Floundering In Flores Part 1 (Random Banter & LaBuanBajo - December 5th & 6th, 2013)

Blogging makes me laugh. Let me rephrase that: the idea of me attempting to blog makes me laugh as much as my students that are forced to sit and listen to me explain a difficult English concept in intensely broken Bahasa Indonesian. (Ex: I once recounted an epic story of a time when I came upon a massive spider in my bathroom while showering, a common occurrence in Indonesia.  However when I explained it in Indonesian, my adventure came out as 'I discovered a giant Malaysian Soft-Shelled Turtle in my toilet while cleaning.' Suffice it to say, students and friends love when I give 'em a good ol' Martini story in Bahasa Indonesian, as it will likely be so absurd that there is no other response than laughter!) Apparently the combination of Indonesian "rubber time," my newest and most favorite hobby of napping, and the lack of friends & family to smack me upside the head and tell me to keep writing about my experience, has created the perfect storm for my daily laziness... So with that in mind, I'm gonna put on my "big kid pants" and commit myself to documenting this fantastic journey I'm fortunate enough to experience each and every day. As they say in Indonesia, "Sedikit demi sedikit lama-lama menjadi bukit." (Little by little it becomes a hill) Let's see if I can make a mountain out of this molehill of a blog!

But Seriously...Chances of Me Keeping This Up? Slim to None, and You All Know What Happened to Slim.

Indonesia has offered me a great many unique experiences during my time here, both in traveling and in living culturally. So while it is virtually impossible to compare those two categories against one another with regard to "greatest" or "most meaningful" Indonesian experience, if the two are evaluated independently of one another, there is an opportunity to define a particular experience as one that stands above the rest. What I'm actually trying to say with all of that hullabaloo, is that for me, my trip to the island of Flores stands as the most fantastic travel experience I've had in Indonesia, remembering that traveling in Indonesia is COMPLETELY different from living here. With that run-around introduction, I guess I should tell you a bit about this trip to Flores, replete with multicolored lakes, massive lizards, and motorcycle debacles!

Let's start with a little geography, because if you don't know where you are, how can you know where to go?!?! I will also never pass up a teachable moment...!
Flores is an island to the east of Java (the main island of Indonesia) and below Borneo (the island I presently live on). If you can picture in your mind the main island of Java, then add three more islands in a row going towards the right, and you have the islands of Bali (the most well-known site in Indonesia), Lombok (an island that is toted as "Bali twenty years ago"), and Flores (the super-awesome island that I had the fortunate chance to stay on for 10 days). Quiz time: With my expert description of it's location, who can find Flores on the below map in 5 seconds?! No cheating.

Nabbed from asianlitlps.wordpress

On the 5th of December, with fresh "flyovers" (a code word that I cannot elaborate on in this particular venue...) from our 5 days in Jakarta, Emily, Adam, and I set off to discover all of the wondrous mysteries of the islands of Flores, Komodo, and Rinca.

Our break-of-dawn flight allowed us to arrive in LaBuanBajo (the major city of Western Flores) around midday, giving us plenty of opportunity to begin to make plans for the week that we would spend amongst Flores and the surrounding islands. Now some of you are likely saying: "Wait. You didn't have plans before you arrived? Oh Ryan. You've clearly learned nothing from your mother over all these years." However in Indonesia, the "throw-it-to-the-wind-and-see-what-happens" mentality is a viable travel strategy, and so Adam, Emily, and I embarked on our quest to find a room to stay in, sites to visit, and the transportation to do so! Before you all stress out too much, I assure that we all came out of the experience alive, and only slightly psychologically and physically damaged. 

LaBuanBajo, the main city in Western Flores (for those of you who quickly forget the various information that I continually chuck at you), is the jumping off point for most of the scuba diving and snorkeling on and around Flores. It is also the departure point for many of the boats that explore Komodo and Rinca islands, the homes of the famous Komodo Dragons.  And while the allure of the Komodo Dragons was weighing strongly upon us all, we would have to wait a few days to embark upon that boat ride, as we had two more friends joining us in a matter of days to experience Komodo and Rinca. In the meantime, while we waited for our other friends to arrive, Adam, Emily, and I explored LaBuanBajo for a day, and then took a couple of days trip to the other side of Flores. And that, my friends, is what I'll describe now. 

Quick Re-Cap of My Flores Travel Plans (As I've already confused myself...):
Dec. 5th - Arrive & Stay in LaBuanBajo
Dec. 6th - Half-Day in LaBuanBajo & Departure for Kelimutu
Dec. 7th - Kelimutu & Motorbiking
Dec. 8th - LaBuanBajo & Snorkeling
Dec. 9th - Rinca
Dec. 10th - Komodo
Dec. 11th - Back to Pontianak

LaBuanBajo is an active port town, replete with hundreds of fishing & tourist boats, as well as similar numbers of "bules," the Indonesian word for "white-skinned foreigner." And as a traveler whose been living in a town where the only other bule I commonly see is that blonde-haired, tall white guy named Adam, the sight of women in bikinis and short-shorts made me cringe and attempt to shield Adam's eyes from the horrors of Western dress. (Western in this context meaning Australian or European Dress, instead of the more commonly thought of cowboy boots and ten-gallon hats.)  We sure weren't in Pontianak anymore.

