fifteen -- what isn't said, tells more

cross-posted at the GIEU Indonesia blog --

look, that's me (right) and jill drinkin' some es soda gembira,
or "happy soda," in Bali. it's a picture from the beginning of the trip, but one
of the very few i was able to upload when we had slightly faster internet in yogya.
okay. agustini said we lacked pictures on the blog. there's the picture. :)

Oh, hey there, dedicated blog reader. After a week or so in Yogya and a 25-hour, roach-infested bus ride, Team Indonesia is back in Bali. As much as Yogya had to offer with its city scene, returning to an island where the culture is integral and very visible in the workings of daily life. (It also helps that Bali is much cooler than Java. And Bali is in the high eighties. I'm not even joking.)

We checked out the pesraman of the Pengosekan village today. Basically, it's a once a week, compulsory culture school for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in the area. The costs are covered by the village fund, and the children are even provided some clothing and snacks. "What's the purpose of this culture school? What do they do, Nina?" Hold on, hold on -- I'm getting there! The pesraman teaches Balinese traditions; things like weaving boxes for rice offerings, learning the Balinese language, practicing yoga, and learning particular arts such as gammelan music and Balinese dance. It's usually held on Saturdays, so that's why we were able to visit and observe those fidgety youngsters at class. (Once again, we donned our sarongs for the occasion.)

The pesraman in this village follow a basic, established curriculum. Pengosekan's pesraman, according to the village leader we spoke with this morning, did not exist until 2005. In all honesty, I was taken back by this fact. Why didn't the Balinese in the Ubud have this before to share the complicated Hindu traditions in Bali with their children? The village leader, the Bendesa Adat Pengosekan, said that they really haven't seen tourism industry pull away older children from traditions as the children find jobs in hotels. "They still can go to the temple by themselves," Agustini translated to us. "A job doesn't mean they have to give up their traditions."

Sure, I'll buy that, but the independent twenty-year-old working in a hotel doesn't have the social structure -- the cranky grandpa, the jovial aunt, the stern mother -- to keep them involved in tradition. Again, I was amazed at how new the pesraman culture program was. It makes me think about how the culture on this island has evolved. In the past, the extended family was enough to teach and maintain traditions; now, they have a school to help share these valuable aspects of the culture. If anything, it illuminates that with the onrush of industrialization and tourism, there has been an impact on the people's ties to their culture in the modern world.

Food for thought. Just mull over that one for a while.

Peace, love --
Nina

fourteen -- back in bali

Ah, yes. I've survived that horrendous roach-infested twenty-four hour ride back to Bali. The seats were comfortable and there was plenty leg space, but that does not make up for this strange crick in my neck that has yet to disappear or erase the nasty bathroom smell from my memory. (We did yell at those who dared to use it.) Really, it's good to be back in Bali. I enjoy the lushness and narrow streets... I enjoy not being perpetually stared at (because there are other tourists here!). All in all, I feel much more at home in Bali. In the next few days, though, I think I'll invest in a massage -- they are fairly reasonable here -- to work out all the kinks I've developed in the last few days... in addition to my pre-existing combination of knots and tension.

The highlight of the morning was calling the family from the next-door internet cafe. It was just really nice to hear your voices, Ma, Baba, and Mishti! It really made me feel more invigorated and cheerful about my stay here. This time, I'm rooming with Meghan. That's the good thing about the room assignments thus far, I think... it helps us know people we wouldn't otherwise.

After showering off the grossness of that 24 hour drive, we went back to Mangga Madu for lunch (mie goreng, es soda gembira). I, along with a few others, walked up a different directino on the street. I mean, I'm going to be here for another two weeks, so I am in no hurry to spend my money, but I did cave in and buy a pretty blue-and-silver pashmina shawl for $8.50 USD. (Yes, yes, I did bargain it down.) Afterward, I snacked on the peanut butter cookies Mom had made for me and read a little bit. Currently I'm reading two books relating to India: Freedom at Midnight and The White Tiger. I love the first one -- it's super intense -- but I'm not far enough into the second one to make up my mind.

