  For instance, Air (which means "water") is pronounced Ah-eer.  Now, the consonants are even simpler.  Usually, you can't get too much simpler with consonants, since even in English they mostly only make one sound. However, when you listen to native Indonesian speakers, it can be hard to tell the difference between certain consonants.  At least for me.  I mean, It's no secret that I've had trouble learning this language, but hear me out.

There are a few letter pairs that, when vocalized, are the exact same, they just sound different.  In pairs like F/V, P/B, K/G, T/D, S/Z, your mouth does the exact same thing to shape them and make them.  The only difference is that one has an audible sound, the other is more like a by-product of air passing through the mouth. (If you want to get technical, this is called "voiced" and "unvoiced".  It's a distinction caused by whether or not the vocal cords are vibrating at the time the sound is produced.  Thanks Anne Lewis!)  Anyway,  I've found in many cases that native Indonesian speakers will not differentiate between a voiced and unvoiced consonant, or the will at least  minimize the difference.  Here's an example.  The word Bisa means "can," as in "You can put strawberries and pickles in the blender together, but I'm not sure if you should."  But for the longest time, until I saw it in writing, I thought everyone was saying Pisa, as in the Leaning Tower.  Here's another example.  In English, my name is pronounced "Dae-vid".  However, because Indonesian doesn't have the "Ae" sound, and they blend the "F" and "V" sound, I've had to get used to introducing myself as "Dah-fid".

Another part of this whole "learning a new language thing" that I wasn't expecting was the differences in non-verbal communication.  For example: hand-motions.  One specific motion that has confused me multiple times is the one that means "come here."  In America, that motion involves bringing the hand towards the body in a sort of scooping gesture.  Here, however, the motion involves putting the hand right in front of you and flapping it up and down.  In fact, it's very similar to the American gesture used to shoo someone away, which, of course, is the exact opposite.  So, you can understand why I've been confused.

Another difference is the non-verbal sounds that we make.  In American English, something like "Mm hm" means agreement, "Mm" means acknowledgement, or surprise if you put an exclamation point on it: "Mm!"  "Uh uh" is usually "No."  However, in Indonesian, or at least with the native speakers that I'm around, both "Mm!" and "Uh uh" can mean "Yes."  It's led me to asking the same question multiple times, thinking that my friend didn't really hear or understand the question and was merely making a grunt of acknowledgement.  Oops.

So.  There you have it.  Wow, that was much more school-y than I intended.  My bad.  And now that I've given you a headache with a dissertation that wasn't about language, I suppose the rest of my fun facts will actually have to wait until I can randomly insert them in conversation.  There are so many more tidbits I can share about TV censorship, and text message spam, of the lack of aftershave, and travelling food carts, of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings.  But alas.  That will have to wait for my return.  Which, by the way, has been set in stone.  My flight has been officially booked, and I shall be back in the States on July 31st.  So, if I scared you off, and this is the last blog post you end up reading, I'll see you then.  If not, we'll talk next month.  Sampai Jumpa!

Yogasmara Special Needs School

Well, here it is folks.  The halfway mark.  I've been in Indonesia for exactly six months, and will be here for roughly another six.  In my past six blog posts, I've tried to paint for you, my lovely audience, a picture of various aspects of this country.  I've talked about the weather, the traffic, the food, the customs, the weddings, the volcanoes, the motorbikes, and so on.  However, I've yet to touch on much of my personal life, or my project here in Semarang.  I figure that's kind of important, seeing as it's the entire reason I'm here.  So, today, I want to tell you about the school where I work, Yogasmara Special Needs School.

Field trip to a train museum

It's a very small school; we only have about 20 students.  The most we ever have at one time, however, is eleven.  That's because we have eleven for the first two hours of the morning.  Other students come at 10:00 for two hours, or at 1:00 for one hour, or only on Tuesdays and Fridays.  The students range in age from about five years old to sixteen, but the majority of them are between five and ten. 