The View Out One of Our Hotels in LaBuanBajo

After swiftly booking a little $20 flight to the other side of the island for the next day's adventure, Emily, Adam, and I decided to wander the streets of LaBuanBajo to get a feel for the city, and hopefully find some grub!  Fortunately for us, food is never far away in Indonesia, and we quickly settled on a roadside stand that served "nasi kuning" (yellow rice), which gets its color from the ginger and other spices it's cooked in.  While the food was certainly delicious, the experience was made by the fact that we were able to have a conversation, all in Indonesian, with the Ibu who ran the stall.  For I promise you, there is nothing more heart-warming than having a woman smile and tell you that your Indonesian is "sangat bagus!" (really good) or you're "sudah lancar" (already fluent), even when you only said hello, how much is the food, and thank you! Oh how they do flatter you in Indonesia.

So we enjoyed our traditional Indonesian cuisine on the waterfront, politely said "terima kaish!" to the Ibu who provided us with sustenance, and then set out to find a place to sleep for the night. In short, we were on our way to being grown-ups, and actually pulling our lives together. (I can also now promise that more photos will follow from this point on.)

In order to get about the town and find a place to sleep, we hailed a taxi and asked the gentleman to take us somewhere nice to stay for the evening. The taxi-man took us a little ways outside of the city to the area along the beaches with the high-quality resort destinations (that I HIGHLY recommend you all visit one day!). After a little bit of haggling with the man at the front counter, we scored a room for about $40 for the night, and settled into the life of luxury.

Please Note: Adam's awkward hands in the top-right photo.

I don't believe I can adequately express the excessive elegance of this resort. If the lovely air conditioned room, beach-front view, and cabana with cold drinks wasn't enough, there was also an infinity pool... You can likely see from the photos that we were all wandering around in awe upon first arriving at the resort, even getting right in the water regardless of a lack of bathing suits! Sometimes you just have to get excited about the amazing things swirling around you.

Unfortunately for us, our "flyovers" and lack of sleep quickly sapped our energy, resulting in a three hour nap-fest in our little AC-ed room. (Sleeping on that roll-away cot brought back fantastic memories of many family vacations in which I slept on cots, Murphy Beds, couches, mattresses, and basically anything other than a standard bed. Needless to say, I was where I belonged, and darn happy about it.)  I thought we might sleep the entire day away, but after multiple dismissed alarms and half-conscious discussions of wanting to get up and explore the island, we finally rousted ourselves and headed out to the infinity pool for a bit of late night swimming!

The infinity pool was fan-frickin'-tastic! There was no one about, and we were able to just relax, swim, and wind down from our hectic 5 day conference in Jakarta. Luckily enough, since there weren't too many people about, we were able to run out to the ocean (or sea?) and romp around for a bit. However when we first wadded into the water, we were shocked when the water sparkled an odd bluish color! It turns out that the beach was filled with bio luminescent algae, which, god's honest truth, occupied three ETAs for the better part of an hour! The three of us were down on hands and knees, crawling about and splashing the water, just to see it sparkle blue every time the algae was disturbed. I promise you there were multiple Indonesian workers staring out at the three bules crawling around in the water at night, wondering what the heck we were on...but when you put together 2 biologists and a Math teacher in an ecologically unique environment, sanity goes out the window! (I mean, Math teachers have already lost all of their marbles to too many probability problems, so it makes sense that they'd be as excited by bio luminescence as two proper biologists, right?!)

So after taking more than enough time to fully enjoy the crazy algae of Flores, we headed back into the infinity pool, where we ran into a unique plot twist that changed the course of our evening: a drunken Russian gentleman.  Through well-utilized hand gestures and an earnest tone in his voice, this gentleman convinced the three of us to join he and his family under the pool-side pavilion for dinner. Sometimes the cultural experiences you have in another country aren't always native to the place you're traveling!

A Better View of the Infinity Pool & Cabana

It turns out the Russian family (& their friends) were a group of scuba divers that travel around the world as photographers, and sell their photos, or something along those lines... As there were only a few members of the family who knew limited English, and since none of them spoke Indonesian, the conversation wasn't able to go too far... Fortunately, the local beverage of Russia that they brought along with them to Indonesia, gave all of us the "liquid courage" to stumble and bumble our way through a unique conversation held over a feast of fish, vegetables, and fruit. Long story short, we went to sleep that night with a better understanding of Russian culture, an appreciation for the patience of Florenese waitresses, and the ability to say the word "woman" in Russian.

After a nice of restful sleep, Adam, Emily, and I woke up a bit early in order to sneak in one little adventure before we flew off to Kelimutu on the other side of Flores.  One of the main attractions in LaBuanBajo is a cave known as Batu Cermin, which translates to 'mirror cave' in English, due to the fact that at about 9am, on sunny days, the crystals (or something of the sort) inside of the cave reflect the sunlight and the walls of the cave become something akin to a mirror. Unfortunately the sun refused to shine that day, but we somehow persevered. Ya know, when you're vacationing on a beach, in the tropical paradise of Indonesia, it can be really tough to enjoy yourself...

