Have you heard of the app, 1 Second Everyday (1SE)? It lets you compile a video of one-second clips from every day, creating a fun, fast-paced glimpse into your past.
Inspired by some of my fellow ETAs, I jumped on the bandwagon and started adding daily clips. I kept it up for the entire year, and finally finished my Fulbright Year video. Enjoy this glimpse into my daily life in Indonesia!
I spent 19 of the last 21 months living in Indonesia. It was a wild ride from start to finish, but one that I wouldn’t have traded for the world. I also learned a lot… some things serious, others less so… I’ve spent the last month or so developing this list – I hope you enjoy!
Mock-teaching in Bandung
At my favorite cafe, Bottoms Up, with my favorite food, Nasi Ayam Lada Garam… spicy chicken with rice.
I wore this proudly
Vacationing with friends is the best
My kids had lots of questions for Martha about the U.S. government’s feelings towards Muslims and what it would be like if they ever went to America. I was so proud of them for asking those questions.
I’m sure I learned hundreds more things but this is what came to mind. It’s weird to think that I’m back in the States for good now, and can’t jet off to climb an active volcano or stumble upon a deserted beach. But America has many modern conveniences that I am eternally grateful for – hot showers, sinks, clean drinking water, all the Western food, the ability to pass unnoticed wherever I go… I’m grateful to be home but will always miss the beautiful country of Indonesia that I was lucky enough to call home for two years!
The spring is so much better than the fall semester as an ETA. You finally understand how things work at your school, you have routines, you know your students and are much more comfortable in the classroom, and… there are so many great things to look forward to!
My lovely coteachers! Ibu Asni, me, Ibu Sukma, and Ibu Ernida
In the spring, AMINEF hosts an English speech and talent competition in Jakarta called the WORDS Competition. Each ETA hosts their own local competition at their school and then the winner gets to travel with their ETA to Jakarta to compete in the national competition. My weekend in Jakarta with Telsy last year was my favorite memory of the whole year. You can read about last year’s competition at SMAN 5 here and last year’s national competition here!
Telsy and I at last year’s national WORDS Competition
We had our MAN 1 competition on March 3 after weeks of preparation. This year’s theme was “Cicak on the Wall”, a take on the English expression, “fly on the wall.” Students had to write a short speech answering, “If you were a cicak (or fly) on the wall at any point in the past, present, or future, where would you want to be? What room or place would you want to observe?”
(A “cicak” is a house lizard. There are dozens in my house. From Kate: “Sometimes they make little chirping noises…like “eya, eya, eya.” They are very fast but are friendly because they eat mosquitos and ants so we like them. They are as long as finger and green/grey/yellow in color.” Cicaks are everywhere so they were a fun, culturally relevant substitution for a “fly” on the wall 😉
Initially, this theme was a little difficult for my students to understand, but I believed in their creativity. With a few of my classes (the English language track) we worked on brainstorming ideas and topics in class. I had them come up with 9 different potential places and then helped them choose their best three (most creative!) ideas. From there, students wrote further on each topic, describing what they might hear, see, feel, think, smell, etc., there. Then, the student and I chose the best one.
Dilla and Shohibah, my sweet 11th grade girls!
Students brought me drafts of their speeches every day for weeks. It was exhausting but so worth it! I loved helping them work through the drafting process, it’s something most of them have never done before. Teachers usually assign textbook work and so students rarely get the chance to exercise their critical thinking and revision skills.
Elanda and Febby, two students who brought me countless drafts of their speeches 🙂
In addition to the speech, students also had to present a talent. Singing and dancing were favorites among my students. We also had students do magic tricks, taekwondo, and paint a beautiful watercolor. All in 2-3 minutes!
Mitha painting her watercolor…
Mitha’s incredible watercolor! Her speech was about NASA so she painted this (in three minutes!!!)
Misra reading her speech before doing Taekwondo
Irfan doing magic tricks!
In addition to helping my students prepare their speeches and talents, I also had to design and get a banner printed (which ended up being the biggest banner I have ever seen in my life), prepare score sheets for the judges, design and print certificates for all the students, prepare prizes, and organize photographers and videographers… It was a busy week leading up to the competition!