Now, I've never worked with kids in a scenario like this before.  Sure, I've been a camp councilor, but this is my first time teaching in a school, and especially my first time working with this particular population.  Most of our kids are diagnosed autistic.  I don't know how other special needs schools run in America, or even in Semarang, but this is the way our program works.  Ideally, there is a 1-1 ratio of teachers to students.  That way, each teacher spends an hour at a time with one student, and is able to work on their specific goals.  There are two parts of the program: occupational therapy and  behavioral intervention therapy.  

Occupational therapy is designed to hone gross motor skills; in other words it involves physical activity and moving around.  Different kids have different abilities, but a lot of them do activities like climbing a ladder, bouncing on a trampoline, crawling, hopping, throwing a ball, and pushing a wheelbarrow.  Also included in this section is a certain type of massage that we give to the kids’ arms and legs.  I have found this to be a nice, calming way to start the day.  I usually sing or whistle to the kids while I do it, it keeps me attentive, and most of them seem to enjoy it. 

Behavioral intervention therapy involves mental learning and fine motor skills.  This part of the program varies dramatically with each child.  Some are learning to recognize letters, or colors or animals.  Some practice picking up and moving beans with large tweezers.  Others trace lines and patterns or numbers and letters.  A common task in many of their programs is to learn to match items that are the same, like a doll or a pencil.  Some of the kids practice ripping paper, or balling it up, or cutting it with scissors.  A few of them have personal skills built into their program, like learning to wash a dish, sweep the floor, button their shirt, or put on sunglasses.  We guide the children in different ways, depending on what's necessary.  Sometimes it's verbally, sometimes it's physically.  Sometimes they have to watch what we do and imitate that.  It all depends on the child’s capability, and where they are in their development.  As they progress, some of the activities require a growth in difficulty.  So perhaps instead of choosing between two different items to match the identical one, they have to choose between three, and later four.  Or once they learn to cut the paper along the line straight across, then they learn to cut it diagonally.  Sometimes the progression is quick, and it only takes them a few days to learn a new letter.  Sometimes not so much, and that particular activity spans several weeks.  Usually, if a few months pass and we see no progression, we change the program and try something different.  Having been here for half a year, I've seen both cases happen.  Fortunately, it is more common to have a gradual progression and then see recognition after maybe a few weeks of constant practice.  This, of course, that's always very encouraging, for both the teachers and the students. 

And sometimes we just play Snakes and Ladders

So, having explained how the school day works, let me introduce you to some of the students.  Obviously this won’t be all of them, but these are the kids I interact with the most on a weekly basis.

First, we have Rara.  Rara is usually very quiet, and very compliant.  She is non-verbal, so she doesn’t say much, but sometimes she’ll make a sort of vocal rhythm, like her own version of beat-boxing.  Sometimes she’ll even do a stomp pattern along with it.  I like to think she has music in her head, and occasionally lets us in on it too.

Then we have Veno.  Veno is one of our most active students.  He loves running around and investigating pretty much everything there is to investigate.  If there’s something he can pick up or move or open or shift or pull or push, he’s on it.  He’s also developed a fascination with my digital watch.  I’ll set it to the stopwatch mode, so that it beeps when he hits the center button.  He gets so happy when he does it that it’s like he hits the lottery over and over and over (and over) again.

This is Anang.  Anang is one of our oldest students.  He is extremely friendly, and very often wears a huge grin.  He knows everybody’s name and will always greet you repeatedly.

Next there’s Didi.  Didi is also a very happy child.  He’s also very affectionate; sitting on laps is one of his favorite pastimes.  He loves to giggle, even when he knows he’s in trouble.  Pretty much everything makes him giggle, actually.

This little girl is Nadia.  Nadia is one of the students with whom I have one of the best relationships.  When I first arrived, she was very shy, and wouldn’t even lift her head off her desk when I came into the room.  Then one day she climbed onto the see-saw, and I started bouncing her up and down.  Since then, we’ve developed a great rapport, and she’s always willing to come with me, even if she wants to keep swinging.

Finally, we have Bagus.  “Bagus” means “very good” or “excellent” in Indonesian.  There are indeed times where he holds to his namesake, sitting very quietly, repeating whatever you say, or doing his vocab words.  Other times, he somehow gets super-charged with energy and cannot contain it.  He explodes into a flurry of energy, which while making a big mess, is also kind of hilarious.

