SATURDAY, JULY 22, 2017 (PURWOKERTO AND CILICAP) - Today, our host teacher, Rudhi, along with his wife, accompanied Matt and I to the beach in Cilicap, Indonesia. He met us in our hotel at 7:30 and we loaded up to head out! It was about an hour and a half to the beach. Along the way, we passed a few small towns and tribal villages that made for a really unique experience. At the beach, we made a day of it by taking in the Indian Ocean (that's 3 out of 4 oceans for me- just need the Arctic!), eating a fried soybean dish and coconut for lunch, and visiting the local market. It was a much-needed "rest day" after a pretty intense experience so far in Indonesia. Going to the bathroom in rural Indonesia is a very different experience for Westerners. It's a very simple system with no pressurized plumbing: you go in, squat and take care of business, and then use a small ladle to use to wash yourself afterwards. Our gracious hosts got lunch for us too (they call it a snack, though!). It was a fried piece of soybean, and it was very tasty! We got the coconut too! After lunch, Rudhi and his wife took us to a nearby fish and seafood market. It was very different than anything I've ever seen- the smells of seafood mixed with the call of vendors hoping for some business from a couple of Americans. Here, the local fishermen use the market to sell their catch, and this market had quite the supply! There was also an area in the river just beside the market for people to take quick rides on motorboats up and down the river, before it meets with the Indian Ocean.
0 Comments
FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2017 (PURWOKERTO) - The big day is finally here! After one week of getting acquainted with Jakarta, today was the big day for all of our teachers. We branched off in pairs and left Jakarta this morning to travel to our host communities. Everyone in the group flew to their destination instead of Matt and I. We had a driver from a transportation company take us in an unmarked van to our city, Purwokerto. There were plenty of adventures along the way, let me tell you! First, we sat through two hours of Jakarta rush-hour traffic before we could leave it behind (I know, I know-- I keep coming back to this traffic, but I'm telling you, it's serious!). After finally leaving Jakarta behind, we headed out into the countryside to get to Purwokerto. It was so refreshing to see rice fields, canals, and livestock instead of the usual "concrete jungle." I was really craving a Coke this morning, so we found a KFC. Interestingly enough, the "big burger box" that I got there had a chicken sandwich- go figure! Along the way, I talked to our driver- he turned out to be a great guy. He showed us what sugarcane looked like, and I pulled off a cane and sampled some of the wonderful sweetness inside. He also bought me a duck egg (it was really tasty and delicious), as well as some cendol, which is a drink made with: rice flour jelly with green natural coloring from pandan leaf, mixed with coconut milk, shaved ice and palm/brown sugar. Absolutely fantastic. We were about two hours from Purwokerto when we got involved in a major traffic jam again. After a half hour of sitting in traffic, our driver asked what was going on and started talking to one of the local guys. He said that the wait would be at least another hour, but if we followed him, he would escort us to the main road for a cool 20.000 IDR (rupiah). We said sure! So he took us off-roading through a couple of villages on a very narrow road. Great times indeed! The shortcut worked great and we got back onto the road to P-town. We pulled into our hotel at 5:00, said goodbye to our driver, and are now waiting to meet our host teacher, Rudhi. Talk to you more soon! THURSDAY, JULY 20, 2017 (JAKARTA) - The word I'm using to encapsulate today's activities is "energy." Energy at the school we visited- off the charts! Energy and enthusiasm within our teacher group, knowing that our time to visit our host communities is so near- palpable! Energy in the city, the constant hustle and bustle- always there! After visiting the school, we had lunch and held a meeting with our teachers to prepare for the trip tomorrow. We will be pairing off in groups of two and spreading out all over the country! We did a few team-building activities, discussed safety concerns, and shared what we were looking forward to the most. I can't wait! I'll update tomorrow night late when we arrive in Purwokerto.