52 Things I Learned in Indonesia

June 1, 2017 by Mackenzie

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

Indonesia is very, very far away.
I love teaching.
Teaching is a lot of work.
Two years of teaching is enough for me.
I gained so much more respect for all the teachers in my life – I can’t believe the work you do day in and day out, year after year!
I am conversationally fluent in Bahasa Indonesia.
Sober karaoke can be a blast.
Wifi is a blessing but hotspotting is where it’s at.
Crawling in bed at 8pm with a book is my favorite way to spend an evening.
Exercising is my jam but “Timber” is my actual jam.
I can live without ice cream, I can’t live without Mac n Cheese.
Anthony’s Mac n Cheese powder is life.
At my favorite cafe, Bottoms Up, with my favorite food, Nasi Ayam Lada Garam… spicy chicken with rice.
Friends are like stars, you can’t always see them but you know they are always on the other end of Snapchat.
Goals change, roll with it.
If you find a food you like, it’s okay to eat it every day.
Also, if you find a cafe you like, it’s okay to go there every other day. If you can’t find any other good cafes, just go to the good one every day… who really cares?
Regardless of the cafe, there is a 65% chance the wifi password will be “ubi goreng” (fried cassava).
Instant coffee tastes bad, no matter what you put in it.
I learned to ride a motorbike, scooter-style.
I can sleep anywhere, at any time.
Leave your fear on the ground – jumping off waterfalls is worth it.
Card games can make an afternoon or evening disappear in a minute.
A hard drive full of movies is essential. So is a flash drive full of kindle books. It’s also probably illegal.
I’ve become a great hockey player – but not with pucks, with cockroaches.
I wore this proudly
Following that ^, my body can wake instantly from the deepest 3am sleep when it hears the “ckckckck” of a cockroach walking across my bedroom floor.
Whatsapp is by far the best texting app.
Agreeing to one photo, means agreeing to 15.
^^^ Just say no.
Kendari is brutally hot. Covering wrists, to ankles, to collarbones in 105+ degree is something I will not miss. I will never complain about summers in America ever again. Not when I can freely wear shorts and tank tops.
I may as well schedule off 3-5pm every weekday as “nap time.”
Staying in touch with friends and extended family is hard. But y’all, I’m back in your time zone so HMU!
There is all of one air conditioned cafe with reliable wifi in Kendari.
I learned to scuba dive.
GoJek is clutch. It’s like Uber but motorcycle taxis and then there’s GoFood, GoMassage, GoMart, GoGlam… literally everything you could ever need. If it’s in your city… (get in the game Kendari).
I am more comfortable eating with my hands than with a fork.
My tolerance for spicy food has significantly increased.
There is always room for one (or two, or five) more people in/on a car/bus/motorcycle.
Vacationing with friends is the best
It’s hard to get a jump-start on the job search because no, I can’t come in for an interview next week.
^^ Then, when they agree to a phone interview, it monsoons all day and you have no service.
Pizza can cure anything.
Your city may cry for you when you go – it hasn’t stopped raining in Kendari since we left and there is major flooding everywhere.
Never count on a flight being on time.
^^You can reasonably assume your flight will be delayed 45 minutes – 2 hours, every time.
The best vacations are the ones with friends – it doesn’t matter where you go.
Always question the meat you’re eating – it could be chicken, or it could be cow brain or dog.
Buy all the batik. No regrets.
Advocate for yourself. If you’re not happy with something, speak up. Changes can be made. You’re not meant to suffer through the year.
Write down everything you take to the laundry place – things may “disappear.”
Scuba diving in Nusa Lembongan is unparalleled.
Don’t eat Western food at Indonesian restaurants. It won’t be anything like what you wanted.
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.
Islam is a beautiful and welcoming religion. I am thankful I got the chance to immerse myself in a Muslim culture and school – despite the hateful rhetoric coming from the White House.
You could spend years exploring Indonesia and never see it all, nor ever grow tired of its beautiful beaches, immense volcanoes, and thick jungles. I’m grateful I had two years to explore what I could!

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!

Thanksgiving x3

November 30, 2016 by Mackenzie

Guys. I got to celebrate Thanksgiving three times this year. And got to eat stuffing and pumpkin pie TWICE!