So, that’s a sample view of my school, and my daily life.  It has plenty of challenges, but also plenty of learning experiences.  I promised myself I would step out of my comfort zone by coming to Indonesia, and do something I’ve never done before, and I certainly have done that.  And I’m also learning about myself and the rest of humanity in a way that may not have been possible anywhere else.

Fire and Brimstone meets Salt and Sand

I'm a big fan of contrast.  Especially in art.  I'm always fascinated by a character who does something at the end of a play or movie which is the exact opposite of what he may have done at the beginning.  Or in photography, seeing a hunk of ugly man-made something in the the forest, or vice-versa, seeing a lovely piece of green in the midst of the concrete jungle.  That sort of thing.  Well, I've discovered that Indonesia has one of the most interesting contrasts I've seen.  In my previous posts, I've given you a slight idea about the city of Semarang: the traffic, the weather, the crowds.  I'll be honest and say that Semarang is not exactly a pretty city.  Especially since I'm coming from a Western culture where the standards of living in a city (at least some parts of it) are very different than they are here.  There's trash along the streets and the sidewalks, many of the buildings are old, or not in great shape, the streets are bumpy and uneven, and you don't really want to even think about touching the river that runs through.  I'm not criticizing or complaining, it's just the way it is, and I've become accustomed to it.  But here's the interesting thing.  Outside the city, that all disappears.  You're in the middle of jungles, and farms, and mountains.  You can even feel the lighter, cooler, unpolluted air. It's great.  Indonesia has so much natural beauty, and it doesn't all just happen on Bali.  Yes, I know, everyone knows Bali, the island paradise, white sands, clear waters, etc., but that's a mere taste of the pleasurable landscape this country has to offer.  So now, I'd like to talk about a few of my favorite experiences with the natural wonders of Indonesia.

My closest point of interest is only an hour from my school, and  maybe half an hour outside the city.  It's that close.  It's a place named Curig Lawe.  You have to first drive, then hike up a mountain, usually over some pretty rough terrain, but it's totally worth it.  There are two separate waterfalls that look like something out of a fantasy novel.

The first descends from high above from the mountain, creating a marvelous picture in the middle of the jungle.  The sight from afar is awesome enough, but when you get close you can truly feel the vitality and the life exuding from the unending deluge of water.  The second of the falls is not as high, but it's spread out over a semi-circle of stone, creating many smaller waterfalls.  I went during the dry season, and it was beautiful then, I can only imagine what it's like now, during the rainy season, when the falls are at their strongest.  Both falls are excellent examples of the proximity of green and gorgeous beauty next to gray cityscape.

Now, you may or may not know that Indonesia falls in a large section of the Ring of Fire, (no, not the Johnny Cash Song,) a wide space of the Indian and Pacific Oceans that is prolific in earthquakes and volcanic activity.  Indonesia is an enthusiastic contributor to the Ring, containing over 130 active volcanoes.  And yes, I have had the opportunity to visit one.  In East Java, there's a volcano called Mt. Bromo.  Its most recent eruption was this past November, a few weeks after I was there.  This, however, was a minor eruption compared to its predecessor in 2011.  That was a big'un.
I stayed with some friends in a village on the very edge of a large valley, in the center of which stood Mt. Bromo and its extinct brother volcano, Mt. Batok.  Early in the morning, we hiked around the edge of the valley to climb to a viewpoint for the sunrise.  It was really quite remarkable, watching the sun come up on our left, illuminating the valley below us, which was filled with fog.  In the middle of it stood Bromo, always smoking.

After we had witnessed a stunning concerto of color, we hiked into the valley itself.  (It was extremely tempting to compare the walk to Frodo and Sam's venture across the Plains of Gorgoroth, in the midst of Mordor.  However, it wasn't nearly depressing or difficult enough to justify the comparison.  The only similarities were hiking across a rather hot valley towards a volcano.)

