nine -- music

A few housekeeping things. I'm sorry not to have written much about our stay in Yogyakarta -- it's been a combination of blogging and journalling for me thus far, and lately I have been journalling. Our group has finally started our blog... This blog is the project we will present once the school year begins and it chronicles our impressions of the day. Do read it! It'll give you an idea about what we're learning and share different perspectives from other students. 

In addition, I have uploaded a few of my pictures on photobucket. The internet connections can't handle all 500+ pictures I have taken thus far... So what's on photobucket is an assortment of pictures from Bali and some from Java (but not all my pictures from Bali or Java, sigh). I'll try to add more as I find time.

Okay. Today was really all about music, even though we returned to Yayasan Gaia, the street children education scholarship NGO and to the Ombudsmen office for interviews. In the morning, our very helpful guide Mas Bambang (spelling?) who is actually royalty from the nearby area of Solo, taught us some Javanese gammelan to the whole group. It was a very basic pattern he taught but it was a lot of fun to play the cool percussion instruments we always watch being played. (Actually, there's a gammelan group playing outside the hotel right now and I can hear it from the room I'm typing. It's kind of soothing, which is surprising with all those xylophone-like percussion instruments.)

Then, as we returned to the hotel later in the afternoon, we saw a bunch of people with cello cases mingling outside. My friend Ashley inquired what time they'd be playing/practicing... We ate dinner, had discussion, and could faintly hear the string players.  Of course, we had to investigate. We turned the corner to the other side of the hotel compound and went up the stairs. There was an awesome space up there with this full string orchestra playing Indonesian-composed music. It conjured up black and white films. Really, it was so beautiful in how they were in so much control of dynamic. Everyone seemed to play with feeling and it was really amazing.  They seemed pretty happy to see us there! We just sat up there and watched. 

At that point, we met a lady name Maria, who explained they were practicing for an event that would be at the hotel on Friday -- she encouraged us to attend and join the party afterwards. (We bothered Agustini a little bit and she agreed to let us come here and check it out.) At one point, when they were on break, we met two of them - Balung and Ari (I think?). Agustini later told me that Ari sent his regards to me which was kind of funny. Sorry, Ari! I have someone at home! Haha. Anyway, just being near such great, soulful music was really nice. We culminated the day with a nice swim, though now I feel dry and itchy.

Tomorrow we are visiting a Rotary project that involves farming methods and microfinance. Pretty exciting! Peace, love...!

eight -- a little review

It's difficult, getting used to the heat. It wraps around you and suffocates you slowly. This morning, visiting Borobudur (Buddhist temple) and Prambhanan (Hindu temple), we were drowning in our own sweat. The perpetual transfer from the freezing car to the baking outside, I'm getting some headaches and congestion. It's all worth the experience though; Borobudur had a gorgeous view of the mountains and Prambhanan was just visually astounding, even though it was near the epicenter of the 2006 earthquake.

We ended our second tour earlier than the schedule, so we were able to go back to the hotel and rinse of the sweat of the day. The hotel is lovely and, well, pretty close to paradise. GIEU has taken over the entire hotel! We have little guesthouses with gorgeous dark furniture, air conditioning, white bedding, and beautiful outdoor showers. The pool is beautiful too; the pool overlooks the surrounding rice paddies. Overall, very zen, very gorgeous.

Tonight we are going to see the Ramayana ballet in front of th Prmbhanan temple. I'm very excited because, you know, it's one of my favorite stories. I just love it and I'm excited for the Indonesian production of this story. My camera is charging right now, so I hope I can take some pictures.... (It died earlier right between Borobudur and the mini-Buddhist temple called Mendut with the giant Buddhas.)

One of the most striking experiences was yesterday, just wandering the street with Jill, Ashley, Hannah, and Stephen. We didn't stick to the main road in Tembi, instead turning into a lovely tiny Muslim village. All the inhabitants would come up to their house gates and just look at us. When we'd smile and greet them with "selamat sore!" they immediately open up and wave. We also saw a Muslim graveyard; it was interesting. We also ran into an Australian guy from Jakarta who told us how this area was one of the hardest hit from the earthquake and were still rebuilding. All in all, seeing this small, open community was great. (Also, a lady called out "anda dari mana!?" and I recognized what she said and replied, "America!" Am proud of myself!)

