Papua Lecture

So I don't just hang out at the many malls in Jakarta. Sometimes I like to increase my Indonesian knowledge by going to lectures about places that I won't actually get to see in person. One such lecture was on Papau - another island that makes up Indonesia.

The speaker was Kal Mueller a man who had spent 30 or so years in Indonesia, often visiting Papau though living in Bali I believe. The Kamoro which is the tribe the lecturer focused on, are a hunter/gather/fishing tribe on the coast of Papua. In the eastern part of Kamoro land they had little contact with the outside world until 1926 when the Dutch and then the Catholic Church began to set up posts there. But the western Kamoro had been trading and interacting with the outside world since the 1600s

Before the presentation members of the Kamoro tribe who had traveled to Jakarta did a traditional dance. A welcoming/greeting dance. I have filmed a portion for you.

 The Kamoro diet revolves around the sago tree which provides starch for their diet. Living on the coast means there is plenty of seafood available. Wild fruits and vegetables are eaten too but the Kamoro aren't really a farming people apparently. The lecturer also talked about this one animal - the tambelo which to me just looks like a huge thick long worm but it's apparently a mollusk. You get one out of a tree then can just slide it down your throat.
    Some rituals were also explained such as one for the boys coming of age. It's a long process but doesn't have to completed within some amount of time - more so oh we have free time let's do another part of the ceremony. The boys are painted at points, they change clothes to represent going from the women's world to the men's. Ancestral or other traditional figures are used in dances. I realize this a a really vague description but it has been a while.

    The lecturer has created a carving program where the Kamoro can make their traditional wood carvings and he takes them to other islands in Indonesia and sells them. It's to give them motivation to keep carving because within their community the practice of carving figures they don't need is dying down. A couple of day after this lecture there was to be an exhibit and sale of the artwork so we attended that as well.

These were some of the pieces out for sell. Authentic Papuan art - awesome yea?
And I bought some. I'll have to post what I got later because it's actually a surprise. But yaay for wood carvings.

Necklaces of animal bone I believe. I wanted one really badly 

Boating people would probably have a lot of canoe/boat carvings

I have given a somewhat scatterbrained vague description of the Kamoro tribe of Papau so if you would like to know more about them feel free to look them up yourself or on this site which I blieve is run by the lecturer Kal Muller too. I got a lot of this info from booklets I picked up at the lecture and art exhibition.

Other 17th Birthday Experiences

So I've been to quite a lot of birthday parties recently. Including two 17th birthday parties which as you know are equivalent to sweet sixteens in Amerika.
   The first took place on another trip of mine to Bandung with my host parents. Neither of my h.sisters went but I met up with my American friend Amy there. I've only met the cousin who's birthday it was a couple of times but the more the merrier? It was at the family house with the killer view so she gets points for location.

Yup view from the house

 The party was more formal than Caca's surprise 17th. There were chairs set up to watch the speakers and the entertainment. Her cake floated on the pool behind a huge sign of her name. Candles lit up the backyard.
Food was mostly meat which was disappointing. I ate spaghetti with no sauce. There was a soup too.  I was so jealous because there were quesadilla type things but they had meat in them.
   Now for what surprised me that night. One, most everyone was smoking. I know smoking's more popular in Indonesia but I've always seen it among college students or older men. My host family, school, and community don't tolerate high school aged kids smoking. But at this party just everyone was. Then when it was time for the birthday girl to come down she was preceded by 2 drag queens. Yup - one was dressed like Lady Gaga and danced the other was just a presenter. They were both really tall and wearing outfits befitting their characters as Lady Gaga and some other famous person. It was really interesting.And apparently not too unusual for Indonesia even though the grandma looked just a bit confused. Got to love it.
   The party was watch the birthday girl come down, watch the drag queens, listen to the band, eat and smoke. It was very structured which I could not see happening often in America. Me and Amy missed the end of the party but the next morning we tried the cake. Pretty tasty

Now the other 17th birthday I went to was a friend of the family's who also goes to school with Caca and I. It was actually at the same restuarant that Caca had her birthday at. So the food was the same. They have friends in common being at the same school too. But the party was different. This one was more games and door prizes. There was a video all her friends made for her.

See happy people but NOT due to karoaking and dancing and the general crazy funniness that was at Caca's bday. Different but also good

Just a look at different ways to celebrate the Big 17 in Indonesia. And you get to see what I've been up to.

Me yaay

Amy's Birthday and Karawang Countryside

I recently went to Karawang to surprise Amy for her birthday. On Friday Caca and her friend drove me to Bekasi which is another city maybe 30 minutes outside of Jakarta. From there I met up with Nathan and we went to Karawang which is maybe another hour away. We went to Andrew's house first to prepare for the surprise. We made a sign - out of batik letters. As presents we had ourselves (because it was a surprise) and red peppers and cupcakes and a cake as well.