As an ETA in Indonesia, Thanksgiving and its related foods are not easily found. In Jakarta and some cities with an expat community, some restaurants will serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal and if you’re ambitious enough you could probably even find the ingredients and make a whole meal yourself.

In Kendari however, it’s a different story. There are eight expats living in/around Kendari (including us three) and Western food is limited. Restaurants include two KFCs, Pizza Hut, and Papa Ron’s (pizza). Grocery stores carry a tiny selection of Western food and brands, namely pasta, tomato sauce, and mayonnaise. So when November rolled around, we didn’t expect anything Thanksgiving-related.

But that assumption was FALSE!

The first celebration of Thanksgiving occurred on Thanksgiving Day. I taught three classes that day and then met my English club after school. I wanted to introduce them to Thanksgiving a little bit so I shared a few photos of my family at Thanksgiving from years past. They loved the pictures of me and my family, all the food, but especially to see the inside of my house 🙂 I shared about Thanksgiving food and how my aunt Suzy and I usually spend two days cooking and preparing everything for the family – they were impressed! As a treat, I had made them guacamole because I had talked about it before and they wanted so badly to try it! Half of them loved it, half of them hated it! (Avocados are usually considered a fruit and served sweet here so it was a weird experience for them!)

Digging in to the guac!

(Mostly) Happy kiddos!

We made hand turkeys of what we are thankful for – I loved watching them make it and was so happy to put them all up on the wall in what is quickly becoming my beautifully decorated classroom!

Everyone pitching in to decorate the wall!

How cute!!

We also did a mannequin challenge, the viral video challenge where everyone freezes in place like a mannequin – swim teams and gymnastic teams have made some pretty impressive ones! Ours is fun too!

That evening, I met up with Kate and Shelby and we went and ate pizza together to “celebrate” Thanksgiving 🙂

On Friday evening, the other expats invited us to their Thanksgiving celebration the following day. So on Saturday we followed them out to where the other expat couple lives (on the beach!) and were astounded to discover a beautifully set table on the beach and endless dishes of stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, black olives (my favvvv), gravy, homemade rolls, pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie… my jaw literally dropped.

Got off our bikes and discovered outselves here

Got off our bikes and discovered ourselves here

We enjoyed a wonderful evening chatting with all of these new friends, watching the sun set over the mountains, and eating food we thought we would have to wait another year for…

Best looking plate I’ve seen in a year and a half <3

A perfect setting

Beautiful view

Pies!!

Then, on Sunday we hosted our own Friendsgiving! We wanted to share some of our culture with the people who have helped us and befriended us in the three months we have been here, so we invited them to a big Thanksgiving potluck last Sunday. We spent the week before looking up oven-less, simple ingredient recipes, going to different stores and markets to find the ingredients, and finally spending all day Sunday cooking up a storm!

Cooking away!

We ended up with quite a spread considering our limitations. We made delicious creamy garlic mashed potatoes, a fantastic stovetop stuffing, yummy but nasty looking (not orange) sweet potatoes, garlic green beans, and even managed pumpkin pies – from scratch! I bought a pumpkin from the market, cut it into big slices and boiled them until soft, cut off the peels, and then had pumpkin to work with! Let me just say, I was quite impressed with myself 🙂

Proud chefs!

Our friends loved the chance to visit, meet each other, and try our food. We even made little Thankfulness turkeys and went around in a circle sharing what we are thankful for. It was a great end to a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend!

The crew!

Potluck-style – everyone brought something to share

Two of my coteachers, Ibu Asni and Ibu Erni enjoying our meal!

Forget the 14 couches we all could have comfotably sat on… in Indo we sit on the floor 😀

My ibus <3

My no-bake pumpkin pies!

Introducing bahasa tutors to Apples to Apples

Shelby, Kate and I finished the day sprawled out on Kate’s bed watching both the cartoon Grinch and half the Jim Carrey Grinch, before we began to drift off into a happy, food-coma sleep.

What I Eat

November 20, 2016 by Mackenzie

I’ve now lived in Indonesia for twelve of the last fifteen months – and in all the blog posts I’ve written, I don’t think I’ve talked much about food. You might be thinking to yourself, what is Indonesian food? Do you like it? Can you find any Western food?