The cave was beautiful, even though it's not easy to tell from the following photographs, due to fog and the unique shape of the cave. (Shout out to Adam for helping with the photos!)  Our guide led us into Batu Cermin along a nice pathway, from which we could see some of the flora and fauna of the area.

Top Left: Staghorn Fern (identified by Mr. Adam)
Top Right: An Invasive Species to Indonesia - The Plastic Water Cup
Bottom Right: Perhaps a Cousin of the Komodo Dragon?

Once inside of the cave, we were able to see some of the classic cave-y things, as well as a few unique sights I've never encountered before. There were stalactites and stalagmites, and of course, my favorite: Bacon Formations. I don't know what the wave-y limestone patterns are actually called, but the tour guide in Australia called them bacon, and I'm cool with that.

Right-Hand Side: Bacon Formation
Left-Hand Side: Turtle & Friends

Can we also just take a moment and appreciate the 'turtle formation' in the above photo?  Apparently a whole turtle was fossilized inside of the cave ceiling, which is either false, or AMAZINGLY AWESOME. Probably not so amazing for the turtle though...

Bottom Right: Emily Hanging on a Tree in the Open Area In Between Portions of the Cave
Top Right: Heading In
Left-Hand Side: Heading Out

All in all, the cave was pretty darn cool. Our tour guide provided us with information in both English and Indonesian, which was much appreciated. We wandered together through dark, low-ceiling-ed locations, during which I was thankful for the helmet they provided. I'm actually starting to consider wearing a full-time helmet due to the height of ceilings and archways in this country...

Top Left: An Outside Look From the Edge of the Cave
Bottom Left: The Stairs to Climb to the Area in the Top-Right Photo. Please note what looks like a wooden support system underneath of the concrete stairs...
Right-Hand Side: A View of the Tree Roots that Have Grown Through the Roof and Down into the Cave

Ya Just Don't Get Much Happier Than That.

After making it out of the cave with not too many bumps and bruises, the three of us waited patiently for our taxi driver to arrive and whisk us off to the airport to begin Stage 2 of our Flores Adventure. And what better time is there, than while waiting for a taxi, to practice the famous 'Indonesian Squat' - the most desired, yet impossible to maintain, position for those of us who've traveled from outside of Indonesia. 

I remain ever envious of my Indonesian friends who can sit for hours in the Indonesian Squat, while I pose for about thirty seconds before either tumbling over backwards or falling sideways with a stiff knee.  I guess we all need something to strive towards.

"No, no! The adventures first, explanations take such a dreadful time." - Lewis Carroll
 
Talk to you soon,
Ryan   

Halloween, Indonesian Style

Students: "Let's Have a Party at Mr. Martini's!"  Me: "Why?!?!"

Well I never have been much of the party hosting type, what with all the planning, preparing, and worrying about your guests having a good time... But somehow, Indonesia has a way of turning me into many things I never expected I would be, and sometimes even helping me to realize that I enjoy these new roles I'm being forced to play! And this past week's adventure left me in charge of one of the English club's first events: Halloween.

Halloween went off without a hitch; or, at least, without too many hitches! As Halloween is a U.S. Holiday that has roots in Celtic History, most Indonesians are either unfamiliar with the holiday, or have distorted views of what Halloween means and where it comes from. (To tell you the truth, I didn't know much about the history of Halloween until this experience either!!) So the English club decided to hold a Halloween party for it's members, and since my house is so extremely large, it was quickly voted as the perfect location for Halloween... Which meant I had to clean...

This is how I feel, every day. My mop, my bucket, and me. Oh, and about a million square feet (pardon me, "meters,") of floor to scrub...

I'm not gonna go into it much, but good lord is it hard to clean a massive house all by yourself! I've always considered myself a fairly clean person, but living here has made me look like an absolute slob! I miss carpets. Oh do I miss carpets. Linoleum does a guy no favors when it comes to absorbing dirt and dust... Fortunately with the help of Fitri, a mopping maestro from way back, we eventually were able to get my house into an "acceptable" condition for the Halloween party. All that was left, then, was for me to decorate! (And let me tell you - finding a Halloween decorations in a country that doesn't normally celebrate Halloween is no easy task!) So I had to improvise...

Manford the Mummy, Horace the Headless Haunt, and a pair of friendly ghosts (affectionately known as Casper and Casper's pal, Merl) adorned my house to help scare and entertain my students for the evening. Putting the time in to create (and also name!) each of my "creatures" was honestly more time consuming than it should have been, but I think the students appreciated the effort and the humor of the sketchily made ghouls.

Perhaps the most difficult of the "creatures that go bump in the night" was good ol' bag Spider, who required quite a bit of bobbing and weaving to anchor him to his webby lair. But what's a Halloween party without a spider?! Especially when I couldn't really afford to fly the real Spider all the way over here just for one night! Though I could have really used his impersonation of an attack dog to scare aware all the trick-or-treaters I didn't have...

And I guess, since I'm already talking about Halloween decorations! I should point out that I greaty miss the cobwebs from the Pumpkin Smash at the Clubhouse! I had to improvise and make my own out of dried-out wet wipes... Let me tell ya: don to try this at home. The level of hair-pulling-out frustration and eternal ripping of the whispy threads is enough to drive even the most sane of Halloween party-planners off the edge; and I'm by no means in the category of "sane" at this point! But I refused to have a Halloween without cobwebs and so after a few more mugs of apple cider, I came up with something that slightly resembles cobwebs. They would have to do.