    After we were readily prepared we took becak to a karoke place. Karoke is really popular in Indonesia - think of it as their national hobby. Becak is a bicycle with a seat area in the front for passengers. This was my first time riding one. In Jakarta I could not imagine them being very pleasant to ride in with all the traffic and heat and smog. In Karawang it works because there's less traffic. There's lots of rice fields (sawah) and little market/stores but not much else. One classmate said when she goes to Karawang she likes to play in the sawah and 'get back to nature'. I like that. I laughed so much. Apparently it's almost like a beach because in the water there's eels and crabs. I have to go back so I can really get back to nature and play in the rice fields.
    Nathan and I waited a bit as Andrew went to get Amy. Then we did the surprise bit of the surprise birthday party. Always a good part. But we weren't done after being escorted to our karaoke room Nathan brought out his computer so Amy could skype her family back home. We presented the vegetables, cupcakes, and then got to singing. We mixed it up - Indonesian and English songs.

The infamous Alamat Palsu song

After this we did a little host family visiting. I'd never been to Karawang so this was my first time seeing their houses. At home we ate the cake and watched a movie.

You might ask why it says Ankhet on there too. Well ... that is a long story

I plan on going back to Karawang so you can actually see pictures of how different the countryside is from Jakarta. It would've been a totally different year if I was being hosted there.

Kampung Betawi & Masjid Kubah Emas

A few weeks ago was out mid-year orientation. Yeah I know crazy it's been 6 months already. (By now it's been like 7 ha) So Chapter Jakarta decided to take us on a little field trip. So me and Nathan and our contact people Kak Dila, Kak Tanti, Kak Putra, Kak Amri, and Kak Ninit went first to Kampung Betawi. Kampung Betawi is a area where you can see original Betawi culture - the people that first lived in Jakarta. They speak Bahasa Betawi. Their culture is a mix of Indonesian and of the different people that came here and colonized so a little Dutch and Portuguese even I was told.

In Kampung Betawi you can see houses done in their original architectual style - such as the little points on the house above. The house above is actually a hero's house. I'm not sure of the story but he's famous. So we walked and saw some of the houses and the huge man made lake. Kampung Betawi was incredibly clean and empty - surprising for Indonesia.

 You can take boat rides on the lake and so that was what we did.

Prahu Speda Bebek - Duck Bike Boats

Don't be mistaken - this was not a gentle ride. There was wind and you have to pedal really hard. at one point we went out the appointed circle and had to turn around and struggle the 5 feet back into the circle. After that we decided to eat traditional Betawi food. We ate kerak telor which I have photo-ed for you below. We tried the traditional Betawi drink - Bir Pletok which is a gingery 'beer'. It's not really alcohol. As a Muslim you're not allowed to drink alcohol. This is what the Betawi people came up with to mimic all the alcohol that the Dutch and Portuguese were drinking when they were here. I also tasted something curry-like called Laksi I believe. It was spicy and delicious but I don't have a picture

Later he'll flip the pan over and it'll be upside down

Ingrediants: eggs, hot stuff, stuff that's like coconut shreds but  I was told are not

feel the gingery burn - I'm joking it's not burny at all 

Then we left and went on to our next stop - Masjid Kubah Emas. It's a large mosque with kubahe (sorry I don't know the word in English. It's the top dome parts) made of gold. When you enter the whole parkesque area surrounding it it's like you're not in Indonesia. It's hotter because they only have small palm trees. All the AFS kakak said it was like being in the Middle East - I dont know so...

Hair is pretty much covered inside the mosque - not as strictly as I was expecting though

The mosque itself is made of granite stones which makes it crazy hot to walk across. You start and you go ok this is kind of hot. Halfway there you go OHMYGOSH THIS IS BURNING and start running. Happened everytime I swear. I watched lots of others cross it too. It was beautiful though.

The walk up. Here the guys separated from the girls

As they pray the opposite genders don't see each other or well the men don't see the women. Men enter from a different side and then inside the mosque the men are in front so women face their backs. In the mosque in my school they're divided by a wall so there is no seeing each other at all.

The entrance to the long fiery walk

I did enter for a while just to see the interior which was also great with a huge chandelier and a cloud painted ceiling but then I opted to go take pictures of the grounds.

You aren't allowed to take pictures inside but I did take this as we were entering.

There was one lady with her daughter outside playing. The daughter was just roaming and playing around which I found cute and funny. You can also see a bit what prayer looks like.

After our masjid visit we went and had lunch and the official evaluation part of the day. We ate Saung Talaga, a restaurant on the water. After a meal was over the waiters fed the leftovers to the fish who leaped out of the water pirahnna-like to get it.
    The actual evaluation consisted of Kak Ninit and Kak Ambri asking us about what we feel we had accomplished, our goals for the future. But we had to express this in a collage that will later be revealed to us at the end of our time here. I barely remember what I said but wow 6 months - or 7 months already gone. I'll be home in no time. What a weird feeling.

There was a monkey too!

I took a lot of fotos of randoms - one of my favs

Another Wedding

So I went to another wedding.  Both my h.sisters didn't go so it was just me and my host parents who both had friends to catch up with.I took the liberty of exploring a bit for myself. This time I knew what to expect - food and more food.