Soon we'll be going to dinner... and I really don't know our schedule for the rest of the week. Oh well! more updates soon!

thirteen -- struggling

After returning to my homestay after we met with the Regent of Bantul, I finally made progress with winning my Indonesian man for the trip: Abil, the baby in our homestay. It was awesome. I crashed in bed around six, sleeping through dinner with the family and waking up thoroughly miserable. The desk fan keeps me cool, but doesn't pump enough air to my whole body. Consequence? Waking up sweaty and bugbitten. All I wanted to do was take a shower at that point, but the Ibu roped me into dinner. Though I did have the most delicious papaya I have ever eaten, I could muster enough energy to eat much food.

It's at the point of the trip where I feel like crap and am struggling. I just want to be home in my own bedroom (still messy from moving all my stuff back), relaxing by myself, walking and exercising every day before doing anything else. It's little stupid things I miss, like having cereal for breakfast and real orange juice with pulp. As much as Indonesian dishes have some similarity to Indian food, I miss Ma's luchi and cholar daal, or just daal in general. (I miss her amazing pastas and sandwiches too.)

I think I really need to find a landline from which I can use my calling card so I can at least briefly call home. Strangely enough, though I didn't go home often this last semester, I was in touch with someone at least every other day about something. Maybe white water rafting tomorrow will be enough to keep my mind off of these things. I'm in Indonesia, after all, and should be living in the moment here, and not lett my sudden tiredness bother me.

Anyway, I'll go back to watching Jhalak Dikhalaja -- Prabhu Deva is a judge on Saturday's episode and he is one genius dancer.

A little sadly, Nina.

twelve -- sensory overload

Again, so much happened today, but I don't have time to talk about it all.. A few miscellaneous things...

CHECK OUT my pictures from Friday, at the King's Cemetery and the beach! Indian Ocean, whoo!

Nina's Meals Today (since I talk about it so much anyway..)

• Breakfast: the potol vegetables, rice, cup of Good Day chococcino, the spicy red fried soy bean bits
• Snack at the mountain village: Taro, cassava, fried sweet potato, corn, hot tea, boiled banana, peanuts. It was a huge spread and absolutely gracious on the part of the villagers. See, the reservoirs for the Rotary project was in the mountains. We thought the brakes would die!
  
• Lunch: at a place similar to where Agustini and Heri went to their first big dinner together -- you could catch your dinner! I had mie goreng ayam (literally, noodle fried chicken) and es kopi susu jahe (ice coffee milk ginger). We had said lunch very later, around 3:30. Noted events? Avery and Stephen went to the live music band and sang "Killing Me Softly" and the Titanic song. Classic! We later went on a wooden raft in the small pond.
• Dinner: was delicious. We had soto, which is soup. In this soup was lettuce, chicken, crispy stuff, sprouts, chili sauce, lime. Wonderful. The soup was accompanied by fried patwan (corn) patty -- I think I got the translation right! The Ibu had a very awesome orange for me. Oranges here are strange - they have a green peel! Anyway, all four of us (Ibu, Sonny, Aida, and I) ate together. We chatted about what cafes (clubs) I would go to tonight with the group, motorcycles, Starbucks, and driving exams in the U.S. Not quite sure if they understood everything I said, but...

Nina's Bahasa Indonesia Grab Bag

• patwan (silent t?): corn
• Saya suka ini!: I like this!
• sangat (ng nasal) maniis: very sweet
• be mana: where
  
• chappai?: tired?

Time for me to go! I have to do something with my hair and maybe so make-up before I go out... We have our host family's permission, as well as Agustini's, to take the cars to check out the Yogya nightlife. No worries, we are getting rides home!

eleven -- bonding! (with my ibu!)

There's a lot I can talk about but I really don't have a lot of time. I've been watching Jhalak Dikhlaja (Dancing With the Stars) really slowly over the last two hours on the connection in the internet cafe. (Which, by the way, is really amazing and I can't wait to watch the finale when I get home. Because of Baichung Bhutia, I just may have to start watching football....) Computers here don't seem to like photos or videos, yikes. And it doesn't help that I'm only used to doing fifty things at once on the computer.

This evening was amazing.

Amazing in that I really talked (in broken English and Indonesian) to my Ibu. (Ibu is like "Mrs."). I told her about what we are doing tomorrow, what I purchased at the Batik store today. I asked her how she was, where Sonny and Aida went (to the mosque?), if Abi was sleeping. We ate dinner together and it was a delicious spread. First, there was some vegetable thing that looked strangely like potol which I had with rice -- Ma, this doesn't mean I'll eat potol at home! There was this delicious mie goreng (fried rice) with some chicken in it, but I'm not sure what part of the chicken I was eating... Regardless, it was delicious with the hot sauce. As usual, there was tempeh (a soybean patty that I don't have a taste for yet). Most surprisingly I ate fish-fish. Meaning something that wasn't salmon. Ibu couldn't remember the English name, but in bahasa Indonesia it is call pitang (or pintang?). It was... surprisingly delicious and not too many bones.