Brief answer, Indonesian food is rice + meat, few vegetables, and usually fried. Sometimes noodles (fried). Sometimes rice + meat in a broth. Sometimes it involves peanut sauce.

Yes, I love it. It’s enak sekali.

Rarely.

I’ve been taking pictures of my meals for the last few weeks in anticipation of making a post about food – so here is a photo food tour of what I eat in Indo!

Chicken Sate

Chicken sate is one of my favorite foods – it’s like a chicken kabob smothered in peanut sauce. SO. GOOD. Cost = Rp 30,000 = $2.23

Nasi Cap Cay

Cap Cay is one of the few meals that you can get vegetables. Sometimes there is chicken in it but it is usually a big plate of vegetables in a yummy sauce with rice. This one is in a really nice cafe with fantastic AC (big, big plus). Cost = Rp 22,000 = $1.64.

Tempe Goreng

Fried tempe is ubiquitous in Indonesia. It’s a snack, it’s a side, it’s a meal – it’s delicious. My Bahasa tutor taught me to make fried tempe last weekend and I am thrilled to have finally learned to cook something Indonesian! The sauce above is called “ketchup manis” – here, Ketchup is called saus tomat and ketchup manis is like a sweet soy sauce. Fried tempe dipped in ketchup manis is excellenttttt.

Yuni teaching me to make tempe goreng in my makeshift kitchen 🙂

Ikan Bakar

Alright, so this is my favorite meal in all of Kendari. I try and go here once a week if I can. Ikan bakar is grilled fish, and as you can see on the left, they serve you the whole damn thing, head to tail. This place thinks I really like rice, so they usually bring me two plates, which I definitely can’t finish. In the bowl on the right is sayur, vegetables in a yummy broth. And in the middle IS THE MOST DELICIOUS PEANUT SAUCE EVER. It has tomato chunks in it and you can mix in chilis, lime, etc. IT’S SO GOOD. I go to this restaurant for the sauce alone. To eat this, you spoon some veggies/broth over the rice, add some peanut sambal, and then dig into the fish – with you hands! Dig in, grab some meat, scoop it up (with your fingers) with some rice, veggies, peanut sauce and shovel the whole thing in your mouth. (Video to come later) So damn good. Total cost = Rp 25,000 = $1.86

Kerupuk

Little rice, shrimp crackers that come as a side to everything. Very light, airy and delicious (as long as they aren’t too fishy).

Soto Ayam Lamongan

Chicken soup (with rice of course). Delicious. A staple in my diet. Cost = Rp 18,000 (including ice tea) = $1.34

Traditional Kendari food

This is what my counterpart served us when we went to her house for lunch one afternoon. The brown broth in the middle was a beef broth mixture, the whiter one is sayur (vegetables) made with jackfruit, there is some chicken in the orange bowl, rice, and of course, sinonggi (bowl on the right of goo). See below…

You scoop it/cut it using chopsticks

Plop it in the bowl

Sinonggi is bizarre because it is tasteless and shapeless. Some people describe it as liquid glue. Some describe it as snot. Take your pick. You do not chew sinonggi (you couldn’t if you tried). You just literally swallow it. This is not easy to do. However, my counterpart was kind enough to cut it into little pieces for me, which made it much easier to swallow whole. In the end, I’d say I liked it – but it is weird AF.

Nasi Kuning

Nasi kuning (yellow rice) is a common breakfast food. This was a favorite breakfast when I lived in Palangkaraya. Tisia and I would often come here. Yellow rice, noddles, and chicken in a yummy, slightly spicy sauce. Cost = Rp 15,000 = $1.11

Soto Banjar ~ Kendari style

This soup is Kendari’s version of Soto Banjar (soup from Banjarmasin). It’s pretty good and satisfies my cravings. However, I really really miss the soto banjar in Palangkaraya. Banjarmasin is only about four hours from Pky (we were evacuated there many, many times) and so there is a strong influence of the Banjar culture in Pky. Thus, the soto banjar is incredible and I literally ate it for breakfast almost every single day (the other days I ate nasi kuning, see above). Cost = Rp 15,000 = $1.11