We arrived at the volcano and ascended the stairs.  And...couldn't see a darn thing.  Sure, the giant, continuous column of smoke and steam was cool enough I guess, and the smell of sulphur was pretty intense, but besides that, we weren't terribly impressed.  But, we wanted to see as much as we could, so we continued around the rim.  As we walked, the sight certainly became more awe-inspiring.  Finally, we climbed to a peak that was about a third of the way around from where we started.  There, we could see everything.  We could see into the pit, see the entire column of smoke and steam billowing and fluctuating.  We could see that the volcano was actually breathing.  The column would lessen for a minute or two, then double its size and fill the pit again.  It was incredible.  I've never been so close to the raw power of nature.  It was simultaneously wonderfully thrilling and terrifying.  But, it was awesome, in the truest sense of the word.

Finally, I simply must talk about the beaches.  Obviously Indonesia is a collection of over 13,000 islands: that's a lot of beaches.  But one thing I've learned is that not all beaches are created equal.  Some have an interesting black sand, some have pure white sand, sometimes the water is dull and green, in other places it's a clear blue, or, even better various shades of blue.  I spent my Christmas vacation in Lombok, an island which has been frequently praised as an "unspoiled Bali."  I can certainly confirm this statement.  I spent most of my time at a village in the south called Kuta.  At most of the beaches I went to, there were less than 20 people at any given time.  There were even occasions where there were less than 5.  A friend and I went to a certain location we had heard about.  After a long and difficult drive, suddenly, the road opened up, the sky appeared, and just over a large dune was the sea.

 It was one of the loveliest sights I'd ever seen.  The sand was a yellow-white from behind, but from the water it seemed to appear slightly reddish.  And the water...oh the water!  As it touched the beach it was an icy blue, and it was warm and clear.  As it returned to the sea, it turned a beautiful dark blue.  Cliffs rose on both sides of the beach, enclosing it to a sort of heavenly privacy.  And private it was.  When we came back from exploring several hours later, our footprints were still the only ones remaining in the sand.  To add to the storybook feeling, there was even a heap of large rocks and boulders on one side, which led along the cliffside to a small cove where one might expect to find buried pirate treasure.  It was simply amazing.

So, what more could you want, eh? Waterfalls, volcanoes, beaches, jungles, islands, giant trees, wild monkeys, caves, and mountains, Indonesia has everything you need for a perfect adventure story.  Luckily, those are one of my favorite genres (I've recently developed an affinity for castaway novels.)  I'll be honest, it's totally refreshing to know that beyond the streets and buildings and crowds and cars that I can see from where I'm writing this, there's a gorgeous wilderness that's has indeed been explored...but only just.

Run, Forrest, Run!

If you've known me for any amount of time over a week, you probably know I'm a runner.  Running is my preferred form of exercise, and I'd like to think I'm fairly decent at it.  So, naturally, I brought my running shoes with me to Indonesia.  I hope you don't mind if I indulge in a bit more of a personal topic for this post, but I think you'll find that it does make for a rather singular story.

I've always enjoyed at least attempting to keep in shape, so I intended to do the same this year.  I'd run through and around cities before, why should this be any different?

Well, let me tell you, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's entirely possible I bit off a little more than I can chew.  I'm accustomed to running along Kelly Drive, in Philadelphia, and on the River Trail, in Austin, TX.  Nice, paved paths of a somewhat circular shape, where one can mingle, sweat, suffer, and  train with other runners, bikers, walkers, and the occasional tightrope act (thanks for that, Austin).  Semarang is...a bit different.

I can't necessarily speak for the whole of Indonesia, but Semarang is not a runners' city.  In the time I've been here (4 months!), I've seen maybe a dozen persons out running, besides myself.  And I understand why.  It's not easy to run around here.  Now, you might know that I've done a few obstacle races, mainly  Tough Mudders.  Well, more than once, it's crossed my mind that just running through the streets of Semarang presents a variety of, ah, encumbrances, many of which are fairly reminiscent of a mild obstacle race.  I'm of the opinion that if someone wanted to create a low budget race, they could easily have their participants take to the streets around here, and their job would be practically finished.  In fact, I've taken the liberty of creating a rough draft for an advertisement for one such race.  I'm calling it "Tricky Trek: Semarang".  Enjoy!

