Just another awkward moment....

Sometimes I get myself into situations that make me shake my head and laugh, whether it be a cultural/language blunder, miscommunications, unexpectedly ending up at special events with people, or experiencing random cultural things here. Well, last weekend was another one of those moments.
Neighborhoods in Indonesia are very different than in the U.S. in many ways, one being that community events happen regularly among the neighbors in each area(called an RT here). We've had 2 in the past week! One of the monthly events is called an "arisan." I had been looking forward to the arisan this month, because I haven't been yet and have only met a few neighbors since living here. Last week I got an invitation to the "arisan" on Saturday and I decided to go. Well, I made the mistake of not reading all the details, assuming I knew what it was, and the awkward situation unraveled before my eyes.
I went to the restaurant where it was at, which was about 20 minutes away. That should've been the first tip off...usually arisans are in someone's house in the neighborhood. I walked in and saw no one that I recognized. As I started talking to them and asking where they lived, none of them lived in my neighborhood(tip off #2). They also kept asking who I was there with, assuming I was a friend or family member of whoever was invited. They seemed as confused as I was as far as why I was there.  Tip off #3 was when the chief of police of Surabaya came in with some of the police troops. That's when I asked myself "What in the world am I doing here??" I finally showed someone my invitation and explained I was there for my neighborhood's arisan. It turns out I missed the important detail on the invite, that it was in fact an arisan, but for the veterans society of Surabaya. Whoever lived in the house before me must have been a war veteran and was the one invited, not me!! I ended up at this Independence Day celebration for veteran's and their family!! I'm sure my face turned a pretty shade of red. As soon as I realized that, Itried to excuse myself to go home, but because of how welcoming and hospitable Indonesians are, they insisted that I stay, because I hadn't eaten yet.
I stayed for the entire event and had a great time! I met some very interesting people who had served for Indonesia, connected with some families who live nearby, and the chief of police. Some awkward moments don't turn out so great, but this one was a win! :)

Me with some of my new friends :) The majority of the people there were over 75, but they also brought their children and grandchildren.

Meeting Pak Polisi, who told me if I ever needed anything while living here to let him know...Yay for connections!

Independence Day...Merdeka!

Yesterday was Indonesia's Independence Day and most kampungs and neighborhoods have their own celebrations as a community, with games, music and events a lot like block parties. The last 2 years that I've been here, it has fallen during Ramadan, the month of fasting, so there hasn't been any kind of game day or big celebration. This was the first year I got to experience celebrating it.
On Friday my festivities started out at the school I teach at, we had a Field Day to celebrate. The kids broke into teams and competed in games all day and then ended with eating traditional Javanese food.

The kids doing their stretching :)

One of the games was called "Menara Air"(water tower). The kids had to build a human tower to unscrew a bunch of bottles hanging from a tree. Every group without fail asked to borrow me...funny. Esther's about to find out what happens next...

 

They all get doused with water!

There was also an obstacle course of crawling through flour and water. It was hilarious to see their different reactions!

Hizkia for example, was less than thrilled :) Please take note that he's wearing gloves...not because it's cold(it was about 90 out). Oh, it's so his hands don't turn dark from the sun. Almost all the kids wore them!

After school I went and visited a friend in her kampung. That night they were having their 17 Agustus celebration and I got to join them for that. They had a stage set up in the middle of the road with mats laid out in front. They had live music playing traditional music, along with karaoke(Indonesians love their karaoke!!) and dancing. 

I made some friends as soon as I got to the kampung :)

I kind of wanted to take this little guy home with me...he was so cute!!

Me with some of the kids before the festivities began...the one on the far right has an identical twin and I kept mixing them up all night!

The set up. I stayed for the music and singing, but apparently I left before the dancing began and before they brought out a guy with a snake. Phew!

Upacara Turun Tanah(I don't even know how to easily translate that one...)

Java is so rich in culture and traditions. One of the Javanese traditions is called "Turun Tanah," which literally translates "to go down to the ground." When a baby turns 7 months old, the parents will host the celebration "turun tanah." It's a celebration that has a lot of symbolism about the baby's future.
When I was still in Malang, I got invited to a "turun tanah" ceremony for the baby of a parent at the TK. The mom is also a relative of my friend, Bu Fitri. The ceremony was women only and was quite the experience!

They started out by reading Islamic worship out of a book they had, which was all in Arabic, and as they did, a family member brought the baby around the circle and every woman put white powder on his face.

I think he was a little overwhelmed...poor little guy!

 The main ritual they did was placed him down on the ground(hence the name "turun tanah") and placed different objects in front of him. There were necklaces and money, a pencil and book, and an Islamic book. When they placed him down, whatever object he picked up first symbolizes his future. If he chose the money or necklace, that signified that he would become wealthy. If he chose a book or pencil, he would have a high education and be successful. If he chose the Islamic book, he would be devout and a religious leader.

 Which one did he go for??

The pencil won! The best part of the picture...I love how wide his eyes are!! He's a cutie!

Me with my friend, Bu Fitri, and her daughter, at the ceremony.

Catching Up...

