Emma’s Year in Indonesia

I’ve spent the past 4 days in Bali in what I decided would be a ‘retreat’. Basically I hung out in a resort in Sanur. It was really nice, as Bali’s only an hours flight away and I went from the busy chaos here to a quiet, pretty beach there. I had quite a hectic flight, so once I actually got to the beach I found myself stopping, sitting down and enjoying the quietness for a while.

My flight to Bali was interesting, as it featured an incident. After boarding and going through the usual procedures - pulling out from the bay, watching the safety video and getting into position to go onto the runway - we then pulled back into the bay. about 5 officials and airport security guards got onto the plane and started looking up and down the aisles. They eventually found who they were after at the end of the plane. We were all starting to get a little nervous. Eventually flight attendants explained to us that they were checking that a man had a boarding pass. Eventually the man, a westerner, was removed from the plane. The flight attendants said that he didn’t have a boarding pass and wasn’t listed as having a ticket for the plane so they didnt feel safe taking him. It seemed that he’s just wandered onto our plane at some point. Very strange!

The flight itself was lovely, as it was a clearish day and I had great views of volcanos sticking out above the clouds. The highlight was seeing Mt Bromo from the air. Its a big crater that contains about 3 smaller volcanos inside it. Its really pretty, and hopefully I get to see it close up one day. When we left the coast of Java I realised that it was my first time off the island since I arrived there, 3.5 months ago. Then I started to pick out features of Bali. I got a little concerned when instead of banking and swinging into the airport we kept going, and soon the coast of Bali was well behind us. I started to worry that I was on the wrong plane! We wound up doing a low-flying loop over Lombok and swung back towards Bali, with an impressive view of Bali’s volcano, Mt Agung.

I had a day and a half until Roz arrived, so I made the most of the peace and quiet of the resort - relaxing by the pool, relaxing in my room, wandering around the beach (dodging pushy sellers).

Roz arrived late on Friday night, and on Saturday was eager to discover the new country (this is her first overseas trip). Feeling a little overwhelmed but coping quite well, she took the day in her stride. We went to Denpasar to vote at the Australian Consulate, and then on to Ubud. There we went to the Monkey Forest (satisfying Roz’s desire to walk through a rainforest) and then to the markets. We dropped into the Elephant Cave afterwards then headed back to Sanur to lie by the pool.

Sunday morning was spent shopping, then we headed over to Yogya. Again, Roz has to adjust to new surroundings, as Yogya is quite different to Bali, but is going well.

Last night a group of us went down to the main street of Yogya, Jalan Malioboro, for dinner with Becky to see her off on her holiday to Thailand. Emma, one of the UTS girls who’s been here since the beginning of the year took us to a lesehan, a temporary eating place set up on the side of the road at night time, that was in one of the streets off Malioboro. It was a really nice place with good food and a lovely, chatty woman running it. Despite being in the tourist area, we were the object of great fascination, as Westerners around here don’t normally eat in these places. Others sitting near us would come over to look at what we were eating and talk to us. They were all impressed that we could speak Indonesian, and were killing themselves laughing when a few of the girls started speaking in Javanese to them. Everyone that came to the lesehan to get food was asking the owner who we were and why we were eating there. It was a really fun time and a great atmosphere.

Its funny how you can be so used to something but then have a moment where you are struck by it. This happened to me last night in regards to wealth and poverty here. As some of us were waiting outside the mall I looked up into the glass windows of McDonalds. McDonalds here is quite expensive by local standards, with meals often costing five times the amount they would elsewhere. So only well-off Indonesians can afford to eat there. I was watching a table of a family of five eating, thinking about how their meal would have cost what quite a few less-well-off people earn in a month. I looked up at this scene, and then looked down to find a street kid, probably around 7 years old standing next to me with his hand out waiting for me to give him some money. These kids don’t have a house or family to go home to at the end of the day, they just survive on the streets.

Indonesia can be such a land of contrasts like this, this is a scene you see and experience nearly everywhere. Like the other night when I went into the family quarters of my kos to find someone to refill the water dispenser. I was surprised to see how many people were there. It seems like quite a few of the extended family sleep on the garage floor. Meanwhile, in the very same building I can afford my own room with my own bathroom that has hot water, a comfortable bed, a desk and the internet.

Its hard to say whether this is the result of the enormous population of Indonesia or whether its the lack of state welfare and services. Probably a combination of the two. Population pressures are always very obvious, with the hardest thing being to find enough jobs for everyone. Businesses seem to have a duty to provide as many people with employment as possible. This means that a lot of things are done deliberatly inefficiently to maximise the number of people required to complete a task. For example, whenever you visit a department store, there are always millions of shop assistants standing around, looking bored. If you want to purchase something, one person will take that item to another place, write a receipt for it, give you the receipt and then take it to the cash register. You then go to the cash register, hand over your receipt and make the purchase with a different assistant, while yet another one puts it in a bag for you, while another 2-3 assistants watch over your purchase.