There is so much more I can say, but I have to go eat dinner now! Love.

seven -- you like barack, but what are you CHANGING?

a view from the room in Bali

Okay. Wow. Last post was a book. See, it's so hard for me to write this fast in my journal, so I do prefer typing, will not lie. This is going to be a delayed post; I have go to dinner shortly and won't be able to finish before I leave. And I do have to come back to finish my internship application, ahhh! (Or maybe it isn't meant to be? I've discovered that in Bali, so many coincidences can occur in such a short time, things have to be fated.)

Many things happened today: finally learning about what we are doing here (important, right?), talking to a lady from a maternal health clinic NGO, eating more good food, and trooping to the Monkey Forest. I really want to focus on the first two things, since Jill in her blog really covers some of the interesting animal experiences of the day -- so I recommend you read that highly entertaining post. Basically, the monkeys in the park are not afraid of big groups and will take you on. Oh, they will.

one hour and a half later--

Ah, we went to the same place we had lunch today for dinn: Mangga Madu (Mango Honey). It was yummy, surprise surprise! Agustini and Bat Danu (got the spelling!) are really trying to take us to authentic places. I had Tuna kala something something for lunch and Mie Goreng (delish fried noodles) for dinner. Ordering the tuna for me was a big step since fish usually makes me nauseous. And really, as someone in the group put it, GIEU is all about experience overload punctuated by good food. No joke.

GIEU, for people who want to know why I am here, is called the Global Intercultural Experiences for Undergraduates. Every year, it has about 14 field sites in different countries to expose students to a new culture and bring that awareness back to campus. GIEU is a paid volunteer-internship which helps offset the cost of the trip and is plain awesome. Each field site is led by a prof and student fellow (someone who went before) and there is a sort theme to the site. We're going compile our experiences and interviews (the format of our own trip) into a blog. I think we'll start it once we go to Yogyakarta on the island of Java. We leave for Yogya tomorrow morning, reach in the afternoon, and spend our next two weeks there. I'm excited; our whole gang of 15-16 will take up the whole hotel.. and there is a swimming pool. GIEU takeover!

Ebu Jane (I think that was her name?), a fundraising director from the Bumi Sehat maternal health clinic, came to talk with us and arrange an opportunit once we return to Bali. They really emphasize breast-feeding and waiting to cut the umbilical cord (to allow blood flow). It subscribes to something called gentle birth. Bumi Sehat was started by Robin Lym, a midwife from the US who, upon coming to Bali, ended up having her child not in the hospital because there was really no one around to help her deliver. Having survived without losing much blood (a main cause of death for Balinese women delivering), Robin started being called to rurual areas to help deliver babies. It was transformed into this non-governmental, non-profit organization that gets funding from different Rotaries, Direct Relief, and other foreign donors.

EJ (to shorten it for typing) said that they have seen a correlation between nutrition and this mother mortality rate. In the 70's new generation rice (genetically modified stuff, apparently) was introduced and took off as a main export over the more nutritious indigeneous Balinese rice. This rice isn't very nutritious at all but is unfortunately very cheap and easy to get. Also, lot of Asians like that polished (white) rice over the red and brown rices. Bumi Sehat encourages diets of red rice (local stuff!), breast-feeding, red rice milk over the formula milk, and other stuff. They are staffed by a few doctors and many midwifes.

Interesting Things!

• According to EJ, corruption rampant in hospitals. Doctors mostly subscribe to the clamp and cut route and at the nudging of formula companies, order these poor families to put their baby on formula... which makes the baby sick (especially from China!) and go back to the doctor. Way to keep making money! Also, C-sections make more money soooo... natural births are kinda discouraged.
• They have had some luck with few select doctors with trying gentle births (i.e. water births, natural births, let the umbilical cord fall after 2-3 days). Well, they've had more success with doc's letting Bumi Sehat come in and discourage formula and encourage a healthy diet
• Can't pay the hospital or midwife? Can't leave hospital or you can't have your baby in some cases!
  
• Lotus birth: umbili. cord falls away naturally - the placenta is like kept in a bucket of water. EJ said this fits well in the Balinese culture where the placenta is buried outiside the front door as buryin your four spirit brothers (I think). Also, that's how you get birthday cake! Celebrating your placenta every year!
• Cool Indonesian Law: Companies must have breast feeding stations. Breast feeding is for sure allowed for six months and a bit into the future. Awesome. There is no resistance to breast feeding here. Wonder if the fact mostly women work adds to this...
• Bad Indonesian Law: Nat'l healthcare/poverty program for the poor nixed.

notable quotable: When people as me about poverty and the issue of maternal health, I say that the health of the woman affects the livelihood of the family, of the extended family, of the province, of the island, of the country.