Since it was Halloween, and I wanted to celebrate the right way, we went back to some time-honored Halloween traditions from my more "youthful years!" Just take a gander at the hilarity that ensued...

Bobbing for apples is perhaps the greatest Halloween game known to humankind. Shove your head in a bucket of water, and then try to bite an apple with your teeth. Could anything be more awesome?! Yes. Apple bobbing in hijabs.

I saw many unique strategies: the poke-the-apple-with-your-nose-until-the-stem-appears method, the try-to-go-in-for-a-bite-without-getting-too-wet strategy, and my favorite, the who-the-heck-cares-if-I'm-wearing-this-heavy-hijab, I'm-getting-that-APPLE! method, which involved a full dunking of the head, and a whole mess of wet clothing... I was amazed, impressed, and a little shocked by the devotion to getting that apple! These kids truly take a bite out of life.

But the highlight of the evening of apple-bobbing was the moment captured in the above photo. At the present moment, it holds the position of "top memory in Indonesia." This is the story:

Since the students were all participating, they decided that the teachers should also have a go at apple bobbing. I, of course, supported this whole-heartedly, because I firmly believe that if I'm gonna ask you to do something, I had better be willing to also do it myself! Fortunately, I didn't have to start the shenanigans. That was left up to the woman in the bottom right corner: my co-teacher, Mam Novi. 

The students looked to her as the first teacher to attempt the U.S. game of apple-bobbing, since beside moi, Mam Novi was the only other person to have spent time in the U.S.  Well, while Mam Novi is usually down for just about anything, she politely declined the offer since she was unable to bend over to the bucket due to her 7 month pregnant belly. Fair enough, right? Wrong. The moment she said it, multiple students collaborated to pick up the bucket and bring it up to Mam Novi so that she would not have to bend over! 

Well, when students are that persistent, it's kinda hard to turn away from. So after a little more pushing from the students, Mam Novi agreed to give it a shot. And so I counted down, "tiga, dua, satu, ..." And the second I got to zero, Mam Novi struck like a cobra! Her head flew forward, plucked an apple from the top of the water in 1.23 seconds, nearly knocking the bucket out of the students' hands with her speed! As one student later remarked, "One bite; one get." Let's just say she whooped all the other students' times by multiple seconds... And the best part? After biting her apple out of the water, Mam Novi casually starts to walk away, chomping on her apple, and turns to the students, saying: "That's why I'm the teacher!" Point made.

After that, we had a quick game of "eating-the-apple-off-the-string."

I may have mislead my Indonesian students into believing that all U.S. games involve food, but what can ya do? It happens. We wrapped up the night with a "scary" movie, that unfortunately was more "blood and guts" than terror-worthy moments. But that's what ya get when you let the students pick the movie :)   I'm sure they enjoyed it, which is all that matters.

Before I conclude this post, I'm gonna sneak in a few pictures of the event that happened the day after the Halloween party... I was invited to judge a Stroytelling Contest for middle school students from surrounding schools! The stories were all classic Indonesian folk tales, of which I have copies, and the students had to perform in English! So apparently I was qualified enough to judge...

The stories were awesome to listen to, and the students' acting was phenomenal. Even though I kept sliding my desk to run away from the sunshine, I had a blast listening to the Indonesian stories. Though I heard later that they thought Juri 3 may have been from Russia, due to his continual low scores...

Just another day. Doing new things, having adventures, and gathering stories to tell my friends and family :)

"To hell with facts! We need stories!" -Ken Kesey

Talk to you soon,

Ryan

Days Turn Into Weeks... (A Catch up Post)

So I've been in Pontianak, Indonesia now for a little over 5 weeks, and I think it's time to catch up on some of my happenings and wanderings. My hope is that if I can make one extremely awesome, out-of-this-world, possibly super long...post, I can start blogging about things as they happen, instead of 4 weeks later... With that thought in mind, let's explore together while I reminisce on a few of the random mini-adventures I've had in Pontianak over the past month.

To tell you the truth, most of my days are spent walking to school, helping teach, and then walking home. I actually really enjoy my little 10 minute walk to school each day, just so long as I make the walk at 6:30 in the morning. After that, it's too darn hot to even think about physical exertion! 

The Street View of Where I Live. Good 'Ol Bali Mas 2. Just what you imagined Bali to be, right?

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I stick out a little bit when I walk around the streets of Pontianak. While it might be my excessive height, or perhaps my shaggy hair that I need to get cut, I'm betting that the real give away is my white as rice skin color. And let me tell you - they know rice in Indonesia. So, when I walk down the street, there are few people who don't yell out at me: "Hey Mister! Halo!" Or, my favorite: "Dia sangat tinggi!" (He's really tall!) But I love to walk, so I continue to take the treck everyday, even if I'm not the biggest fan of having random strangers shout out to me. 

Other than teaching at school, which I promise to describe in a separate post, I spend the rest of my time in Indonesia either playing sports with teachers and students, hanging out with friends, or relaxing in my home! Many students like to play Futsol (which is a mini form of soccer), and therefore I get sucked into multiple games after school. 