I really did have high hopes of blogging regularly again once I moved to Surabaya! But, as they say in Indonesian, that soon got "dipinggirkan," or pushed to the side. It is a priority to start again because blogging really helped me to think about and write down things I experience and love about Indonesia. To be honest, it's been a rough go since moving to Surabaya as far as adjusting and enjoying living here. It'll be good for me to be proactive in writing about things here. I'm looking forward to blogging about experiences here, people I meet and finding things I love about Surabaya. I also love being able to share day-to-day and cultural experiences with friends and family back in the States.
Although most of the pictures are from my last couple months in Malang, I figured I would start by going back through pictures I had taken on my ipod. Here are a hodgepodge of pictures from my ipod(not the greatest quality) that I have taken over the past few months.

My last day at the TK in Malang...miss these kiddos!

Two kids in my TK class dressed up for "Hari Kartini."

I ran a 10k road race in Malang with Lisa & Carolyn...always an experience to run in Indonesia!! :)

Learning how to make "Rujak Manis" with some friends

Reyhan, a student at the TK...I spent a lot of time with his family at their house in Malang...they're so special to me!

Me with Reyhan's mom, Bu Fitri

One of the views in between Malang and Surabaya...I made this trip a number of times on my bike the past few months!

Phil, my now fiance :), came to visit me in Indo back in June!

A couple of the girls I taught ballet to in Malang.

I love capturing knock offs here around Indonesia...can you guess what this copies?? :)

This was a path we were walking along through a kampung that goes under a bridge. Good thing they had the warning to watch your head... Except for me it was at my chest(tall girl problems in Indo)

In Surabaya, I started teaching 4-6 graders...I love them! Hopefully I'll add better pics soon!

Surabaya...My New Home!

Well, last Monday, I packed up all my stuff, hit the road, and finally made the move to Surabaya!

Ok, all but the picture is true...I didn't really load all my stuff on my bike. The day I do that, is the day I know I've lived in Indonesia a long time. I did ride my bike there, but Lisa graciously helped move my stuff with their car :)

4: # of Cans of Raid I've gone through in 5 days

70: minutes it took to go 10km on my motorbike

5: # of times I had to stop & take out my map on that ride

93: the average temperature(F) in Surabaya

What can I say, it's been a little bit of a rough start to living in Surabaya. It's a way bigger city, waaaaaay more traffic, and hotter and more humid weather than Malang. I am getting accustomed to get lost anywhere I go, having to carry my map on me constantly, and sweating profusely along the way. I was also welcomed into my house by fleas, which I tried to wipe out with Raid, until the pest control company finally came. I'm trying not to think about the amount of fumes I've ingested :) Good news...they're almost gone!
Despite these things, I am so thankful to be living in Surabaya. I've been anticipating this move for a long time and am finally here! I know that most of these difficulties come with any move to a new place. I just have to keep reminding myself that they are only temporary and Surabaya will feel like home soon. I'm praying for God's grace in the meantime and also for little things that make me begin to love Surabaya. It helps looking back and seeing how God carried me through adjusting to the initial move to Malang. At least this time I know the language! :)
It has been a very, very long time since my last post. But, with the new move, I figured I can have a fresh start with my blog, too! So much has happened over the past couple months and there's lots of things that I want to post about. So, over the next couple weeks, I will be slowly posting those on here, even if they didn't just happen!

Saturdays with Anak-Anak Jalanan

A very common sight to see here are children standing at street corners and traffic lights, begging for money. These kids are called "anak-anak jalanan" or street kids and it's a whole subculture here. Although some of them don't have families, most of them still have families and still live at home. Their parents and the kids realize they can make an income doing this and so often times they stop going to school in elementary school and continue begging for money.
The good thing is, there's becoming more awareness and people who are advocating for these children within Indonesia. People who are helping kids realize their potential and stay in school. On Saturdays, I have been going to an after-school program for street kids, helping them with homework, teaching English, and making up other lessons for them. The couple who oversee this center are Indonesians who live in that kampung and run it out of a house that they rent. These kids come everyday after school from 3-5PM to do their schoolwork.
I have loved going there on Saturday, helping out and spending time with the kids. On a given day, there's anywhere from 20-40 kids, ranging from 1st grade up to Middle School, who all cram in to a one-room home. It's amazing to see their eagerness to learn! Even when they're done with homework, they ask for me to make more problems for them to solve or for lessons in English so they can learn more.
Below are some pictures that I have taken with my phone over the past couple weeks. Sorry for the poor quality!

Sometimes it's complete chaos, but here they're working so diligently!! :)

A group of girls that I work with a lot while I'm there.

There are interruptions sometimes...like when it downpours and the alley floods! They all broke out and played in the rain.

New Food Friday...A Ginger Theme

Even after living here for over a year, there are still so many foods I haven't tried yet and my friend Nining likes thinking of new things for me to try(sometimes I think she wants to find something I don't like...which is rare haha). Now that she knows I really like ginger, she's been making me try any food with ginger in it :)
The other day she took me to a place that sells "tahwa," and by "place" I mean a cart on the side of the road :) Tahwa is this hot, sweet soup with a really strong ginger taste. And then tofu is layered on top. The taste was pretty good, but consistency of tofu kind of weirds me out sometimes...

The second thing she made me try was a lot better. It's called "ronde" and is considered a drink, even though it's served in a bowl.

It's served with peanuts sprinkled on top and the round things are balls made of rice flour with their local sugar(kind of like brown sugar) inside. It looks weird, but it was soooooo good! I think it's my new favorite thing to have, especially on a rainy night.