January 12: Hindu Temple and a Show

Hello friends, 

Today's schedule included a visit to the world's second largest Hindu temple, Prambedan Temple, swimming at the hotel, dinner, and a show.

This was the first time that I had ever gone to such a huge temple.  People still go there to worship to this day, and a little section of it was marked off for Hindu worshipers only.    Enormous statues five times larger than humans filled the temple.  Each position of the "god" meant something different.  I had never realized that Hindus believed in so many gods or that it had so many stories about them.  I remember learning about Greek mythology in school, and I wonder why they didn't teach us more about them in school.  Some of the stories seem very far fetched and ridiculous, but then again some of the stories in the Bible are equally interesting and "unbelievable".  It as crazy to in that these people spent so much of their time constructing this temple.  I would love to learn more about the motivation behind their desire to build it?  Did they love their gods so much they wanted to build a temple, we're they afraid of them, did they need their help?  Just some things to think about.

Our whole group

 
After the temple we grabbed some lunch and then headed back to the hotel for some much deserved free time!  We were overjoyed to be able to just hang out in the pool for a while and cool off after walking around in the blazing sun and humidity.

We ate a delicious Indonesian meal for dinner at a restaurant next to the amphitheater  where we saw a traditional Indonesian ballet.  A band to the side of the stage played the music and sang some of the narration of the story and some dialogue between characters.  Everything was in Bahasa, but I did my best to follow along with the plot summary they passed out before the show.  It was a story about Hindu gods, a princess getting kidnapped, and how she was rescued.  The style of dancing cannot be compared to any sort of western dance.  The dancers moved slowly across the stage with flexed feet, bent knees, and open hands for most of the performance.  I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner and dance and feel like it was a good way to experience and learn about more the culture and religion of this beautiful country.  

Part of our group with the monkeys

-Erin

January 11: Welcome to Yogyakarta

Well hey there everybody! Are you ready to hear about more adventures from Indonesia? I can't hear you! Ok! Let's go!

The morning started off more hectic than we were anticipating. We left the hotel for our flight from Jakarta to Yogyakarta (pronounced Joe-Jakarta, or at least that's how I say it). However, because traffic was heavier than expected we found ourselves struggling to check in for our flight with 10 minutes until takeoff. Luckily, Feyban was there to interpret for us and the employees were helpful. They rushed us through the airport, directed us to a different gate, and led us out onto the runway to board our plan. We didn't even receive too many dirty looks from the other passengers. All in all it all turned out pretty well (except that I had to sit between 2 strangers. That sucked).

We were thrust right into touring when we arrived in Yogyakarta. Our first stop was a Batik workshop. For those of you with limited knowledge of fabric-making, Batik is a special technique for making designs on fabric. You take a special instrument (kind of like a wooden pen with a metal container and pipe at the top) and use it to drip beeswax onto a design stenciled on the fabric. They dye the fabric and then take the wax off, leaving the pattern. After a quick tour of the place we were given an opportunity to try our hands at making our own Batik. There were a bunch of older women doing it so I figured "how hard could it be, right?" After I'd dripped hot beeswax on my bare skin for the third time I fully appreciated how much effort and skill it took to make Batik. I also remembered how I got a B in middle school art. But it was still a lot of fun to try it out.

Women making Batik

Batik pre-dying

Some of us making our batik

Ruwan making his batik

The thing that heats the beeswax

We ate lunch at the Sultan's Palace restaurant. It was buffet style with pretty normal Indonesian food. We did get to try snakeskin fruit for the first time. The outside looks and feels just like a snakeskin. The fruit itself is fairly mediocre, but it was cool to try. They also had live music at the restaurant. Some old (we're talking ancient) men playing some bells and an old woman singing. They were pretty good.

Snakeskin fruit

 Playing the live music

Our next two stops were pretty similar. There was a leather market and a ceramic market. The leather market had a bunch of shops selling shoes, wallets, jackets, etc. and the ceramic market was selling statues, vases, figurines, etc. It was fun to look around. There was some especially cool stuff at the ceramic market.