My students and I after an epic game of Futsol.

Students, teachers, and basically everyone else in Indonesia loves Futsol! Fortunately, I'm a big fan too! It's an awesome experience to get to hang out with your students outside of the classroom. As a teacher, I often feel distanced from students due to rules and regulations, so having the opportunity to get to know the students without fear of upset parents or enraged administration really does the heart good. And as for their Futsol ability, these kids can play! Luckily I know a thing or two about getting in the way, and have thwarted many of their best attempts to score... And you wouldn't believe how excited both teams get when this bule scores a goal...! With flailing limbs and legs that always seem to get in the way, I think I'm making a name for myself on the Futsol field. Sometimes uncoordination and the element of surprise are they best way to confuse and beat your opponent :)

But don't ask me about playing Futsol with my university friends... I'm merely a speed bump that is unfortunately standing between them and the goal. And like any good speed bump, while I may cause minor annoyances and the occasional crash, I unfortunately am usually unable to bring a hard-charging Indonesian to a complete stop... Still, I press on, "like boats against the current," knowing that at some point, a cocky Indonesian youth will try to pull a crafty, over-the-top maneuver to impress his friends, and this wily veteran will be there, waiting for the slip-up that will open the door to my goal-scoring opportunity. And up until now, I have yet to leave the Futsol court without scoring at least a goal or two :)

In other news, I also play badminton from time to time. However as badminton is one of the highlights of Indonesia, I will save the topic for a later post. Just know that whenever I step on the court, I always "give 'em the business," and maybe even a few tricks I learned from backyard pool badminton with my dad.

Just so this doesn't drag on too long, I'll share three quick stories from over the past couple of weeks. Then I'll be able to end this post, and move onto some better posts about more significant events that have happened recently in my life! Without further ado, my stories:

A few weeks ago (I won't tell you how many...), a few teachers took me to the center of town to see the Sungai Kapuas, the longest river in Indonesia. Since Pontianak was built along the river, the center of town is located on the riverbank. In this "town square" of sorts, the people of Pontianak come to hang out, buy local goods from sellers, and eat along the riverbank. 

Sorry the photos are kind of dark...Some of the teachers and I took pictures along the water front and in front of the major fountain. People in Indonesia LOVE photos. I'm not joking. I take photos everyday with random strangers, and so when I'm with people who actually know me, they have no qualms about bumping me into photo after photo. The other notable bit from the photos above is the statue with the circle on top, which is a replica of the equator monument that lies thirty minutes outside the city. Hopefully in the near future I will visit the iconic equator monument that symbolizes the awful heat that I fight against everyday! 

While along the river, we decided to take a boat ride down the Sungai Kapuas...

Check out the "klotok," or boat, that carried us along the Kapuas River. The main bridge that connects the two sides of Pontianak city can be seen in the distance, lite up to shepherd late night travelers. One night, in fact, I was one of those sheep who got lost while riding his bike, and relied on the bridge to direct me back to my house!  And of course, in the above photo collage, I have the mandatory photo of just me, myself, and I. I'm never allowed to get away without a picture of myself, standing awkwardly alone, in random Indonesian places. So all in all, my evening at the center of town and on the Sungai Kapuas was the relaxing night out that I had been long needing.

In other news, I've now made 2, count'em, 2 trips to one of the city's most popular tourist destinations: The Dayak Longhouse. Indonesian Borneo, the island I currently live on, is inhabited by the Dayak people, the indigenous group of Borneo. So while there are now many different cultural groups in Indonesian Borneo (Pontianak actually has large populations of Malay and Chinese heritages), the original cultural group will always remain the Dayak people, who are still a major part of the island. And one of the major cultural aspects of the Dayak people, is their homes: longhouses.

Dayak Longhouses are the traditional homes of Dayak people, and are still used by individuals who live outside of the the big city of Pontianak. (Apparently it may one day be possible to travel out and see a Dayak community in the Borneo Rainforest) However within the city, the longhouses are solely for ceremonial purposes and tourism, not domestic life. What a shame, eh? Who wouldn't want to live in an open-concept home on the equator, replete with sun-scorching heat and mobs of mosquitos...

The reason the Dayak homes are called longhouses, fairly obviously, is because they are long. Enough said, right? Wrong. I always have more to say. The reason the Dayak homes are so long is due to the fact that Dayak families add onto the building as newer members of the community are born, so that families can have their own space, while still being under the same roof as their friends and family. So as the community grows, so does the house. Kinda cool, right?! Apparently some longhouses can grow to have as many as 200 doors/apartments inside of the upper-level living area, which means there could be 200 individual families! Fortunately they have the bottom area for activities and such.

This first Dayak Longhouse I visited was recently completed in July of 2013 and is the largest in the city. I'm going to throw out a guess here, and say that its enormous size and grandeur is meant to be representative of the continued strength of the Dayak presence in Pontianak. It certainly impressed me. However unlike the normal longhouses which are made from wood, this behemoth was constructed from concrete. I explored the longhouse with some of my new friends from the local English club, and dared to enter the longhouse in the traditional way: walking up the giant tree trunk. Did it seem unsafe? Of course. Most tourism outside of the U.S. often is. But that's what makes it awesome.

