1. The Artwork
Indonesia is overflowing with artwork--from city-sponsored statues to graffiti. These works make Indonesia an extremely colorful and photogenic country
2. The Scenery
Every day, I wake up to beautiful mountains, dotted with red roofs and chiseled with rice paddies. At dawn and dusk everything turns a pinky-orange color that enhances the pastel-painted houses and black-and-white-checkered curbs. At night, Bandung lights up like a bowl full of fireflies.
3. The Indonesian Attitude
Indonesia has a very relaxed, upbeat, friendly attitude. If someone on the street offers help they genuinely want to help you. Instead of saying "yes" or "no" people say "already" and "not yet." It's a welcome change from American pessimism, especially in an area like Detroit.
4. J. Co
The Donut shop from heaven. Nowhere in the US have I tasted donuts as good as these fluffy, creamy ones with shiny liquid frosting. If you ever go to southeast Asia, I highly reccomend trying a donut or two.
5. Motorcycles
At first, I saw these as scary oppertunities to get buried in a foreign country, but now I see them as a fast, fun, fuel-efficient alternative to cars. Unfortunately, motorcycles just aren't as practical in the US where cars don't know how to handle having them around.
6. The Weather
85 degrees year-round, need I say more?
7. The Opportunities
Indonesia is the new land of opportunity. It's got a rapidly growing economy and the place just stinks of hope (and durian). For a native English speaker, it is incredibly easy to get a job, and for a tourist or resident, its an easy place to have fun.
8. The Malls
At the risk of sounding like a mall-rat in front of friends who have heard my rants about malls, I'd like to say I will genuinely miss the malls here. US malls are out of my price range, and have food courts that specialize in giving you food poisoning.Their only redeeming quality is the massage chairs in Brookstone. Malls in Indonesia, however, are more like streets taken inside. Most of them have little independent stores specializing in cool Korean clothing for less than 10 dollars per piece. They also have food courts worth skipping school to sample! Many a day I have left school craving a Belgian Waffle (or J. Co) from Bandung Indah Plaza. Last, There seems to be a different mall for each type of person: Paris Van Java for rich people, Bandung Electronic center for techies, Ciwalk for outdoors people, Bandung Trade Center for cheap, fashionable people, and Yogya Lucky Square for homesick Exchange Students from Detroit looking for a place in Indonesia as deserted as their hometown.
9. Indomie
Think Instant noodles are gross? I did too...until I tried Indomie. From beggars to Presiden Yudhoyono, everyone loves this snack that costs 15 cents a pack. They come several different flavors, all delicious. Good enough that I once ate a pack so fast it went up my nose.
10. Frozen Yogurt
By now you can tell I like food, but you might ask why I will miss something I can get in the US? Because Indonesian Frozen Yogurt is different--heavily fermented and sour. It's a refreshing break from sweet ice cream.
11. The Animals
Stray cats, geckos, monkeys, bats, frogs...it's great to live in an area with so many easy-to-catch animals that don't bite much. Each stray cat has its own personality, each gecko and frog has a funny story attached, and monkeys and bats are just cool :)
12. The Prices
Lunch: 50 cents
Clothing: <20 dollars
Phone bill: 2.50 dollars a month
All the fun you can get from shopping, eating and calling friends: priceless
The Friends
There are a lot of people here I will miss. You know who you are. I may not be able to take them home, but I will definitely take home all the memories I made with them :) (yes very cheesy)
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Sundanese Weddings
A small, quiet wedding is not something known to Indonesians. Weddings are a packed, glittering, and colorful. In Sunda, West Java, The Bride dresses in a Kebaya (a tight sheer-shirt covered in appliqués), and an elaborate headdress made of jewels. Everyone in the wedding party wears a batik sarungs. The Bride and groom walk out under an umbrella and sit at the front along with their parents. The parents then feed their children as a the last act as parents before they give up their children to their spouses. Next, an old, wise man leads the ceremony, and out comes a procession of fairies, peacocks, and warriors to help the new couple. The ceremony ends with photographs and the reception starts with guests lining up to thank and shake hands with the bride, groom and parents.
Sometimes, Western elements are added to the ceremony: the bride tosses a bouquet, a band plays "Fly me to the Moon" and of course there is a big, white wedding cake. At one ceremony, I was one of these western additions. One of my friends and his family were hired as the entertainment and they invited me along. When I arrived, I was shuffled into the dressing room where women in peacock and fairy costumes dressed me in a kebaya and the wedding singer did my hair. A little while later, I found myself sitting on a small stage singing in Sundanese. Some how they had convinced a girl known for her off-key, incomplete rendition of "the Star-spangled Banner" to sing in a language she knew 5 phrases in.