The Ibu taught me how to eat dinner Indonesian style; this was much harder than I thought. You hold the fork in the left hand and spoon in the right. Once in place, you use your fork to scoop whatever food into your spoon and then eat it. I tried it, and of course took too many noodles... thus looking absolutely ridiculous. Ibu was very amused at my attempts. After dinner, she offered starfruit, but I didn't know how to peel it. Even more amused now, she peeled it for me and taught me how to eat because I had never tried it before -- only Mishti ate starfruit at home. It was sour-sweet, which was very interesting. Anyway, it was just really good to be communicating.

few notes:

• tried serabi Solo, a sweet dish of this rice powder-milk-chocolate combination on a thin, sweet dosa-thin pastry. Delicious. (Wow, I only seem to talk about food here. SO GOOD.)
• We might hit the Indonesian night scene tomorrow night! A few more host parents have agree to let the students go out "so late." (Things end early here.)
• Ma + Mishti --> I bought three pretty Batik fabrics here. Once I get back, we can each pick one out and have kurtis or salwar tops made when we could to India. (I didn't want to buy you guys something that wouldn't fit or you wouldn't like.)
• Dad --> You're still very difficult to shop for, but I have an idea or two!

Gotta run home! Love.

ten -- a whirlwind, a whirlwind

I never thought I would say this, but I am absolutely freezing right now. It's Yogyakarta, usually in the high eighties, and I am freezing in a slick internet cafe. This has to be the most chic, cheap internet cafe I have ever been in (.40 USD an hour? This is cheaper than the crappy computer in Bali). I have my own cubicle with a leather chair. I think there is a webcam too, but I'm not sure how to turn it on... otherwise I'd be sending people videos right now. The internet cafe is literally a minute away from my homestay.

Oh, right! I moved into a homestay yesterday from the group hotel we have been sharing since last Friday. It's with a very grandma-like woman and her son, daughter-in-law, and baby grandson. Initially, I was feeling very dour and depressed about my homestay last night. It wasn't that I didn't like Ba'Ulung (I think that I got the spelling, maybe....?) -- she is an ever-smiling sweet lady. Unfortunately her English is broken and there is a language barrier. I pretty much ran out of conversation in forty minutes (apparently I lasted the longest compared to the rest of the gang) and retreated to my room for the hour and a half to sleep fitfully and worry about how I'd get through the next week. After dinner, however, I met Sonny and Aida -- the Ibu's son and daughter-in-law. Both speak little English, but more than the Ibu. I found them to be so sweet and very earnest to talk and make sure I am comfortable. Sonny has some sort of injury or disability in his leg, it seems, but he is full of smiles. (Today, I signed their guestbook. Homestays are an additional source of income for the family, like with most of the other homestays people are with.) Anyway, though feeling a only a little more relieved, I retreated to my room again to read a chapter of Freedom at Midnight.

Freedom at Midnight is a book about the process and drama leading to India's division into India and Pakistan. It reads like a novel, though it's been heavily researched. I can't read too much of the book at once because it's just really intense reading. Reading has been a bright side of this trip... I usually don't get to read a lot until the summer and now I am on my fourth book of the summer. (White Tiger by Arvind Adiga is next on my list.. I hope to borrow it from Hannah.)

My room is pretty spartan, but comfortable. They have their almirah, a large writing desk, desk lamp, twin bed, clothes drying rack, and desk fan to keep me cool. I am pretty content, especially since there is a western toilet. (Not that I can't handle squatting -- going to the bathroom is much less stressful with a regular toilet.) In the morning, I woke up around six, but since they said breakfast was at seven, I lingered in my room for a half hour only to find everyone already up and ready to eat. I felt kind of terrible for holding them back, especially since I was in my pjs and hadn't brushed my teeth yet. I'm going to get up earlier tomorrow.