Not going to lie, I went crazy with questions. I asked if there are efforts to change the curriculum for doctors - I mean, if you start the change bottom-up, especially if these are impressionable students, the doctors they turn into will also be better. And isn't that the main problem? Hospitals have doctors with the inappropriate mindset. Start re-educating them. I don't think she understood what I meant... saying, "Oh, changing national protocols is too difficult and not all students want to into OB/GYN as their specialty." Sigh.

They really admire Barack here - I mean, he did live in Indonesia in his childhood. The like the ideas of change... EJ even commented on that. On the same note, she said advocacy is not the way to attack the issue. Now that I don't understand. I know you have be careful in how you criticize the hospital system, but I don't understand how working with the system will change the system. Changing a few doctors at time isn't the solution. But then again, I'm just an overly impassioned college student writing about this...

Another question not properly answered. If you want people eat red rice, shouldn't the export ban be lifted? People abroad love the stuff. Right now it doesn't seem like there is an incentive to grow the rice (AKA MONEY), regardless of the fact people aren't fond of the taste here. And because not many people grow it, it's expensive even though it is nutritious. Anyway... that's my few thoughts on that.

When we return to Bali, we are going to Bumi Sehat to help with an english lesson for the staff and then check out some of the birthing and allopathic programs. Also, EJ really enlightened me to the connection between agriculture, the organic movement, and maternal health. She suggested an organic farm to visit so we are going to do that too! (Agustini has given Guste a homework list of stuff to take care of by the time we get back.)

Later in the day, our whole group went to the Monkey Forest, where there tons and bunches of Balinese macaques everywhere. NOT JOKING. Really. And as I mentioned earlier, they aren't afraid of humans. Even though we were in a huge group... After the monkey nearly jumped Stephen for the banana and Jill's spider-water bottle was taken, we were seriously on edge. Because Jill's blog post covers this part of the trip well, I'll just say it was cute to see this little dog in the woods literally play with a monkey. Also, the baby monkeys with their mommies was pretty dang adorable. We did look very touristy snapping pictures at monkeys as a whole mob. Too funny.

Anyway, I must finish this internship application and pack for Yogya. Peace out and much love.

Nina's Indonesian Vocab Grab Bag

• nasi: rice
• mie: noodles
• ayam: chicken
• kare: curry
• goreng: fried
• selamat detang: welcome (as in 'welcome to bali!')
• nama anda siapa?: what is your name?

six -- blame it on the sa-sa-sa-sarong

Some of you may be familiar with the song "Blame it on the A-A-A-Alcohol." Clever Jill (our student fellow and my roommate) came up with this clever ditty that is the post's title as we, the sweaty and tired GIEU students, stumbled in our sarongs back to the temple. More on that soon. Right now, it's May 14, in the early evening, but this update is about yesterday. I rather not overwhelm you all with one intensely long post. (Look how considerate I am.)

Unfortunately, this computer is stripped of its USB port soooo -- no pictures for now. But I promise they'll be up, on flickr/snapfish/something and facebook. No worries.

By yesterday morning, most of the gang had touched down in Denpasar, Bali with only four more left to come in. There was a little problem -- though everyone landed on the 13th, it was at like 12 AM. Agustini had booked their rooms for the 13th but check-in, of course, was at 9 AM. So we managed to get two more rooms and two girls went to Badanu's gorgeous guest house a few minutes away for the night. I literally slept like a rock. See, the weather isn't that bad because things cool down a bit at night and with the fan, things are comfortable. Anyway, we got up, checked out the other's rooms and meandered the streets. A small group of us walked all the way to the nearby Monkey Forest, but we had to return because we had to again pick people up from the airport. We now have Badanu's van that holds 6-7 people and what reminds me of a party bus, which holds 11, driver included.

Meaghan and Avery (and their 3-4 pieces of baggage, teehee) came in around noon, I'd say. We all trooped to a diner somewhere in Denpasar that specialized in East Javanese food. We ordered Ayam Pechak , which is fried chicken with this spicy sauce, and some fish and vegetables. I'm a little averse to fish, so I had the chicken. Chickens here aren't as plump as American chickens (Say in a Dubya accent, "I'm American, I like my chickens big!"). Regardless, it was yum -- tasted like fried smelt almost? My favorite part however was Soda Gembira, or Happy Soda!!!