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017 (JAKARTA) - Another day in the life of one of the world's busiest and most populated cities! Today, we visited a school and the US Embassy in Indonesia. Along the way, plenty of interesting things happened that offer more insight into the uniqueness of Jakarta. Our group loaded up our bus again in the morning to travel to the school, another senior high school that focuses on math/science. As we neared our destination, the streets got very narrow and I noticed that many people were stopping and staring at the bus as we made our way through. A tour bus rolling through this neighborhood wasn't an everyday occurrence for many of the onlookers, and the very word on the windshield "Pusawisata" means "tour bus." So, many people automatically know that there are foreigners of some sort in the bus. I'd estimate that 8 out of 10 people gave me the eye as I sat in the front-row passenger seat on the left-hand side of the bus. Smile! Also, traffic in Jakarta is world-renowned for its challenges (if you want to read more, click here). With the average Jakartan spending over 10 years of their life in traffic, the situation has left planners and government officials scrambling for solutions. One thing I noticed today is that traffic is a community affair. Traffic officials, citizens, and really just about anyone helps to direct traffic. We're a big bus, and sometimes we need to fit in areas that need a little help. Many times, a person will come over, stand in the street, place his arm out to stop traffic, and let us come through. Of course, they also appreciate a couple thousand placed in their hand as the bus goes by! Haha. And with so much time spent in gridlock, there are plenty of opportunities for vendors to sell all kinds of stuff on the street, which we experienced first-hand today. We saw a man with a sign that said "Spiner" and we quickly deduced that he was selling fidget spinners! I got a little more excited when I looked closer and saw that they were light-up ones. Curious, I listened as the driver rolled down his window and asked how much. 25,000 Rp (rupiya, the Indonesian currency), I was told. I quickly did the math: 12,500 rupiya is about 1 dollar, so I could have this light-up fidget spinner for 2 bucks? Absolutely! I pulled out a 100,000 bill, got two of them, and sold on to Mariya. Then got two more for Jenn! We weren't done. The same man, by now sold out of fidget spinners, went back and got something else: sticky phone cases! We bought another 5 of those for 50 thousand, making his day and ours. The school we visited today was a senior high school with a particular STEM focus. Students who come here want to focus on math, science, and engineering. It is a very high-performing school with a lot of opportunities for these students. We were given a very nice tour, hospitality, and food (am I starting to sound like a broken record yet?). Impressive campus, students, and staff. Interestingly, this school has flooding problems when the rainy season comes! So, they deal with it by breaking out the canoes and storing all the important stuff on the 2nd floor. Oh yeah- lunch! How could I forget? We had another fantastic, delicious, authentic Indonesian lunch today. Some of the highlights: cow heart, fish, eggplant, fried tofu, beef, chicken, caramel dessert, and spicy sauce. Yep, I tried them all!
TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017 (JAKARTA) - On our fourth day in Jakarta, I could sense some anxiety and restlessness in the group. Maybe it was the fact that we were hotel-bound yesterday, but I got the general sense and feeling that our teachers were itching to get out, see some people, interact with the kids, and explore. That was certainly my feeling, anyway! Well, I got my wish today, as we visited AMINEF (American and Indonesian Education Foundation). Established in 1992, it is the binational, nonprofit foundation that administers the Fulbright Program, which consists of many student and teacher exchanges between the two countries. We met two Americans there that taught English in an Indonesian school last school year, for example. Other opportunities provided by AMINEF are Indonesian student placements in the USA, fully funded. We heard from the acting program director, the two US visiting teachers, and some of the staff about their organization. Very interesting. After a delicious lunch at AMINEF, we loaded back onto the bus for a one-hour trip to Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 4 Jakarta, a senior high school here in Jakarta. When we arrived, we found ourselves, yet again, the recipients of this incredible Indonesian hospitality that we have grown accustomed to. No sooner did we pull in the parking lot did I notice a huge banner that the school had made for our visit. I'm the first one off the bus, right? I step off the bus, feet hit the ground, and seconds later I hear the security guard say: "Please come with me, sir." I followed him through the school