*Infomercial voice narration*
Are popular obstacle races too extreme for you?  Or maybe they're getting boring, and you want a change of scenery?  Have no fear, the solution is here!  The newest race-maker on the scene, Tricky Trek Running, presents Tricky Trek: Semarang!  It's new, it's daring, and it'll make you sweat!  What more can you ask?  Here are some highlights of Tricky Trek: Semarang that we know you'll fly all the way to Indonesia just to endure!

You want obstacles?  You'll get obstacles.  And not those fancy, sophisticated towers that you have to jump off or climb over or some such nonsense that makes you feel like a superhero.  No, we've got all-natural, earthly obstacles for you.  For one thing, we're right on the equator! You think it gets cool enough here for a decent running climate?  Think again!  It's hot here, all day and all night, no matter when you run.  You'll love having to push yourself just a little bit harder because the heat makes that extra push extra necessary.  And we haven't even mentioned the best part yet: the humidity!  We guarantee (or your money back) that all your clothes will be completely soaked with sweat before you're halfway through the course, and you will have solid proof that your body's cooling system is functioning perfectly... until of course you run out of sweat.  But hey, dehydration is part of the fun, right?  You bet!

(Side note:  I've never gotten sweat in my eyes until I ran in this heat.  That's how much I sweat.  And it takes forever for my body to reach equilibrium again.  Even after I shower and drink a ton of water, I still look like I just jumped in a pool, because my body is then recovering from dehydration.  I feel like the character Moist from Dr. Horrible. 
[Side-side note: If you haven't seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog,  do yourself a favor.  It's on YouTube, it's 45 minutes, and it's probably the most entertaining and cathartic short movie you've seen in a while.]  But I digress.)

But get this, not only will we provide an abundance of heat and humidity, but we'll throw in another natural obstacle: the very air itself!  That's right!  We know some other courses use some obstacle where you have to deal with breathing in smoke, or some form of gas.  We can top that easily.  Semarang has a constant cloud of smog hanging just below the clouds.  Add to that some vehicle exhaust fumes, smoke from burning rubbish piles, and cigarette smoke from folks along the way, and you've got a recipe for one heck of a challenge for your lungs!  Just trust us, you'll feel even more triumphant at the finish line when you think about what you've put your body through.

But it doesn't stop there.  There are physical obstacles too, or we couldn't rightly call ourself an obstacle race.  Now, we can't be bothered with filling pits with  mud, or building awesome monkey bars or rope courses, but we don't need to!  The course itself holds plenty of challenges already built in.  For instance, we don't want you getting lost in the many unmarked streets of Semarang, so we'll make it nice and easy for you, a nice straight shot down a major road.  Plenty of cars and motorbikes will be zipping past you, so you'll have to be extra careful running in the road.  You could, of course, run on the sidewalks; there you can test your nimbleness, jumping over gaping holes in the cement that drop into the sewer below, dodging piles of building materials that someone may or may not get to in a week or two, and especially ducking around pedestrians who are certainly not used to runners on the sidewalk, and will take up the entire space, no exceptions!  

Now, before we elaborate further on the excitement that awaits you  on the sidewalk, we should make one thing clear.  When we say sidewalk, we only mean it's a space next to the road where the possibility of walking exists.  There are 2 types of sidewalks in Semarang:  in the downtown area, they are about a foot high (30 cm) and frequently lined with flower boxes on the side next to the road.  These provide a great opportunity for some parkour-like stunts should there be a pedestrian or some other obstacle in your way, and you need to get around.  These "other obstacles" might include trees planted in the middle of the walk, electrical systems, and their necessary protection poles, or maybe a car pulled all the way up so that it's out of the road, but not quite inside the gate of whatever building the driveway belongs.  However, there are places where the walk is nice and wide, and several people should easily be able to walk abreast.  Right? Nope!  The city doesn't want motorcycles jumping up there and skipping all the traffic, so these areas have stanchions and chains stretching across the entire walk, leaving you only a small space to fit through, unless you want to jump the chains.  It'll give you a great chance to show your adaptability, while looking pretty cool the whole time; talk about a great photo opp!

