Pick Me Up
Times are kind of low here right now...so I'm going to post some pictures of a few of my favorite memories of Indonesia so far.
This little girl lived at a halfway house for abandoned children in Surabaya that I visited on Thanksgiving. The kids were adorable.
For some reason they loved to throw these up. Who knows where they learned it.
Riding ponies had always been a passion of mine...outside a temple at Gunung Bromo.
With my (ex) students on Valentine's Day, aka a city-wide drug rally.
One of my first and favorite classes--10-7. These kids actually made me feel like a real teacher.
Leading a workshop at SMA 1 Bangil...the principal posed me this way. The students told me I looked like a Barbie Doll, and compared to them, I did.
On Gili Trawangan off the coast of Lombok. The most beautiful place I've ever been and my favorite spot in Indonesia so far.
One of my other favorite sites: the Buddhist temple of Borobudor outside of Yogyakarta.
With one of the sweetest boys I've ever met outside of the halfway house in Surabaya.
So when I get down about my current situation, it helps to think back at the times I laughed with my students, looked out and saw forty faces hanging on to my every word, went scuba diving with sharks and barracudas, spent my Thanksgiving with kids who really needed a reason to give thanks, and all the places I've been and people I've met. And then nothing really seems too much to get over.
Bromo
A few weeks ago, Ann, John, Layne, Ronie, and me went to Mount Bromo in East Java. Here's the first view of the mountain.
Warning: looking directly down into the sulfur cloud WILL CAUSE vertigo.
Chucking my offerings into the mountain.
Whole gang at the top.
View of the landscape...what a strange place it was.
Mission Impossible
Sorry about the lack of posting lately...many, many things have been happening, but apparently my right to free speech has been suspended. It's been suggested that if I continue to tell the truth about what happened to me, my grant will be terminated.
Viva la repression!
Say It With Song
So in regards to my troubles with my vice-principal sexually harassing me, my friend Birgit (who spent two years in Indonesia, so she knows what's up) sent me this song that she's been translating. It made me laugh pretty hard--first is the English translation followed by the original Indonesian. The highlighted parts are phrases that she's still checking on. I am represented by the disgraced mango.
Lustful Bats
A pretty face for whom?
A sexy body for whom?
Eyes like the morning star
Thin lips, high nose
Teeth as white as a pearl
Chin like hanging jelly
Chorus:
Pretty face, sexy body
Like a ripe mango
Many bats desire it
Want to taste its sweetness
After eating a little bit
The mango is left behind, disgraced
Each day I take care of my pretty face
For my husband who is faithful and pious
There's no way I'll surrender
To a faithless bat
Chorus:
The mango bits left from the bat's mouth
Have no value and are degraded
Wajah ayu untuk siapa
Tubuh sexy untuk siapa (2x)
Mata bagai bintang kejora
Bibir tipis hidung mancung
Gigi seputih mutiara
Dagu bagai lebah bergantung
Chorus:
Wajah ayu tubuh sexy
Bagai buah mangga ranum
Banyak Kampret mengintainya
Ingin mengenyam manisnya
Setelah makan sedikit
Mangga ditinggal ternoda
Tiap hari kurawat wajah nan ayu
Untuk suami yang beriman bertaqwa (2x)
Tidak akan kuserahkan
Pada kampret yang durhaka
Chorus:
Mangga sisa mulut kampret
Tak berharga dan terhina
Labels: guano
Riding ponies had always been a passion of mine...outside a temple at Gunung Bromo.
With my (ex) students on Valentine's Day, aka a city-wide drug rally.
