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!