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!