Another Untraditional Christmas

Almost New Years and I am just getting around to my Christmas update.  Living in Indonesia, an untraditional Christmas can be expected.  I longed to be back in the US as I listened to stories about snow, good food, and skyped with reunited family members.  But the holiday was quiet in Jakarta, families usually use any holiday to get out of the city so it was eerily quiet when I took a taxi to the train station.  We flew past the green lights of an intersection that normally would require at least a 10 minute wait.  I also took advantage of the government-regulated four day weekend and visited a Muslim coworker’s family in Bandung.  Honestly, the train ride itself competed with the fun of the visit.  Either it was one of the most beautiful train ride views I have ever seen, or I am easily impressed by nature after living in Jakarta.  For three hours of winding between forested hills, tiered rice paddies and over ravines, it was the perfect amount of time to relax and pull out a novel.

Once in Bandung, my friend Ari met me at the train station and we headed downtown for some factory outlet shopping that this city is famous for.  I thought it was amusing to compare this to the “factory outlet” shopping we have in the US, that terminology is more accurate here as the factories are located in Asia.  Jakartans and even Malaysians take advantage of the direct AirAsia flights from KL to Bandung and I was told prices go up on weekends.  I was going to call it my Christmas shopping but no purchases were made so Ari directed me to some Sundanese (the main ethnic group of West Java) dishes I should try.  We had a tofu and peanut sauce dish called baso tahu, nasi timbel which is a style of fried chicken and tofu with rice and sambal, and finished with ice cream with durian and chocolate- heaven in a plastic cup, eaten on a stool on the side of the road!

Afterwards we headed to her family’s home where her 3-year-old boy, parents, brother, sister and sister’s family were all hanging out.  While they were certainly not celebrating Christmas it was fun to just be with a family for the holiday.  Indonesians are such welcoming people that I was immediately just one of the family there and was given someone else’s bedroom for the night.  We watched tv and chatted, someone boiled water for me to take a bath and then it was bedtime so everyone else could get up for the 4am prayers.  The day after Christmas we went to the big Sunday market and went out for lunch.  After getting everyone’s stuff packed it was then time for the drive back to Jakarta.  I can’t comment on the view by car as I was of course passed out the entire drive; nothing new there.

Verbal Mishaps

While I was away on my trip, some of the empty rooms in my kos (boarding house) filled up and I returned to a much more lively and interesting living environment.  The new additions are all Indonesian and most are around my age and fun to talk to, eat dinner with and just hang out and participate in Indonesians’ favorite home activity- watching TV.  This development has also been a boon to my Indonesian skills as it expands the contexts in which I speak casually.  I was noticing that my vocabulary leans heavily towards political and development issues.  I could talk for ages about women's health, defending human rights, the plights of migrant workers, government transparency, and a new writing project is set to make me conversational in conflict resolution and community peacebuilding issues.  But I still get stumped when it comes to discussing household issues.  Hence my newest idea: sticky notes around my room labeling everything from curtains to drawers to faucets.  I am committed to balancing my language skills!

However, I fear this is becoming a detriment to my English again.  Friday night I was out at dinner with some American friends and feeling on the spot in the conversation found myself scrambling for the English word that means happening again and again.  The word that came out of my mouth: repetuous.  A couple minutes later I realized to my extreme embarrassment that I meant repetitive, not exactly what you would consider a challenging word.  I am hoping that verbal mishaps like this remain a rare occurrence as I try to maintain some language agility in while devoting myself to learning Indonesian.

A Week in Cambodia

Now back in Jakarta for a few days I have had time to get resettled at work, do laundry, and upload photos to my Flickr account.  Still I keep thinking about my trip to Cambodia when I see Buddhist image or see someone dressed all in orange reminiscent of the monks I saw everywhere during my six day trip.  I have to say that was not nearly enough time to fully enjoy such a beautiful country and hope to return to mainland SE Asia for a trip to include Vietnam and Laos.  I am so glad I went there with my friend Katie who has spent the past year working in Battambang and was patient enough to withstand my ceaseless questioning about Cambodian life. 

We flew into Phnom Penh from Kuala Lumpur last Thursday and checked into this adorable little hotel she had booked for us- across the street from the Tuol Sleng Prison from the Khmer Rouge days, a very sobering place to visit.  While Katie did some errands for the café she is helping open in Battambang, I had all day Friday to explore Phnom Penh and was pleasantly surprised at how livable a city it is and how cool the weather was!  I toured the National Museum, the central market, Wat Phnom, the riverside tourist strip, and the Russian Market, famous for cheap knock offs of Western brand clothing and tons of beautiful silk scarves.  Friday night we caught a six hour bus up to Siem Reap and the sweet digs Katie got us at the Golden Banana.  Maybe resting and taking this easy would have been the best decision for the day before running a 10K, but instead I spent the entire next day wandering around and climbing up temples at Angkor Wat.  There are so many temples and they are all so spread out that everyone rents tuk tuks for getting around.  I was able to see about four of the most popular temples, Ta Phrom, Preah Khan, the Bayon and Angkor Wat just in time for sunset.  They were truly amazing and I relished every time I was able to escape the hoards and wonder at them in peace.  I hope to go back some day and explore some of the more remote ones but I am extremely happy with what I was able to see.

The next morning Katie and I woke up bright and early (even though I was still a tad bit sore from my hiking the day before!), grabbed some bananas, and headed to the race.  Thankfully it started before 7am so the weather was still cool and we were actually shivering on the tuk tuk drive.  As my first 10K race ever it was exciting to run with so many people from around the world and especially touching to see the disabled participants as the race was put on as a benefit for Cambodian land mine victims.  The race path started in front of the main Angkor Wat temple and then meandered through the forest and around a few other temples.

 

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel for a little rest and then it was massages and drinks to celebrate my 24^th birthday!  I don’t think I could have spent the day any better.  In the evening we headed to Katie’s home in Battambang for a little more celebrating with wine and a local favorite vegetable curry dish.  Monday I had the whole day in Battambang and we started out with a 30K bicycle tour that visited some local home industries including rice paper makers, a rice wine operation, and a place with the best rice cakes I have ever had.  It was fun to see local life and compare it to Indonesia, Cambodia is definitely years behind in development.

Finally, on Tuesday an early morning bus ride back to Phnom Penh let me see a bit more of the countryside, then I took a quick visit to the National Palace before flying home to Jakarta.  I have never taken a trip with such a packed schedule like this but I am so glad I got to see so much and enjoy it with a friend!