Kraton dan Teh Poci

Kaliurang

My family and I in Kraton

Traditional batik

Wayang kulit puppet

Yesterday I got the chance to visit the part of Yogya where the king lives, called Kraton. We hired two pedicabs to drive my host mom, sisters, and I around the area. First, we visited a small shop where there were two women making traditional batik fabric. Batik is made by a process of dying fabric with wax patterns, and it is very complicated. Almost all of the batik in stores around town nowadays are actually stamped on, because it is much faster and easier. Also, the batik that is available in the U.S. is very different from the batik here, which has much more detailed and often geometric patters. In the shop, we could watch the two women draw the batik pattern with black, heated wax on plain white fabric (before being dyed), and we also got to look at finished pieces. I bought a batik of Rama and Sinta- the Indonesian versions of Romeo and Juliet (but their story has a happy ending, I was told)- which were drawn in the style of the wayang kulit puppets.

Wayang kulit is a traditional "puppet show" where flat, leather figures are used to tell a mythological story. Usually they have shortened performances going on in Kraton, but they were closed the day we were there. Traditional shows start in the evening and go all night long, and I'm pretty sure they performed in some language other than Indonesian. Maybe Javanese. While in Kraton, however, we got to see how wayang kulit puppets were made. They start as pieces of buffalo leather, and then holes are punched with a hammer and nail to make the character. It takes five days to complete a puppet.

We also took a spin through the royal carriage house where they displayed the old horse carriages for the royal family. There were pictures of old parades where the carriages were used and, what I thought was most interesting, a table of old rupiah notes. Way at the bottom, there was a bill for 2 and a half rupiah, which seems impossibly small compared to current prices (and odd that they wouldn't just round it up to 3?). I wish I would have asked when that bill was in use.

In addition to these places, the pedicabs also dropped us off at several batik and souvenir shops. Unfortunately, the palace was closed the day that we went there, so we are planning on going back sometime to see that, and possibly take advantage of a basic traditional batik class that they offer in Kraton as well.

Last night I was able to visit a park in the north of Yogya called Kaliurang. Vania and I met up with some Rotex and Pauline, from Belgium, and we all drove up in one car (very packed, since there were seven of us). Before we left, I have to add, we were all sitting at a street vendor table and eating spicy potato chips that one of the Rotex got from Bandung. To me, they were comparable to Flaming Hot Cheetos in the U.S., but more lemony, and very good. Tiga, the Rotex who brought them, said that they were only a 5 on a scale of 10 for spiciness, and that if you get the highest level the chips are all black. Ghost chilies, maybe? Vania and I decided that we have to get a bag of our own sometime, but a level 7 or something.

Anyways, once we were at the park, we went to a cafe where we all sat on pads on the floor and ordered drinks. I had teh poci, which is a bitter tea served in a small clay teapot and cup. I was glad to get a hot drink because I was actually pretty cold with a short sleeved shirt and jeans on. Kaliurang is on a plateau at a higher elevation than the rest of Yogya, which is why it has cooler weather, but I never thought I'd ever need a sweatshirt in Indonesia. Anyways, my tea was served with two big chunks of brown rock sugar which would dissolve slowly into the tea, so whenever I was nearing the end of my cup the tea would be all sweet, syrupy, and delicious. I think I could drink it every day. Apparently Kaliurang is very close to Merapi, that volcano that erupted last year, but we couldn't see it because it was too dark out when we got there. We sat there for a long time playing a crazy name game and ping pong pang (both of which I was pretty good at, I must add) before we left to get some bubur. We drove to a hotel restaurant where there is a 24 hour bubur buffet for only 20.000 rp (about two dollars and fifty cents). I think I could eat bubur every day, too.

So Friday was my big day for the week. Every other day I usually spent at home studying Indonesian or running quick errands with Vania. We were having trouble getting a KITAS for me, which is an I.D. sort of thing for foreigners. At first, they were going to charge us 2.5 million rp, which was crazy expensive, but when we got to Immigrasi to pick up the forms, we found it was only 700.000. Then when we returned with all the papers filled out they wouldn't process them because the letter from the Yogya Tugu Rotary club wasn't stamped. This was a small problem, because the Tugu club didn't even have a stamp- it's only 22 people. Somehow, we got it figured out and I should be receiving my KITAS soon. For now, I am looking forward to the 30th when the Rotex, Pauline, Vania and I will go pick up Paulinho (Brazil) from the airport.

My countdown to school is now 12 days. New phrases I have learned in bahasa Indonesia include: Saya tidak tahu apa artinya (I don't know what this means), Tolonglah saya (please help me), and Terima kasih telah menerima saya di sini (thank you for having me here - preparation for my first Rotary meeting). I'm still a little nervous, but I am ready to get busy dancing and studying Indonesian and Javanese. Oh, and one last thing- they have Glee here and my host siblings love to watch it, too. Life is good.