The other kind of sidewalk would not be considered as such per say by most Westerners, which adds to the exotic appeal of our course.  These are the spaces next to the road in other parts of the city besides the downtown area; they do act as walkways, but also as driveways, shoulders, parking lots, and prime real estate for the plenitude of food vendors that set up their carts and/or tents along the side of the road every morning.  These side spaces are not cement, but dirt and rocks.  We may not have mountains for you to run up, or streams to wade through, but boy do we have some great dirt and rocks, perfect for testing the strength of your ankles should you step the wrong way! All of these obstacles - the motorbikes and cars, the food sellers, and the unevenness in the terrain - provide an added mental challenge where you'll have to calculate if there's a way around it, over it, or through it, or if you should just step into the road and pronounce yourself a vehicle!  We recommend this latter choice more than the sidewalk, as it is the most straightforward, if perhaps a bit dangerous.  You'll have to master the technique of merging from the sidewalk into the street, which, surprisingly, may take a bit of practice!  However, once you  do, you'll be able to jump in and out of the busy traffic with ease, putting yourself miles ahead of the competition!

We'd like to highlight one more excellent proof of the epic challenge that awaits you here at Tricky Trek: Semarang: the essence of the race itself.  Not only will you compete against other humans (and the occasional chicken on the sidewalk), but you'll compete against the very forces of nature!  Daylight lasts from 5:50 am to 5:50 pm here, and not a second longer!  If you sign up now, you'll have your choice of starting time:  If you choose morning, you'll have all the light you want, but you'll only have so long until the traffic gets heavy.  This means more cars to avoid, more exhaust fumes in the air, more vendors on the sidewalk, and the heat of the morning sun.  However, should you choose to race in the evening, no more direct sunlight!  Unfortunately, this also means the sun is setting, and you'll have to finish before darkness sets in.  We at Tricky Treks strongly discourage running the course after nightfall, but hey, it's your challenge!

So come on down to Semarang!  It won't be your typical run in the park, but it'll be one you'll never forget!

Right, well, that would be my  promotion.  You think it's enough?  I could talk more about how there are no cross walks, and you have to just wait for a break in traffic to weave in and out to the other side.  Or I could mention that there are areas which don't even have a semblance of a sidewalk, you simply must run in the road.  You think that would scare people away?  Probably not, I'd say I have a pretty strong argument here.  I bet this place would be crawling with runners in no time if someone used this proposal.

Now, I don't mean to imply there are no runners in Indonesia.  Runners are everywhere.  Runners are weird.  They'll run in any conditions, and any circumstances, and I'm proud to consider myself among their number.  In fact, I've run two races here, which I've never actually done in the US.  I've run one 5k and one half-marathon.  The 5k taught me that there are indeed courses suitable for running outside the city...on the side of a mountain.  I totally botched that race, for several reasons, but one of which was that I had trained only on flat terrain, and the top runners were obviously  used to running up and down a mountain.  I would love to see their training ground.  My half-marathon was on more or less flat terrain, and I learned several lessons there too.  First, there are certainly fast Indonesians, both male and female.  They gave me a run for my money, though I'd like to think I did the same.  Secondly, I learned a little something about myself,  but I'm not going to wax philosophical on you.  Something about pushing my mental limits and having /beating self-made standards.  The point is that running in Indonesia has thrown some unexpected challenges at me, and I've had to take it and deal with it as it comes: a lesson I've had to learn in the past, but which comes in different forms, and is rather useful to relearn.

Anyway, let it not be said that I came to Indonesia and left unimproved!  Regardless of whether or not I return in the same shape as when I left, the experience is worth it, and it makes a great story.  (And yes, I do question the fate of my physical shape, because no matter how much I run, it's hard to compete with a steady diet of rice and fried food.  But hey, that's Indonesia!)

Sempai Jumpa!
Oh, and Merry Christmas!

A Serving of Culture, with a Side of Tradition.