Tell me this isn’t the coolest banner you’ve ever seen 😀
My students being interviewed before the competition began…
The competition went off almost without a hitch! The only issue was the hour long mati lampu (black out) that started just as we were going to begin. Of course… Luckily, it only lasted an hour and everyone was patient. Shelby even led all the students in a round of the “peel the banana” song and dance while we were waiting 😀
Finally, the competition began. The topics of the speeches ran the gamut from wanting to be a “cicak on the wall” in an alien spaceship, to Heaven, to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, to her parent’s shoe store, to Edison’s workshop as he made the first lightbulb, and on and on…
My kids were fantastic! I was so incredibly proud of them! Most left the stage with gigantic smiles on their faces, so proud of what they had just accomplished. Many of the students had never given a speech in English before and they were so proud of themselves! A few left the stage in happy, relieved tears. They had been so nervous that once it was all over, their emotions just came out in the form of adorable tears. I was ready at the bottom of the stairs for each one – with a hug or a high-five.
Sweet Redita in tears after she finished <3
I had three lovely judges for my competition – my sitemates Kate and Shelby as well as my Bahasa tutor and friend, Yuni. I was grateful I didn’t have to be a judge because I don’t know how I would have chosen a winner!
Much thanks to my fabulous judges! <3
When all 19 students had finished, the judges huddled together and decided on the first, second and third place winners. I contributed my opinions for a few superlative awards (best talent, most improved, best pronunciation, etc) and then it was time for the announcement. As I called students up for the superlative awards they were so excited that I could hardly take it. My kiddos had worked so hard for this and it had paid off in a great competition.
Our third place finalist was Fadillah, who wrote a touching speech about wanting to be a cicak on the wall in the hosptial when her dad was sick and passed away. She beautifully sang, “Flashlight” as her talent, to round off an extremely touching performance.
Dilla, 3rd place
Our second place finalist was Syerin (pronounced Sharon), who wrote an excellent speech on wanting to be a super cicak in a voting booth. He wanted to gather an army of super cicaks to influence the hearts and enlighten the voters to who would be best to lead the Indonesian nation.
Syerin, 2nd place
And our winner was Elanda, an 11th grader who wrote an inspiring speech on the Indonesian heroine, Kartini. During Dutch colonialism, Kartini was taken out of school and secluded in her home, following traditional Javanese nobility customs. Kartini wanted to continue learning so taught herself at home and corresponded with Dutch friends. After her marriage, she built a school for girls before dying in childbirth. Kartini is remembered today for her passion for women’s rights and education. Elanda, as a cicak, wanted to go to the past to be in Kartini’s room and observe her as she wrote letters and educated herself. Elanda had put in a lot of work and her speech was well-thought out and passionate. It was a no-brainer for the judges as to the winner 🙂
She wrapped me in a huge hug when I called her name as the winner <3
Elanda, 1st place <3
Elanda and I head to Jakarta in just two and a half weeks! I can’t wait to show her around the big city (she has never been to Jakarta!) and treat her to a week like she’s never had before 😀
On December 19th, I packed up my bags, headed to the airport, and boarded my first of four flights to Hanoi, Vietnam! It took us about 24 hours, including an eight hour overnight layover in Kuala Lumpur, to get there. 24 hours! I could have flown back to the States in that time! This goes to show how far Kendari is from anything… it took us half a day just to get back to Jakarta…Over the course of 2 weeks, we traveled to five different places in Vietnam, going from North to South: Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hue, Hoi An, and Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).
I traveled with my friends, Kate, Caroline, and Daniel – all my fellow ETAs in Indonesia. We also ran into five other ETAs throughout our travel, who had similar vacation plans 🙂 Besides Kate, my sitemate, I haven’t seen the other ETAs since orientation, back in September, so this was an exciting chance to catch up with everyone.
Daniel, Kate, me, and Caroline ~ on a rainy morning in Hue
Our first stop was Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam and the second largest city. Kate and I spent our first day exploring and eating Vietnamese food as we waited for Daniel to arrive later that night. Our second day was spent shopping, visiting museums, making arrangements for the rest of our trip, and finding Caroline later that evening.
Bon Ca ~ a Hanoi speciality. It’s essentially a make your own soup? They give you everything individually and then you add it all together in your bowl, and continue adding until you are stuffed!
In the middle of Hanoi is a small lake. There is a temple in the middle and it is located in the Old and French Quarters so surrounded by coffee shops, famous sites, and tourists.