entrance, where twelve students had formed two parallel lines opposite each other. The students beamed while they greeted me, placed their hands together, and slightly bowed. I and the rest of the group followed the security guard through the school campus. As we made our way through the campus, I learned that the school has approximately 1,500 students. Finally, we reached our destination: a small room that the principal had set up to do a meet-and-greet with the students. After taking off our shoes in accordance with custom, we walked through yet another receiving line with smiling students: The friendliness and respect was off the charts. When Indonesian students see any teacher, there is an incredible level of respect shown. When the teacher is one of a large group of Americans, as well as a visitor, the instant status grows exponentially. It is safe to say we were treated like celebrities here! We heard from the headmaster, who welcomed us to the school. After a short introduction, he turned it over to the two student emcees, who informed us that we would be treated to a couple musical performances. Wow! We saw a traditional dance by the girls in purple, as well as a solo performance of "Who Do You Think You Are?" After the performances, it was time to meet the students (my favorite part)! Again, so friendly and so welcoming. I talked for awhile with one of the emcees, Satya, who I quickly found out was a huge NBA fan. Loves basketball, plays basketball in school, and his favorite player was LeBron James. We quickly formed an instant connection and discussed the latest NBA news (Jimmy Butler to the Timberwolves, Chris Paul to the Rockets, and Lonzo Ball). It reminded me yet again of the enormous cultural footprint that American culture leaves on the world-- even nearly 10,000 miles from home, people know about the NBA here. And very well! We were also treated to fresh soup that they had made for us: meatballs, broth, cilantro, green onion, and fried onion. Absolutely fantastic! We toured the campus and poked our heads into an Islamic History class: Then we got a picture with some of the kids and the headmaster. As we posed for the picture, I saw curious students on the second and third stories of the school looking down at us. It reminded me of the scene at the mall when Jokowi walked through! After a few more pictures with the kids, who begged for us not to leave, we got back on the bus for the hotel.
I've had the privilege to experience a little bit of Indonesian education firsthand, but I've always wondered about the "why." Yes, it's important to broaden my perspective. Yes, it's important for Indonesians to meet Americans. But why? Well, I talked to the IREX Project Director on the bus ride home to find out. She informed me that a large part of the US State Department's mission is to build bridges and connections with Muslim-majority nations by way of "citizen diplomacy." Citizen diplomacy (from Wikipedia) is the concept that the individual has the right, even the responsibility, to help shape U.S. foreign relations, "one handshake at a time." Citizen diplomats can be students, teachers, athletes, artists, business people, humanitarians, adventurers or tourists. The idea is that by making human connections, gestures of goodwill can be spread and this eventually results in more interaction and peace between the two countries. With this knowledge in mind, it gave me a powerful incentive and reason for being here: represent America, make connections, and follow up. I thought of the after-effects from this hourlong visit to Mandrasah today: hundreds of pictures were taken that will later be distributed to the students' family and friends, as well as the multiplier effect on the teachers' end as well! Combine this with the fact that VP Pence has already visited Indonesia, and President Trump just met with President Jokowi, and it's clear that building a connection with the 4th most populated country (and largest Muslim majority country) has taken large importance. MONDAY, JULY 17, 2017 (JAKARTA) - Today, we were the recipients of more valuable knowledge as we prepare to trek into our host communities in Indonesia. Let's just say, we are going to be well-prepared, well-coached, and well-trained in all things education and Indonesia! We heard from Dewi again on the highlights and importance of education in Indonesia, as well as from a panel discussion on some of the challenges that education faces here. Very cool! At times, it felt like trying to drink water from a fire hose, but I took away a few cool facts that I'll share with you. Education in Indonesia is, like in many countries around the world, compulsory and nationalized. There is strong central control over the curriculum, which is set by the Ministry of Education and required for each public school. For example, every Monday, there is a flag ceremony, where the National Anthem is sung. There are mandatory uniforms in school that follow a strict schedule: Monday-Wednesday: Red/white (elementary), blue/white (junior high), and gray/white (sr. high) Thursday: Batik (traditional Indonesian dress) Friday: Islamic Saturday: Scout Also, since my guiding question has much to do with Islamic education in India, I was fascinated to discover some interesting facts about it. Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country with religious tolerance for its minority religions (Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism). Yet all of the public schools conduct Islamic rituals and education. There is the call to prayer around noon, where imams come and instruct the students. There are classes on the Quran too. If a Christian student in a public school doesn't want to participate, they can go somewhere else in the school to feel more comfortable. There are also a multitude of Christian private schools as well. During Ramadan, there are shorter periods for the students with a later start and early finish. Every school has a small mosque that students visit during the call to prayer. Older students and teachers will lead the call to prayer, and students are separated by gender in doing so. Boys in the front, girls in the back. Obviously, there are two sharp contrasts from American education that I took away from today: the centralization of Indonesian education (as opposed to American education, where curricula can vary widely by state, school, and classroom), and the importance placed on Islamic teaching and instruction in Indonesian education (again, as opposed to American education, where "teaching religion" is seen as a big no-no in public ed). Tonight we went to the mall again and enjoyed a fantastic spread of authentic Indonesian food (hello spices!!). We were told that the food we've been eating at the hotel has been fairly tame, but this is the real deal. Fish, oxtail soup, chicken, beef, lamb, and fried mushroom. I'm glad to say I tried it all! My mouth was on fire from some of the spiciness, but it was actually quite good.
SUNDAY, JULY 16, 2017 (JAKARTA) - Today (Sunday) was a whirlwind of activity, as our group became more acquainted with Indonesia. Many in our group, myself included, have adjusted to the jet lag fairly well, but last night I woke up wide awake at 4:50 AM. I found out today that phenomenon is not limited to myself, as others in the group had the same thing happen to them (some were even up at 4:00). I had the same thing happen to me when traveling to Hawaii last year--for some reason, I couldn't sleep later than 4:30 am! Anyway, there were 9 members of our group that were in the weight room this morning, pumping the iron and taking advantage of the fact that they were up well before 5 AM! Breakfast was fantastic, again. The hotel restaurant, La Brasserie, pulls out all the stops for the meals. There are at least 6 tables laden with delicious food: a Middle Eastern table, an Indonesia table, a Japanese table with all the sushi you could want, and a full juice bar, where you can get fresh-squeezed orange juice mixed with melon, carrot, or strawberry. After breakfast, our group met for another informational session on Indonesian history and culture. We learned about unique Indonesian customs and traditions that would be helpful to understand as we ventured out into our host communities. A couple of things to remember: 1) Don't use your left hand to point, grab something, or shake hands. 2) Give a gift, but don't expect the receiver to open it right away; 3) Indonesia is a very diverse place, with hundreds of ethnic groups. Lunch featured another delicious meal with live music this time! After lunch, our group loaded up on the tour bus again and headed for the Museum Tekstil (Textile Museum), where we got a first-hand experience on making batiq! Batiq is a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to whole cloth. You can draw dots and lines of the cloth with a spouted tool called a canting, or by printing the resist with a copper stamp called a cap. The applied wax resists dyes and therefore allows the artisan to color selectively by soaking the cloth in one color, removing the wax with boiling water, and repeating if multiple colors are desired. When we went, we were given the fabric with a design already penciled on. We took the canting, filled it with wax, and traced over the lines as best we could! It felt like I was in grade school again, trying really hard to color on the lines and not mess it up! There were plenty of wax drips on my final product, but what can you do? Oh