This is real soto banjar

Cost = Rp 10,000 = $0.74

Nasi Goreng

Nasi goreng is probably the most classic Indonesian dish. Fried rice, sometimes served with an egg, or chicken. Eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It was Spencer’s first meal when he came to visit last year 🙂 Cost = Rp 20,000 = $1.49

Weird desserts

I do not like Indonesian desserts. They are spongy, squishy, sugary, and otherwise unappetizing. Unfortunately, Indonesians love to force feed me food, particularly sweets. I do everything I can to avoid it. This was a wedding where I was thrilled to have 20 women pushing plates of sugary sponge cakes at me. Not. I suggested to my ibus that we share a plate so that I could “have room to try them all.” aka could try a tiny bite and then they would finish it for me.

Looks like confetti cake. Trust me, it’s not.

Jagung bakar

Grilled corn. Very popular in Indonesia. I would get grilled corn with Tisia all the time last year. So, so good.

From Mack’s Kitchen:

While I love Indonesian food, this year I’ve been experimenting more in my own makeshift kitchen. I have slowly accumulated a fridge, a rice cooker, a blender, a toaster, and as of last week, a small stove! Now I can make anything! So truly, what do I eat on a weekly basis?

Breakfast:

Avocado Toast

Yes, be jealous. I eat avocado toast every morning for breakfast. That or toast with peanut butter and jelly. My toaster was the best thing I’ve bought this year. Sugary cereal worked for a few weeks but I can’t handle that much sugar in the mornings. Last year I had easy access to breakfast options like soto banjar or nasi kuning, but this year there really isn’t anything near/in my school that sells it so I’m on my own. And I am totally okay with that. Cost for 3 avocados = Rp 15,000 = $1.11 –> daily avocado use = 1/2 avocado = $0.18. (<<<This is why I’m never leaving Indonesia.)

Lunch/Dinner:

Sorta kinda Burrito Bowl

I make guacamole a lot (see price of avocados above). I then decided to attempt a burrito bowl. The above was the result of attempt #1 – it was definitely satisfying although lacking some key ingredients and flavors (beans, cilantro, chipotle, peppers, chicken…). I’ve made this a number of times since (see below) and potentially just found black beans today (tbd if they are really black beans). Regardless, I make some version of this several time a week for lunch/dinner.

Mac n cheese!

The ultimate cultural exchange = mac n cheese. I am a rice cooker mac n cheese pro. It is incredibly easy and thanks to my 1.5lb bag of cheese powder, I enjoy this as my dinner at least 3 nights a week. Yesterday, I invited Yuni, my Bahasa tutor, over to make mac n cheese (and she taught me tempe goreng). She loved it. Job done.

So… I am cooking a lot more this year than I did last year – I eat out about half the time and the other time make a quick batch of mac n cheese or a “burrito bowl.” This week, I shall attempt mashed potatoes (it is Thanksgiving after all…)

While some ETAs live in places with easy access to alcohol, we in Kendari do not. We have found three restaurants with beer but I can count the number of beers I’ve had here on one hand. It’s just not something I’m here for. However, as the election results turned sour on that fateful Wednesday morning (we are 13 hours ahead of DC), we opened the emergency beer. It did not make the results any easier to swallow.

(Note: I tried to write a post about the election but couldn’t find the words. Maybe later. See facebook for my immediate response ?)

Western Food

Can you find Western food in Indonesia? Yes, definitely. Can you find it in Kendari? Ummm, a few things, namely spaghetti, french fries, and pizza hut.

Passable spaghetti and delicious avocado juice

Cost (juice and spaghetti) = Rp 45,000 = $3.35. The sauce is really sweet so it’s not my favorite but it does the job.

PIZZA

This pizza is NOT found in Kendari. If you are an ETA lucky enough to live in a big city, you will probably have access to Western restaurants and may be able to find incredible pizza like this one. Meanwhile, I’ll drool from over here in Southeast Sulawesi. Cost = Rp 80,000 = $5.96.

TACOS ?

Oh, what I would give for a fish taco right now! Again, this can be found in Bandung or Bali or Jakarta, but definitely not in Kendari ?? Cost = Rp 60,000 = $4.47

And that wraps up my food tour. It’s been a pleasure having you along and I hope that it made you either drool or be appreciative of all the diverse and rice-less food options you have wherever you are. So this week, eat a taco or a salad for me… savor every bite and then pay a whopping $15 and cringe while I continue to enjoy my $1-2 meals 😀

Plusses and minuses, right?