Before I begin my next post, I'd like to draw your attention to the left sidebar.  Yes, I've been posting photos on Facebook, but the albums on the left are more complete.  Plus:  Now with captions!

America has often been described as a melting pot: a massive conglomeration of countries, people, and culture coming together to form the society that exists today.  (In fact, I accidentally discovered that the Indonesian Sign Language gesture for America is basically stirring a large pot...coincidence?) As such, I'm finding that it's rather difficult to nail down aspects of "American Culture."  It's actually a question I've been asked a lot, and it's made me question whether or not there actually is such a thing.  Sure, there's Western culture, which include much of Europe , and that's easily classified because many Asian countries have their own distinct cultures that can be easily distinguishable  from those of the west.  But every European country can also claim their own cultural traditions.  Because of that, the overarching term "Western Culture" is far too general to be descriptive.  Now, the funny thing is that many of those same European customs spread to America.  Many Americans are very proud of their heritage, European or otherwise.  Nearly everyone I know can rattle off whether they're "half-German, half-Danish" or "A quarter Welsh, a quarter Irish, and half English," or "A little of Italian, a bit of Irish, a lot of Polish, and a smidge of gypsy".  This, therefore, gives them a chance to exploit those culture aspects to which their heritage gives them an unquestionable right.  Perhaps the Irish in your blood gives you a bit more of an affinity for Jack Daniels and Flogging Molly, or maybe your love of Italian food culminates in your conviction that nothing can beat your Italian grandmother's tomato sauce (I myself happen to fall in both categories.)  But does that fall under the category of "American Culture"?  I'm inclined to say no, it's only borrowing. 

Ok then, so what is truly American?  Baseball? Sure.  Cheesesteaks? If they're from Philly, most definitely.  Apple pie? I guess, but only because all the songs say so.  Look, here's why I'm trying to figure this out: when it comes to culture and tradition, Indonesia is wealthy.  There is a massive amount of tradition that comes from Indonesia and stays in Indonesia and is embraced by all its people.  It's really hard to compare the Melting Pot to a country that can so easily nail down what is its traditional and cultural heritage.  The entire time I've been here, I've repeatedly heard how this dish is a traditional food, and that's traditional music, and he's wearing traditional clothing.  Not that I'm complaining; I love it and I find it fascinating.  Here are some of my favorite bits of serious culture I've encountered here. 

This puppet was a gift
from a friend.  It is the
character "Bima".

My first month here, I was fortunate enough to see the Ramayana ballet.  This was a gorgeous dance production in an outdoor theatre which told the story of Prince Rama and his wife Sinta, a fairy tale that nearly every Indonesian child knows growing up.  In the same way that Americans are raised on The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Indonesians are raised with myths about the kings and princesses of old Indonesia.  These tales are fraught with magic, talking animals, tragedy, sacrifice, and heroic warriors.  They are told in various mediums; among the most famous is the Wayang  Puppet Theatre.  Now, these characters are so well known, and the stories so heavily part of tradition, that the shape of the puppets of the main characters are as recognizable and prevalent as Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny.  You'll find them as stickers on motorbike helmets, logos in store windows, even decorations along the main road.  It's wonderful to see characters who are thousands of years old being embraced both as history and a part of every day life.

Just for a second, I want to let my inner theatre geek run loose.  I loved the Ramayana ballet in every way, but even more so because of what you can see in this video.  You'd never ever see something like that in an American theatre.  Something to do with safety laws and fire hazards and probably OSHA regulations.  So, for me, it was totally awesome. 

I want to touch on the food, but only briefly because I still have trouble remembering the names of everything.  However, there are so many traditional dishes or snacks, and most of them are very regional.  Yes, I know that we have specialty dishes in America (Chicago-style pizza or Louisiana BBQ), but Indonesia takes it to a whole other level.  I'll often hear that, for example, this particular way of cooking and serving this particular meat is the traditional dish of this particular city, or maybe even this other island.  And maybe you can find that dish everywhere, but its origin is always recognized.  Here's another example.  When you travel to a different city, it's customary to bring something back for your family or co-workers, and snack food is a perfectly acceptable gift.  It makes it even better if the food is native to that city.  Fortunately, it's fairly easy to ascertain because it'll be written right across the packaging.  Perhaps it won't be terribly different from a similar bag of fried chips or baked chocolaty doughy thing from somewhere else, but it will indeed have its own style, and therefore: Boom. Traditional food of [insert city name here]. 

