Nasi is the staple of the Indonesian diet. Plain white rice is eaten at every meal—breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you didn’t eat rice, Indonesians believe that you didn’t really eat. Beras, or uncooked rice, is the basis of many other dishes too. Lontong, is rice cooked in a special way, so that it makes … Continue reading
As far as I can tell, birthdays are pretty low key in Indonesia. I also didn’t make it a point to announce it to my community, so on the actual day, only my host mother knew. The day went by. I went to a lengthy closing ceremony for a junior high school I casually taught … Continue reading
Warning: This topic of conversation may make male readers uncomfortable. I sat at my kitchen table, helping my host mother prepare dinner. I was focusing hard on peeling a cucumber, because since coming to Indonesia I’ve learned that my way of peeling things is unacceptable—but that’s another story. In this occasion, I sat innocently peeling … Continue reading
Back in training, I had the opportunity to attend many, many weddings. Based on this, my language instructor constantly joked about how much I like parties—which is true. Yet, an Indonesia wedding isn’t the type of event one imagines in the West. First of all, the actual wedding ceremony takes place at another time and … Continue reading
Though I’ve been a fasting wimp during Ramadhan—unlike many of my fellow PCVs—that does not exempt me from learning about Islam during this important month in my community. Last Sunday, August 5th, was the 17th day of the month of Ramadhan, which is the day known as Nozulul Qur’an. This is the day the Islamic … Continue reading
After my last post, I got a surprising amount of texts, comments and emails from friends either relating to the sentiment or trying to soothe it somehow. It was already comforting enough to know that other people thought about this too, but a friend’s email contained a quote that has helped avert my so-called crisis: … Continue reading
I was telling my friend about my upcoming birthday woes and he decided that “quarter-life crisis” was an insufficiently classy phrase, so he suggested the term “crescent life crisis.” At the time, I thought it quite lame (sorry, Fer!), but now it has deeply grown on me. crescent |ˈkresənt| -noun 1. the curved sickle shape … Continue reading
(If you’re interested in what Indonesia naturally sounds like, you can read this.) These are a few songs that have characterized Indonesia for me. The songs that have salvaged my sanity by helping drown out the incessant Katy Perry and Bruno Mars* played by my host siblings. The highlight tracks to a lot of writing, … Continue reading
Someone great once wrote the lyrics to the song, Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans, an anthem to a city that is quite difficult to leave. Unless you are born there, you arrive with every intention of passing through, but New Orleans’ magic enchants you and it gets under your skin, … Continue reading
Tulisanya – write/spell—comes from the word tulis, which means write. Tulisanya usually translates to spell, and it makes me think of tulip lasagna – a totally logical mnemonic. Timon – cucumber – I think of Timon from the Lion King. This is actually logical. Bagaimana – how – makes me think of Benihanas—a mythical restaurant … Continue reading
To kick off Ramadan all of the schools in my area participated in a “Welcome to Ramadan” parade, which started at 7am, Wednesday morning. The younger elementary and middle school students led the parade and the high school students— which includes my school—ended it. As a teacher at the school, I was asked to walk … Continue reading
and definitely NEVER in the Peace Corps. Yay! No Friday classes! I definitely had to rearrange my teaching schedule for that one. Are you going to take a nap? Indonesians get up so early they usually must nap in the afternoon in order to survive the day. Ugh, I have to go to school on … Continue reading
Once upon a time, according to legend, lived a Javanese king who killed a sea snake, which became a rock in Batu Ulo, a beach on Java’s south coast lining the Indian Ocean. In Javanese, Batu Ulo literally means Stone Snake. Here are some photographs from there and from Pasir Putih, a beach in the … Continue reading
Silence is a sound in Indonesia. It’s so rare that you hear it. The first thing that whispers is the wind. It whistles through the trees, strumming blades of grass and scraping dry leaves across dirt roads and crisp ceramic floors. Birds hoot, chime, sing at different volumes and frequencies from varying distances and directions. … Continue reading
That’s what learning is all about where spirituality is concerned: unlearning almost everything you’ve been taught. A willingness to learn and listen. – Anthony de Mello, SJ It is Sunday and there’s an elephant in the room. It’s because of me—of course—but not because I am “American” or not related to this family or because … Continue reading
in the land of dragons 