Nearly every day I see people who I think have the most boring jobs in the world. Things like opening the doors to the bank, or being one of 5 staff who stand around in an empty cafe waiting to serve the odd visitor. But these are the lucky ones, they have a job. They have an income, that’s all that matters.

But the thing that always cheers you up about this place is the friendliness and community spirit, as we experienced when we ate at the lesehan. Everyone sticks together, shares everything and look out for each other. Its what puts a smile on your face and reassures you when you see things that make you sad.

I’ve had another weekend in Yogya. Its been a while since I got out of Yogya, so I’m making up for it by going to Bali this weekend. These next couple of days are the end of my first phase here really. From Friday I’ll have Roz here for 2 weeks and Paul here for 6, and I fly home with Paul in Janaury. So from now on I’ll have important people from home nearby, which will be strange. Jess was in Semarang this past weekend as well, so I didn’t have her around either. But it was fine, I have enough friends here now that people going away doesn’t mean I can get lonely. I think I’m just beginning to really feel like I’ve made a world for myself here. Its just a shame that most people start leaving soon – most of the ACICIS students are heading home before Christmas.

It hasn’t rained here for about 5 days, which is strange because it was raining every day before that. Life’s starting to return again – noones nipping out quickly before the rain. All the street sellers are back on the sides of the streets, or pushing carts. As I’m sitting here I can see a guy across the road with bottles of bootleg petrol, sitting in glass jars. Occasionally when a bike pulls up he fills it up. I have a feeling its mostly ethanol. Another guy just went past pushing a cart of something sausage shaped wrapped in cloth. Most of the time you don;t know what people are selling, if you’re lucky you might learn what one or  two of them are. I’m driven crazy by the carts that play music as the seller peddles. In particular there’s one that comes past my window every morning at 6am and night at 8pm. I’ve decided I have the noisiest room in the house – I’m near the tv, the garage and the street. So I usually get to sleep between 11pm and 5am. You get used to it after a while.

Yesterday we had a wake for Lestari. It was the 40th day since her death, and according to Javanese tradition this is commemorated. We just had our own thing at the ACICIS house. About 12 of us went over for some mountains of spaghetti and bolognaise cooked by Phil and we sat around and talked. Phil put up displays of all of the cards and messages that had been sent, along with some photos. I took along the tributes that had been posted on my blog. Lestari’s 2 sisters and their kids came over to talk with us and to read through all the cards and tributes. They were quite overwhelmed with just how far Lestari’s reach had stretched. We don’t think they knew just how many people, particularly Australians, were affected by her death. It was a very emotional day, with big hugs when it came time for them to go. It was terrible to see just how hard it is for them to deal with. Phil told us that ACICIS is paying for Lestari’s nephew’s school fees, and are looking at setting up a scholarship in her name to help a local student who can’t afford to go to university. It was a really nice day though, and it was good of Phil to organise it. I think a lot of us got the closure that we needed, as the day of the funeral was so sudden and rushed we didn’t really know what was going on.

I’ve had a couple of frustrating weeks with uni. The problem is that my lecturers have stopped turning up. In the past 2 weeks I’ve had about 1 class a week that’s actually been on. It was great last week, when my parents were here, but I was surprised to find the same thing was happening this week. I’m meant to be getting assignments at the moment but I don’t seem to be being given any. I suspect the lecturers don’t want to have to mark anything. For example, in one class the other day the lecturer came in, gave us a quiz to do, and left again. This quiz was a group assignment, to be done for next week. We had to do it in groups of 8, and produce a 2 page answer to the 3 questions. 2 pages between 8 people… its been interesting to try and organise…

We had a checkpoint meeting last night, which is a briefing meeting for all the ACICIS students with Phil, the Resident Director. It was at a really nice hotel, and we had access to the pool during the afternoon. There was a massive buffet for us, with really great food. At the meeting Phil introduced the new support staff member, who replaces Lestari and Wawan. Her name is Sinta, she’s been a tutor with INCULS for a couple of semesters. She’s tiny, especially when she stands next to Phi, doesn’t even come up to his shoulder. After the meeting most of us went to this great cafe place that serves mini-chocolate puddings that are runny in the middle - absolute heaven!

In other news, I’ve decided to not go on to Malang next semester. I was never really keen on the idea as it didn’t really fit with my plans or interests. So I got in touch with my uni back home and they’ve offered me a program to make up for the exchange next semester and it sounds good so I’ve agreed to that. I’ll be heading back to Australia on the 16th of January.

Its been a really long time since I’ve updated this! Well, not really, nearly a couple of weeks. But still!

Lots has been happening, so much so I haven’t had time to sit down and write for a while. In particular, my parents came on the 3rd for a week to visit me here. It was so nice to see them and so great to show them around my ‘home’. It was also good to do the tourist thing with them, and see some of the sites of Yogya. I had visited most of them on previous visits but had avoided going to them so far on this trip because I wanted to save it for my visitors.