Sekolah Aku

Yesterday morning, I went with Vania to visit my school SMK Kasihan. We got a short tour from the teacher who knew the most English, and I was able to watch a few classes. The dancers were so good! I hope I will learn fast. There were about 12 people in each dance class; one was all girls and the other was co-ed. The movements were so exact, it was mesmerizing. There were different positions for the fingers, and moves where they only tilted their heads in a certain way. The first thing I think I'll have to work on is bending my fingers back- I tried to curve my fingers like they do but they don't go very far... I hope a lot of stretching will do the trick. I also saw a few gamelan classes. The type of gamelan that I will be learning is called karawitan, and it looked even more difficult to do than the dancing. Gamelan is different from any type of music I've ever heard, and I couldn't pick up any sort of rhythm to it. So that will certainly be a challenge to learn. After the tour, we went back to the office and I got my schedule. As of now, I am taking three different dance classes, Javanese, Javanese singing, Indonesian, and karawitan. The singing, Indonesian, and Javanese classes will only be once a week, and so three days a week I will be dancing all day. Wish me luck :) I am set to start on Sept. 8, when all the students get back from break.

Before leaving, I got a bag of cloth to make my uniform with. I will have two long sleeve, collared white shirts, two grey skirts, a batik short sleeve collared shirt, and a black skirt to match. The batik uniform is for Friday and Saturday. I'm so glad I have to wear a uniform! Then maybe I can look more like everyone else- I feel really tall and American wherever I go these days. My host mother said she will call a tailor to the house to take measurements soon.

This morning, I had my first Indonesian lesson from my host mother, with the occasional help from Vania. My pronunciation is awful. Bahasa Indonesia may use the same alphabet as English, but the sounds are not similar at all. Sometimes we will repeat words back and forth until I say it somewhat right, but most of the time they just laugh at my attempts. I'm sure I sound really odd. But we will continue lessons every morning, Ibu said, which is great. I only have two weeks to prepare before I have to go to school. Setiap pagi, saya mempelajari bahasa. Every morning I practice the language. Dan setiap hari, and every day, I will get better.

Selamat Datang!

Somehow, it is 8:30 pm and I am ready to go to bed. After about 34 hours of traveling, though, it's no wonder I'm still jet lagged. When I finally landed in Yogya and saw my host family and other Rotarians waiting outside of the baggage claim to pick me up, I just about cried. I was so happy to see people who knew who I was! It was also comforting to know that I could relax and start enjoying my exchange.

I am living in Yogyakarta, a city of about 3 million people. Bapak Hadono, my host father, told me yesterday that I will be attending a cultural arts school for the year. Apparently I will be able to take classes in traditional Indonesian dances, pottery, batik, and traditional musical instruments, which I am very excited for. Not so exciting, however, is that school starts at 6:30 every morning, and goes until 3. If only I can keep this routine of going to bed early, waking up shouldn't be a problem. I also know that I'll be keeping busy since school goes Monday through Saturday. My host sister, Vania, and I are going to visit my school tomorrow so that I can get the feel of what it's like, and I will officially start in the middle of September (when students get back from the after-Ramadhan break).

When I think of interesting things to blog about, my mind always drifts towards the food I have had. Right after I was picked up from the airport, my welcoming committee and I went out to lunch at a place near the airport. Dishes were shared by the whole table, and I ate fried chicken, chicken liver, and tempeh with my hands! It was awesome. Ever since, though, I have had to work on eating with a fork in my left hand and a spoon in my right, which has been a small challenge. Today I ate a very strange looking fruit for dessert after lunch. Next time I see it I will take a picture because it doesn't look like a fruit at all- more like a cross between a strawberry and a pinecone. You have to take off the outer shell first, and on the inside it looks like a shiny peeled garlic clove, but tastes very sweet. Earlier in the day, after we got done shopping at the supermarket, we stopped for ice cream bars. I asked for the same thing as Vania, which was ice cream cone crust shaped like a fish and filled with vanilla ice cream and what looked like a layer of fruit jelly. I asked Vania "Is this strawberry?" and she said "No, it's kidney beans". Surprise. (I still thought it tasted good.) For dinner tonight, we went to an Italian restaurant. We shared two different pizzas and pasta dishes, all were delicious, but everything was very spicy (even the pasta sauce). Over dinner, my family started to teach me a little bahasa Indonesia, and so I learned makanan pedas (spicy food) and sangat enak (very good). I have heard that bahasa Indonesia is easy for English-speakers to learn, but so far I am lost.

Selamat malam, for now! Good night!