Ohh boiiiiii.

Published on 18 July 2023 at 10:16

Schedule for today: “Preparation for final performance.”

 

Apparently, my cohort and I will be dancing, singing, acting, and playing angklungs for our host families at the end of the program. Great. 

 

An angklung is a traditional instrument of Indonesia made from bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. Each person in my NSLI-Y cohort received an angklung, and we spent a good 10 minutes shaking the things and turning them this way and that, trying to figure out how they worked. Twas NOISY.

 

A part of  a post from the NSLI-Y Indonesia 2023 Instagram. Click here for the link.

 

Then the music teacher showed us how to hold them and assigned hand signals (it looked like he was doing sign language); we were to act as a group instrument. All of our reaction times had to be ON. POINT. When we started to get a hang of it, the sound was so incredibly beautiful: a chorus of hollow woody echos. You can find videos on the NSLI-Y Indonesia Instagram

 

Drippy art

 

“AGGHHHHH. WHY DOES IT KEEP DRIPPINGGGGG.”

 

Batik is a Javanese art: drawing designs with wax and dying the cloth. Not only did we learn about the art, we practiced it. 

 

It’s hard. Like, REALLY hard. Everything was fine, until the wax from the canting (the tool) started releasing  big, heavy, uncontrollable drops—hence the inevitable screams of frustration. Additionally, it takes so looooooong. A good quality, full-sized cloth = 3 months to finish ONE cloth. Nah uh. Not for me. Praise to the batik artists!

 

A row of handmade batik cloths sold at Kampung Batik Giriloyo, a place where people learn batik.

 

That day, I took a GoCar (like an uber) home. It wasn’t the first time, but this time was significant because the driver and I talked the whole 30-minute drive home. The funny part? He could barely speak English and I could barely speak Indonesian. The language barrier is no joke—but it can be really fun to climb. He taught me directions and the words for sun (matahari), moon (bulan), light (cahaya), and so much more. It was shockingly sad to say “Terima kasih, selamat jalan” (thank you, good bye) when we reached my host family's home.

 

I’m a Celebrityyyy

 

Week one completed! On Saturday, my host sister let me tag along with her friends to a children’s theme park, which was SUPER fun. All the lines were sooooo short which was a nice change for once. We also watched a play about a royal kingdom and an evil witch, which was EPIC (the dancers and singers were amazing!)—even if I understood maybe 10 words in total. 

 

A moment during the play "Putri Nara" ("Princess Nara") at Kids Fun.

 

However, if I had giant red wings and glowing antlers growing out of my head MAYBE I would attract the same amount of attention in the U.S. I’m used to flying under the radar, but it’s impossible when I am the only one with blond hair and blue eyes in a crowd of people. They call me “bule” (“foreigner”).

 

I suppose I hadn’t noticed before because I was almost always in a group. Most adults are subtle-ish about it, but the children just outright gawk (it's adorable!). As we were waiting in line for a water bumper cars with water guns, I noticed a group of 8-year old ish boys trying to look at me without looking at me (you know what I’m talking about??). All I did was meet their gazes and say “halo!”, and they overwhelmed me with questions, talking so fast I had no hope of understanding. I told them my name, and when they saw me later they shouted “MAIA!!!”, waving enthusiastically ❤️

 

They told our NSLI-Y group about this—calling it celebrity status—but WOW! 

 

Today (July 11) I went to Jalan Malioboro, a street full of all kinds of little shops selling anything and everything. I…wow (not a good wow). I tend to stand out here, leading to a lot of attention, but this is where it got really uncomfortable. I was separated from the group for a while, and I was perfectly ok with that; I was so excited to explore and do what I wanted to do! But. Not only did people notice me, they approached me, talked to me—asking where I was from and where I live in Jogja and where I go to school, took pictures of me without asking, and this one guy with blood-red streaks in his eyes started walking WITH me. 

 

 

I faked where I went to school—saying I was a student at Gadja Mada University studying medicine; ended conversations with an abrupt “selamat jalan” (goodbye); acted like I couldn’t understand Indonesian OR English; straight up ignored people; ANYTHING to be left alone. I know at least most of them were just curious and/or trying to sell stuff, but ay ay ay.

 

After the one guy started touching my arms, and my bags, and pointed me down a dark alleyway saying there was authentic Batik at the end (and NO, I did NOT ask, NOR was I looking for batik!!!), I’d had enough. So, I looped into a store with two doors to escape the alleyway and walked straight back to home-base (a famous souvenir shop) where I knew I might find others from my NSLI-Y cohort. I stuck with a small group for the rest of the night. After I was with others, we were only approached ONCE in the span of an hour, by a seller of bottled water.

 

Note to self: to be blonde, female, and ALONE, especially in another country, is STUPID. It didn’t matter how many times people told me—only now do I believe it.

 

Edit: It was the worst at Jalan Malioboro Street. Walking in the streets of the city, most people don’t notice me; if they do, they just smile and wave. Let me restate, the people here are some of the kindest I've ever met.

 

Thank you for reading!

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Comments

Leslie Hercules
a year ago

Oh, my heart was pounding when reading your
"street story" Please be safe, and stay in your group. We all admire your courage, but still worry.
Looking forward to each and every post.

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