Vietnamese coffee… incredible. How did I never know about this? It’s like an espresso shot (a little more) on top of a little bit of condensed milk. Stir it all together and you have a delicious coffee!
The Old Quarter of Hanoi is full of shops selling anything you could need. And in addition to the shops, are dozens of bicycles overflowing with goods, like this man’s flowers.
This narrow alley is famous for the train that runs through it twice a day. Apparently, you have to flatten yourself against the wall of one of these houses when the train comes! We tried to catch the train but after 30 minutes or so, we gave up and went home for a well-deserved nap.
We finished our time in Hanoi eating incredible Indian food. Yes, I know we were in Vietnam and should be eating Vietnamese… but we’ve gone too long without some of our favorites, and it was time to splurge 🙂
After two days in Hanoi, we packed up and jumped on a tour bus to Ha Long Bay. Four hours later, we could see the ocean and massive rocks jutting out of the water – we had arrived. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the “New Seven Natural Wonders of the World”, Ha Long Bay is a breathless site.
We spent two days and one night on an old pirate ship exploring the Bay. We kayaked, ate, drank, played, jumped off the boat, and ultimately spent a lot of time sitting in wonder gazing at the beauty surrounding us.
Our pirate ship
Kate and Caroline on their kayak!
Sunset from the boat
Swimming in the Bay
After a four hour bus ride back to Hanoi, we had an hour to kill before boarding our 12-hour overnight bus to Hue. Yes, 16 out of 17 hours on a bus. Could have planned that better but oh well… we survived 🙂
Sleeper buses aren’t so bad when you have a whole bed/seat to stretch out on!
We arrived in Hue in the morning, checked in to our hotel, and decided to wander the city and explore the Imperial Citadel. After exploring the palace and grounds, we met up with our friend Jukie to wander the market, and then went home and took a well-needed nap and finally met up again for a Christmas Eve dinner!
Hallways of the 1800 palace
The grounds of the Imperial City
Drinks on a rooftop bar for Christmas Eve
In an effort not to make extraordinarily long posts, you can find the second half of our Vietnam trip (including a motorcycle tour through the countryside, food poisoning, and New Year’s Eve festivities) in the next post… 🙂
Some days, living here is so hard.
Most of the time, I’m happy here and enjoying my second time around. My students are sweet and I’m getting into the flow of things at my school. The schools days are long (I’m usually at school from 8-3) and hot (usually around 88 degrees with 80% humidity making it “feel like” according to the weather channel, a nice 95 degrees ~ at 8am). But once you get outside, heat is heat and sweat is sweat – you survive. Now that I’ve got the school routine down, I have more time in the evenings to chill. I generally nap every day. Yes, every day. I think the heat really takes it out of me and once I get home and get out of my sticky wet clothes, I often curl up on my bed under the AC and fall asleep for an hour and a half or two. I spend my evenings going for a long walk just before the sun goes down and there is a little respite from the heat, preparing lesson plans and materials, and/or meeting up with a friend to help them practice English or them teach me Bahasa. All in all – it’s a good routine.
After our lesson on “Compliments” – we passed around sticky notes with everyone’s name on one and wrote compliments to each other. At the end, we stuck them on a big poster and hung them in the classroom!
What makes a day hard is my foreignness: the constant “hey Mister!”, the motorcycle honks, the barrage of photos. I struggle so much with this this year. Maybe it’s because my honeymoon phase with Indonesia is over and trudging through the reality is just tough. Maybe it’s because Kendari feels like it’s so much worse in terms of “harassment of a foreigner”. Maybe it’s because the people around me allow it to happen, whereas last year I was in fewer situations for it and had a CP that deflected most of it. I’m sure it’s a combination of all of these things, but boy does it irk me.