Above you can see my mandatory photo by myself, that my lovely friends forced me to take. (Sometimes I'm actually glad when they force me to take photos, because I come out with gems like the photo above.) From the Dayak Longhouse we could see a traditional Malay House (the building on the right), which makes sense since many Pontianak Indonesians have Malay heritage. I hope you also enjoy the awkward photo of my friends and I on the Malay House's front steps...

And of course any photo description would be amiss without an explanation of the bottom left photo, in which I enjoy a traditional Indonesian snack with my pals after a long day of wandering around the longhouse. We purchased "rujak" (cut up fruit and vegetables with a peanut sauce) from a roadside vendor, and drank bags of sweet sugarcane water. Always a tasty drink on a warm day.

As I said before, I in fact made TWO trips to the giant longhouse, which may be indicative of the lack of sites in Pontianak...! The second time, however, I went with my site partner Adam, as well as a teacher from his school. So while the picture below may have the same building, note the different people posing for awkward photos.

However after leaving the Rumah Radakng on this day, I did not go enjoy a snack of rujak, but instead visited another Dayak Longhouse! This long house being significantly smaller than the giant concrete behemoth, but far older and more "classic."

Make sure to notice the tree trunk man on which I climbed to to enter the longhouse. I could have walked around and used the stairs, but stepping on a face of an old wooden guy is slightly more "romantic," don't you think? 

Apparently this longhouse is one of the oldest (or maybe the oldest) in Pontianak and is also now used for ceremonial purposes and tourism only. While at this longhouse, we met some of Adam's eccentric students, took our obligatory photo with them, and discovered that for some strange reason, this longhouse is a place for people to bring their dogs...

So the longhouses are cool, and represent a traditional culture of Indonesia, which is great. Hopefully I'll learn about it as I continue my journey!

I'm bringing this long post to a close. My third story is short. I went to a Mr./Mrs. Pontianak Beauty Pageant... That's about it. I just believe it's important to note, because things like this happen everyday - I wind up in strange places.

The highlights of the show included the small kiddos in Pontianak batik, and the traditional Malay dance, where they tied up a woman while dancing...! Then we left early because I had to teach in the morning and the thing was ending no time soon...

Well, this has been a little peak into everyday life. Honestly I need to start doing a better job of keeping track of the amazing things that happen to me everyday, because I am in shock and awe just by the day-to-day happenings of Indonesia. Hopefully now that I've caught myself up a bit, I can blog as things happen, instead of in hindsight. We'll see :)

"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." -Anthony G. Oettinger

Talk to you soon,

Ryan

A Volcano in Bandung?! Let's Go Exploring! (Sept. 15th, 2013)

Since we had two weeks in Bandung, it seemed like a shame to spend nearly 14 days without seeing any of the extraordinary natural wonders that Indonesia has to offer.  Fortunately, one of the other ETAs (whom I could clearly learn a great deal for with regard to organizing and planning trips...) realized that there happened to be a major volcano not too far from Bandung, and therefore organized a bus to allow a whole bunch of us ETAs to travel and see this major tourist destination.

The bus ride to the volcano took about 2-3 hours, which actually was pretty darn good due to the fact that traffic in Indonesia is as intense as anywhere in the world (in my opinion of course...). And so, 30 "bules" (foreigners in Indonesian) arrived at the Tangkuban Perahu Volcano to explore the active volcano, that apparently had an eruption as recently as February 21st, 2013! Ah! Kinda scary, eh? But nonetheless, we were resolute in our desire to see the volcano, or at least the one crater than was easily accessible by hiking!

Before we set off on our hike, we were approached by a couple of Indonesian gentlemen, asking if we would like a trail guide for our hike around the volcano. Being the self-driven, go-getter ETAs that we all are, we fairly quickly came to a unanimous decision that "We don't need a Guide!" And those, my friends, are what we like to call famous lasts words...

And so, as all great explorers do, we took a walk. We took a walk in order to see, and understand, and learn about this natural wonder of nature that lay right in front of our eyes. And for me, there are few greater joys than seeing the beauty of this earth.

We began in our large group of nearly 30, perhaps optimistically believing that we could all hang together along the twists and turns of the hike around the crater. And to give ourselves some credit, we certainly did hang with one another at the beginning of the expedition! Fortunately, the first crater that could be seen was right near the entrance, and we were all able to enjoy a view of the volcano crater together. Of course this was only the beginning of the hike, and we hoped to hike further and see the crater from a higher vantage point, along with seeing more of the craters of the volcano. 

However as we progressed further and further, climbing higher and higher, struggling with bigger and bigger rocks and inclines, we slowly began to separate into smaller groups to better navigate the terrain. I, of course, found myself quickly fall back I to the last group, due to my inclination to stop every five seconds to take pictures of everything I bumbled into. (I actually meant to write "bumped into," but my computer changed in to "bumbled into," and I think I like that better. Well done computer.) But honestly, look at this scenery! How could you not take loads of pictures?! I tried to capture the beauty of the trees and flowers, as well as the impressive sight of the volcano.  

That little collection of photos is for my sister! She has an eye for taking flower photos, and has inspired me to try and capture some AMY-ZING (my apologies for the super corny joke...) shots of flowers in Indonesia! So I tried. I hope you approve Amy! I still look through the Australia photos and laugh at all the random flower shots! "I Don't Care; I Love It!" (Thanks to Icona Pop for that reference.)