well! A man soaked my cloth in blue dye and then placed it in boiling water to remove the wax. When finished, I had a nice dried batiq! After the Museum Tekstil, our group made the trip to Jakarta's Grand Mall, where we needed to drop off some money as a deposit for the restaurant where we would eat Monday night. No sooner than we entered the mall, I noticed a huge pack of people with phones in the air just 30 feet in front of me. Was it a celebrity? Indonesian actor...music star...politician? My mind whirred as I joined the scramble. It felt like a mosh pit- people were smiling, shuffling, and stacked together like sardines! It was truly a human blob. I asked a few people who it was, and they replied, "the Indonesian President!" Wow! I then noticed that many people were getting their pictures taken with him as he walked by the storefronts- could I do it too? I continued to get closer as the scrambling got louder. One by one, President Joko Widodo would nod to someone close by, smile, and take a picture. Bodyguards would stand next to him, pushing and directing traffic as the president slowly walked through the mall. Finally, it was my turn. In disbelief, I stood next to him while one of his bodyguards took our picture. He was very friendly, smiling the whole time. Then, I got out of there as fast as I could, not believing my good luck. Two other TGC teachers, Matt and Jenn, got their picture taken later as well. Looking back, it probably helped that I was wearing my Indonesia/US flag pin, as there have been several interactions between American and Indonesian leadership in the past couple months. Hopefully this signifies steps towards mutual collaboration and interaction among Indonesia and the USA! President Widodo met with US President Donald Trump just a week and a half ago at the G20 Summit in Germany, and that Vice President Mike Pence was here in Indonesia back in April. Apparently, President Widodo wants to get Trump here as soon as possible! "PRESIDENT WIDODO: Thank you for this meeting, President Trump. First and most importantly, I need to deliver to you warm greetings from your millions of fans in Indonesia. (Laughter.) PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you. PRESIDENT WIDODO: They are only interested in one thing: When can they personally welcome you to Indonesia? PRESIDENT TRUMP: We'll get there. We'll get there. It's a place I'd like to go. PRESIDENT WIDODO: I can get into serious trouble if I don't bring back some good news for your millions of fans in Indonesia. (Laughter.) http://www.en.netralnews.com/news/currentnews/read/7878/president.joko.widodo.meets.us.president.trump.on.sidelines.of.g20.summit https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/04/20/remarks-vice-president-and-indonesian-president-widodo-press https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/07/08/remarks-president-trump-and-president-widodo-indonesia-bilateral-meeting You never know what you might see when you travel!
The 2017 TGC Fellowship Program to Indonesia has begun- this update coming to you LIVE from Tokyo, Japan, where we are enjoying a 4-hour layover! This morning (June 13), I got up at 12:30 AM and drove up to Chicago O'Hare with my wonderful wife and father-in-law. After getting to the airport at 4:00 and meeting my fellow Illinois travelers Kate and Nikki (pictured), we flew to Houston to meet up with most of the other teachers from our Indonesia group. The plan was to fly from Houston and meet up in Tokyo, Japan with the West Coast teachers, who were coming on a separate flight...and we all know that plans are made to change, right?! After we landed in Tokyo after a 13-hour flight, we found out that there was a problem with the West Coasters' plane, and they were going to fly through Sydney, Australia instead. So, we'll meet them in Indonesia instead of Japan. A couple of takeaways so far: 1) Flight attendants take naps and breaks- am I the only one on the planet who did not know this?! I talked to several of the flight attendants on the flight to Tokyo, who said they get a 30-minute nap every 8 hours. After the 8-hour mark, 5 or 6 of them opened a door and went up some stairs to sleep! 2) Vending machines at the Tokyo Narita Airport: always heard about these, and we got a small taste of what they're all about! Cool. 3) The 777 is a beast of a plane- trucked along at 580 MPH the entire way from Houston. Comfortable, spacious, and plenty of room. 4) United Airlines: Look, UA has had some bad publicity this year, but I'm not going to complain one bit about my experience so far. The meals served have been delicious (egg omelet, turkey sandwich, and chicken and rice), and the customer service has been excellent. |
Archives
September 2017
Categories |