 Considered buying this, but I thought it MIGHT put my bag over the 50 pound limit

Our final tour stop was Parangtritis Beach. This was just a fun little beach to chill at for a little while. There were various vendors around. I think there were about 5 different guys trying to sell me sunglasses. The sand was dark because it was near a volcano. There were also horse drawn carriages that you could pay $2 for a ride. The current was too strong to swim in, but that was ok because it was cloudy anyways. Some members of our group were swarmed by locals trying to get pictures with them. For some odd reason Indonesians have an obsession with white people. They LOVE getting their pictures with us. At the beach we also learned that Kelsey has a violent side when she entered a bamboo sword fight with Nate and blood was drawn from Nate's hand. We spent the rest of the day at the hospital as they fixed up the 3 broken bones in Nate's hand (just kidding. He put on a band-aid and was fine).

Chillin' at the beach (it was really windy)

For dinner we went to Gadjah Wong. We all could choose our main course from one of three options, all of which people enjoyed very much. We even got ice cream for desert, which was wonderful. Conversation consisted of  "would you rathers" and questions like "what's the most life-threatening thing you've ever done?" Answers will be kept confidential for the sake of both those who answered and the parents of those who answered.

That was pretty much our day. I'm sure you're wishing you were here with us, but, alas, it wasn't meant to be. Fortunately, you can continue to live vicariously through us! We're hoping to catch up on our posts in the next day or so, God-willing, so keep checking back!

Terima kasih (thank you) for your prayers for safety and open minds. We truly appreciate them. May the force be with you.

-Big Ben

January 10: Shadowing in Schools

We split between the education students and business students for the day. Education students were going to spend the day shadowing in classrooms.  We started by going to SPH, one of the schools we had toured before.  We went to the main office and were given a schedule of which classes we could visit. Chantel and Kelsey were in the junior school (elementary school) and Erin, Michelle, Nate, and I were in the senior school (middle and high school).  Erin and Michelle went to English classes and Nate and I went to math classes. We were able to visit three classrooms, and I'll tell you about the three I visited with Nate.

Our first class was a grade 10 class. They had finished the lesson when we walked in. The teacher seemed a bit nervous to have us in his class. Later professor Buursma said they haven't had many people come sit in on their classes.  The students were working on homework, or rather working on their homework a tiny bit as they chatted with their friends.

 Grade 10 classroom

Then we went to a grade 8 math class. I was very very impressed with Pak Jun (the teacher) and his classroom management. His students were very attentive.  They reviewed the last lesson and then the students worked on review questions that were on the board while Pak Jun checked their homework that they had put in the basket.  Then he had students help him pass back the homework notebooks and went over the answers to the review questions.  Then he went into the new lesson using PowerPoint and the projector on the ceiling. Then he handed out work sheets and had the students work on those.  After a bit he asked a few students to come up and write answers on the board.

Grade 8 classroom

Then we went to a grade 11 class with Miss Sarah. The expat teachers (teachers not from Indonesia) use Mr. and Miss in front of their names while the national teachers use Pak and Ibu. She was very friendly and told us that she went to the University of Michigan for school.  She had us introduce ourselves and then sit in desks with the students since it was a small class. Classes have a max of 24 students in their classes at SPH but this class had about 12 students.  We were only there for half of the class because that day, this class was double the length. So rather than the regular 50 minute class period, they had 50 minutes, then a small break, and then another 50 minutes.  Nate and I ended up doing some of the problems with the students as we sat in the back.  We then headed to junior canteen (the junior school's cafeteria) and ate lunch. We had a choice of food and were given a mango cream smoothie as dessert.