Mack is Back

August 14, 2016 by Mackenzie

Mack is back.

After seven weeks in the US of A, I’m back in Indonesia, about to begin my second Fulbright grant. I arrived about a week ago and have been spending my days in Jakarta working in the AMINEF office, helping prepare for the arrival of the new ETAs and the upcoming orientation. I’ll be here in Jakarta for two weeks before the new ETAs arrive on the 23rd and then we all depart to our sites on the 24th. I vividly remember the confusion, the exhaustion, and the strangeness of all this last year – we had barely gotten a full night’s sleep before we were shipped off to our site with no language skills, very little idea of what we were doing, and great excitement to finally see the community we would be living in for the next nine months.

Dim Sum with the AMINEF office

This year… is so much easier. Yes, the flight was long and the jet lag was real but the airport was familiar, I could speak to the taxi driver, and my phone worked from the moment we touched down. I know how to dress, I can deal with the heat, and I know what to order at a restaurant. This is just so much easier. Not to say next week will be easy… Jakarta is familiar and comforting, but when I land in Kendari it will be for the first time. I’ll be meeting a whole slew of new people, moving into my ruko (rumah toko = house store ~ more on this once I get there ?), and stressing about what my most conservative outfit is that I’ll wear on my first day at this Islamic school.

Beautiful sunset as we took off from Tokyo to Jakarta

Car Free Day in Jakarta – every Sunday the main thoroughfare in Jakarta is shut down to cars and motorcycles and thousands of people come out to run, walk, bike, and explore.

I obviously posted nothing over the summer. It was a time of relaxation and family, eating great food, and playing a lot of golf. It would have been nice to see a few more friends, and spend a bit longer with those I did get to see, but with my friends spread all over the country now, it’s a hard thing to do!

All of my Indo memories <3

Date night with momma <3

A highlight of my summer occurred right from the start when I went to DC and St. Louis less than 72 hours after getting home from Indonesia. Last year, you may remember when I traveled to DC in June to attend the Pre-Departure Orientation for new Fulbright grantees. It was an incredible week of meeting my cohort and learning about the year ahead. This year, I got to return to the PDO as an alumni. I spoke on a few panels, answered endless questions from the incoming grantees to Indonesia, and spent a lot of time eating, drinking, and sight-seeing my way through DC with the other SETAs (Senior ETAs ~ Returners) and the AMINEF staff who had come all the way from Jakarta.

Speaking on the panel, Living in Southeast Asia

SETAs and the AMINEF team

Meeting with the Indonesia bureau of Voice of America with Rizqi, Astrid, Ceacealia, Kelly and Grace

The incoming Indonesia ETA cohort!

Sightseeing at Renwick Gallery

Indo-bound ladies!

After the PDO, I spent a few extra nights in DC with my bff Martha, who had just moved to DC to start a big-girl job. From there, I went to St. Louis for a few days where I got to see college friends, professors and mentors, and my former coworkers at Taste. It was a fabulous 10 days!

Finally reunited with Martha <3

Catching up after a year apart with Shannon and Abby, my good friends from WU

Catching up after a year apart with Shannon and Abby, my friends from WU

Taste with Abby <3

So much love from both Taste and it’s sister restaurant, Brasserie

Soaking up the sun and the ice cream with Abby in STL!

A second highlight was getting to attend a talk given by Malala. Mom surprised me with tickets to the event when I first came home and gosh, it was such an incredibly inspiring night. As a teacher in international education, in a country with a poor education system, it was so cool to hear directly from Malala and be inspired by her passion and work. If you haven’t read her book yet, I can’t recommend it highly enough! Read it and if you ever get the chance to see her in person, do it – you’re in for an awesome evening.

Highlight of the year!

It was exactly the summer I needed. Lots of family time, lots of good food, and lots of time enjoying the balmy Seattle weather. I completed another million step challenge with mom – and am returning to Indo feeling fit and strong. And now, I’m back in Indonesia where I feel content and at home. I’ve got 11 more days in Jakarta and then it’s off to really start this year!