Happy Soda, recommended by Agustini, is a combination of flavored syrup, milk, and soda water. You have to mix it when you get it and it looks like this pink fizzy mix when done so. Jill and I shared it and it was fabulous.... (we were initially skeptical of the combination)

Back to the airport... again. (for Jill and I, the fourth time!) This time for Betsy and Hannah. Betsy landed fine, but Hannah came out 1.5 hours after she landed. In that time, we were all freaking out, thinking she was lost, her luggage stolen, kidnapped... haha. But it was just long lines that held her back. We immediately shipped off to the very nice sarong store.

At Guste's suggestion (our thirty-year-old, gammelan-playing, absolutely sweet guide), Agustini negotiated a 50% discount on the sarongs (which can be worn like skirts or dresses). See, Badanu and Guste were taking us to their temple's anniversary ceremony (celebrated every six months) and to enter, we needed to wear proper attire. I purchased a purple sarong with white and teal flowers (which thankfully match a shirt I own) and a matching teal scarf to tie it. My was sewn at the ends so I can't do anything creative with it.. That's okay, I love the design. The boys also had to get a special scarf to tie around their heads.

We stopped briefly at the guest house -- all sweaty and tired from standing in the airport for hours -- and changed, then driving off to the temple.* It was separated in two compounds. In the first compound, everyone was sitting and praying, while waiting for the priest to arrive. When the priest arrived, they would move to the other compound. One of the ridiculous antiquated Hindu rules here is that women on their periods can't enter the temple. Kellie, so sweet and awesome, was just honest enough to admit it and had to stay back. I felt terrible for her. I think it sucks that such rules still exist... It's not impure, but a natural part of a woman's life for goodness sake!

*funny/weird side story: Jill had fried chicken in a box on the table near the open window in the room... When Karen and I went there, the fried chicken was outside of the box. So strange!

(Oh, note: J and I are coming up with euphemisms for swear words since that's frowned upon... Mother of Pearl! and Oh Snap! are ones we have thought of thus far. haha.)

Anyway, the rest of us trouped into the temple compound. Everyone, dressed in their sarongs, sat on their knees in rows to receive the holy water and rice, administered by two young girls. It reminds me our own pujas at home, but it was interesting to see how Hindu rituals differ here. I went to end of the line to get some holy water and the ladies there were really understanding and helped me out. You get the water three-four times, sip it and put the rest on your head. Then you take rice from the pan, put it in the water and put the few pieces of rice on the middle of your forehead. Sitting there was a little awkward because there was no on there to explain what was going on to us.. Agustini isn't Hindu and familiar with all the Balinese traditions.

From there we went to the other compound to watch the musicians from the Cudamani Group play gammelan music (all religious ceremonies require that, Guste said. He started learning from age 10). Guste was on this sit-down xylophone looking instruments hit with hammers and Badanu played a flute. It's literally this massive band of JUST MEN. (the only woman on stage was Susan, an exchange student to Cudamani who is studying gammelan. She just chilled and smoked with the rest of the musicians.) Anyway, live gammelan sound SO MUCH BETTER than CD recordings. All the instruments are shiny and gold and it was gorg. Anyway, I'll show the pictures when I can upload them!

We just kind of waited around for a while. The priest was taking his lovely time in coming and people were just getting exhausted (mind you, they were just getting used to the time change). We decided to eat some dinner and then split off. This time, we hit up this hole in the wall roadside place with small tables and plastic stools. It smelled divine though, and it was. Simple but delicious. I had Nasi Goreng which means fried rice. Interestingly, it also had a little meat in it... well, the interesting part is that pretty much everything here has meat in it. Even the vegetables people had. In the supermarket today we noticed chicken-flavored chips. Vegetarians, beware of Bali!

I, and a few others, stayed at the temple since the ceremony had started while we ate. It was in the compound where the gammelan had played. A Balinese act was going on and the actor had this really elaborate outfit. (Couldn't understand, though. Balinese is its own language and Agustini doesn't understand that well...) With Badanu's gracious help we saw the meditating high priest who was totaly decked out. After meditation, the main portion of the ceremony would begin. Again, we tired quickly (long day!) and soon left. As we were leaving, we stopped to watch Cudamani Group's Balinese dancing going on in the outside pavilion, accompanied by gammelan. It was great. They wear such amazing silks, elaborate hairdos, and dance with such emphatic shoulder movements and wide wide eyes. Again, my pictures will be uploaded eventually..

Came back to the guesthouse (The Ganesha Guesthouse!) and promptly fell asleep. I felt really sticky though... maybe I should start off the Balinese way and shower 2-3 times a day!

Peace, love, and check out the next post!

five -- selamat pagi!

Selamat pagi! That means "good morning" in bahasa Indonesia. Yes, yes, I did make it here safely... on day two of staying here in Bali. It's amazing. I can't do a very long update because we have to bounce and do some exploring, but here are some highlights.