This morning I was taken to a wedding (for the daughter of a fellow teacher at the school ~ but I honestly have no idea who this teacher is). As we pull up I brace myself for the next few hours. We start walking towards their house and all of the people assembled outside turn to stare. I can feel every eye on me as we enter the tent. I just want to run away and hide. Instead, I follow my ibus (ibu = mother, mrs ~ and collectively you can call them ibus ~ “i-boos”) as we pass in front of the 25 or so people assembled there and make our way to the front door of the home. We slip off our shoes and go inside. There is a long table set on the floor with food and tea – it looks like a cute little tea party. We sit with the other woman around the table and I try not to draw any extra attention to myself. Of the maybe 40 people here so far, I only recognize about 3 from my school – the others I’ve never met. Which means… the whispering, jittering, and excitement increases with my presence. “Cantik sekali,” (“Very beautiful”) they say as they pinch my cheeks and stroke my arm. “Thank you. Kalian juga” I reply (“You all too”), but it’s like they don’t even hear me. “Dia bisa bicara Bahasa Indonesia?!” (She can speak Indonesian?!) they gasp. And my bu takes over explaining that I am an English Teaching Assistant at MAN 1 but this is my second year, so yes, I can converse in Bahasa. I listen politely and then notice the cameras at the other end of the table. They are all pointed in my direction snapping away pictures of the bule (white person). I glance at them and they smile at me sheepishly and resume the photos across the long table. Here, I mind less. I am a guest in this home and this is an occasion – I’m sure they are taking photos of all sides of the table, I tell myself. 
After trying a few bites of all the different overly sweet cakes and puddings, it’s time to go back outside. But first, we must go see the photography set. We enter into the next room where the bride’s family is spilling out of an adjoining room into this room. I can just barely see the bride herself, getting pampered and her make up done by what must be 10 different female relatives. I sure wouldn’t want to be in her place right now. My bu wants to take a picture in front of the backdrop so we line up – I like my ibus so I don’t mind at all. The problem is that the other women in this room see the bule standing against the backdrop and they must have a picture too. They push their way next to me and the photos begin. First just two ibus, then a third, then we must change the pose. Then they must put the children in front. Then we have to switch the order so that the ones on the outside can touch me. They rest their heads against my arms and wrap their arms around me. My smile turns into a grimace and I just want to leave. They pinch my cheeks and keep telling me how beautiful I am and it’s all I can do to stand there and take more pictures. I look at my bu, pleading for help, and she nods and I duck out of the group. They are dismayed and want more but I tell them, “No, no – sudah!” (“Done or already!”). We slip outside and, back around my ibus, my smile returns.
L-R: Ibu I don’t know, child I don’t know, my coteacher Ibu Ernida, my other coteacher Ibu Sukma, and a child I don’t know.
After a little while, a police car comes up the road and behind it I see a whole procession of cars. This turns out to be the groom’s family and friends. We make an aisle for them to walk through and the whole procession of maybe 100 people passes through. As people pass me, they look at me in pure shock and delight. People reach out to shake my hand (not shaking anyone else’s mind you). My ibu gets up to help with something and suddenly her chair is vacant. Quickly enough, two ibus from this new party claim the seats and are ecstatic to be sitting next to the bule. They shove their phone at the nearest person, grab my shoulder, spin me around, and now we are taking a number of photos. Other ibus join in behind, placing their hands on my shoulders, heads on my shoulders, holding my hands… I don’t know these woman. They didn’t ask for my permission. Now they want individual pictures. I cringe and try to turn back to my ibus on my other side but they just want more. After the first individual picture, I tell them, no more. They are clearly disappointed and try to get me to take more but I turn to my ibus and say, “I don’t like this!” They laugh but I say, “Truly! I am nothing special! I am a foreigner, yes. I have white skin, yes. But I am no different than you. I am not President Obama or Angelina Jolie. I did nothing to earn this celebrity status. You want to take pictures of me because of my white skin, but I don’t like that. It makes me uncomfortable. With you, it’s okay because you are my friends. But with strangers, they only want to be able to show other people that they have a picture with a white person – and that makes me very uncomfortable.”
Retrospectively, this is what I wanted to say. It didn’t come out quite as forcefully and was mostly interrupted by them saying, “But you’re beautiful!” “You have white skin and we love that” “You are special because you are from America!” Regardless of what I did say, it stopped the pictures for the most part and my ibus got the hint that I don’t want to take a zillion pictures with people.
After the ceremony and lunch there, we got back in the car and drove to the groom’s house. There, we had to do the whole thing over again. We entered the house. Sat down at the little tea party table. I was the focus of attention, yet again. We moved into the room with the bride and groom and while I was able to stay in the shadows for a few minutes, pretty soon a number of the ibus from the families of the couple move to where I am and the photos start again. Group photos, individual photos, heads on my shoulders, arms wrapped around me – I’m about to lose it. Here we are, not 15 feet from the beautiful bride and groom and literally all eyes and cameras are on me. These women are like children hanging off of me. I’m stuck in a corner and I can’t get out. It’s ridiculously hot and stuffy in this room and I’m feeling a little carsick from the ride here and I feel like I could pass out. They are shoving more sweet jello-y food in front of me, and I can’t do it. “I’m full!” I cry. “I can’t eat more.” The pictures continue. I say, “one more” or “last one” but they just laugh and keep going. They stroke my arm, my hair and pinch my cheeks. Finally, I hear my ibu say, “okay, let’s go!” And I duck out from under them and run into the next room. I can’t escape without a few more photos but thank god, we are going home.
