I was just thinking of the conversations that happen in the villages.  One of the first questions asked when meeting new people is, “are you married?”  The proper answer (for me) is “not yet.”  If you say “no” it means you don’t want to get married. 

Usually when people find out I’m not married, and 30 they want to know if/when/who I’ll marry.  (Most people here get married between 18-21 or so.  25 is considered old.)  This past trip the conversation went beyond the usual conversation.  (I’m still not sure if we were having a high context or low context conversation . . .)  Regardless, it was funny.

Bp. (Older man), “do you like the people here?”  “do you like staying here?”

Me: Yes, I like the people very much.  I enjoy staying here.

Bp.: Have you thought of staying longer.  You could live here.

Me: I have thought of staying longer, but do not think my parents would be happy if I married someone here and couldn’t visit them often.

Bp: (paraphrased) Why not marry someone here?

Me: I think it would be difficult (for my parents) . . . and to find a man taller than me.

Bp: Why would he have to be taller?

Me: Because wouldn’t it be funny if I had to help him by getting things for him from the top shelf?

Bp.: He could use a chair.  It wouldn’t be a problem.  You should reconsider your height requirment.  People in the states are already too tall.  It would be good to marry someone shorter.

Me: (laughing) I guess we’ll see.

Our trip to Pulau-Pulau Moro, Sugie, and Jaga was not what we expected.  It was difficult to keep track of all the changes in our plans.  Our contacts kept changing the itinerary. Our first day and a half could be best described as weird, sketchy, or hands down just unusual.  (no worries, we were fine and safe.)  Yet somehow we ended up spending the next 3 nights in amazing places.  We bonded with our impromptu host family in the village of Semokoal.  They were great!  We laughed so hard with them.

And then we went to Telunas, a beach resort run by some friends, and spent two nights there.  For the 1st time in 3 months I ate cinnamon rolls, fajitas with guac and salsa, and pancakes, real american-style pancakes with syrup.  How wonderful to eat Western food, take in the sky and ocean, try to inch my way closer to the monkeys on the beach, and relax in reality of having nothing required from us.

In debriefing with Ria this morning I couldn’t make sense of our trip.  i love when things make sense.  I really really like for them to be explainable.  I love to see connections.  I love constructing randomness into creative, whole collages.  And I couldn’t put the two halves of our trip together.  What was the purpose of all this?

And yet after talking with her a song, cheesy songs seem to be the father’s favorite gift to me , suddenly jumped into my mind:

For such a time as this
I was placed upon the earth
To hear the voice of God
And do His will
Whatever it is
For such a time as this
For now and all the days he gives
I am here, I am here
And I am his
For such a time as this

So all I can say is thank you Father for our trip!

Thanks to Mari we spent the night before Spring Break eating Swedish Fish Candiar, Pisang Goreng (fried Bananas), and dyeing Easter Eggs.  The Indonesian Women made masterpieces out of their eggs Batik style.  And if that wasn’t enough we had an (almost) American Style dance party.  A Fabulous Night!

We’ve been busy. Nearing the end of Bahasa Indonesia classes. My language still needs a lot of work!

A yucky energy-draining sinus thingy most of the week led to a discovery of Milo brand Hot Chocolate, and a thankfulness for my own room.

After sleeping all morning one day, we spent the afternoon on a Rosella farm. What are Rosellas? Well, they look like flowers, take like fruits and when dried with honey are almost identical to dried sweetened cranberries! Hooray. This Wisconsin/Canadian treat is closer than I realized.

After our tour, we also visited an unopened mosque/future school nearby which was . . . INCrediBLE! One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen! They don’t allow photos b/c of past abuses of photo rights. But let me try to create a word picture . . .It’s a series of buildings with redish-orangish stone walls, inlaid glass mosaic floors, patterned wooden windows, and a thatched roof with triangle towers. Anywhere you walk here you’re walking on a mosaic of recycled colored dishes bouncing blue, yellows and reds up from the ground. This is all tucked away in an undeveloped hill surrounded by the verdant jungle, coconut palms and banana trees.

Amazing, beautiful, wish you (all) were here!

Wow, um. A lot has happened in the past month. 2 islands stays, a project exploration is beginning, new levels of adjustment -i’m happy and super thankful to be here. I feel like I’m already living a dream (the 10 year marine biology one, maybe? Or the one where I work with local people to improve their livelihood, and cultural identity . . .). I can’t wait to see more water, skies with puffy clouds, kind, generous, hospitable people, and make a holistic difference here.

 

Nety Cooking

A Dream Fulfilled

Our Host Family

We spent a few days on the small island of Temoyang.  It felt too short.  We really enjoyed spending time with our host families, asking questions as we gazed up at the milky way, and feeling the cool breeze that comes from living above the water.  This time each Am. was paired up with an Indo. intern.  I was so thankful for Endah’s willing and capable translation.  I learned a few more melayu words, and thought about the culture on Temoyang. 

The pace of life seems slower and more flexible than on Batam.  People could probably use more money, as most of what they make comes from fish and “gonggong” snails sold to Singapore.  Fishing is not as sustainable/profitable as it used to be. But people like living here.  Everyone knows each other.

Beach near Temoyang

Cooking

We have a great group of women interns here.  In the past month we’ve spent a lot of time together and have enjoyed getting to know each other better.  Indo. interns Melva, Endah and Dias are helping Amer. Interns Laura, Becca and I learn Bahasa Indonesian and culture.  We’re learning each other’s quirks.  We swap laughing at each other.  I keep trying to say the glottal stop sound, “g”, in words like “ungu”, purple, and “mengerti”, understand.  Yesterday they were trying to make the english words “thought”, “taught” and “touch” sound like distinct words.  It’s a lot of fun.

 

We spent three days in Tanjung Uma, a local “kampung”, village, on Batam.  Although it’s not far from where we live, it felt like we were entering a different world.  Things moved slower, and we ate more.  The generosity of hosts here, and in Indonesia in general, is incredible.  We were offered the nicest foods, kept well hydrated, and shown around the kampung.  We couldn’t communicate very well with our host family, knowing virtually no Indonesian.  But the middle son was willing to help me learn a little.  The children were funny, sweet and quiet (repectively.  We would play games with them at night.

 

I wanted to show you all the pics our of place (sans bedroom mess).  We’ve been sharing it with some ants and a few geckos.  Some of the ants bite, and others fly, which I found when I tried to despose of them with the shower head.   (and don’t touch black fuzzy catepillars, or I guess any catepillars. they are poisonous.) 

We haven’t really been here much.  From now on we should be here more.  Yay for unpacking!  It’s odd that we’re going to be living here for 6 months.  It doesn’t feel real.  The neighborhood kids somehow found out and were screaming it around.  (I kept hearing “Bule”, white person, from the empty lot next door.) 

We start our training tomorrow. 

There’s a mall pretty close with a grocery store.  We’re excited to start buying our own food, and to figure out cooking here.

 

 

 

I get so excited thinking of all the amazing places there are to visit in the World.  There are so many inspirations: from watching (sometime) in horror as Andrew Zimmern eats indigenous cuisine on Bizarre Foods, to reading about countries in Lonely Planet Guides, and Adventure Magazine’s Top 25 Places to Visit.  It’s hard to know where to start.  SouthEast Asia has been on my mind lately.  From what I can gather Vietnam and Laos sound amazing.  Beautiful, great food, friendly people and amazing beaches or hiking, sign me up now!  What a rewarding journey it is to get to know people from other cultures!  I can’t wait for my next adventure in stepping out and trying to fit in around the world.

There’s a whole wide world out there.  Let’s go!