Java

My Java Family:

My mom's name is Endah and my dad's name is Sigit. The grandmother's name is Sadiyat. 

My 6 year old brother's name is Kindi. Kindi loves soccer and to run around the house. He is still shy around me, but I can always hear him throughout the house. He has posters of his favorite soccer team from Barcelona on his walls. 

Novan is my 15 year old brother. He is usually at school or hanging out with his friends. He is a typical teenager. He can speak some English  and plays the guitar.

Nisa is a cousin of Novan and Kindi, but she lives with the family. She attends college at a local university and is 22 years old. She found me on facebook and twitter within 24 hours of my arrival. She can also speak some English and has helped me adapt to Java. 

My house in Java is cozy and welcoming. In the past days we have attended a lot of class. Saturday night we attended a village party involving karaoke. They then woke us up at 5 am on Sunday morning to take a walk around the village. It was 3 kilometers and lead us to the communal graveyard that holds hundreds of victims from the eruption a couple of years ago. Several gravestones read Mr X or Mrs X because the bodies were too deformed to identify. We appreciated the village opening up to us and showing us where their loved ones are buried. 

At every event in the village there have been prizes. The prices are generally kitchen tools, containers, water bottles, or glass bowls. Half of the time the children win the prizes and end up giving them to their parents. My number was drawn at the walk and I won a glass bowl.  The Dean of UGM then lead us around the village to visit a dagger maker, weavers, and purse makers. We got to experience first hand the life of an artist. That afternoon we were also supposed to attend a dance show, but I accidentally fell asleep and missed the show. I slept through the night for a total of 14 hours. 

On Monday we visited a Pesantren (Islamic Boarding School). The 3000 students remain at school for 24 hours a day. They wake up at 3:30 am to begin studying the Quran and go to sleep at 10pm every night. The boys were shy but the girls loved showing us around their campus and taking pictures with us. 

Missing my cat Charlie at home, I found a cat laying on the gravestone of the founder. I picked the cat up and held her for about 20 minutes. The students couldn't understand why I liked cats and why I wasn't afraid. The cat seemed sick and possibly pregnant. She purred in my lap and cried when I left. I hope the students will pet her now that I showed them she is nice. I tried to take her with me, but (lucky for you mom and Charlie), no one would loan me a bag. 

On Tuesday we had class followed by a lecture on Christianity in Indonesian. The speaker asked if we thought Indonesia was religious. He stated:

“You are not religious just because you are raised in a religion... You are religious if it affects your life... Do you see your neighbors as your brothers and sisters? If no, then you are not religious.”

We then visited a Catholic Church in Java. It was beautiful. They had the typical Javanese Gamelan and beautiful green architecture. A temple also rested on church grounds. 

Tuesday night, we went to the Ramayan Ballet. It was awesome to hear the live music and the story. We all loved the costumes. The Ballet only sat about 1000 people so every seat had a great view. 

Today we are making batik shirts. 

We will only be in Java for 4 more days and then we are headed back to Bali.  

Dah-Dah (bye bye) for now. 

Lots of love, Kak Shelly