• Have you read Eat, Pray, Love? Remember Ketut Liyer, the medicine man? Well, we're staying in Ubud where he is from! Jill and I passed a house with that name and our driver Badanu (sp?) confirmed that it was him. We were uber geeked. Better yet, he is one of the homestays so we got to check the place out with our site leader Agustini. SO YEAH. I met Ketut Liyer! He is a sweet old guy. We read to him from the book because he can't read English and then he read Jill's palm, neck, and knee. I'll get that done when we go back... cause guess what? Jill and I will be staying with him for our homestay! BALLER!
• Had TehBotol from a roadstand on the way to the airport for the millionth time.. It's "tea in a bottle." Cold, very sweet, with a hint of chocolate taste.
  
• Today we are buying a sarong to wear to the temple ceremony held near the Cudamani Music Group. Everyone in Bali has a skill and each village is themed by a handicraft. (Stone carving, music, etc). Bali is primarily Hindu so there are many stone Ganeshas and those symbols around. Exciting!
• From our guesthouse which I am sharing with Jill and Karen, we can see this beautiful garden outside our porch.. There is also a rice paddy beyond the fence and a mynah bird that wakes us up in the morning with cat calls and greetings in other languages. Als a squirrel in a cage outside.
• We are in Bali for a few more days before heading to Yogyakarta on the island of Java
• $1 = 10,000 rupiah --> I got a better rate outside the airport though.

Gotta bounce, much love!

four -- bye?!

We're leaving for the airport in fifteen minutes. Gah. I just want to sleep... which I will, on the lovely car ride. The Sibling is up. This is of note. I never knew she should could up this early. (Or did she stay up this late? I am not sure.)

Anyway, the next time I post... I'll be in BALI!

three -- and what i will miss the most...

I went on a picture-taking spree on my walk today.

The flowering trees are blossoming and it is absolutely gorgeous.

What is it now? Four days? I've caved in and done most of my packing. By Friday, I hope all the loose ends will be tied up. Interesting fact: I'll be taking cash and my debit card with me. In Indonesia, however, they are very particular about things. They will only take $100 or $20 bills -- and crispy, new ones at that. $100 bills cannot be from 1996 or 1997... banks just won't exchange them even if it is real. Apparently there was a counterfeiting ring that had counterfeited those bills. Also, bills with series A, B, and a lot of the alphabet are not recommended. H and F series bills are suitable. Never thought a country would be so particular... But there is my random Indonesia fact, yup.

Since the days are winding down until I leave, I feel it would be appropriate for me to make a list of what I will from home... other than people, of course. Because I will miss my family and friends (that's all of YOU reading!) without a doubt. But hey, I lasted through a year of college.. a month should be a piece of cake. I hope.

• quiet: Unusual, but so true. I'm sure the traffic is going to be crazy. I know this is what surprised me coming back from India to the US.... it was so quiet here, even on the road. At the same time, I do love the noise -- there is a certain comfort in the hustle and bustle of the city. (Of course, we aren't going to be in the city the whole time.)
• milk: If I have to watch my water, my bets are that the milk would have to be boiled if I wanted to drink it too. That's what I missed in India as well.. My milk, dang it. Milk in India comes in sealed bags; I wonder what it comes in Indonesia?!
  
• laptop: Self-explanatory. As I mentioned earlier, my laptop is a beast of a thing and I don't really want to drag it with me to Indonesia. Still... the convenience of having a computer readily available without having to hit up an Internet cafe is going to suck.

Okay. This is a very lame, lame list. But it's a start, so stop judging. It's a ... "work in progress."

In my last post I gypped Chelsea with my lack of swimsuit details after devoting such space to my new Tevas. (And BTW: good job for using gypped versus jibbed. I am so proud of you. SO PROUD!) Anyway, I guess I used to be really picky with swimsuits so I stuck with a black one piece for forever and a day... except now it's showing some wear, meaning that I'd have to give in and get another one, as painful as the process would be. But surprisingly enough, it wasn't that bad.

It looks like the one to the left, except the top part is a sky blue and from under the chest onwards it's black. The suit not only ties around the neck, but ties around the back. (It's almost like a two-piece... that's a one-piece, what do you know?)

Okay. Now I feel extra lame for writing about a swimsuit. Whatever, though. It's late and I'm a bit bored.

Tomorrow I'll talk about the places we're going in Indonesia! (That'll force me to read about them, too! I love educational blupdates.)