And so we hiked, and slowly separated into groups of 6 or 7. Some ETAs trucked forward, enjoying the physical activity of hiking, and getting a thrill out of discovering the not-so-well-marked path. And some ETAs drug behind, moving as fast as a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter. I leave it to you to decide where I was amongst the different groups.

Partway through our hike, we stopped at a plateau to allow everyone to catch up. At this location, there was a giant fenced in area, which seemed rather out of place in the middle of the forest. So a friend and I peered inside, and discovered it to be some type of old school or radio broadcasting center. 

I would have liked to check it our more, but I heard a friend whisper "Hey, he's watching you..." So of course I looked around! only to find an Indonesian man with some sort of badge looking at us, looking in the the gated area. And in this scenario, curiosity will not kill the cat, as I am a scaredy cat! Well, I decided to myself, I guess it's time to hike on before I get asked questions!

Further hiking in the forest surrounding the volcano led us to a vantage point at the top of the hill (or perhaps mountain, to make the hike sound more impressive!). When everyone finally caught up to this point (I can't imagine who would have been dragging behind...), we took the opportunity to take some impressive pictures of the volcano and our motley crew! A great many thanks to the Indonesian motorcyclists who snapped the photos!

It was an impressive sight. I know very, very little of volcanoes, but the beauty of crater was astounding. So much raw power that could erupt at any moment. Let's just take a moment together to be in awe of the natural beauty of this earth, and to be thankful that the sucker didn't blow while I was standing there!

After posing for multiple photos, we decided as a group to head down and around the path of the crater edge, instead of heading back the way we came, in order to see some new territory on the way back. And we had a little map of the park, along with the pointed directions of the Indonesian motorcyclists, so we felt confident in our path. 

Now is the moment when that whole "We don't need a guide!" thing really kicks in...

It has been said that "not all who wander are lost." After about 3 hours of hiking down a volcano that only took us an hour a half to climb, I can pretty well say we all knew we were lost. But at that point, what's the use in turning around, right?! So we forged ahead.

Clearly Adam and Kelsie realized just how lost we were, even if those behind them were not too concerned! I can safely say that all of the above photos were taken in areas of the land surrounding the volcano that none of us had any idea existed... In other words, we were off the tiny map that we had been give at the beginning of our adventure. But that's the most exciting part! We were out in the middle of Indonesia, exploring the beautiful outdoors and taking in all of the diverse scenery. Honestly, aren't the above pictures of the landscape gorgeous?! Pay no attention to the lost foreigners hiking about... Focus on the Beauty of Nature!

We kept hiking, and eventually came upon a tea garden that we believed may have been on our map. So, we of course first stopped to take pictures of the tea garden, and then decided to try and decide which direction we should head in next.  Some of us wanted to take the road less traveled by, while others were more interested I n asking the Indonesian motorcyclists which direction they would suggest. Having already received directions from Indonesian motorcyclists, I was wary of their judgment, so instead stood back and took pictures of the mass of ETAs hovering around the Indonesians for information. (I would like to take this moment to make a cultural note: We were informed during orientation that Indonesians worry a lot about not being able to help others, and thereby are likely to give someone directions, even if they have no idea where they are, or where a person wishes to go. While I cannot say that this is definite fact, I would like to lodge my vote for the "extreme kindness of Indonesians in giving directions, even though their directions may often be quite inaccurate.") And so we received directions, and followed the path described to us.

I will tell you, my friends, our path became no shorter after leaving the tea field.  We did eventually run into more groups of Indonesians, the first group telling us that we had only 15 minutes till we reached the road, the second group telling us we had 2 hours till we reached the road, and the third group informing us we were only 10 minutes from the road. Needless to say, we were not getting any closer... A few of us began embracing our more "tribal" side, with natural headdresses made by Zee!

Eventually we turned a corner, and stumbled out onto a dirt road that seemed to leave into a main city. How many hours had we been gone? I'm unsure. And honestly, I was not to worried. The hike was so incredibly beautiful and energizing that I in no way regret all the twists and turns we took to arrive back out in the city. Oh wait, did I say back in the city? My bad. What I meant to say was when we arrived in a lovely little city that we would eventually discover was at least a half hour drive from where we began our hike... Yep. We were nowhere near where we started. 

So we called the driver of our bus, who apparently was non too happy with us, and asked that he drive to pick us up at our present location. Luckily, the city we popped out into was a nice small town, with places to eat and a nice area for us to sit while we waited for transportation.

Quickly, to wrap up, since I've been rambling for far too long, I'll just explain the above pictures! The one, of course, is a view of the city that we found ourselves in. Another picture, which you should be able to identify, is an ice cream truck. Yes, an ice cream truck. And oh did we have ice cream. I was slightly sketched out at first by the brown goop the man scooped into the machine from a bucket in his truck, but I will tell you that the strawberry ice cream cone I had after our 8 hour hike was as good as any Graeter's ice cream in Cincy! And finally, the last picture is of the place where we sat waiting for our bus to pick us up. But I'd like you to pay particular attention to the large black vehicle that belonged to the security team that came to "rescue" us. Oh yes... We certainly made ourselves known that day! 