Already miss this so much!

Spend so much time with this sweet girl this summer :)

Spent so much time with this sweet girl this summer 🙂

The Million Step Challenge: 1 million steps in three months. We did it!

Packing was still a nightmare this time, but it was altogether much, much easier and less stressful! This is some of my pile of Oleh-oleh (gifts and souvenirs) for my friends and students here!

Ate all the berries I could find in the PNW!

Greenlake adventures with my buddy

Golfing with the fam

Found an Indonesian restaurant with Kata, an incoming ETA from Seattle!

Brunch with the fam

Golfing on the 4th of July

What a great summer! Sampai tahun depan Amerika!

Coming Back for Round 2!

March 20, 2016 by Mackenzie

Drum roll please…!!

It’s official – I accepted the offer this week… I’ll be returning to Indonesia next year as a second year Fulbrighter!

I’ve been contemplating for awhile now what I want to do next year and I knew I wasn’t ready to leave Indonesia. A year ago, when I first started this journey, I met the three returning Fulbrighters who would be joining our cohort as Returning ETAs and our mentors. I knew pretty early on that I would want to apply for a second year, particularly after having had such a bizarre start to my grant this year (see this, and this, and this, and this).

I want a second chance. I want to experience a “normal” nine months at one school, to improve my teaching skills, to build on the lesson plans I’ve already created, and make them better for next year. I want to explore a new part of Indonesia (TBD!), to continue learning Bahasa Indonesia, to experience more of this culture, and perhaps most importantly, to mentor the incoming cohort. I’ve always been a leader and a mentor and not having a formal leadership role this year has been somewhat odd… I feel like something is missing and I know that’s what it is. A substantial part of my role next year, in addition to my teaching and school responsibilities, will be assisting and mentoring the incoming cohort, as they adjust to life in Indonesia. I couldn’t be more excited to meet the incoming group and go on this journey for a second time.

A few logistics you must be thinking to yourself…
– Will she come home?! Yes, of course! I’ll come home to Seattle June 4th and plan to travel a bit (hoping for St. Louis, DC, Spokane, and LA – let me know if you’re there!) and then I’ll leave mid-August.
– How long is this grant? 9 months plus two weeks at the beginning where the Returners will come early to help plan orientation
– Same city? Nope! New! I don’t yet know where I’ll be placed but somewhere new! I’m desperately hoping to be near water and absolutely refuse to be anywhere near smoke.
– Can I come visit her? OF COURSE! Now that I’ve got a year under my belt I have a much better idea of good times to visit and places we can travel to 😀 So please hop across the ocean and come visit the land of 17,000 islands! I’m sure we can find you one that will suit your fancy 😀

There’s a few things that sealed the deal for me to come back. It’s crazy days getting bear-hugged by my mud covered kids… It’s living in the midst of a military school where my kids come over at every odd hour for every odd reason (I had four girls come over about 10 minutes ago to stash chicken in my freezer…). It’s spending the day at a waterpark with a few of my students and holding their hand as they go down the big slide for the first time… And it’s watching them give speeches in English in front of 100 of their classmates and absolutely knocking it out of the ballpark, that make me absolutely have to come back.

Breaking the Ice (Part X)

August 31, 2015 by Mackenzie

My absolutely adorable students

(Warning: This post contains a number of hilarious videos – mostly 10 second videos saved from snap chat. I highly recommend you turn your sound on and watch them…:P)

Part X:

Friday morning. The call to prayer sounds at 4:15am and I groan. I want to keep sleeping. I get up and use the restroom in the dark (the light in my bathroom doesn’t work), then I crawl back in bed. I drift off back to sleep.

I awake to the sound of the “La Bamba” song blasting through the loudspeakers. Say what?? I roll over, check my phone, and yes… it’s exactly 4:45am. They can’t seriously be playing “La Bamba” at 4 in the morning in the middle of the rainforest in Borneo. Usually, it’s pretty quiet until 5:30 when the chanting begins but today… not so much. I start laughing when I realize that yes, it’s actually La Bamba playing. I grab my phone and snap a video, trying to catch the audio… I open the front door and confirm again, that yes, it’s definitely La Bamba, it’s definitely 5am and still dark, and no, this is not a joke.

