Madura: mosques, beaches and...bull races?

A couple weeks ago(sorry for the delayed post!), a group of students and teachers from my language school went on a trip to the island of Madura. Madura is just northeast of Java and is easily accessible because of the Bridge that's been built connecting it to Java. We rode a huge bus(there were about 30-40 of us!!) and went to a bunch of different places on Madura. One of the teachers and his wife are from Madura, so we started out by going to his wife's desa(village) and having lunch there. Her family prepared lunch for all of us! It was a fun time meeting them...there were probably about 25 family members there.


Some of our group and Pak Mafud's wife's family. They all live in the same area in the desa.

This is Pak Mafud's little girl. She is the cutest!!

We also went to Syaikhona Kholil, the famous mosque on Madura. It's well known, because it serves as the burial site of a holy person of Islam and because most of the materials to decorate it were imported from countries in Europe.

I was surprised I was allowed to take pictures inside, but because it's a famous mosque, I think most people who come to see take pictures.

The inside of the mosque was incredible and intricately decorated.

Me and my teacher, Ririn, with some girls that we met at the mosque.

We also went to a beach, but unfortunately I have no pictures of that...I was so so so excited to jump in the water, because Madura is one of the hottest places I have ever been. But, the water was warmer than bath water. Not very refreshing! But, it was still a lot of fun!
The next day, we went to a yearly event on Madura...cow racing!! This was an experience I will never forget for sure. These races are held once a year there.

As you can see, 2 cows are tied together and a jockey rides on something that looks like just a metal slab in the back

 They race down a field that's about the length of a football field going at incredible speed! The crazy part is the jockey isn't an adult, but a child, usually still in elementary school!

One of the jockeys after his race...I couldn't get over how small he was!

One of the races in action

A group of kids I met there who gave me the lowdown on the races...they were so cute! They said there's also goat and rabbit racing at the field here, but the cow racing is the biggest event.

It was a great weekend to be able to see different parts of Madura---to see the beauty that's there, interact with the people and to experience some of the strong culture from the island.

New Food Friday...Es Degan(a.k.a. a little taste of heaven)

This isn't really a new food for me, but at one time it was, so I decided to include it in New Food Friday. Es Degan can actually be included in one of my "I Love It" posts, because it's my favorite drink ever. It's made from you can probably guess it...fresh coconut water(I'm talkin straight from the coconut that they cut open), a little sugar, and cut up pieces of coconut meat. There's nothing more refreshing on a hot day than Es Degan! What's even better? It's only 3,000 rupiah(30 cents)!! 

I usually get Es Degan at least once a week. There's a guy who sells Es Degan from the back of his truck up the street from my kost. He's there everyday with his wife cutting and preparing the coconuts. :)

 

The cup of perfection...love it!

I Love It!!

As my friends can attest, I tend to love a lot of things and have a lot of things that are"favorites," which I guess can be a little contradicting if I have a lot of them :) Anyway...I've wanted to start keeping track of things I love about Indonesia and life here. Blogging about them is a good way for me to document and, later on down the road, remember all these things. Even if it's something little during the day that makes me smile, I want to remember those things and share with friends back in the States.

One of the things I have loved this past year is helping at the kindergarten(or TK as they call it) here and even more recently, interacting more with the families of the kids. The mothers of the children all congregate together and hang out outside the school while the kids are in class. I have loved getting to talk with them before and after class. It's also been a great way for me to learn some Javanese words and phrases(Javanese is an entirely different language that is spoken on Java...each major region of Indo has their own language) since that's what they use when speaking to each other. Helping at the TK has given me a chance to really get into the community and the lives of a few of the families. They are always opening their homes and wanting me to come visit. I have loved getting to see the families in their element. Being in their homes brings out another side of the personality of the kids as well as the parents. Sometimes, they tend to be more shy and reserved at the school, but at home it's a whole other side of them.
The other day, I went with a group of the moms to visit a mom who had just had a baby last week. Let me tell ya...it's hilarious seeing a group of moms get together and talk about the birthing experience here! 

Me with Ibu Viola and her new baby boy!



One of the other mom's holding him...he got a lot of lovin' that day!