Final tally: 30 Exhausted ETAs; 15 consumed ice cream cones; 5 confused security officers; 1 awesome day.

"Getting lost is just another way of saying 'going exploring'" - Justina Chen

Talk to you soon,

Ryan

Orienting Myself in Bandung (Sept. 7th - Sept. 22nd)

Well, first be warned that I'm writing this post two weeks after my orientation in Bandung actually ended... But at this point I believe I can claim that it's kinda my style. But anywhoo, on to the story.

Since the 35 ETAs who arrived in Indonesia with me came with varying levels of knowledge regarding Indonesia, its culture, its people, and its language (besides those few go-getters who took classes or studied on their own before arriving), I believe it made perfect sense that we would all be gathered together to participate in a two-week orientation all about Indonesia, and especially, the Indonesian language. 

So, off to Jakarta we all flew, to meet up in the wonderful Jakarta airport and take a 2 hour bus ride (5 hours with traffic) to the lovely city of Bandung. Bandung has been described as the "Paris of Indonesia," due to its sense of style, nightlife, and something else that I don't actually remember... Sorry... I should have been listening more intently.

When we arrived in Bandung, we pulled up to what was clearly the largest hotel in the city, the Hotel Trans. Far what what you would imagine if you think of the Hotel Transylvania, the Hotel Trans was stunning with its giant reception area/lounge, where we were greeted by a traditional Sundanese dance group.  For real. Apparently we're kinda a big deal, and thereby got a sa-weet performance as our entrance into this "must be a 7-star it's so awesome" hotel. They performed 2 dances for us, the first of which was more musical based, and the second of which I forgot the storyline... But apparently it was a great story.

**Thanks to Kelsey for the photos!

So the dancing was pretty darn neat, but the music was ever better in my opinion. I always enjoy good music, and the Sundanese band was spot on! I'll have to make a point of looking up more music during my stay...

So this is a mini-compilation of the hotel lobby, in an attempt to show you just a bit of the extravagance of this immense hotel.  The flowers in the person-sized pot were always REAL, and I found the stairway to be just a bit on the "flashy" side. (Congrats to Emily, "Sekutuku dalam Kejahatan," (my partner in crime) for the photo shoutout!) So if that's not enough lavish lifestyle, the hotel has a giant glass-light dragon! Whose head unfortunately blew out during a power outing...

On the roof was an outdoor eating area that looked out over the city. It was an impressive view, and we had the good fortune to have multiple lunches and breakfasts up there, as well as the opportunity to hang out ther in the evenings.  Perhaps the best part of the roof-top lounge was the glass-floored platform, where we had multiple dance parties and moments of looking down at the street in awe.

**Thanks to Emily for the photos!

While no one can match Marci and I's mirror-ball winning dance performance (that dad and Mrs. Makin nearly stole in a questionable judging...), I can definitely say that Elizabeth and I's moves on the glass-floored skywalk were certainly impressive! Oh, and the interpretive dance was also pretty memorable...!

Anyway, Let's just say the hotel was pretty swanky. I had my own room on the 14th floor (there was no 13th floor... I still don't understand that custom...), replete with bathrobe, slippers, comfy as heck pillows, laundry service, giant bathtub, and hot water!!! IT WAS UNREAL. A far cry from the Penny Sleeper Inn in California! (Amy knows what I'm talking about!)

So I spent two weeks in a room unlike any I plan to inhabit in the foreseeable future, (which is honestly fine by me since I couldn't handle being waited on hand and foot...) and was/am grateful for the experience, if for no other reason than realizing that that sort of lifestyle is not for me :)  But I would be lying if I didn't say that I looked forward every morning to the fresh fruit, and every evening to the Indonesian dessert placed in my room :)

Notice the Hotel Trans in all its glory, with the Indonesian Flag flying out front as an Angkot (public transport in Bandung) drives by.

And so we spent the two weeks in orientation, studying Bahasa Indonesian and learning about the country. I can fill you in more sometime, but let's just say it was really nice. Having breakfast and lunch made for you everyday was awesome, and I definitely gained quite a few pounds in two weeks... Standouts in the food and drink arena definitely go to nasi goreng seafood (fried rice with seafood) and bajigur (traditional coconut drink that was the best thing ever!!).

I shall conclude with a picture of the classroom I spent so much of my time in. Note the AMAZING flowers in the bowl. They were brand new and fresh everyday! Also, notice the water bottles, of which I drank approximately 10 a day, and I would have to safeguard from the hotel workers who would always try to take my half-full bottle and replace it with a new one when I would turn my back! I had to fight pretty hard to not waste a bottle. I fended off one worker when he tried to take my half-full bottle, but when I turned my back, he snuck around, nabbed it, and replaced it with a brand new bottle! The staff certainly was diligent in guaranteeing that our stay was as comfortable as possible!!

I will close with a photo of my wonderful Bahasa Indonesia class. These people had my morning and afternoon everyday. Laughter and learning went hand in hand with these awesome pupils, and our fearless instructor, Totok!

I think that's enough for now. I'll post about the volcano trip we took while in Bandung in another post. But this at least covers the orientation bit of Bandung!

"You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it." -John Updike

Talk to you soon,

Ryan