Grade 11 classroom

Then we got in our little bus and went to SDH (another school we had visited before).  There we were given a schedule and were brought to our classrooms. We were each in our own classrooms.  I started on the little playground with kindergarteners.  They were so cute! The little kids have 15 minute periods, so we were outside playing for a bit under 15 minutes and then went to the classroom to change the sweaty kids.  It was a pretty humid day so I can see why they were sweaty! I then went to another kindergarten class.  In SPH, SDH, and SLH, there are three kindergarten classes, K1, K2, and K3. They start kindergarten when they're two years old, and kindergarten is only for the first half of the day.  So the second kindergarten class I was in was a K2 class. We sat down on the carpet and reviewed letters they had learned. They had learned up to g and were now learning h. Each letter had a verse of a song with it. Each letter had an animal associated with it, so they would sing the animal name twice, then the sound of the letter twice, and then say the letter. Then as I was leaving the room to go to my next class they were making a h horse because that was the animal that went with h.

My next class was a grade 5 English class.  They were going over different sentences and were using workbooks with example sentences about the Titanic.  They were going over answers when I came in.  After that class I had a short break and got to talk with the teacher. She asked what I thought of her class and wanted to know if in the US we had standardized tests. I ended up explaining No Child Left Behind and the problems with it, specifically with ESL students.

Grade 5 classroom

Then I was led to my next class, a grade 3 art class. They were the most chatty out of all the students; most students are curious to see us, but too shy to ask us questions. The art teacher explained that they were drawing a tree reflected in the river.  She made an example one and wrote out the steps on the board, then had the students do it themselves.  Then we left to go back to the hotel.

We got back around 2:45/3 and had some free time. Nate, Kelsey, and I wanted to swim so we got our suits on, went down to the pool and it had started raining.  We sat in the covered seating area hoping the rain would end soon.  Instead though, it began to rain harder and got very windy; it got so windy that a potted tree tipped over and cracked. We decided then that it would be a good idea to go back to the lobby.  We got in the elevator with a worker pulling a suitcase and as the doors were closing, the power went out. We were a bit surprised by this and got out. Then the power went back on, and the worker started pulling the suitcase out of the elevator, but the elevator doors weren't sensing his arms and kept shutting.  At the last second he pulled his arms out and had he not done that his arms would've been squished.

The pot that tipped over and cracked

We were a bit skeptical about getting back on the elevator and looked for a staircase, but the only one was outside and it was still pouring so we risked the elevator. We all hung out or went back to the room, and then some of us went with professor Buursma to search out a cabana she had been to before. After a small search we found it and ate pizza as we talked about what we had experienced before. Then we went back to the hotel and left for UPH where we had dinner with some Calvin alumni.  After the dinner we walked back to our hotel, some detoured to the mall on our way, and called it a night.

Dinner platter

-Kalee

January 9: It's Business Time

Now it's time for another exciting episode of everyone's favorite interim, Indonesian Adventure: Calvin Style

We woke up ready for another day of Indonesian awe and wonder. We were not disappointed. Today our schedule consisted of visiting 3 different businesses. We shoved off around 8 after a delicious breakfast.

The first business we visited was Siloam Hospital. We talked to a couple different men who were working on the development of some new hospitals that are going to be built. We learned about the health and economic situation in Indonesia. They also told us about some big plans they have. If I remember correctly (which I admittedly struggle with sometimes) they plan on building 50 hospitals in the next 4 years! I was blown away by such an outstanding goal. They truly seemed to understand God's calling for them.

Next we met with someone at Hypermart. In my opinion this was a fairly boring meeting. He talked through a presentation on store setups and the different types of stores Hypermart consists of. Other people may have found it more interesting, but I'm the one writing this post so I'm not going to say anything else about it.

We ate lunch at a nearby mall (I had McDonald's) and then headed to our final and hands-down best visit of the day. We visited PT Arwana Citramulia Tbk (or Arwana for short), a business owned by Fabian's dad. We were given special polos to wear and were picked up by company drivers. After an hour or so car ride with conversations ranging from Disney songs to bodily functions (at least in our car) we arrived at Arwana.

Arwana is a tile making company. After a short, but interesting, presentation on company philosophy and working for God, we received a tour of the company's factories. There were some really cool machines and really nice workers. We learned that Arwana has a 100% recycling policy. Nothing goes to waste. At the end of the tour we got to all sign 2 tiles, one for us and one for Arwana to hang up with other tiles signed by guests.