They have me sit at the head of the table which in itself makes me uncomfortable. Then there is a full set of silverware -- do I even know how to use them all? We have fried chicken, vegetables, rice, and tempeh. Everything for some reason is very salty. Thank god for the instant choccocino coffee (delicious) to balance it. I was even more reluctant to eat both breakfast and dinner with the family. I also noticed that they gave me the best piece of chicken with the most meat... such niceness makes me uncomfortable and like a burden. Seeing Aida putting on her hijab before going to work affirmed my belief that they were Muslim (I didn't know they were practicing). She is a very pretty and petite young mother who works in a junior high school. Sonny works in some sort of security and says he enjoys his job. :)

Afterward, I sat on the bench in their front garden, watching the school children run past for gym class. I wrote in my journal and enjoyed the pleasant weather associated with 8:00 in the morning. Abi, the baby, woke up and was playing with the servant and the sweeping lady. It took him a while to get used to me, but I think he likes me? I haven't held him yet. Maybe tomorrow. He has the biggest eyes in the world and just loves to talk in his baby babble. (Funny story. He isn't in a diaper, so at one point he just peed on the carpet. It was a little amusing since he had the most innocent, unaware look on his face. "Oh, pee, whatever.") I think that child is the saving grace to my experience because I've been looking at all of the family's baby albums and such. SO CUTE.

Today we went to Imogiri, the king's cemetary. There were about a thousand steps to the top. I got a little ill on the way up... and sat down with Ashley and Mas Bambang, our princely guide in the Solo compound. Let me explain. Mas (like "Mr.") Bambang is from the Kingdom of Solo an hour away. His grandfather had 42 wives and sixty-some children. (Explains why that throne is so contested, right?) Anyway, Mas Bambang is pretty much royalty but you couldn't tell. He loves to laugh, is mischeivous, and takes very good care of us. Tomorrow we're going to Solo to check out the palace there and look at some more Batik stuff. On one side of this place, there was a courtyard specifically for his family -- his family was buried there. You only can go up to the graves if you wear Javanese dress (there was a dressing room and such... royal guards were sitting around too!). It was a beautiful view from the stairs.

Then we went to the best part of the day - the beach! The beach was completely empty when we reached there. The surrounding village seemed like a deserted beachtown too, but there were lots of little kids running around. The sand was all right but the waves were gorgeous... the cliffs were beautiful too and you could see the rice paddy terraces. We weren't supposed to swim in the water, but we dipped into the Indian Ocean (or a part of it?). I didn't have my suit with me and just went in clothes in. Meaning, I had a long shirt, and took of my capris and went in. Bad idea, because a group of icky Indonesian men gathered to watch all of us in the water. Wonderful... And Ma Agustini was on the shore fretting that we'd drown. Again, bad idea, since nothing more miserable than driving home wet and sandy. But the water was so gorgeous and the weather too... It was just so expansive and one with everything. Carolyn put it well: we seemed to be at the end of the earth.

Dinner made me feel better about my homestay for sure. They took care of my laundry and got some of the terrible stain on my pants from my shoulder bag's dye out... sweet. After washing out the black sand, I ate with them. Again sitting at the head of the table and with many utensils. The food was delicious. We had amazing green bean-chili-collard greens/spinach(?) vegetables, rice, peanut crackers, small fried baby fish, and the best noodles ever. The noodles had some small cooked bird egg. Really delicious, but it seemed like a delicacy. After dinner, they showed me Abi's albums, had me signed the guest book, and insured that I will be back to the house by 10. (I have an early morning tomorrow... We leave at 7:30/8.)

Just some random thoughts and reflections? I hate language barriers. It reminds me when I was in India with Nani and Mishti and I being unable to understand or reply to her. (Which, in turn, made me want to avoid her so I wouldn't feel embarrassed or like a terrible granddaughter.) Here, I initally felt the lot of the same, but it really isn't so bad. We had a good conversation over dinner. It's just that so much more could have been said if I understood and could speak bahasa Indonesia.

Also, I'm having trouble with my right contact, even after they rechecked the power before I left. Did I put a wrong one in...? Either way, things are blurry and I won't be able to tell if things are genuinely blurry until I get back home. At Ma's suggestion I took my last pair of my old set of contacts... and that's really all I have left after this set, yikes! I've been wearing my contacts every day too..

What else? Nothing much else. It's been raining occasionally and cooling off the city. (Agustini and Charley before we left: Oh! You don't need an umbrella or anything! .... So much for that!)

Maybe I'll come back here in a few days to attempt to upload some pictures. Right, I'll be writing some emails!

Peace, love, and stay in touch!

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.)