I stumble back to my room, still laughing, and realize that, even at 5am, Indonesia will never cease to surprise me.

I have absolutely no idea what is expected of me today and therefore, how I will fill this day. In America, I absolutely dreaded that feeling. I hated knowing others were doing fun or productive things and I was not. But here… while I would like to be doing fun or more productive things, I’m also okay with the fact that I’m not. I know I can always curl onto my bed and read for hours in the air conditioning – something I haven’t had the privilege or time to do in years.

I decide today would be a great day to do laundry. So I grab my soap, my clothes and my bucket and get to work. A while later, with my clothes at least wet if not very clean, Tisia texts me that she has class at 9am. Great! I have something to do today!

Around 8, I see students playing soccer on the field at the school. I’m sure there are other students watching, so I grab my bag and head off to join the fun. I round the corner and see girls playing volleyball and another twenty or so girls watching. They all say “hi” shyly and I ask if I can watch with them. They scoot over to make room for me and the brave ones begin to pepper me with questions. “How old are you?” “Where are you from?” “Do you have any siblings?”

I smile because I know I can turn this into an amusing conversation. “Yes! I have a brother named Spencer. He’s 19. Do you want to see a photo of him?” “Yes!” they shriek. So I scroll through my phone and find a photo of him. I pass my phone around and all at once they start shrieking, “AHHHH! HE’S SO HANDSOME!” All twenty of them 😛

I laugh and ask them, “do you want to send him a video?” They gasp. “Really?!” “Yes!!” So I open snap chat and say satu, dua, tiga and they begin saying, “hi spencer!” “you soooooo handsome” and I’m hysterically laughing. They ask if he has a girlfriend and I say, “yes, he does…” and all at once they all groan, “nooooooooo.” One of the girls clutches her heart and says “my heart!! It’s broken!!” I’m dying of laughter.

I ask if they want Oleh Oleh from America and I pass out pennies – they are so excited and I have students leaving the volleyball game to come get a penny from me! I ask if they’ll teach me Bahasa… I pull out my notebook and start asking how to say the colors of their clothes. Then I ask how to say head, and shoulders, and knees, and toes… and I say, okay! “Samua (everyone), get up, let’s play a game!” they jump up and I get them in a circle and I start singing and acting the song. They LOVE it and so I make them do it faster and faster. We’re giggling and sweating and causing a ruckus… but I know that they, and I, are having a fabulous time.

I was in about 100 versions of this photo with some fellow teachers… it quite quickly became “throw the baby on Mackenzie’s lap and everyone take as many photos as they can with her”

I finally decide I’ve had enough of school and decide to venture off campus for a walk. I know there’s a small foodmart down the road and that they have ice cream bars. Walking out of the school and down the road, I feel like an escaped prisoner… For one, I feel like I’m breaking some rule (I’m not by any means) by leaving. I haven’t left campus by myself yet and it feels wrong to do so. Plus, everyone rides motorbikes so it’s odd to see someone walking on the side of this busy, rural road. Add to that the fact that I’m one of two bule (literally albino) in this town of 200,000 (Carlie, the other ETA being the other), and I’m constantly stared at like I’m a ghost. I don’t hear many people yelling “bule, bule” at me, like we had been taught to expect, instead, it’s just the heads turning that make me uncomfortable. I’ve got to figure out a better means of transportation. My coteachers have promised me a bicycle and I’m hoping that when I return from Bandung in a few weeks, that there will be one ready and waiting for me. Otherwise, I’m seriously going to consider buying a motorbike.

Walking down my street

Came across this man… I was slightly terrified

The foodmart ends up being much farther away than I had anticipated to go on this hot and humid Friday afternoon, but the thought of ice cream propels me all the way and I’m very happy in the end that I went.

On Sunday, I head to Bandung for orientation. I can’t wait to see the other ETAs and swap stories. Our one-liners to each other in the facebook group have been a highlight of my week – its nice to know I’m not the only one with ants in my house and sitting around for much of the day. And, I’m extremely excited to stay in a nice hotel and have a real bathroom and speak English with my fellow Fulbrighters.

Mackenzie

A Look Back