Later, the actual ceremony began. Our old, wise man was about 13 years old, yet his bent-over, wide stance and arm behind his back made him a believeable 70. By the end of the ceremony, I found my self getting a photo with the whole wedding party.
Sometimes, Western elements are added to the ceremony: the bride tosses a bouquet, a band plays "Fly me to the Moon" and of course there is a big, white wedding cake. At one ceremony, I was one of these western additions. One of my friends and his family were hired as the entertainment and they invited me along. When I arrived, I was shuffled into the dressing room where women in peacock and fairy costumes dressed me in a kebaya and the wedding singer did my hair. A little while later, I found myself sitting on a small stage singing in Sundanese. Some how they had convinced a girl known for her off-key, incomplete rendition of "the Star-spangled Banner" to sing in a language she knew 5 phrases in.
Later, the actual ceremony began. Our old, wise man was about 13 years old, yet his bent-over, wide stance and arm behind his back made him a believeable 70. By the end of the ceremony, I found my self getting a photo with the whole wedding party.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Eliza Gets Lost: the Remake
When I first arrived in Indonesia, the thought of getting lost scared the crap out of me.... especially the thought of getting lost in a big crowded city where I not only didn't know the language, but didn't even know how to cross the street without getting hit by a car. Now the sensation is at worst, annoyance, and at best, adventure.This Tuesday I, once again, took the wrong Angkot.
School ended early that day for one reason or another, and left me with three hours to spare before my driver could pick me up. Impatient, I took on a mission: get home on my own--by Angkot! While I knew the route to my old house down to each pot hole in the torn-up roads of Antapani neighborhood, I had yet to take Angkot to my new house. For the most part, I'd traded the bumps and heat of the Angkot clown-cars for comfort and conversation of my new host family's air-conditioned SUV manned by our driver, Pak Anto. I'd learned the route from Ricarda's family a few weeks before when we planned to visit my neighborhood (long story short we didn't really feel like taking Angkot, so when we found a free taxi we took the opportunity)--take the cream-colored Antapani-Ciroyom Angkot until you hit Istana Plaza (one of Bandung's many malls), then get on to the light-blue Stasion Sarijadi.
Everything goes as planned with Antapani--I get on, ride until I see a Sarijadi angkot, then yell "KIRI!!!" to stop it....except I didn't stop at Istana Plaza. Instead I stop at a fork in the road not knowing that some of the Sarijadi Angkots are going one way, and some are going the other. Inadvertently, I take the wrong direction. I end up in a strange neighborhood with a traditional-style market. On one side, I see people crowding to buy fruit, toys and t-shirts, on the other side I see one of the weirder things I've seen since I've lived in Indonesia: A wall of hair...or rather, hair extensions. The last time I'd seen a site like that was in an equally scary and crowded discount store in Texas.
Eventually, I make it to the Angkot station where I see at least 40 parked buses and at least 10 gawking Indonesians. I guess bules don't make to the Angkot station very often haha. There I changed buses to one going the right direction, where after 15 minutes, I found myself at my original intersection going the right direction. For 4000 Rupiah (approx. 40 cents), it was an adventure.
School ended early that day for one reason or another, and left me with three hours to spare before my driver could pick me up. Impatient, I took on a mission: get home on my own--by Angkot! While I knew the route to my old house down to each pot hole in the torn-up roads of Antapani neighborhood, I had yet to take Angkot to my new house. For the most part, I'd traded the bumps and heat of the Angkot clown-cars for comfort and conversation of my new host family's air-conditioned SUV manned by our driver, Pak Anto. I'd learned the route from Ricarda's family a few weeks before when we planned to visit my neighborhood (long story short we didn't really feel like taking Angkot, so when we found a free taxi we took the opportunity)--take the cream-colored Antapani-Ciroyom Angkot until you hit Istana Plaza (one of Bandung's many malls), then get on to the light-blue Stasion Sarijadi.
Everything goes as planned with Antapani--I get on, ride until I see a Sarijadi angkot, then yell "KIRI!!!" to stop it....except I didn't stop at Istana Plaza. Instead I stop at a fork in the road not knowing that some of the Sarijadi Angkots are going one way, and some are going the other. Inadvertently, I take the wrong direction. I end up in a strange neighborhood with a traditional-style market. On one side, I see people crowding to buy fruit, toys and t-shirts, on the other side I see one of the weirder things I've seen since I've lived in Indonesia: A wall of hair...or rather, hair extensions. The last time I'd seen a site like that was in an equally scary and crowded discount store in Texas.
Eventually, I make it to the Angkot station where I see at least 40 parked buses and at least 10 gawking Indonesians. I guess bules don't make to the Angkot station very often haha. There I changed buses to one going the right direction, where after 15 minutes, I found myself at my original intersection going the right direction. For 4000 Rupiah (approx. 40 cents), it was an adventure.
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