1) Karaoke with my class
Other classes may believe otherwise, but I would argue that Kelas Musi is the closest group of students and teachers. Toward the beginning of the program, we all went to karaoke, and I saw a new side of our gurus. I'll never forget watching Mbak Nissa execute the rap from Nicki Minaj's Superbass flawlessy, seeing sweet Mbak Ayu knowing every word to a Sum 41 song, dancing with the girls while Mbak Niken sang Clarity, and cheering on a beautiful duet between Mariam and Mas Nanang. It seemed surreal, 4 pm in a dark room with a disco ball, french fries, and a seemingly exhaustive song selection.
2) Riding the angkot to school
My friend Phoebe lives across the street from me. Our host families are related, and basically everyone who lives on our street is related to each other. I ride the angkot (think of the tiniest city bus you can imagine. A bus for leprechauns) with Phoebe everyday and I've been so appreciative our conversations and her company. I also appreciate that she is always as enthusiastic as I am to stop at Indomaret for snacks before class. One of my favorite moments while walking to school was when a massive iguana was perched on a low-hanging branch right in front of our faces and it terrified us.
3) Alone at music class
Each week, we attend elective cultural classes. A lot of people only attend one, but I attend two, singing class and gamelan class. Once, I was the only one who went to singing class. I sang the same three songs over and over again for about an hour. Mas Rizal, one of the communication and design students who takes lots photos of us to send to the state department, came to class to take photos of us (read: only me) and I got him to sing with me. I really enjoyed that moment because I know he didn't want to, but he did anyway. He also showed me cooler Indonesian music after that.
4) Lame high five
Mbak Mariam and I have created this really lame high five where your hand goes all floppy when it meets the other hand, and we've been teaching it to all of our Indonesian friends
5) Gossiping with my tutors
It's one of our favorite activities, after studying and eating, of course.
P.S. Mbak Tyas dan Mbak Ririn.. kalian tutor paling baik dan paling cantik di antara dunia!
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| A tutorial session at a cool museum :) |
6) Breaking fast at Pak Gatut's house
This was a beautiful night, with all of the teachers and students eating together at Pak Gatut's, the resident director's, home. I played with a cat, did trust falls with my fellow former RA and dear friend Mariam, and taught the game Concentration to Indonesian friends. For a moment, I felt like I was hanging out with my friends in Columbus. Another special moment that night was when Pak Gatut gave me a Thai-Indonesian dictionary that he bought for me while he visited Bangkok the week before. It was one of the most thoughtful things someone has done for me.
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| The party! |
7) Being Margarethe's roommate
We've been hotel roommates twice, and because we both grew up as only children, we understand each other that way. We always sleep soundly and joke about how selfish we are (we once were the only people sitting on a couch in a room of 30 people sitting on the floor). We also hear our wacky friends in the next room not sleeping soundly and yelling about bugs or free sarongs.
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| Margarethe and I! |
8) Singing
I've had to sing A LOT here, despite that fact that I really don't know how. The night before we climbed Mt. Bromo, some of the Indonesian guys were playing guitar and singing, and invited us to sing along. Because we were in a village, the stars were really clear, and for the first time, we were all bundled up in sweaters. We sang some Bob Marley songs, which made me miss my dad. "Is This Love" is one of my favorites and we sang it together that night.
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