A week of farewells

Photo 1: Soldiers
Photo 2: Gunungan

The last week and a half has been full of closings and farewells. It started lat friday with the official closing of the language component of our UGM studies followed by the ACICIS farewell dinner. Then all this week there have been people having farewell dinners as they head back to Australia. Its been a little strange because I still have 6 months left, so it doesn't feel like the end of anything!

On thursday it was Idul Adha, a day where muslims who can afford it buy a goat or cow, slaughter it and then share the meat with people less fortunate than they are. We heard there would be a ceremony down at the Kraton, so we decided to go along, hoping that we wouldn't have to watch any animal sacrifices. Turns out we got lucky. To start there was a parade of the Sultan's soldiers. Each regiment had a different uniform, song and marching style. They were followed by the Sultan's brother and then three big gunungan. Gunungan are mountains of food that are said to bring good luck if you eat part of it. The whole parade marched out of the Kraton to the nearby mosque, where after a short time the gunungan were put down and everyone jumped on them. It was crazy! People were stomping all over everyone else, climbing up the gunungan, throwing food into the air, screaming. It was awesome. Emma and I probably couldve jumped in there and grabbed some but we decided to stay back, and managed to grab some scraps off the ground.

Update!

As punishment for the earlier comment of "at least I dont have a RAT", I now have a rat in my room. It was running around last night. I managed to get it out the door, but im sure it can get back in if it wants to. In fact, there may have been TWO of them. Either that, or just one really speedy one. Ick. Im only there for 10 more days so im just going to pretend i never saw it...or them.

Reflection 1: My Kos

Photo: My Kos family

The realisation that I now only have less than 2 weeks left living in my Kos in Yogya has prompted me to contemplate my kos experience.

1. My room
My room is by far the biggest room I have seen. whilst the average kos room in Yogya would probably be only big enough to fit 3 single beds, mine would fit at least 8. However whilst this provides the opportunity for me to run up and down the room should I feel the inclination to do so, I will not be adverse to moving to a smaller room in Malang.

2. My pets
I have never been an animal person, but since moving to Indonesia I have managed to collect a number of in-room guests including: cicaks (little lizzard/geckos), mozzies (though thankfully not too many) and cockroaches. My kos is home to a number of other animals including: cats (that scream in the middle of the night and enjoy running on the roof) and 'hampsters' (I use the term lightly as I remain convinced they are actually mice). I am thankful that I didnt have the joy of having a pet RAT like Sarah.

3. Noises
My kos can be a noisy place. As of late I have enjoyed waking up to the strains of Christmas carols eminating from the room in front of mine...at 6am. Girls become obsessed with certain Indonesian pop songs and thus proceed to play them at full volume all the time, driving me to the brink of tears. I also enjoy the rhythmic beat of mangos falling from the tree on to my roof, the pattering of the kos kids running around and the call to prayer 5 times a day. Luckily I am used to most of them and can usually sleep through them.

4. Living in a Kos
Has been a great experience. The family that own my Kos live in an attatched house, so Ive had an opportunity to have a bit of a homestay experience as well. My Ibu Kos has made me feel so welcome and often pops round to my room with a little cake or drink. Theres a lovely atmosphere in the kos - there is always someone sitting around in the communal area who wants to have a chat, and the girls are an endless source of information. Hopefully I'll be able to find a similar kos in Malang...

Bandung

Photo 1: Some of the giant superheros on Jeans St
Photo 2: The ferris wheel inside Bandung Super Mal. Yes thats right, inside.

On Thursday night, Annie, Erinn and I decided to escape Yogya and head to Bandung. Since Annie leaves Yogya in 2 weeks, this was one of our last chances to do some travel together. We caught the night train, which provided the usual freezing cold, bright conditions so uncondusive to sleep. We started the day by heading to the museum Asia-Afrika. The exhibits recounted the events of the Asia- Africa conference of 1955 (Bandung's claim to fame) in which nations gathered to 'Jeans Street', a part of Bandung famed for the number of outlet shops specialising in jeans. Not wanting to buy any I was more interested in the gianourmous paper mache superhero icons that sat above many of the shops. Wouldnt want to stand under them in a storm... Later that day we went to find a hotel, only to find most of them booked or too expensive. One offered us the presidential street for Rp295 000 so we decided to splurge. The room wasn't that luxurious, but it was huge and had air con.
Yesterday we did what people come to Bandung to do - shop! We (unbelievably perhaps) spent the entire day in one mall. We started with a coffee, looked at the first foor and a half, had lunch, looked at the next 1 1/2 floors, had afternoon tea, went back to buy everything, had dinner and then headed back to the train station. 8 hours gone in a whirl of westernisation, consumerism, air con and expensive meals. There must have been something in the air, because i even let myself buy 2 dresses!