I found my parent’s visit quite refreshing, because they were seeing things and noticing things that I had either become used to or hadn’t paid attention to. I enjoyed seeing Yogya through their eyes, and the new perspective that provided. There were some things that were quite amusing, such Mum’s fear of crossing the road (I admit I dread it too) and their disgust at chocolate and cheese, which seems to be the hottest dessert combination in Yogya at the moment, on bread, icecream and banana. I’ve tried it, and its strange. I’m not sure where it came from. Does anyone know?

We saw quite a few places in the week they were here. Most of the places we visited are looking quite different since the big earthquake that struck last year, with either structural damage, collapsed areas or cracks. We went to the Kraton (Sultan’s Palace) and did one of the tours there. We also visited Prambanan, which is still a very sorry sight after the earthquake. Its a collection of monumental ancient Hindu temples. Previously you could walk around them and inside them. Now you can only look at them from behind a fence. Some are leaning on angles, and others misshappen because so many parts have cracked or smashed. We also visited Taman Sari, the water palace, and the underground mosque nearby, that we didn’t know was there and was really interesting. The remains of a big wall that used to be part of the water palace complex is still dangerously standing - parts fell down during the earthquake and killed 2 people. Its amazing to visit these places nearly 18 months after the quake and still see so much evidence of it. We also checked out the old Dutch fort, which I wasn’t even aware of before. It was quite interesting.

Last Thursday was my 21st birthday (the main reason for my parent’s timing). It was a really nice day. Mum and I had a massage, we did a bit of shopping and hung around. My friends here in Yogya were all really lovely - I was woken in the morning by a knock at my door and opened it to find a cake. Around 25 came to dinner that night at one of the nice restaurants here. They were mostly ACICIS students and some friends from around here. It was good fun and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It was great to be able to do something biggish for my 21st, seeing as I’m in another country and have only been here a couple of months. I know I’ll treasure it.

I’ve been sick for the past few days with a flu. I went to the doctor on Saturday after I’d had a terrible night of a fever, headache and nausea (I feared the worst and was worried I was coming down with Dengue Fever). I went to the “Happy Land” Medical Centre and was inspected by a very jolly doctor who said ‘you have…typhoid! No wait, I mean… a common cold”. It turns out tropical colds and flus are very different to the usual ones - more symptoms yet at the same time presenting itself in an unusual form. For example, my sinuses are fine, my throat was a little sore and I’ve only got a slight cough - so none of the usual symptoms. Yet the same feeling of unwellness.

I’ve just finished my mid-semester exams, with my last exam this morning, at 7.15am. I’m pretty tired, getting up this morning was a bit of a struggle. Especially since (for the 3rd time since I came here) I forgot that my phone was set on Australian time, so when my alarm went off at what should have been 6.15, it was actually 2.15. The exam was pretty hopeless. For this one we’d been given specific instructions on what to study, and then weren’t tested on those things. The exam required us to write a research proposal for our essay due at the end of the semester, where we had to outline what country we’d chosen, what issues were faced by that country, then formulate a research question and propose a conceptual framework to answer it. A lot to ask of my Indonesian, particularly at that time of the morning! The main problem with this question is that this is the subject that started off great but now involves only class presentations each week - where students present their RESEARCH PROPOSAL to the class. So for around 6 people, all they had to do was re-write the speech they’d given. Others just had to write the speech they were about to give and others sat there looking blank as their presentation is 4-6 weeks away and they haven’t started any research for it. Fortunately, I’d done a little bit of research on mine last week, but I had actually researched something different to what the question asked, as the original instructions for the research proposal presentation were much more vague. So I did what I could, given the circumstances.

Today isn’t starting well. After the exam I went to get a drink at a cafe and then rode home. On the ride home my bike started playing up, it feels like the bearings are going again because as I pedal, my pedals get stuck or skip, instead of rotating smoothly. I just took it to the bike repairman and he had a quick look and said that its not broken, and sent me away. Typical approach to problem solving here - the scary thing is that the health care system is exactly the same. So now I’m tearing my hair out a little, as I can’t really ride the bike far in case it gets worse and becomes too dangerous. I’ll have to think of a new way to try and demonstrate to the repairman that it is broken.

Becky and Sarah set off for Kalimantan yesterday for 4 days. They bought plane tickets there without really knowing what its like, so hopefully its not too daunting for them and they come back unscathed. As they were setting off Sarah said “I hope there’s phone reception in the middle of the jungle”. They mainly going there because they wanted to see orang hutans, but a couple of days ago realised that to get to one of the sanctuaries involves a 20 hour bus trip. So they’re playing it by ear I think.

I’m quite excited because my parents arrive on Saturday. I’m trying to think of things to fill the next couple of days so that time goes quickly, instead of slowing down in anticipation.