This is life here. Last weekend, it happened similarly, yet at a parade for the Islamic New Year. I can’t stand it. I hate that it’s due to my skin color. I hate what skin color does. I hate what is happening in America to people who have black skin and the injustice they face in all aspects of society, but especially the police shootings of black men. Why does the color of one’s skin matter?!
I hate being paraded around. I hate feeling like my worth here is in the color of my skin, not me, as a person. I hate the attention, the pinching cheeks, the touching. I want to be apart of these cultural events but it is so difficult when all of the attention turns to me. I hate that I can’t walk anywhere without drawing attention to myself and am harassed by the the honks and whistles of motorcyclists.
Last weekend, after the Islamic parade, I was really upset about all of this. I went home and had I not collapsed on my bed from exhaustion, I would have wept. It’s so wrong. The legacy of colonialism follows me everywhere I go. People here set me apart because I am white. Because I am from the race that enslaved your people and destroyed your cultures. But instead of hating me for that, you love me. You treat me like I am better than you. Like my white skin and my nationality make me better than you. And that is so, so, so false.
It makes my job as a cultural ambassador so much harder. I want to be involved in my community. I want to be invited to go to events and weddings and festivals. I want to have friends here and make this a home for the next eight months. But when I constantly feel uncomfortable and unhappy, it’s so hard.
After an afternoon with my sitemates last Sunday following the parade, eating Pizza Hut and studying Bahasa, I felt better. I resolved to make the upcoming week a good week. I made a list of all the things that were making me unhappy and set goals for how to turn things around. I resolved to be frank about taking pictures, to explain why it makes me uncomfortable, to take care of me and let myself nap every day if I need to nap everyday. To tell the kids who play on my street that a man is a “mister” and a woman is a “miss” so please stop calling me “mister” and please start calling me “miss.” I resolved to make more friends outside of school. To get a rice cooker so I can cook in my house and not have to eat out for every meal…
And let me tell you, this week was so much better. I haven’t accomplished everything that I set out to do but give me another week and I will. My classes went well, I enjoy my coteachers, and I made new friends to hang out with. I watched a movie and a few episodes of Game of Thrones, and read a little of my book every night. I walked most afternoons and was asleep by 10 every night.
Unfortunately, the wedding festivities today dampened my spirits a little. But I’m conflicted, because I was so pleased to be invited by my fellow coteachers and to spend time with them outside of school. I can’t give that up just because I don’t like taking pictures with strangers – and perhaps I just need to tell them, even more explicitly, that all these pictures are making me uncomfortable.
Well, we’ve got the wedding reception still to come this evening so wish me luck…
18 days of pure luxury.
Bandung was fabulous, yet again. After a 14 hour, 4 flight journey from Kendari (excessive! I could have flown to China!) we made it to the luxurious Sheraton Bandung hotel.
We spent our days studying Bahasa with the fantastic Wisma Bahasa teachers in the morning and attended sessions on teaching, Indonesian culture, health, community engagement, etc in the afternoons. Evenings were spent exploring the malls, buying items we won’t be able to find at site, and frequenting the numerous Western eateries.
Batik skirts <3
The Advanced Bahasa class with our lovely teacher, Bu Roro!
One Sunday morning the hotel staff organized a hiking expedition into the nearby forest. We had a blast playing games, practicing Bahasa, and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
This orientation was much different for me than last year because I was on the planning/organizing/leading side of things. With the other SETAs (Senior ETAs), I led a number of sessions – Informal Assessments, Classroom Resources, History of Indonesia, Roles & Responsibilities, and a bunch more… I thoroughly enjoyed being on this side of things!
Our coteachers arrived for the last five days we were there. It was wonderful to get to know ibu Ernida better and get to learn together!
Mock-teaching together!
Missing all my friends now that we’re back at site but it was a great two and a half weeks!