Signing the tiles

After the tour we were invited to have dinner at Arwana with several of the workers. They didn't sit and talk with us though. Ohhh no.They performed for us! One group did a traditional dance. The other group sang/played music on instruments made from materials around the factories. They were both very good. During one of the songs by the second group they pulled a few of us from the crowd to dance with them. I was one of them and despite my better judgement I'll post a picture of us dancing below. We had a lot of fun hearing them and taking pictures afterwards. They were all very nice, fun-loving people and really seemed to enjoy working for Arwana. 

 

Showing them how Americans cut a rug

 

After thanking our hosts for a great tour and a fun-filled dinner we headed back to the hotel to rest up for our next day of joyous wonder here in Indonesia.

 

Thanks for your prayers for our safety and our ability to see God in new ways while we're here. Please keep sending them! Until next time, avid readers.

 

-Ben "Danger" Wyse

 

January 8: A School in a High Rise

If you haven't caught on by the timing of our posts, we don't get much free time/time with wifi. At this hotel (Hotel Aryaduta in Lippo Village) there is only free wifi in the lobby and it's a fight for one of the fifteen spots. We've had a very busy schedule and have had some amazing opportunities.

Day 4: We left the hotel at 6:45 and headed to the 7 am chapel at UPH (the Christian Univeristy).  The message was delivered in both English and Bahasa, and thankfully they didn't have us sing any songs in Bahasa! The morning was spent together as a group visiting schools. We visited three different Christian schools. SPH costs $20,000 and has both national and expat teachers. SDH costs $10,000 and has national teachers.  SLH is the third kind of school and I heard different numbers on cost, but I think it's around $2,000 or $1,000. We were also told that a student's education can be sponsored for 5,000 rp a month, which is only $0.50! We visited SPH first and sat down the the headmaster Phillip Nash who explained how the three levels of schools differed and explained why the schools were built. These schools are Christian schools, but do not require that the students be Christian; most students are Christians but there are also Muslim students. They sign a waiver that says that they realize this is a Christian school and realize how the schools works (ie they pray in class and have chapel etc). We toured the building and then left to go to SDH. We toured this school and then left for SLH.

SPH

 SPH

SDH

We switched to a school minivan (not the kind of minivan you're used to) and headed to SLH. Our bus was too big to take the roads there. We arrived to SLH and toured the building. At all three schools we were allowed to look in the classrooms and say hello to the students; at SLH an English class invited us and asked us questions regarding where we were from and what we liked to do. We also sang One Direction with the class :)  

He played guitar while we sang One Direction

A video of the above class singing a train song for us

Then we went for lunch at Batawi and headed out to drop the education students at SPH in Karawaci (a different SPH than the one before) and then the business students were going to go on to visit a business. Once again traffic was crazy and the business students ended up staying at the mall near by. This SPH was amazing. It takes up 8 floors of a high rise building and is absolutely beautiful! They have an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, a food kitchen with stainless steel appliances, and even escalators on some floors, and that doesn't even explain how amazing it is. 

 Auditorium

 Gym

 Science Lab

 Cooking classroom

Lindsay Cooper's classroom (Calvin Alum)

 Little toilet

 Outdoor pool

Then we hurried back to the hotel to get ready to eat dinner at the Riady house. Pak James (Mr. Riady) and his wife Ibu Aileen have done amazing things for Indoesia. It was such an honor to get to spend time at his home, talking with him and other important people from the area including someone from the hospitals they've built and the headmaster we met with earlier. Pak James is a Christian and has made that clear through his impact in his businesses in Indonesia, as they all have missions that have a focus Christianity.  He has put a strong emphasis on sharing Christ's love in Indonesia.  We also had a western meal which I was very much a fan of!  We got back to the hotel around 9:30/10:00. 

