To start off- the performance at Prambanan temple went really well, though the president of Indonesia didn't show. Bummer, but it was still a lot of fun. All the dancers met at school at 4 am that morning to get dressed and do make up for the show. The event at Prambanan started in the morning, but we didn't dance until around noon- and it was easy waiting in a closed tent for 4+ hours before performing. There were a few fans going, but it didn't help much when the afternoon sun came out.
Prambanan temple, from outside of the dancers tents. Hopefully I'll visit the temple for
real one day and get better pictures.
After the performance at Prambanan, Christmas break started. Two whole weeks! I was pleasantly surprised- I had heard before that we would only get three days off for Christmas, which I thought was reasonable since most of the students at my school are Muslim. Even though there weren't any classes I still went to school every day to practice the persembahan dance with Bu Ratri. On the actual wedding day I had my hair sprayed black again (though there wasn't any teasing this time, so it was easier to wash out, thankfully) and danced to live gamelan music. I was very excited to use live music, but I ended up losing the drum rhythm half way through, which was a fairly big issue. I ended up facing the wrong direction for the rest of the dance, though I did get back on track with the gamelan after a bit (I think the drummer pulled a few tricks for me so I could catch up). It was quite obvious that I screwed up, but everyone was still happy I tried. I'm glad I didn't see the bride and groom sitting right behind me until after I danced or the mix up would have been much more distressing. I'm continuing my lessons with Bu Ratri as well, so I still have time to perfect my dance.
Me dancing at the wedding. I could tell you several things that are wrong with my form in this picture, but I'll refrain :)
Ibu Ratri and I
Spending the holidays in Indonesia wasn't as difficult as I expected- my host family and I stayed busy with church events (in addition to the dance lessons). My host mother and sister help lead the church choir so there were several evening practices, and then three days of Christmas celebration. We didn't have a Christmas tree, special foods, or presents, but I still felt holiday spirit singing Silent Night and Come All Ye Faithful in Indonesian.
Christmas Day morning mass at the 'big' church in Madukismo. The teenagers in the white chairs were all baptized that day, which is why they were in traditional Javanese clothes. Christmas Eve mass was at the smaller church close to home. About fifty people attended, and the church room was filled as well as the front porch area outside.
My new host family and I on Christmas Day
Not including the holidays, regular life in a village has been much different than with my first host family. There is no shower here, just one wash room (which consists of a non flush toilet and a big basin of water), and no hot water as well. This sounds awful, but isn't a big deal- I almost always wake up sweaty since it's so warm here, so a cold "shower" is quite refreshing. The real kicker is no air conditioning.. But I'm happy here, so I'm not going to complain :) My host family doesn't have a washing machine either (or a maid), so I've learned to hand wash all my clothes (and do so almost every day). The three days of Christmas celebration I didn't do any washing though, which ended up being an awful gift to give myself for the holidays- I had a mountain of dirty clothes to attend to. My arms and hamstrings were sore for awhile after that one..
My first time hand washing! I remember thinking of the song "Whistle While You Work" from the Snow White, and thinking there's no way the forest animals were that happy washing someone else's clothes. I employ a new definition for the word 'dirty' now.
There also isn't a car at home, so I ride a motorcycle everywhere. This is a bummer when it rains, but for the most part awesome :) The biggest difference with living in a desa (village) is that everyone uses bahasa Jawa. This is good, because I'll get to learn the language faster, but also a little frustrating because I'm back to not knowing what people are saying. The toughest part for me is having to learn two different levels, ngoko (for people your own age) and krama (for speaking to people older than you). Its hard for me to remember to use a different level than is being spoken to me. For example- if my host mother asks me "Uwis maem durung?" (Sudah makan belum? in Indonesian, Have you eaten already? in English) I should reply using bahasa Jawa krama "Sampun" (yes, already) or "Dereng" (not yet), but it's still hard for me to remember to switch to using krama rather than replying "uwis" or "durung" (already and not yet, in ngoko). It's also frustrating that the two levels can be so different. Even numbers are different; in ngoko: 1 siji 2 loro 3 telu 4 papat 5 lima, but in krama: 1 setunggal 2 kalih 3 tiga 4 sekawan 5 gangsal. I have a lot to learn- bahasa Jawa, dance, karawitan... It's time to call up my Rotary club and ask for an extension.
Despite the new challenges I am very content in my new life in desa Tamantirto. I stay busy at home (with washing dishes, clothes, and helping cook meals) and now that I have almost completed my first week of semester two at SMKI, there are more dance classes in my schedule, too. I find that it's increasingly hard to remember to blog now that I'm really enjoying my new life here. Perhaps it's because I don't think of home so much. No offense. So I hope to keep you updated as best as I can. There's so much more to learn and share! Sampai jumpa!
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