Inside food & outside food so you can eat everywhere

This wedding was apparently a bit different the usual ones. It was in a hotel as opposed to just the usual hall. It also had a lot of western touches I noticed. They were still in traditional wear but the live music was all American jazzy love songs. They even came down from their stage to do a first dance - which I've never seen before. I could see how they would be very american influenced. There were a lot of bule - foreigners there. A lot of the announcements were in English.

first dance

wedding singers behind fancily dressed guests in front

I ate a lot. Started with fruit then to the tempura table. There was pasta and fish. Sushi even. Dessert was either a crepe with mandarin orange sauce and ice cream or a waffle with the same toppings. There was even salad with real toppings. Very happy.
It was a cool wedding.

Can you see his sword - this is traditional dress for you.

A Quick Durian Trip

Happy people enjoying their durian.

One friday after school my friends from school and I decided to take a quick durian eating trip. From school we rode angkot some ways down the street until we came to one of the many little street stalls where you can buy durian. They chose a good ripe one and the guy opened it for us with his machete like knife.

The outside of a durian is spiky while the insides are white and gooey. It's smell is famous for being horrible and clingy. They have mint commercials where a person will knock their friends out with the smell of durian on their breath. No lie. It was raining at the same time though so you could basically ignore it. I don't think it's too bad though.

Those bulbous things are the part you eat

Is it delicious though? It's terribly sweet. I can't describe the taste much beyond that. The texture is where I find it the strangest. It's like when you try and eat the little bit of fruit left around the seed of a mango but softer. It's kind of slimy too so it stays in your teeth. Sometimes it seemed like there was no difference between chewing it and swallowing it. It kind of just goes down but you still feel the slimy-ness everywhere. My friend said she could eat 1 whole durian by herself she likes it so much. I could not imagine doing so. It's really sweet and there's maybe 9 or more pieces inside. The picture above is just it cut in half - it opens up more and more.

Mid-eat

So after this food adventure we headed to a friend's house and hung out for a couple of hours. Then my friend took me home on the back of her motorcycle.  It's quick, and breezy and if you're a pro you don't have to hold on (actually it doesn't feel dangerous at all. I can't imagine myself ever wanting to hold on to the driver). I would say that wearing pants is probably better. The long school skirt makes it harder to get on, it gets shorter and also takes up space on the motor. Just a tip for future motor riders. I got cheers from all the people standing on the streets watching me ride motor for the first time. They were probably laughing to see me so excited to be on a motor. Best way to travel ever.

Duck reading a gravestone. On the way home. Had to take a picture

Bikram Yoga & Eating

Lights in the restaurant

So one Friday night in January I got a random text from Amy saying - Hey want to do bikram yoga in Jkt. I agreed because yoga's my thing. I didn't think we would do it the next day - I thought it was a hypothetical question. But no the next morning I found myself having a chat with my Americans in Tamini (my local mall) before heading over to the yoga studio in Jl. Kemang. Note: This is the same area with the cool Turkish food restaurant. People in Jakarta should check out this street/area for fun.

My cheese and tomato sandwhich on ciabatta bread.
It was real cheese!!! And a salad!! Unheard of in Jkt

     We missed the early class so we decided to go look around for a bit. This was the wrong day to wear flip flops. We were searching for a cool secret restaurant or something. That had us asking a million people, going the wrong direction, and walking on forever. we found lots of other cool restaurants though to try out next time. The restuarant in question was actually being torn down and rebuilt. We had lunch after that at Casa - I believe it was called. It was a cool little restaurant thing - lots of hip looking people were there so I guess we chose well. And the food - after 5 months of rice everyday it was amazing.

After yoga - hence the sweat and the crazy eyes

After a really good meal we caught a taxi to the yoga studio, got dressed and headed in. Our studio's name is Yoga @ 42 because that is the temperature of the room in which you do Bikram Yoga. 42 degrees Celsius in Fahrenheit is 107.6 - this is what the internet tells me. That seems like a really high number to me but it was crazy hot so it's believable. I thought oh it's always hot in Indonesia so how much worse could it get. Wrong - Jakarta heat did not prepare me for doing yoga in this heat. By the end of the class you go - Did all this water come out of me? You feel all loose and clean too. It was great great great. The people were really cool too. The teacher was actually from Los Angeles too. Yaay for LA people in Jkt.

Coconuts

We survived (and enjoyed) Bikram Yoga

After taking and drinking coconut water and showering we decided to go eat again. We were super hungry. Because Jl. Kemang is filled with tons of Arab restuarants we decided to go to one we had seen earlier - the Shisha Cafe I believe it was called. Not actually sure. Food - hmm just ok. Hummus - not my favorite. Tea - it was a tiny pot and was weak. It was very pretty though - lights and red couches and mosiac-y tables. And tons of foreigners were there. A french girl was having her birthday there and they sang and brought a cake - we peeked out from the secret side room we were in. Then in the bathroom we met these australian girls who go to international school in Jkt. Meeting random foreigners our age is the coolest thing ever.

Wow a fountain too?

Look you can actually see where we hung out and ate

We took a taxi back to my house. And that was us in Jakarta - they just keep coming back cuz it's so fun. I love living here in the city.