Best tomato soup I've ever had

SO GOOD

ALSO SO GOOD

Good night from Lippo Village,
Kalee

January 7: Sightseeing and a Show

Hello Faithful Followers,

Day 3 held yet more adventure for our intrepid group of travelers. We spent most of our day in the area of Bandung. It was a few hours away by bus, but I think most of us would say that it was worth it. We spent our morning sightseeing at a volcano crater. On our way up we stopped at a gas station. We disembarked to use the facilities. We soon found that they were of a more, shall we say, simple design than we are used to. The males were fine, but many of the women were less than thrilled. We made the rest of our way up the mountain, chugging right along. Towards the top we had to switch to a van because our bus couldn't handle the rest of the trek. Finally we reached the craters. The smell of sulfur (similar to that of rotten eggs) met us, but we adjusted quickly. The crater itself was neat. There were lots and lots of fumes coming up from it, making for some fun pictures. The real entertainment though was the long line of vendors hawking their goods to us. Bartering commenced and many of us came away with good deals on souvenirs. We made our way back down the mountain without incident.

 Volcano Crater

Rachel, Aleah, and Susan

We ate lunch at a local restaurant. There was much standard Indonesian food. Fish, chicken, rice. It was all placed on a rotating plate in the middle of the table for maximum convenience. All of it was delicious. Fresh fruit was served for dessert, as usual (one of my favorite things about Indonesia).

Our afternoon entertainment consisted of a show with dancing and music and a puppet show. The music was almost exclusively from instruments made of bamboo. There were various traditional dances. Part way through the show we each received one of the instruments and were given a crash course on how to play them. We soon became experts. Perhaps the most entertaining part of the show was the last dance. The dancers (a bunch of kids ranging from about 6 to 16 or so) came and grabbed almost all of the audience members to join them on the dance floor. Needless to say we impressed everyone with our dancing abilities. Either that or we made complete fools out of ourselves. It's so hard to tell sometimes. We spent a little while in their shop afterwards, picking up some fun souvenirs.

Bamboo Orchestra

We ate dinner at a Sudanese restaurant (at least I think it was Sudanese). We sat on the floor at a table about a foot off the ground. We spent our time enjoying our food, telling stories of relationships and first kisses, as well as being harassed by a so-called "feral" cat. Finally, our stomachs filled, we got on the bus for a couple hours ride back to the hotel. All in all it was another successful day.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Please keep them coming. Stay tuned for more on our exciting adventures in the wonderful world of Indonesia.

-Ben

January 6: Religion

On Sunday we checked out of our hotel in Jakarta so that we could move to Karawaci, a  greener, less industrial city not too far away from Jakarta.

Our first stop of the day was at Reformed Evangelical Church of Indonesia. While we attended the English service, we also stopped by the main sanctuary where the service is held in Bahasa Indonesia, and the smaller room where the service is held in Mandarin.  True to its name, the church has reached millions of people (really!) in just the past year alone. It was wonderful to see a family of believers on our second day in Indonesia, especially considering that Indonesia is primarily a Muslim country.

Look who's picture we found at the church!

Connected to the church was a beautiful museum filled with items for over 3,000 years ago.  Beyond even the standards of an American museum, it was obvious that the museum cared about the preservation of history.

Next, we traveled to Masjid Istiqlal, Indonesia's largest mosque, and the third largest mosque in the world.  For the majority of us, this was our first experience at a mosque.  While from our hotel in Jakarta, we could hear the call to prayer, it was an incredible experience to stand in the mosque during prayer, as the loud speaker reverberated through the massive, five story building.

 Professor Van Der Heide with some kids outside the mosque

To relax after our first few days in Jakarta, and our two full days of travel, we were all (yes, even the gentlemen!) pampered with a 90 minute foot, leg and back massage. Yet another new experience for the majority of us, it was incredible that something that would have been really expensive in the states is so cheap in Indonesia, a reality we are continually amazed by.

After dinner, we checked into our hotel in Karawaci. Now, instead of high rises out side of our windows we can enjoy terra cotta roofs and tall, tropical green trees. We will be at this relocation for a few days, but there is only wifi in the lobby, so if you are wondering about the lack of iMessage texts, that's why. :)

Day three will bring us to Bandung, which is about a two hour drive from Karawaci.

Talk to you again soon!

Blessings,
Michelle