As you may have seen from my pictures, I've been able to attend several wedding parties.  Notice how I say wedding parties, not just weddings...I'll explain in a second.  As you might expect, Indonesian wedding traditions are severely different from American traditions. (Side note: yes, I do feel perfectly comfortable calling American weddings traditional, because there is definitely a certain style and certain aspects that are present in all American weddings.)  Indonesian weddings are cool and interesting because they have not only the official and religious aspects, but also the traditional culture that plays a role.  In the city of Semarang, it's Javanese culture.  That means Javanese dress, food, customs, and ceremonies.  The easiest way to explain it  is to take you through it.  Now, this was the procedure for the first wedding I went to, but of course it may be a bit different for others. 

The bride (right) and her
family the wedding eve.

The night before the wedding is just as much a part of the celebration as the next day.  Chairs and food and music will be set up in the tent (there's always a tent) for anyone who wants to drop by. There are some small ceremonies that may happen, depending on the family or other circumstances, but a lot if it is just everyone hanging out.  You'll probably run into the bride and/or groom at some point, but not necessarily.  So the next day, the couple gathers with their families and close friends at the mosque.  Bear in mind Indonesia is 80-90% Muslim, so this is probably pretty typical.  I'll let you know how a Christian or Catholic wedding differs if I have the opportunity.  Now, this time at the mosque is for paperwork and prayers.  However, it's not a whole big thing.  There  were only about 20 people there.  It was a simple, quiet half hour or so.  After the paperwork and prayers, pictures were taken with the bride and groom (so many pictures, too many, in my humble opinion) and they drove off...somewhere.  I'm not sure.  But everyone else went home until the wedding

The groom makes his entrance.

party started an hour later.  The wedding party is the main event.  While the business at the mosque might last half an hour, the wedding party lasts 3-4 hours.  It's the main event of the day. It began with the entrance of the groom into the tent with his family behind him.  He met the bride in the middle of the tent, and there were many words spoken that I had no hope of understanding by two rather official looking gentlemen.  After that began the Javanese customs.  Unfortunately I couldn't see past everyone else gathered around, but I did manage to see that the couple shared food and drink, and begged permission from their parents, first from the bride's, then from the groom's.  Then they took their seats on their thrones (see pictures) and received guests.  For everyone else, this is when the eating and socializing begins in earnest.  There's music (traditional, of course) and a ton of food.  The guests arrive and sign the guest book, receive a party favor, and greet the families of the newlyweds.  They proceed to the throne to greet and congratulate the bride and groom, and probably get a picture with them.  Guests can include not only friends and family, but everyone from the neighborhood and friends of friends, and maybe even friends of friends of friends, like me.  One Sunday, two friends and I went to 3 different wedding parties, because one of them had received an invite, and it was passed down the line to me.  To be honest, it actually felt a bit like grad party hopping.  But the food was excellent and the decorations and  traditional clothing was always beautiful.

So that's pretty much all there is to it.  Lot's of food, people, music, and photos.  I do have one curious anecdote following the wedding.  A few weeks later, I was visiting the neighborhood again and I met the couple on the street.  After greeting me, the bride asked to touch my nose.  I was a bit baffled by the request, but I don't really have a personal bubble, so I didn't mind.  My friend explained afterward that if a mother wants her child to have a certain aspect of someone she knows, she'll want some sort of interaction with that person.  Maybe she'll get a picture with them, or touch the part of the body that she likes.  In this case, the bride wanted her future child to have a nose like mine.  (Apparently a lot of Indonesians enjoy the sharp noses of Westerners.) 

There's so much more I can talk about, but this thing is long enough as it is.  If you have any thoughts on my ponderings about American Culture, leave a comment! Sampai jumba!